As Buttercup sat at her desk next to her sisters in the Professor's lab as he droned on about Biology (or were they doing Algebra now?) she thought about the insanity of everything that has been happening lately.
After getting threatened with a gun and witnessing their school janitor getting beaten to death before their eyes, the Professor decided that it was for the best that the girls be taken out of school and "continue their studies at home for the time being."
"That's insane!" she had protested when he first brought up the idea. "Just because we don't have our powers anymore doesn't mean we're babies! You can just keep us locked in the house all day-"
"What Buttercup means, is that as unfortunate as what happened to Mr. Reeserson was, we are still capable of going to school like everyone else," Blossom cut in. "After all, if normal kids can handle Pokey Oaks Middle School, so can we."
"But you're not normal kids Blossom," the Professor said sadly, dark circles under his brown eyes. The Professor always looked sad and tired these days. "Even without your powers, you're still the Powerpuff Girls, and there are a lot of bad people out there who want to hurt you because of that. That, along with the prison break that happened and a good number of the missing inmates still out on the streets, I wouldn't feel right about letting you three out of my sight. What if… what if the next person who tries to hurt you…" he cut himself off, his eyes getting misty.
In the end, the girls didn't have much choice in the matter. The Professor promised them that this was a temporary solution and he was trying to find a way to get them their powers back and their lives back the way they were, but the hours and hours he spent in the lab led to little success.
Buttercup looked over at Blossom who was faithfully taking notes at everything the Professor was writing on the whiteboard, and rolled her eyes. Once a suck up, always a suck up.
She then turned toward Bubbles on her other side who was staring off into space. Ever since Mr. Reeserson's murder, she had been the opposite of her overly cheerful self. She barely ate, only made the barest effort with her homework, and woke up crying in the middle of the night multiple times. Bubbles had always been the most sensitive of the trio, and this usually got on her nerves. But this time…
"Hey," she whispered, poking her blonde sister's arm. "You good?"
As if woken up from a daze, Bubbles blinked back at her confused. "What?" she asked. "Oh, sorry. Yeah, I'm fine."
"Girls," the Professor interrupted their conversation. "You need to pay attention. Just because you're not physically going to school anymore doesn't mean you can neglect your studies."
"Sorry Professor," Bubbles said quietly. "I didn't mean to get distracted, I just can't stop thinking about-" her eyes started to water, and the Professor's expression softened.
"I know sweetie," he said. He put down the whiteboard marker he was holding and walked over to her seat, pulling her into a side hug. "It's horrible what happened, and it's even more horrible that you had to see it. I promise, I will do everything in my power to keep you and your sisters safe, and to get you your powers back."
"Thanks Professor," she sniffed. "But nothing we can do will ever bring him back."
At this, there was silence. Buttercup, always uncomfortable with talking about feelings, scratched her arm awkwardly.
"Hey, why don't you girls take a break for a little while?" the Professor said. "Go upstairs, grab a snack, and watch TV? Clear your mind and relax for a bit. We can always continue your History lesson later."
"That's okay, Professor," Blossom said. "Bubbles can go, but I don't mind continuing."
Buttercup rolled her eyes. In contrast to her sisters, Blossom never once lapsed in her duties, even after everything that happened. In fact, she did everything she could to keep herself busy every waking second. Making the rest of them look bad by comparison, like always.
The Professor gave her another one of her sad smiles. "Blossom, if anyone needs a break, it's you. It's okay to take things slow every now and then. I know you girls have been through a lot lately."
"But Professor-"
"Ancient Greece will still be here for you when you get back, I promise."
Before her redheaded sister could protest anymore, Buttercup ran towards the stairs. "Thanks, Professor!" she shouted. Behind her, she could hear the slower footsteps of Bubbles.
"Finally," Buttercup said as she plopped herself onto the couch. "I couldn't stand to listen to that droning for another minute."
Bubbles gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, it was getting hard to listen to."
Buttercup gave her a worried look. "Hey," she perked up after an idea came to her. "Why don't we watch that one show you like? The one about the chick who's a secret popstar or whatever?"
Bubbles raised her eyebrows in surprise. "But you hate that show! You said it was cheesy and lame."
"Well, maybe I changed my mind. I'm allowed to do that every now and then, aren't I?"
At this, Bubbles broke into a genuine smile. "Yeah," she said. "Thanks Buttercup."
