A/N: well here is the latest chapter and possible the last one for a month.

In the month of April I have declared my site to be in Pokémon month and thus I will be doing the bulk of my spare time on writing for my Pokémon story 'Age of Darkness'. I published that story before I published Deal with the Devil and have not actually published anything for it since because I have been almost entirely focusing on this story. Now, with the release of the new Pokémon games I have decide to finally return to Pokémon and release the new chapters that I have written, thus I declare Pokémon month. If there is a major uproar about this and I get lots of PMs telling me to get back to this story then I will obviously return. If you want view this as like the end of a season and expect the next epic conclusion to come next month. At the end of this chapter, to quote one of my favorite films, 'the board is set and the pieces are moving'.

So, until the month of May, I bid you ado and leave you with this chapter. Remember to R&R and PM if you want to speak to me directly about my stories, I make a point to reply to everyone of you.

Chapter 5:

Preparing for war

"Get that scaffolding up right, no slacking!"

The air was filled with the heavy panting and groans of men as they pushed every ounce of their strength into lifting the huge beams of wood and metal that they slammed into massive holding bases that had been placed against the walls of the warehouse that they had 'confiscated' from the nearby businesses. Large, over-muscled men spat onto the metal ground and whipped large coats of sweat from their face as they lifted weights that should by all rights have crushed them, the muscles in their arms visibly straining and tightening as the pushed everything they had into their impossible task, their feet sliding against the metallic ground as the sounds of their grunts and curses mingled and blended with the loud groan and protest of the ion and steel beams.

From atop a large beam of steel scaffolding, two silhouettes could be seen standing watching the men as they suffered in their merciless work, watching silently as the men cried out from the pain that ran up their limbs as their muscles begun to seize up and contract, rendering them virtually useless. The two figures did not even react as they heard the loud crash that tore the air apart as the massive beams of steel, ion and wood begun to shake and tumble when the strength of the men who held them up failed them, bringing them crashing down upon them. They showed no sign of happiness when the men below checked to confirm that they were all alright nor try to encourage them when they attempted to lift the beams again, their already weakened limbs however, preventing them from making any head way against the weight.

The groans of the various men changed into cheers however, when a large machine seemed to pull itself free of the large pile of crates that stood a little to the left of them. It was a squat, metallic spider with huge articulated claws that clapped against the metal beams with the loud clash of metal against metal, the two green eye-like growths that emitted from its otherwise gray body. The sound of metal groaning filled the air again as it pushed the beams back into place, releasing a series of smaller claws which nimbly caught the various hammers and bolts that lay where the men had dropped them and slammed them into the beam, pinning it into place. Once that was done it slammed its claws onto another of the beams and lifted it into place as well, allowing the men who had previously retreated to run forward and set back to work of hammering the bolts in whilst the Handling Machine kept the ten tone beams of metal in place.

From up above them, the two silhouettes seemed to give a brief nod before turning and walking around the group of men to where a lone figure was hunched over two massive pillars of metal that had been shaped to represent legs that stood three times as high as the tallest man, each limb ending in large feet that stood in half-completion, the inner circuitry and mechanics still being visible through the holes in the huge plates of steel. The lone figure could be heard to ramble and mutter to himself as he pushed his head through one of the large open areas and begun tightening the various knots of wire and cogs of metal, pulling its long purple cloak beneath its blue clothed body as it worked.

"You Handling Machine seems to be working well Mojo"

Mojo jumped as the silence that he had been working in was shattered, slamming his head against the top of the hatch he was leaning in and causing him to utter his usual 'curses…' before he slid himself out and looked back at the two figures that had approached, his eyes narrowing as he registered the look of disgust that crossed across the male's face before turning to look at the woman dressed in brilliant golden armor.

"But of course it is working well Princess" He declared almost snobbishly as he scratched his snout before turning back to his machine and used a screwdriver to tighten one of the bolts on the outside of the wall "It was designed by me and anything that I have created is perfect, therefore it stands to reason that the Handling Machine would, as you primitively put it, 'work well' and that it would excel at any task that you gave to it"

"Yer, anything you build works well?" Princess chuckled as she absentmindedly played with one of the wenches that she had picked up from the table next to her, twirling it between her fingers "I suppose we aren't including all of the machines that have been destroyed by our…mutual enemies. Let's see, if we do forget about them and only included the ones that have actually succeeded in doing anything other than tasks that you shouldn't really need a machine for then that leaves us with…none"

"Curses…"

"Well, these ones had better work Mojo. Because I've spent a lot of money to get you the parts that you asked for and I am not one to…squander my investments"

"Of course they will not fail" Mojo snapped, his hairy lips curling back to reveal a row of razor sharp teeth that clicked together as he spoke "They were designed by me and will therefore win. I have learnt a lot since my last machine was destroyed and now I am armed with the knowledge that I need in order to do what I did not previously know how to do. I managed to capture that four-eyed boy without the Powerpuff Girls finding out didn't I? Is that not proof enough?"

