I'm having a lot of fun writing The Three Kinds of Intelligence, but I had had this plot idea for so long, I couldn't let it go, especially after reading Madame Fist's "Break The Cycle", it made me itch to write some PowerPuffParents stuff.

Think of it as one of those cheesy movies where a dude like The Rock has to take care of a sassy kid, you know?

Chapter 1: "Being a mother is an attitude, not a biological relation." - Robert A. Heinlein

"Miss Utonium," Susan's voice was frantic, "I've been trying to contact you all day-"

"Yes, Susan, I'm aware. I was at a meeting, and you knew that. Still, you left me dozens of missed calls," the annoyed woman pointed out, entering the uber her partner had called, "What happened?"

"Mister Keane called..."

She frowned, feeling her heart instantly drop, "Oh boy" She breathed, closing her eyes, "What happened this time?" Dan, her partner, was watching the woman, and heard nothing but silence until the redhead shouted, "Again?"

The young lawyer threw his head back with an amused chuckle. He didn't mean to do it, but his partner was the epitome of a collected, centered person, and it was rare to see her lose her cool like that.

The woman nearly sensed Susan's equally frustrated nod through the phone, "Again."

"Alright," She breathed, "I'm on the car with Dan, but I'll make my way straight to the school. I'm not even going to stop by the office," She frowned, a sudden feeling of guilt washing over her, "Thank you, Susan... I am sorry, I just, I had this meeting and-"

"I understand, Blossom," Susan assured. She knew the partners were having issues with acquiring investment capital and sensed from her boss's voice tone that the search for a new investor wasn't getting anywhere she wanted. Want to know everything about a business? Ask the secretary, "Please, don't worry about it. I do completely understand. Have a good afternoon."

"You too, Susan," Blossom grinned before hanging up. Susan was the office's most experienced professional and took all employees under her wing, a true angel in human form. She knew very, very well Blossom's afternoon was not going to have a pleasant time.

"Kid problems?"

She turned to the window with a nod, unable to face Dan, "As always."

"We all have had our problems with kids, Bloss," He comforted her, "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Blossom stared at him, a disgruntled look on her face, "She froze the classroom," his jaw dropped at her dry response, "right after she set it on fire... What was she doing? Aiming at another student."

The man's expression slowly transformed into a frown, his hazel eyes darting around, trying to come up with a reasonable reply, "Well, yes. This is extraordinary, but she is your daughter, it's the equivalent-"

"It's the second time in three months."

Dan's expression completely fell, he could not argue against that.

Blossom's eyes wandered from her partner's disturbed expression to the driver's, who looked just as shocked, if not more.

She simply clicked her tongue.

"Welcome to my life, gentlemen."

Mr. Keane had his mom's big, blue eyes, and dark hair, but unlike her, he liked challenges too much, which explained why he'd chosen to be an Elementary School teacher. He had been Jacquotte's teacher for the entirety of her time in Pokey Oaks Elementary. Blossom assumed Mr. Keane would be the one to tame the beast, and finally bring out Blossom's genes into her daughter.

She was wrong.

Facing the teacher had become an unbearably difficult task, "Mr. Keane," she lightly nodded with downcast eyes. "I'm sorry for being late, I'm-"

The man cut her off, "No worries, Miss Utonium," He assured with a kind smile. "It is the middle of the day, I assumed you'd be tangled in your work."

She smiled back, "Thank you for understanding."

An exceptionally pleasant characteristic of Mr. Keane: he understood the struggles of a working parent. Bubbles and Blossom had had their fair share of insufferable teachers that dismissed the fact they had personal lives beyond parenthood. The first was not a single mom, so she was automatically expected to drop everything she was doing and materialize herself at school whenever her presence was required.

"So... about Jacquotte," the student was never an easy topic to discuss, didn't matter how many times Reginald Keane did it, "she was involved in a fight once again. And, yes... she aimed her fire powers on Chance Morebucks Harrington once again but missed. He kept teasing her, as he always does. We've tried talking him out of it, but he seems to be persistent on it. Jacque claims she blasted him with her powers as a gut reaction. I'm glad to tell you we've handled the situation with his family, they're not going to press charges."

Blossom nodded, knowing Princess was going to have a field day, despite the danger her child had been under.

'Oh dear, I can try to understand how difficult it must be for you, to properly raise a child all by yourself... I'm so grateful I'll never have to go through it.' She'd say, casually flashing her expensive wedding ring.

"He started teasing her, he always does." Mr. Keane scratched the top of his head, puzzled, "Which I can't understand, he completely overlooked his last experiences..." He wondered, mostly to himself.