The green Powerpuff grabbed the remote and turned the TV on before handing it to Bubbles.
As her sister scrolled through the channels, Buttercup took her phone out of her jeans pocket and frowned when she saw she still hadn't gotten any texts back from Mitch.
It's been like a week at this point, she thought to herself angrily. He better not be avoiding me.
"If you or a loved one is suffering-"
"-and that's when I said, my name is Noneya. Noneya Business!"
"Adam! How can you cheat on me with my own mother-"
"-the search for twelve-year-old Mitch Mitchelson and his grandmother sixty-year-old Cynthia Mitchelson is still at large-"
Buttercup's head snapped up at the name of her friend. "Wait!" she grabbed the remote out of her sister's hand and turned her full attention to the TV.
"The first time Mitch didn't show up for school, I wasn't too worried," their homeroom teacher, Ms. Jackson said. "He often had the habit of skipping class. But by the third day in a row, something felt off. When I tried getting a hold of his grandmother and received no answer, I knew in my gut something was wrong," the woman shook her head, her voice getting choked up. "Wherever he and his grandmother are, I just hope they're safe, and they come back soon."
"Mitch is missing?" Bubbles said incredulously. As the image of her best friend and his grandmother appeared on the TV, Buttercup felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Even if he was mad at her for some unknown reason, he never would've gone up and left without at least saying goodbye.
Something happened to Mitch Mitchelson.
"Where the hell are they?" Arturo's father ranted. He paced back and forth in the tiny hiding space they were stuck in as Arturo sat next to Billy and watched him anxiously.
"They should be back any minute Papi. Maybe Mojo needed them for something." But despite this, Arturo couldn't help but notice the sinking feeling in his stomach that something had gone wrong.
His father looked at him like he was crazy. "Mijo, it's been a day and a half and they're still not back. They said all they had to do was drop off the money and go. Since when does it take a day and a half to drop off some money?"
Arturo bit his lip. "Do you think Mojo did something to them?"
His father shook his head. "I don't know, but something is up. And whatever it is, it's gonna be bad news for us."
Arturo looked up at his father, frightened. "What should we do?"
His father looked at him and sighed. "Look Mijo," he started. "I know you love your friends. I know they were there for you when I… when I couldn't be, even if they weren't the best influences. But I think it's time we cut our losses and go home. Home home, back to your mother and sisters."
Arturo blinked at his father. "What?"
His father stopped in front of him, getting down to his height and putting a hand on his shoulder, smiling softly. "I've been waiting for the right time to tell you because I knew you'd be resistant, but surely you must know deep down, that this is the best we can do now? The police are after us, and they won't stop until we're found. Your friends are missing, which means that either something happened to them or they decided to leave us to fend for ourselves. Personally, I'm leaning toward the latter."
"A-Ace and Snake left us?" Billy asked, his eyes starting to water.
"No, of course they didn't man," Arturo assured Billy, patting him on the shoulder. His eyes narrowed at his father. "They didn't."
"Look at the facts Mijo," his father said. "They clearly have something they're hiding. You saw those red splatters on their clothes when they came back from robbing that house. Those were blood stains if I ever saw them."
"I…" Arturo trailed off. He had a bad feeling when he saw the state Ace and Snake came back in, and when they got evasive with the questions he and his father asked them, he knew something bad happened.
"There's probably a good explanation for it," he said. "Seriously Papi, you don't know them like I do. Ace is like the big brother I never had, and Snake is the most loyal guy I've ever met. They wouldn't ditch us. Besides," Arturo walked over to the small coat closet right by the door where they were keeping the money. "If they were really gonna leave, wouldn't they have taken the rest of the money with them-"
He paused when he saw that the closet was empty.
"It's… gone."
"That was a bad idea," Snake whispered, as they started making their way back to the others. "A horrible, horrible idea."
The two green gangsters decided it was best to wait until nightfall before they left the relative safety of the dump. Snake, already on edge from everything that had happened within the last week, only grew more anxious as he thought about how HIM would twist their deal to his liking.
"Mojo threatened your family," Ace said. "If there's anyone who can take him down, it's HIM."
Snake shook his head, as he zipped up his hoodie and pulled the hood over his head, looking anxiously from side to side. Even though he and Ace mostly tried to stick to wooded areas and back alleys, anywhere they could avoid being seen, being out at all still made him anxious.