"Yer, you captured a nerd before he even knew you were there. Very brave"

Mojo snarled as the second figure called out, the few streaks of light that pierced through the dirt encrusted windows emphasizing the recess' in the pattern of scars that ran across his face.

"What I don't get…" Butcher said as he turned his back on Mojo so that he was facing Princess again "Is why you sent Curious George here to do a job that required secrecy, I mean…he sort of stands out in a crowd"

"What did you call me?!" Mojo howled as he rose to his feet and marched towards Butcher in a threatening march. A threat that was proven completely pointless as the monkey drew near to the crime lord and I became clear that he was barely half his height...Not that that stopped Mojo from poking a fat, white gloved finger into his chest and shouting at him "No not call me by that name for my name is MOJO JOJO, not George! I am also most certainly not curious about anything for I already know everything that is worth knowing. That monkey from the children's series is not me and you will not address me by his name for that is not my correct name! The correct way to address me would be Mojo Jojo, or Mister Mojo Jojo to you and not by the name you used for that is incorrect! Do you understand me?"

"Errr…no sorry I missed a bit. Would you mind repeating that?"

"Why you worthless…!"

"That's enough"

Mojo yelped as a wrench flew out and slammed into his stripped helmet, sending fierce vibrations running though his brain that caused him to bend over and clutch his head as he tried to regain his senses, mumbling another stream of 'curses' as he made out the sound of Butcher laughing at him. He hadn't known the crime lord for long but he already knew two things about him. A) He hated his guts and B) The feeling was more than mutual. Now, if only he could get the constant ringing in his head that the wench had caused to stop so he wouldn't be seeing two of Princess as she walked back towards the two with her arms folded in annoyance.

"I know that you two don't like each other" she growled at them "Hell, I don't like either of you but the sorry truth is that I need you both for my plan to work and thus I'm stuck with you. But the last thing that I need is for the two of you to make that plan even worse to follow by making my life a living hell of trying to stop you killing each other. Once the Powerpuff Girls are dead and I'm the only recognized super powered being in the damned city then by all means, kill each other to your heart's content, but don't do it whilst I need you. And another thing…Jesus Christ Mojo, are you sure you didn't kill that guy over there?"

"Huh?" Mojo blinked at her in confusion for a second before following her gaze towards the lifeless form of a young man that lay in the corner of the warehouse. His face was mostly covered by a sea of messy ginger hair but what little could be seen revealed him to be in his early twenties, and his long, previously pure white lab coat had been torn and blackened by the dirt that Butcher's men had 'forgotten' to clean of the ground before throwing him into the warehouse. His purple gloves had been removed and now a bear hand laid motionless over a single name tag that red 'Dexter'. The supposed boyfriend of Blossom Utonium looked pathetic as he lay in the corner, motionless in the dirt.

A/N: I've had a few people complain about how I treat Dexter in these stories and I just want to address that at this point. Dexter is one of my favorites characters from my childhood and I have many fond memories of watching that show whenever I got home from school so I definitely do not hate Dexter as some of you have implied. There is a reason for why I do to him what I do and that reason will become clear in the next part of Deal with the Devil, which is when Dexter will come into his own so please don't think that I just love beating him up, it's all from a reason and he will get some good scenes coming up. PM me if you want a little preview into said scenes

"Of course he is not dead" Mojo snorted before turning back to Princess "I used some of my best sleeping gas on him, one which has been proven to even work on the Powerpuff Girls"

"Wait…Your saying that you used gas on him that's so strong it affects people with Chemical X infused blood, a type of blood that has been proven time and again to be immune to all but the most powerful toxins? God Mojo, you effectively used elephant tranquilizer on a rat!"

"Ah…." Mojo mumbled as he abruptly turned and went back to his work, scratching his nose in what could be mistaken as embarrassment as he tried to ignore the almost insane laughter that was pouring from Butcher. He gave a frustrated snarl as his purple cloak caught on the edge of one of the large nails that were sticking out of the crudely plated wooden floor below him causing him to stumbled backward as he fought to keep his balance and causing butcher to bend over in his laughter.