"It was not his fault." Blossom stated, "He is the victim."

Mr. Keane immediately straightened his back, "Oh, yes. Absolutely. They just turned thirteen, she should know better... But still, his persistency in chasing Jacque, despite not having displayed this behavior with other students, even towards the ones that bully him is curious... But I digress, it's a curiosity of mine, that's all."

Blossom gave the teacher a half-hearted smile, "Maybe it's a family thing." The teacher nodded, considering the possibility.

"Well, I assume Chance is not the only subject of our conversation..." She murmured.

Mr. Keane cleared his throat, "Yes. Precisely. I've gone through our approaches to solving Jacque's behavior, and noticed we've gone through basically all of them... except for one."

Blossom nodded, listening attentively.

"But it is a delicate matter," He warned her, "It requires patience, and it does not work for a very small fraction of parents. There's a small risk, but a risk nonetheless. However, given the circumstances, I think it's worth a shot. Today's incident has placed Jacque in a rather complicated position."

The woman frowned, "What do you mean Mr. Keane?"

"After a long meeting with the superintendence, we've come to the conclusion that her behavior in High School would be unacceptable, or even in this school any longer," He sighed, "I'm afraid we're looking at expelling her as a final attempt to preserve our students' integrity," Blossom's heart dropped to the very pit of her stomach, "Jacquotte has incredibly good grades, but allowing her to keep studying here, or passing her to Pokey Oaks High School, is a public risk we are afraid we cannot take."

The mother gulped. She couldn't bear it. It would be a life-long burden for Jacque at a noticeably young age, She would be marked for the rest of her life. Only High Schools designed for problematic children would accept her, and as a result, her troublesome behavior would only worsen.

"What's the approach, Reginald?" Blossom was so desperate she called the teacher by his first name by accident without even realizing it.

"Miss Utonium," He didn't seem to mind, "How close are you to Jacque's father?"

Blossom furrowed her brows at that, "Excuse me?"

"I mean..." The teacher says clearing his throat, "I imagine that, at this point, we may need to contact him for his support, given how..." Mr. Keane stopped himself, as he watched the woman turn pale, "Miss Utonium? Is everything ok?"

The redhead becomes dizzy but she manages to blurt out, "Reginald... I think my pressure dropped..."

Mr. Keane walked Blossom to the door, "I know it's a lot to take in, especially considering your circumstances... But I think it will have positive effects. Jacque needs an adult she can relate to, to realize she can have a different fate, and that she has options. As of now, she just assumes the only behavior she can display is either hers or a completely different one."

Blossom nodded, "I'll sleep on it, Mr. Keane. I do want to see positive effects too, it's just..."

"Delicate," he nodded, "I understand. Take your time, Miss Utonium."

"Thank you, Mr. Keane," Blossom waved him goodbye before walking out of the office's door, her eyes immediately darting towards two students sat at the chairs by the office.

"'Sup Blossom," Jacque's greeted her mom with a sigh, "is it getting boring yet?" She asked, referring to her mother's constant need to show up at school due to her antics.

Blossom glared into her daughter's blood-red eyes, glimpsing down at the girl's skater outfit, and messy long hair she kept in a ponytail. The girl had her legs stretched out, with one foot crossed over the other as she popped a gumball. If she hadn't inherited Blossoms soft features, one would easily mistake her for a female version of her father, like the Powerpuff hadn't had any participation in her conception.

The woman crossed her arms over her chest, "That was low," she glowered. Blossom's rose-colored eyes quickly glimpsed at the observing Harrington child, "He doesn't have powers. That was cowardly."

Jacque shrugged, keeping her nonchalant attitude, "I've got 'em, why not use 'em?"

Before Blossom could scold her, Chance seemed to materialize in front of her, "Hello, Miss Utonium."

The woman was immediately taken aback, "Oh! Hey there, didn't see you..."

"Don't bother," Jacque snarled, looking down at the boy, "He's like a cockroach, creepily showing up out of nowhere."

"Jacquotte Floret Utonium!" Blossom reprimanded, making the girl cringe at her dreaded full name spoken out loud.

"Mom, stop!"

"That's a peculiar name," Chance giggled.

"I'll make your face peculiar, how 'bout that?"

"Don't make me say it again," Blossom threatened, making her daughter back down. She was a patient mother, but Jacque had seen her wrath before.

The woman turned to the smiling boy. He was incredibly polite for a Morebucks, "How're you feeling, Chance?"

The boy shrugged, "Hm, a bit cold. Like when mom takes us to ski in Aspen. I'm kind of used to it," he smiled, "We go every other month, so I guess Jacque's ice breath doesn't do much harm anymore," he concluded, grinning in the girl's direction. She just rolled her eyes in response.