"We should've just left for Mexico," he hissed.
Ace snorted. "Even if you wanted to, you're sadly mistaken if you think you would've ever gotten your folks to come with you. Or your sister, for that matter. I mean, would you listen to someone who came into your house in the middle of the night, threatened and robbed you, and then tried to convince you to completely uproot your life and move to a foreign country?"
"I didn't-" Snake tried to defend himself, but instead paused and sighed. "I could've tried, at least."
"Listen man," Ace stopped in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder. "What's done is done. So why don't we just try to chill out for now? We'll deal with things as they come. In the meantime…" he pulled his hood down and pushed a strand of hair behind his ear. "Let's focus on what's in front of us, yeah?"
Snake was thankful for the darkness as it hid the blush growing on his cheeks.
"We better keep going," he cleared his throat, pulling his hood back up. "The others are probably worried sick about us."
As the two continued to finish the rest of their journey in silence, Snake's thoughts turned away from HIM and Mojo and toward Ace.
He kissed him. He actually kissed him, for the first time since…
Snake's feelings for Ace had always been complicated. He had loved him, hated him, admired him, and felt burdened by him all at different points in his life, and sometimes all at once. He had long ago given up even the faintest idea of having any sort of relationship that went beyond friends and fellow gang members after Ace's brutal rejection all those years ago. And as much as his gut told him he should be weary of Ace's sudden affection… it felt good to be wanted, for once.
As they made their way to the hideout, he waited as Ace took out his key and unlocked the door. The moment they walked inside, they were greeted with an enthusiastic Billy.
"Ace! Snake! You came back for Big Billy!" he cheered, embracing them both in a bone crushing hug.
"Okay Billy, it's great to see you too. Now will you let us down? I can't breathe."
"Sorry," Billy said as he freed the two green men, giving them a chance to catch their breath.
"Gracias a Dios," Arturo sighed in relief as he saw his two friends. "You see Papi? They didn't abandon us! I told you they'd be back."
"Of course we're back, ya noodlehead," Ace ruffled his messy hair. "Was there ever a doubt?"
"All the money is missing," Macho said, his face stone. "Money I was going to send to my wife and daughters. The mother and sisters of someone who you claim is a close friend."
As Macho addressed him, his arms folded over his chest, Ace's expression hardened. He turned his attention to him and lowered his sunglasses. "I feel like you're implyin' something old man, so if you are you better just come on out with it."
Macho's eyes narrowed. "I don't know what you two did with the cash," his eyes briefly landed on Snake. "But if you don't give it back inmediatamente, I will make you both regret it."
"Sorry to break it to ya old man, but you ain't never seein' that cash again, but it ain't because Snake and I stole it. If you want to be threatenin' somebody, it should be Mojo."
"What? Mojo took all our cash?!" Arturo exclaimed. "How?!"
"One of his guys found out we got extra from the robbery and got greedy. Mojo caught him, and well, let's just say… things didn't work out too well for that guy."
"Unbelievable," Arturo muttered to himself. "And after everything we did for him. That Mojo is such a bastardo."
"Yeah, so now we're all screwed and gonna have to find some other place to hit up for cash. So, He once again turned his attention to Macho. "If you have any ideas-"
"And, why exactly are we supposed to believe you?" Macho asked.
Arturo sighed. "Papi-"
"When you two got back from the robbery, you had blood on you. Don't lie, I know what I saw."
Snake watched as Ace grew tense, and he himself started to grow anxious.
"We don't have to tell you shit, man. Now why don't you just back off-"
"What happened?! What did you do?"
"I'm warnin' you-"
"Did you kill those people?" He asked. "I'm not getting involved in another murder rap, and I sure as hell am not letting my son."
"Kill Snake's Dad? The CEO of Ingleberry Industries?" Ace snorted. "If I did it would be all over the news."
"Ace," Arturo spoke up. He looked between him and his father nervously. "I know you didn't kill nobody. But… you gotta admit you guys have been acting pretty weird since the robbery. Whatever happened, I promise we won't get mad. We'll figure something out. But you gotta be honest with us."
As Ace looked toward Arturo, Snake watched as his expression softened, though his eyebrows were still furrowed in frustration. "Arturo, listen-"
"He shot my father," he finally spoke up, causing all eyes to turn onto him. Arturo and Macho's eyes widened in surprise, and even though it was harder to tell under his sunglasses, Snake could tell Ace was glaring at him.