"I'm surrounded by idiots…" Princess gave a heavy sigh as she turned away from them, rubbing her eyes with her fingers as if inflicted by a heavy headache, and made her way towards where the Handling Machine was still slamming more and more beams up, the huge beams now beginning to form a large rectangle like shape on the ground as they gathered around the space the Mojo had designated as where he would begin his true work. As annoying as she found having Mojo around, the Handling Machine was more than enough proof that he had his uses and, though she would never admit it, she had grown to rather like having him around. At least he was easy to have a chat with because she didn't even have to open her mouth and he would happily ramble to himself for hours on end and still consider her as part of the conversation.

"Will you be silent!"

Princess sighed again as Mojo's voice shattered her train of thought, making her instantly regret thinking what she had just been thinking. Turning, she found the monkey once again stood before Butcher and almost on the verge of striking him with a wrench as he laughed.

"Cease with your laughter!" He roared "Cease with your sounds of amusement for there is nothing that exists for you to be laughing at this moment of time. I am attempting to work on the machine that will bring us success in what we are trying to succeed in and I cannot work with you here! If you do not leave now then I cannot complete my work and thus we cannot succeed in our mission and thus cannot accomplish our aims and will thus fail! Do you understand me?"

"Not in the slightest you damn dirty ape" Butcher grinned as he abruptly stopped laughing and turned towards Mojo, raising his fist in order to fight, his eyes glancing through heavily scared eyelids as he saw is men moving to support him from behind.

"For god's sake will you both stop it!"

People yelled and screamed in shock and fear as a beam of pale blue energy flew through the air, running mere inches from Butcher's face before hitting the wall, leaving a scorched black mark on the previously shining metal. Butcher cursed heavily as he rubbed his nose, trying to fight the itching sensation that had spread over it after the proximity of the radioactive blast. He spun round and growled as he saw Princess leveling her weapon towards him again, the Dalek weapon still glowing slightly at the tip after its last discharge.

"Now…" She said calmly as she took a step forward, putting the slightest amount of pressure on her gun so that the small prongs that emitted from the egg-like wisp whenever it fired could be seen to slightly poke out of the darkness that filled the inner barrel "…is everyone calm? I don't want to kill anyone at the moment but I will if you push me"

"Yer, we're all calm" Was all Butcher managed to say as he starred at the Dalek gun that was pointed directly at his chest. A couple of beads of sweat could be seen to fall from his face as the seconds that passed seemed to drag on, his scarred eyes never leaving the gun but still sensing the eyes of Princess burrowing into him. Finally however, he was able to give a heavy sigh of relief as Princess gave a nod before lifting the gun and placing it back on the table, using her index finger to brush a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Good" She finally said as she seemed to calm herself and turned from the table and look at them again, glancing over to where Mojo had begun messing around with the bolts of the Handling machine which seemed to have frozen where it stood, its massive claws holding another beam up as it waited patiently for someone to come and seal the beam in place. "Now if you wouldn't mind getting back to work. Time is moving against us here and if we're not ready for when our…guests arrive then it's all over. And I'm sure you don't want that…" As she spoke her last sentence, Princess allowed her hand to drift onto the handle of the Dalek gun again in order to insure that they recognized her threat. There was a series of mumbles and whispers between the group of Butcher's men that had gathered before they turned and went back to their work, finally relieving the Handling Machine of its load as Mojo seemed to slip away from them and return to the large legs that he had previously been working on, his eyes never leaving the ground as he seemed to attempt to remain unnoticed. She quickly glanced back over towards the group of men, nodding in satisfaction that they were indeed doing what their jobs right before walking over towards him, making sure her crown like helmet was on correctly without even realizing it, smiling slightly as she heard him once again go into his usual sea of mumble, groaning and cursing as he accidently slammed his hammer into his finger rather than the nail he had held against the piece of wood that emitted from the ground, the one that he had caught his cloak on before.

"Very motivational speech" The monkey remarked as he noticed her approach, shaking his hand slightly as if to wade of the pain before hammering the nail in, revealing a row of pointed teeth as he grinned at his success.

"Hardly, violence seems to be the only thing that these…I hesitate to use the word, Gangsters understand so that's how I speak to them" Princess sighed for what felt like hundredth time that night, as she leaned on the nearby table, once again twiddling the wrench between her fingers as she spoke. Though she hated to admit it, she did feel more relaxed around Mojo then she did around anyone else. She just had to put it down to the fact that she shared the most history with him. "Do you remember back when we were in Townsville Mojo? Before HIM destroyed your base, and burned down everything I owned…do you remember how all we did was plan on nothing more than destroying the Powerpuff Girls for good. Me so that I could become the soul Hero and you so that you could…come to think of it what were you planning? World peace or something like that wasn't it?"

A/N: I refer you to my two part story that can be found on my account called 'Past Pains and Fears' which tells of the finale battle between the girls and HIM many years before this story takes place

"What's with the sudden nostalgic trip?" Mojo mumbled as he yanked a wire out of its circuitry and begun soldering it into a new position. He kept his back towards Princess intentionally to avoid the look that he knew he would get for avoiding the question as he had.

