"Maybe she just thought she saw it," Buttercup said, not even trying to keep her voice down. "It was just a streak in the sky. Maybe an airplane flew by or something. We can't just go on high alert because Bubbles might have seen something,"
Blossom, at least, was a little more considerate. She kept her voice low, but Bubbles could hear it thanks to her super hearing. "I know, Buttercup. But the Rowdyruff Boys are a serious threat. Even if she didn't see them, we need to be prepared. They've been gone for five years, and we don't know how strong they are now. If they aren't back now, they could still come back at any time. We need to be prepared," Bubbles had to struggle to hear the next part, Blossom must have been whispering. "And it'll make her feel safer, you know? Not to mention it's important for her to know that we take her seriously,"
Bubbles stopped listening after that. She turned her attention back to her vanity mirror. She was brushing her hair before she started eavesdropping on her sisters' conversation. And now she wished she hadn't.
The three had been on edge all afternoon. She knew Buttercup just didn't want to believe that the boys were back, but that didn't mean she had to doubt her own sister! She knew what she saw; it couldn't have just been an airplane! What kind of airplane leaves green streaks of light in the sky?
Just then the hotline went off, its loud buzzing making Bubbles jump. She could hear her sisters rush from Buttercup's room and into Blossom's to answer it, and she couldn't resist springing up from her chair and out of the room to join them.
She flew into her sister's room just as Blossom was answering the phone. Normally she would sit on her bed, but she was far too nervous. So she just moved next to where Buttercup stood, hovering a few inches above the ground.
"Yes, hello Mayor," Blossom greeted as she answered the phone. After a few moments, she visibly paled. Bubbles could feel her heart race and Buttercup tensed up next to her. "Mayor, are they sure that's what they saw... Of course, we'll check it out, Mayor," Blossom hung up the phone and turned to her sisters. "Girls, the Rowdyruff Boys have been spotted in the park. We need to go check it out,"
"What do we do?" Bubbles asked, looking at Blossom before turning her attention back to the trio of boys on the ground. The girls were hovering in the air a ways away from them, and it doesn't seem like the boys have noticed them. Yet.
"We're going to confront them," Blossom ordered. She was in in full leader mode. "But be ready for a fight. Buttercup, keep your focus on Butch. Bubbles, you've got Boomer. I'll watch Brick. Keep your focus, girls,"
And with that, the three of them sped down to the park below, stopping in front of the three boys.
"It's about time you three showed up. We were starting to get bored waiting on you," Brick said, smirking at the three of them.
Bubbles stared at Boomer. Of course, like everyone else, he grew taller than her over the years. Though it only seemed to be by a few inches, and she could easily reach his face to punch him when it came down to that.
His hair was longer, too. It was down to his chin and he had it tucked behind his ears. He had a lopsided grin on his face, and he was staring at her. She gave him her best glare, which on made his grin wider. He looked like he was holding back a laugh. Jerk!
"What are you three doing here?" she heard Blossom demand. She could see her red headed sister put her hands on her hips out of the corner of her eyes.
"Yeah, you guys aren't welcome here! Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of!" Buttercup growled. Bubbles couldn't see her, but she was certain her sister was eager to fight, ready to lunge at... whatever the other Ruff's name was any second.
Boomer let out a small chuckle, snapping Bubbles out of her thoughts. She raised an eyebrow at him. Was he laughing at what Buttercup said? That seemed unlikely to her, but what else would he be laughing at?
"What? Is visiting your home town a crime now? Is standing in the park illegal?" Brick replied.
Bubbles knew she was supposed to stay focused on Boomer, but her curiosity got the best of her. She turned her head slightly so she could steal a glance at the other two brothers.
Brick still had the same worn baseball cap, and the same long hair. It was red and messy. He was taller and more muscular, but for the most part, he looked the same as he always had.
Bubbles caught movement from the corner of her eye and her eyes darted over to it. Or rather, him.
The green one, Buttercup's counterpart... Butch! That's what his name was. He kept moving, vibrating, really. It's as if he couldn't stop himself, like he just couldn't wait to lunge at her sister. He did that when they were younger too. The way he couldn't stop moving... She just couldn't stop staring at him. He was just so... mesmerizing.
Which was stupid, she needed to be focusing on Boomer!
And he was laughing again. What was wrong with this boy?!