"I knew it," Macho said. "I know a killer when I see one."
"He didn't kill him, he didn't even come close," Snake explained. "And if he didn't act when he did… my father would've killed me. He was holding me down and had a knife to my throat." As if to prove his point, Snake unzipped part of his hoodie and pushed it out of the way, revealing the scar on his neck.
"He told me that I was going to die that night, and that after he was done with me, he'd come after the rest of the gang." he looked over at Macho. "He even talked about coming after your family in Mexico. Told me he looked you and Arturo up after the prison break and found out their names and where they live. What exactly he was planning to do, I'm not sure. But I know it was nothing good."
At this, both Arturo and Macho stiffened. Snake turned toward Ace and smiled softly.
"Because of Ace, I'm still alive. And none of us are dead or in jail."
"He… he threatened my Mami and sisters?" Arturo asked, horrified.
Snake felt a twinge of guilt as he looked at Arturo, but nodded.
"I didn't want to worry you," he said. He glanced toward Ace. "Neither of us did."
Macho stared at them, his expression careful. "Do you know if he's still planning on coming after them?"
"I don't, but Ace scared him pretty good," Snake said, smirking to himself. "If I know my father, he wouldn't take such a risk if he thought we'd retaliate."
Macho looked between Ace, Snake, and Arturo. "Well, if that is true, I do apologize for jumping to conclusions. Perhaps I have been a bit… quick to judge."
"Yeah, you have."
Macho narrowed his eyes at Ace, but stayed silent.
"I will try to give you more of the benefit of the doubt from now on. My son clearly cares for you, and I should put more stock in his judgment.
"Thank you Macho," Snake said. "That's all we can ask for."
After the confrontation fizzled out, everyone went their separate ways, preparing for bed. And as soon as Ace and Snake were alone in their bedroom, Ace pulled him in and planted a kiss right on the mouth.
"That was brilliant, man!" He gushed. "God, he was being such a nosey, insufferable asshole I thought I was gonna snap. But you," he grinned. "You got him off our backs for good. That old bastard will be kissin' our feet thinkin' we saved his entire family."
Snake blushed at the unexpected affection. "I just-" he started. "I guess I didn't like him accusing you like that. You don't think I went too far do you?"
"Hell no!" Ace grabbed his face and kissed him again. "That was the hottest thing I've ever seen."
As their kissing grew deeper and more intense, Snake felt Ace unzipping his hoodie and pushing it off of his shoulders. Once the jacket hit the ground, he turned his attention towards his jeans.
"Ace," Snake whispered. "Are you sure about this?"
His tall, green friend (boyfriend? lover?) smirked and pulled his sunglasses off, folding them up and putting them in his pocket. Snake's jeans, now unbuttoned and unzipped, were being pulled down to the floor, leaving him in just a tank top and his boxers. "If I wasn't, would I be takin' your clothes off right now?"
"I just-" Snake paused. "What if they hear us?"
Ace grinned, revealing his sharp, pointy teeth. "Then I guess I'll have to find a way to keep you quiet."
While Snake couldn't see himself, his face grew so warm that he felt as if he might as well be on fire. Silently, he hopped on the bed, now pantsless, and allowed Ace to remove the rest of his clothes.
The superintelligent simian known far and wide as Mojo Jojo growled to himself as he glared at the mathematical equation he was trying to solve.
Up until very recently, a problem like this would've been no problem at all for the genius, but as much as he tried to rack his brain to solve it, the more like gibberish it appeared.
"Curses!" he threw the whiteboard marker in his hand across the room in a rage, along with knocking the whiteboard down and stomping on it with all his might. Off in the distance, his bodyguard Javier looked at him wide eyed.
"What are you looking at?" he demanded. "Why are you staring at me as if I am some freak? Some strange, unnatural sight? I will have you know that I, Mojo Jojo, am your employer and not some circus monkey abducted and trained for your entertainment."
"I-I'm sorry Mojo," the young man stuttered. "I didn't mean-"
"Mojo does not care what you mean or do not mean!" he snapped.
While rage was not anything new to the supervillain, Mojo found himself fuming more often than not as of late. Even his beloved hobby of building model ships did nothing to calm him down.