"I don't know, I guess I was just reminiscing of…I'm not sure to say the good old days but you know what I mean. Remember when we teamed up to fuse my blood with Chemical X and give me superpowers? Or when we all formed the Beat Alls?"

"As I recall, HIM was also a part of the Beat Alls"

"Yer…back when we thought he was just another villain like us, part of our code, the code that we formed against the girls saying that we were not to attack one and other. We would even meet up and play things like poker every week or so, the villains of Townsville…united in whatever form of friendship we had against the Powerpuff Girls. But HIM denied that when he attacked us all along with the whole of Townsville, even killed some of us…"

"And yet we continue on our mission to destroy the Powerpuff Girls as we have always done…I wonder why…"

Princess frowned as she looked up at Mojo, watching as the monkey summoned the Handling machine towards him with a wave of his gloved hand and allowed it to take a large plate of metal and place it against the side of a large outgrowth that was forming from the foot, creating the rough shape of a leg which raised upwards towards the roof. Thankfully the warehouses in Downtown Megaville were absolutely massive so he could build as high as he wanted and not reach the roof and after Gigan's rampage a few months ago, very few people would be around the downtown area to find them at work, and any who did would not be able to tell of it.

"What do you mean by that Mojo?"

Princess was surprised by how soft her voice was as her question came out, her eyes starring towards the rear of the striped helmet as the monkey fell silent in his work, his hammer falling short above the nail and a heavy sigh falling from him as his shoulders slumped. He seemed to open his mouth as if to try and say something but each time he fell short as he sort for the correct words. Slowly he turned round and fixed Princess of an almost depressed stare, his hairy snout like mouth held open as if he was trying to speak before he swallowed and looked at her again

"What I mean to say is that…"

"Hey boss. This guy's waking up!"

Mojo seemed to give a very visible sigh of relief as he reply was interrupted by the sound of one of Butcher's men call out from the corner. He turned his back to Princess in order to hide his face as she looked from him and towards where the shouting man stood, calling and pointing towards Dexter who had begun groaning slightly.

Princess smiled cruelly as she watched him roll over as he groaned, it seemed Mojo hadn't killed him after all. All thoughts of what Mojo had been about to say forgotten in an instant, she walked towards him and knelt down before his head, gesturing for some of Butcher's men to grab him and pull him to his feet.

"Now…" she thought, pulling her hand back in order to give him a good wake up call "Time for some fun"


The first thing that Dexter registered was pain…

When he managed to force his eyes open, his vision was covered in a blinding surge of white pain that tore through him from the back of his head. Images of grinning faces swirled back and forth in front of him and the sound of voices seemed to wash over him, distorted made almost silent by the pain as they echoed through his screaming skull. He knew that he opened his mouth to scream in agony but could not tell if any sound came out as another wave of nausea and pain overcame him.

He heard faint groans and giggles seeming to blend together into a single unrecognizable sound but at the same time seemed to be able to perfectly stand out and meet together for him in sentences that he couldn't be sure were real or his imagination. He didn't know how long a time passed as he tried to fathom what the voices (if indeed the sounds were voices) were saying but, slowly, he begun to recognize words and managed to put together a conversation between two men about someone called the Origami Killer and how weather they thought his methods were good or disturbing.

A/N: I've been playing Heavy Rain so I had to work it in somewhere

"Hey boss. This guy's waking up!"

Dexter gave a cry as he saw a black gloved hand reach out from the blur that was his vision and slapped him across the face with a surprising amount of force. More surprising still, he noted, was that after the pain in his cheek had subsided, his own vision seemed to have improved greatly and he was now able to make out the large warehouse that he lay in. He could make out the forms of huge cement columns that rose to support the roof and large boarded up windows that let out single beams of light through the cracks in the wooden beams that had been crudely hammered onto them. He gasped in pain as again a hand slammed against his face, causing him to grit his teeth in pain. He felt his glasses get forcefully slammed onto his face and a silk gloved hand grab him by the chin and lift his face upwards, causing him squint his eyes as they were pointed towards the lights that hung from the ceiling of the warehouse.

"Come on I haven't got all day"

Dexter gasped again as finally, his vision returned and he saw the face of his attackers for the first time. The one closet to him was the face of a young woman around his age, her face framed by a mop o f curly ginger hair that hung down from a golden crown which sat upon her head. She wasn't unattractive but the way that her face was twisted into a look of cruelty that made Dexter shudder slightly; it was obvious that there was something wrong with her. Around them, stood a large group of threatening looking men, that grunted and laughed or simply stared as they watched the woman grab Dexter by the cheek again and shake his head in an attempt to awaken him.