"Look, we're just here for a little visit," Brick insisted, folding his arms under his chest. "Unless standing in the park is a crime, you're just wasting your time. Since we aren't doing anything illegal, you girls can't touch us,"
"That's not true, is it, Blossom?" Bubbles asked, turning to look at her sister.
Blossom smirked. "Of course not. We can still arrest you for past crimes. You've still got warrants on your heads, boys,"
"Oh, those old things? I think if you look, you'll find that they all conveniently disappeared," Brick replied, grinning wickedly. "The physical copies, the digital copies, everything. In fact, we have no paper trail at all anymore. As far as you can prove, we have never committed any crime, we don't even exist,"
Blossom froze, her smirk gone. And all three of the boys were grinning at her. "How did you manage that?" she asked.
"As if we'd tell you!" Boomer exclaimed.
"Blossom, what does that mean?" Bubbles asked, growing more anxious by the minute.
Blossom just stood there for a moment. "It means... We can't do anything. Not right now anyway. We can't just arrest them without a good reason. He's right,"
Buttercup finally turned from glaring at Butch to glare at Blossom. "What?! Blossom, that's bullshit! They're criminals; we can't just let them run free!"
"We don't have a choice," Blossom responded, still glaring at Brick. "Our hands are tied, girls,"
Bubbles wanted to cry, and she was having trouble breathing. They're criminals, how could this happen?!
Blossom finally turned to her sisters. "C'mon girls, let's go home," she said, pushing herself off the ground and already starting to go.
"But Blossom..!" Buttercup exclaimed, unwilling to just let the boys off.
"Let's go!" Blossom commanded, not even bothering to turn back before flying quickly to their suburban home.
Buttercup growled to herself before shooting into the air and following Blossom.
Leaving Bubbles alone with three smug looking villains.
She didn't feel comfortable leaving them unsupervised, but every part of her screamed to get out of there. Without her sisters with her...
She took one more look at the three of them before turning and taking to the air.
"This whole situation is just fucked!" Buttercup exclaimed, throwing herself onto Bubbles' bed.
"Don't swear, please," Bubbles pouted, looking at her sister from her own spot on the bed.
"But it is! There isn't another word that even comes close to describing this situation," she grumbled, turning her head to look at her blond sister.
"I know," Bubbles sighed, hugging her stuffed octopus close to her stomach. "This doesn't make sense. I mean, I guess I get why we can't come after them, but why would they go through the trouble of getting rid of their warrants and file-things? I mean, they've gotta be up to something evil and illegal right? So what's the point? We'll just arrest them then anyway..."
"You're right. It's all a big waste of time for them," Buttercup said, frowning. "I can't wait for them to just get it over with so we can kick their asses,"
"I just want them to go away..." Bubbles mumbled.
Buttercup's frown deepened. "Yeah... I'm gonna go to bed," she said, getting up and walking to the door. Then she paused and turned to look at her sister. "Do you need me to stay with you tonight?" she asked.
Bubbles smiled and turned to her. She loved when her usually stoic and uncaring sister showed her sweet side. "No, I'll be okay. But could you turn on my night light on your way out?"
"Of course," Buttercup agreed. She walked over to the other side of the room and flicked on the small light. She walked back over to the door, yawning lightly. "Goodnight, Bubs," she mumbled. Then she was gone.
"Goodnight!" Bubbles called before reaching over and turning her lamp off. She laid there in her bed, thankful for the soft glow of her night light. She never fully got over her fear of the dark...
She stared up at the ceiling. She wasn't going to get much sleep tonight. She just couldn't stop thinking about the Rowdyruff Boys...
"Did you see the looks on their faces?" Brick laughed, leaning the chair he was sitting on so it was balancing on only the back two legs.
"Yeah, those Powerpuffs were pretty stupid!" Boomer joined in. "Especially Bubbles. You guys should've heard her. She kept forgetting Butch's name, then she said he was 'mesmerizing',"
That earned a snort from Butch. "Really?" he asked, glancing at his blond brother. "Maybe I should set my sights on her instead of Buttercup," he said, glancing at Brick for confirmation.
"I don't care which one you go after. Just remember what the plan is," Brick said, shrugging. "We start tomorrow. Just be patient. It's gonna be easy,"
Thanks for reading!
I know this chapter is a bit short, but I thought this would be a good place to end it. Also, the next update might come kind of late; I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to write. But I won't abandon this story completely, I promise!
And a special thanks to everyone who has left a review! I really appreciate it.