Ever since his meeting with HIM and his discovery that the Gangreen Gang were plotting against him, he threw himself into devising the best way to get revenge on the green nuisances. But around the same time he discovered the gang's betrayal, it seemed as if his own brain was beginning to betray him as well. Now, even simple calculations were taking him twice as long to figure out than they ever did in the past.
HIM had done something to him, something to his head. He knew this, even if he couldn't prove it.
When he got back to his lair that day, he had a head splitting migraine and instantly became suspicious. As soon as the pain subsided, he got to work and did several blood tests on himself, only for all of them to come back clean. And yet, he remembered hearing about how the Powerpuff Girls's tests had come back clean as well after they lost their powers…
He tried multiple times to summon the demon and demand an explanation, but HIM only appeared when he wanted to appear. So, he's been left to stew in his own rage with no outlet and to try to find a way to fix his problem on his own. He even tried hacking into the Professor's computer to see if he had figured anything out regarding the girl's powers thinking he could use it to help himself, but it appeared as if the scientist had built in some firewall to protect his data that even the supergenius himself couldn't penetrate. Or at least, not in his current state.
He cringed when he realized what he might have to do: Ask the Professor for help directly.
Of course, if he went through with this plan, the Professor would help him whether he wanted to or not; his blaster rays were always very convincing.
But still, to go to his former caretaker with his metaphorical tail between his legs and admit he was slowly losing the one thing in this world that made him superior to all other life forms? That was not something Mojo wanted to do.
So in the meantime, he was going to try to resolve the issue in his own way the best he could, and focus on getting revenge against those who wronged him.
"Javier," he said, turning his attention toward the frightened man. "Hand me that file on my desk."
Wordlessly, Javier did as Mojo commanded. Mojo opened it up and grinned wide at the image taken from the security footage of a young woman entering her hotel room.
He took it out and handed it to the bodyguard. "I have a job for you," he started. He pointed at the woman's face. "This image was taken at the Rivertown Hotel. Do you know where that hotel is located?"
As Javier nodded, Mojo continued. "Excellent. This woman right here, is residing on floor three, room twenty-nine. She is absent from approximately twelve to six PM every Tuesday and Thursday, and she always returns alone."
"W-What do you want me to do with her?" Javier asked.
Mojo grinned. "Bring her to me, alive. Unharmed or not, I will leave that up to your discretion."
Ivy had just gotten back from an evening at the bar she had spent with her coworkers after their biweekly meeting to discuss their upcoming business, and she had felt happier than she had in a long time.
She had finally let go of her father for good. No more guilt, no more control or manipulation. And while her feelings toward her mother and brother remained complicated, as she watched her new friends get tipsy on beer and cocktails and chat and make jokes, the aching loneliness that felt like a weight holding her down for years had faded, if even for just a brief period of time. Finally, she had people she could talk to. Laugh with. Make memories with. And now they were all going to be part of something greater together.
A little tipsy herself, she fumbled with her key as she went to unlock her hotel room. Once she walked in, she reached around for the light, only to feel a hand grab her arm instead.
Before she could scream, another hand shoved a rag over her nose and face.
"Sorry Ms. Ingleberry," a male voice with a slight Spanish accent said. "But orders are orders."
As she continued to try and shake the man off, her head started feeling light and dizzy. Before she knew it, the world went dark and silent.
Anon: Since Mojo got his superintelligence from Chemical X, the same way the Powerpuff Girls got their powers, the potion is affecting his brain. It's going to work a bit different on him than the girls, but that's the gist of it lol.
GGGfan: Yeah, I definitely made HIM and Mojo a bit darker in this story lol. For HIM in particular, my mindset when writing him was basically "Discord from MLP but without any sense of friendship or morals." And yeah, it's definitely a scary thought...
K: Aww thanks! I do try to keep them suspenseful and interesting.
Sorry for the long wait, I've been pretty busy since I posted the last chapter. I've been getting more hours at work, and I just bought myself a car! It's been a goal of mine for a while and I've been trying to save up, so it's been pretty exciting!
Also, if anyone is interested, I made a playlist for this fic on Spotify. The link is here: playlist/0FCP3CzvrpX2fr3o5GGkPH. I'll probably be adding more songs as the story continues, and if you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know! (I know FFN doesn't like links, so just copy and paste it into a new tab. If you're still having problems finding it, just search for "The Misadventures of Ace Copular and the Gangreen Gang on Spotify)
Anyway, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!