"Ah, that's better" The woman grinned as she noticed Dexter's sudden alertness and removed her hand from his face, allowing it to drop as he failed to find the strength to support himself and he collapsed to the ground. "So good of you to join us Dexter"

"Who…Who are you?" Dexter growled hoarsely as he lifted his head again and starred at her, glancing around at the men that still formed into a sort of arena around the two.

"My names Morbucks" She chuckled as she stood and pocked his head slightly with the heel of her boot "but you can call me Princess. I'm sure you've heard of me"

Dexter gasped as he looked at her. He had indeed heard of Princess Morbucks form his times of talking by the T.V. with Blossom, when she would tell him of the great battle that she had fought and he would tell her of his latest greatest invention, and none of what he had heard was good. Apparently, his expression had been enough to show her that he knew who she was as Princess gave a satisfied chuckle before standing and pushing her way past the men.

"Lock him up in the main holding cell" She called out to them as she moved towards a hunched figure that was working had at a set of large mechanical legs. "I want him to be ready for when his three friends arrive for the main party. I have a set of my own friends to meet at the moment so I want you all to be ready for them"

And with that said, a single man stepped forward from the crowd and Dexter caught a glimpse of his heavily scarred face looming before the butt of a gun was slammed into his face and everything around him returned to the darkness….


THE NEXT NIGHT…

People cheered out as the dark street was temporarily plunged into light as the three famous strikes of light pierced through it, casting the forms of the various people into their a strange mix of green, blue and red light that caused some to cover their eyes in an attempt to cause them to readjust to the sudden change from the darkness of that covered the night. Some of the more alcohol influenced of them begun waving and cheering out about how awesome they thought the Powerpuff Girls were and how wanted powers like them, before frowning in disappointment as they got now reply save the returning darkness as the three strikes of light vanished around a corner and the light they had left faded and vanished, some calling out much less flattering things to them as they vanished.

But the both shouts of encouragement and anger fell upon death ears as the three streaks darted through the seemingly endless network that formed the streets of Megaville, moving in a strange zigzag formation as if they were searching for something but not putting much effort into the process.

Finally however, they slowly begun to move down towards a large bridge that stood silhouetted against the setting evening sun. Megaville Bridge was a massive suspension bridge that stretched across the lake that lead across the stretch of water which split apart the main area of Megaville from downtown Megaville, the tall cranes and construction scaffolding that filled the landscape of the Downtown area only emphasizing the look of the tall suspension wires which formed the bulk of the bridge. Below the wires, the dark road was filled with the constant buzzing of passing cars and the constant stream of duel lights that moved up and down as cars moved about their journeys. The sound of a few horns pierced the night as the three streaks descended and landed gently on the top of one of the suspension pillars that stretched out to the orange sky, the setting sunlight casting a long shadow across the gray tarmac of the roads running across the bridge. Some people actually pulled their cars up against the side of the road, got out and called out to them, cheering as they would to celebrities were they part of the ground that always gathered around the red carpet.

"Hey Powerpuff Girls! You're awesome!" One man shouted out, his slightly overweight body causing him to groan as he pulled himself out of his car and looked up at the top of the pillar where the three forms could be seen huddled together as they spoke with one and other. He grinned up at them as he waved, laughing as he saw the form of one turn and lean over the edge of the pillar and look directly at him. His grin turned to a frown of confusion however, when the area that would be the figure's head seemed to light up with a pulsating red light which glowed before him before blasting towards him, lighting the steel beams of the bridge before smashing into the ground beside him, sending a spray of tarmac flying into the air and cursing him to curse as he desperately tried to pull himself into his car and drove away, mumbling about how much he had always disliked the Powerpuff Girls.

Behind his car, another beam of red energy flew by, skimming the room of the car before flying over the edge of the bridge and striking against the water, sending a cloud of steam flouting up into the sky as the heat of the energy met with the icy cold of the water below.

"Brick what the hell was that?"

From above the pillar, Brick sighed heavily as he pulled himself back to his feet and turned to face his brothers, both of whom were staring at him with a look of great disapproval. He tried to stare them out but something forces him to look away from their glares and pull his trademark cap over his eyes as he looked back down at the never-ending sea of cars which moved below him.

"I just really hate it when people think we are those…stupid girls" He sighed heavily, clenching his fist in anger but at the same time starring at the ground in sorrow. "We are not the Powerpuff Girls, we are the god damned Rowdyruff Boys and the sooner people realize that the better for all of us. I'm sick of being nothing more than 'sidekicks' to the girls that we came here to destroy. A mission that we seem to have loosed sight of'

Behind him, his brothers exchanged worried glances.

The day before, whilst Blossom had been revealing the letter that had been sent by their own previous creator Mojo Jojo, a strange tension seemed to have fallen over Brick. The letter had (repeatedly) stated that Blossom's Boyfriend, Dexter, had been kidnapped by him and taken hostage against them despite the fact that Mojo hadn't been heard from in over twelve years. There was nothing special about the letter, back when they were children Mojo had kidnapped someone at least once a month and each time had ended with the girls breaking in, saving the hostage and beating the crap out of Mojo in a spectacularly over the top fashion. Yet, Blossom seemed to have been distraught over the idea that Dexter was in the hands of one of their greatest enemies. She had started shouting whenever someone tried to calm her down or tried to make a plan of saving and had become adamant that they do exactly what the letter had asked of them, something she normally didn't do. Whilst Butch, Boomer, Bubbles and Buttercup had tried to formulate a plan, Blossom had been left to try and calm down whist Brick simply stood in the corner in complete silence, one red eye staring intently at her from beneath his red cap.

This had gone on for the better part of the day, Blossom remaining distraught in the kitchen whilst Brick could be seen to get more visible annoyed and the others tried to make a plan. Finally however, Brick suddenly seemed to snap and shout out about how (censored for the kiddies XD) it was for so many super powered humans to be worried about one man before shooting Blossom a glance and leaving the house, vanishing into the sky in an explosion of red light.

His brothers had naturally pursued him and found him at the caravan they had made their home atop the cliff face in the Megaville National Park. It took them the entire night, but they finally convinced him to return to the Girls and left the next morning, only to find that they had vanished from their house with no trace. Thus the three boys had spent the entire day looking for them and now, as the sun was setting, they had come to rest on the bridge in order to rest and try to gather together a plan before they headed to the Megaville sign by which they knew the Girls would be heading in order to meet the time that Mojo had specified.

Boomer and Butch were eager to get there to help the girls, knowing that the rendezvous point was a trap and, though Butch was especially unwilling to admit, they had grown used to being around the Powerpuff Girls and had found a sort of peace that they hadn't know within the confounds of the institute they had trained in. For Brick however, the day of searching had proven far to frustrating for him and something that he would not explain was driving him to such anger that he was shooting at random civilians below.

"Look" Boomer finally managed to say, his voice coming out quiet as he spoke up to his severely pissed off leader "I know that you want to get the…job done. But why do you hate the fact that the Girls are going to meet Mojo so much? What's wrong with you?"

Brick's eyes widened as he heard the question before he looked away, his fist clenching as he seemed to fight to think of what the correct words would be to speak. "I just…" He begun, stopping and starting as if his vocabulary had deserted him. "I just hate the fact that the three great Powerpuff Girls are all willing to put their lives on the line and walk right into an obvious trap just for a simple boy who is probably only staying with them so that he can leach of their fame!"

Boomer jumped slightly as Brick's fist swung round and slammed against one of the four beams of concrete that rose up from each of the four sides of the pillar they stood on. As it struck, his fist was engulfed in an explosion of red light that flashed as it came into contact against the concrete, causing a miniature explosion to blast a hole though the beam and sending large chunks of concrete flying through the air and plummeting down towards the water below where the made a silent splash as the quickly rising night wind blew over any sound before it reach them.

"Hey did you see that then?"

"Yer, I think that's the Powerpuff Girls up there!"

Boomer reached out towards his leader to stop him as Brick spun round and stared directly at the group that had gathered below them again. To late however he reached him before Brick's eyes suddenly exploded into a brilliant red light before twin beams of energy were discharged and slammed against the ground before them, causing the people to start screaming and running away.

"We are not the fucking Powerpuff Girls!" He yelled, his anger making him curse worse than usual "Do we look like girls?! When the hell will you people realize that we are the Rowdyruff Boys and that we are not simple sidekicks to your precious girls?!"

"Brick for the love of god will you calm down and stop shooting at people?"

Brick yelled and cursed as his brothers desperately tried to pull him away from the pillar's edge as his eyes ignited again and another eye-beam flew out, the twisting of his head as he fought them sending the beam flying of target and instead blowing a chunk out of the corner of another suspension pillar on the far edge of the bridge, sending another rain of rubble falling to the ground and crashing around the cars below.

Butch and Boomer fought desperately to get him to where he couldn't shoot down anymore, wrapping their arms around his torso and neck as they pulled, fighting to keep their grip on him as he wriggled and fought against them. Somehow however, one of Bricks feet managed to pull out the leg that Butch had been leaning on at the right second and he went crashing to the ground, pulling Brick down with him who in turn pulled Boomer down until the three brothers were put into a vicious sprawl on the ground as Brick continued to try to fight his way free and Butch and Boomer tried to keep him at bay.

"Well, will you look at that sorry sight…"

The three brothers suddenly stopped their fight as the voice of a woman broke through the silence that had surrounded them for the whole time. Blue, green and red eyes blinked in confusion as they realized that they were still incredible high from the ground and yet being spoken to before looking around themselves, each widening in surprise as they saw the figure of a woman standing beside the pillar, seeming to be stood on midair.

"What the hell?" they mumbled in seeming unison as they saw a woman they didn't recognize floating in the air just as they or the girls would.

The woman grinned as she used a black gloved hand to brush away her curly ginger hair and floated towards the pillar. As her back leather boots landed on the surface, there was a strange mechanical whirl as a pair of outgrowths from her back begun to fold in on themselves before vanishing into the backpack that she wore, the lights below reflecting from the brilliant gold that formed a strange suit of amour which covered her, complete with a small tiara like helmet that lay across her head.

"Jetpack" She declared as she grinned at their confused expressions, tapping her backpack gently to show them "Perhaps it's not as elegant as you natural ability to fly but I find that it does do the job quiet affectively"

"Who are you?"

"What?" She blinked in confusion "You don't remember me? Well I'm hurt. The great Rowdyruff Boys don't remember me, I mean sure we only met the once but still, I thought I left more of an impression on you three then that. Oh well, I suppose it can't be helped now so I'll re-introduce myself. My name is Princess Morbucks"

Before her, the three Rowdyruff Boys looked at each other as they heard her. When they had been reborn in the institution, the scientists had done their best to re-install all of the memories that the past Rowdyruff Boys back into their minds but, naturally, a few things had been incomplete or just viewed as too completely irrelevant to actually place in. It would have to seem that this self proclaimed Princess was one of their memories that had been viewed as un-necessary for their mission.

"So anyway" Princess said, waving her hand around in a dismissive wave as she seemed to fight to prevent herself from going to a rant about herself "It's great to see you guys again and all that but I must confess that, you father, and I are very curious to how you should happen to be here after you were destroyed years ago in Townsville. I'm sure that you must have a very interesting tale to tell us and I'm looking forw…"

"Wait a second" Butch called out, prompting a shocked and disgusted look from Princess at being interrupted before she regained her composure looked back at them, starring at the green Rowdyruff as he called out to her, seeming to move closer to his brothers as if he was preparing to fight her "You said that you knew Mojo. That means that you're a part of all of this kidnapping and plans against the Powerpuff Girls. What do you want with us when the Girls are walking straight into your trap?"

"What do you three care about that?" Princess retorted, her mouth curling into a cruel sneer as she saw Brick look towards the ground behind his brothers "The time of the Powerpuff Girls is ending tonight so there isn't really any need for you three to hang around here. From what I've been able to work out, your mission here was to ensure the destruction of the Powerpuff Girls and tonight that mission is finished. Congratulations"

"So what?" Butch yelled back, glancing to find Boomer moving into a battle position beside him "Your telling is to just turn around and leave whilst you destroy them?"

"Well yer. I mean, what reason do you have to stay here now that the girls are gone? I'm sure the people back at your institute would be so very happy to see you again"

"What!?"

"That's enough Butch"

An awkward silence fell over the group as they turned to see Brick stood behind them, alone after his brothers had walked forward and with his face cast into a deep shadow by his cap as he stared at the floor. Both his fists clenched as he seemed to pant as though out of breath before his head shot up and fixed on Princess, blood red eyes narrowing almost threateningly as he looked at her.

"Are you sure that you can defeat the Powerpuff Girls?"

"Definitely" Princess seemed to visible react as she placed a hand on her hip and grinned at him. "Mojo and I have everything planned out to a T and our…past experience with them has allowed us to take into account any possibilities that could arise for our encounter. I would ask you three to join us but, judging from the last time I asked you such a question, you would simply refuse. Thus I will leave you to decide what it is that you want to do. I doubt we will meet again after this but you know how it is, I have a life of fame and greatness ahead of me now. Look out for me on the news"

With that said, Princess gave a finale, mock salute before turning and jumping from the building, her jetpack activating at the last second as she fell, allowing her to turn and fly into the air, vanishing towards the now rising moon and leaving the confused Rowdyruff Boys on the bridge pillar to look towards Brick as they looked for orders.

The three stood there in silence as they watched Brick, examining every in breathe he took or twitch of his closed eyes as he seemed to be in seep thought, the only sign that the red Rowdyruff was awake being the constantly clenching and unclenching fists that hung by his sides. Finally however, his blood red eyes slide open and he turned his back on his brothers.

"Come on" He mumbled, his brothers enhanced hearing being the only thing that allowed them to hear him "We have finished in this city. We're leaving"

"Wait what?" Boomer yelled out but before he could Brick exploded into red light and hurled himself into the night sky, flying away without another word.

Behind him, Butch and Boomer could only exchange worried glances before they took flight and followed...


From beneath the pillar, illuminated by the constantly passing cars headlights, a single man looked up towards the three streaks of light as they vanished into the night sky, his ice cold eyes never blinking as they watched the multi-colored lights fade. Not one of the cars seemed to notice as he slowly walked across the busy road and came to stand beside the other side of the bridge, looking out at the Megaville skyline, miraculously avoiding coming into contact with any of the oncoming vehicles.

The lone man seemed to clear his throat as his boney hand reached up and straightened the dull gray tie that hung down the front of his expensive suit, his other clutching tightly at his gray suitcase as he glanced over to where the tall skyscrapers seemed to lean in towards each other against the dark sky, illuminated by the thousands of mini lights which represented the thousands of homes and lives of the insignificant people that swarmed Megaville.

"Now the board is set…" He whispered as he looked towards the three streaks of light that had again pierced the night sky, this time coming from the depths of Megaville and heading towards the downtown area. They were a slightly lighter tone then those that had just left and seemed somewhat more organized, though they too were seemingly being forced forward by the leading red light. Again he cleared his throat as he turned and begun to head towards a corner of the bridge that had been completely bathed in darkness by the night sky. "It is time for the first choice to be made and for…one to die"

And, without another word or still being noticed by the passing cars, he stepped into the shadows and seemed to vanish without a trace….


Animals screeched and yelled as they burst into motion as a streak of red light seemed to plummet from the sky and slam into the ground before them, the sheer power of its landing sending huge volumes of dirt and plant life hurtling into the air. From within the deep crater that the force had created, the red light seemed to glow and pulsate as the form of a young woman burst out from it, thigh long red hair flying in the strong wind as she ran out and headed towards the massive letters that loomed over her. She called out and yelled as she leaped into the large G that stood before the large set of trees in which she had landed, her ruby red eyes glowing against the night as she scanned across the row of huge letters that had been illuminated by artificial light, spelling out the word Megaville which could be seen far and wide against the huge mountain set which stood over the city scope below.

"Blossom! Wait up!"

Blossom's eyes shot up as a further two lights shot out from the night sky, one green and one blue, each doing a strange put perfectly rehearsed patrol around the clearing before lowering and gently landing on either side of her, her sisters stepping out without barely upsetting the leaves on the trees around them.

Buttercup's eyes glowed green as she searched the trees, watching for anywhere that could be a possible hiding place for the ambush that they all expected. She hated the fact that she couldn't do anything but wait whilst the sister that had been known for keeping her cool constantly yelled out and Bubbles seemed to whimper slightly as her hand reached up to hold her blue coat, gripping something within the pocket that she had managed to prevent showing to them. She spun round as she heard the cry of a bird from behind and groaned as she again wished she could fly out and beat up whoever was hiding in the plants and trees. She even almost wished that they had been able to bring the Rowdyruff Boys with them but Blossom had demanded that they follow what the letter had said and not bring them with them and thus they had left their house before the Rowdyruff Boys could have returned to find them. Now all she could do was wait for the trap to be sprung and maybe even hope that the boys came to find them, god only knew where they were now…

"Hey Blossom…Look over there…"

Blossom was almost aggressive as she spun round to where Bubbles was pointing, her eyes widening as she saw a simple arrow painted against the bottom of the M, pointing down towards a large pile of leaves that had been recently thrown atop of each other into a large pile. She cried out as she practically kicked herself for not seeing something so obvious before and exploded into red light as she flew towards it and threw the leaves apart. Gasping in shock as she saw what was beneath them as Buttercup came up from behind and looked over her shoulder, her green eyes widening in horror…

From beneath the leaves was a single canister labeled 'Anti-X', a huge clock taped to each side with a large series of deep red wires that ran around them in a strange pattern before vanishing into the lower the canister. The air was suddenly filled with a loud beeping as the leaves blew from a large sensor platform that lay on the top of the bomb, causing the canister of Anti-X to bubble and boil as it shook against the force of the current of electricity which was now pouring from the clockwork timers.

"What the fu…"

The ground shook as the right half of the M exploded in a spectacular cloud of fire, causing the lights of the other letters in the sign to flicker and die as the EMP blast of the explosion blew across them. Trees flew from the ground and a dull roar of fire ripped through the silent night and, as some of the people below claimed, the sound of a woman screaming in pain could be heard piercing the roar of fire and ash…