Blossom looked from one teenager to the other and sighed, "Fine. Just, please, tell your parents to let me know in case you feel any possible side effects from Jacquotte's ice breath, or manual flames."

He politely nodded, "Will do, Ms. Utonium."

Jacque just rolled her eyes, as her mother nodded back at him, "Let's go, Jacque," she muttered, walking down the hallway "Say goodbye to Chance."

Jacque just followed her mom, but instead of waving goodbye, she showed Chance the finger.

"This is not an excuse!" Blossom yelled, pacing into the kitchen. Her daughter just grimaced at her back in response, "I've told you so many times," she continued from the kitchen's counter, "you don't fight with your powers, you use your words!"

Jacque rolled her eyes, slumping into the living room couch, "And I have told you, so many times, Blossom," she snarled back, "it worked for you, and only you! It's not my fault you were little miss perfect, and I'm not. Sheesh, manage your expectations."

The woman held back a growl, sitting in the chair by the couch, a glass of wine in a hand. She took a sip, before fiercely staring at Jacque, who gave her mom a confused look.

"What?"

"This is getting extra bad for you," Blossom stated in a warning tone.

"What are you talking about?" Jacque raised an eyebrow, watching her mother take another sip of wine, "I'm gonna get suspended for more days, or what?" The teenager watched her mother dangerously lean towards her.

"Jacque..." Blossom whispered, "You're going to get expelled."

Jacque glimpsed at her, with a confused expression, "What?"

"Expelled. The school board is looking at a possibility of having you expelled and sent to another school, like Black Oak!" Her mother bellowed before taking another sipping more wine

Black Oak was the go-to school for all problematic kids, from elementary to high school, who either were coming from deeply broken homes or have been to juvie. That's how deep in trouble Jacque was. Blossom finally thought she'd gone through her daughter's mind until gave her that grin. Her father's infamous grin formed a dimple in each side.

"Cool!"

"What!?" The woman shouted, nearly coughing on her drink, "How can you say that!? How do you think it's cool-"

"Because Pokey Oaks sucks, Blossom!" Jacque huffed, as if it was crystal-clear, "I'll just go to Black Oak then! And luckily, maybe they'll expel me too!"

Crack!

"Oh shit!" The girl jumped at the broken glass in her mom's hand, "Damn, you gotta take care, this could've hurt-"

"What do you mean expelled from Black Oak!?" Blossom yelled, her face showing nothing but distress, "What do you mean, what... What do you expect will happen?" she stammered, pulling a few strands of hair from her tidy bun, out of sheer desperation.

Jacque was taken aback; she'd never seen her mother so distressed before, "I shouldn't go to school. The sooner they expel me, the better it is."

Her mother's face fell, "You don't get to decide that... Y, you should! You're 13, 13 years-old go to school..."

The teenager shook her head, "Not for me."

"And graduate elementary school, and then, High School..." Blossom kept going on, more to herself than her daughter.

The girl remained unbothered, "Can't do that..."

The woman smashed her forehead in her hands, "You're gonna kill me," she moaned.

"Mom, stop!" Jacque shouted, "Don't say that!"

Blossom sighed, "Jacque... Th, the boy I always tell you about..."

"Not again..."

"Even he graduated High School... a normal one, not Black Oak before he went off to live the way he wanted," She explained. At this point, Blossom was so desperate, she could live with Jacque following her father's shady life path, "That's how it's done, how it should be done. How do you expect to live your life without even being a high school graduate?"

"I have my powers," Jacque casually stated.

"It's not enough!" Blossom yelled, "It'll never be enough, plus, one misstep, and they get taken away from you! Then what? We've had this talk before."

"I won't get caught."

The woman sighed; this conversation was not going the way she wanted it to, "You don't know that. All it takes is being at the wrong place, at the wrong time. They'll not think twice before shooting you."

Jacque snarled, "Then let them do it! The hell am I supposed to do?"

"Go to school," Blossom repeated, exasperated, "study, try not to set your schoolmates on fire, graduate high school at the very least."

It sounded simple, but Jacque was adamant about it: "I can't. I'm sorry, I'm not you, I can't."

Blossom was on the verge of tears, "I'm not asking you to be me, I don't want you to-"

"But I can't be me either!" The teenager shouted, "I, Blossom, I keep telling you, I have this thing, this demon inside me..." she paused, digesting her own thoughts. Blossom just observed her, it wasn't the first time Jacquotte made that claim, "Something inside me, it's obsessed with chaos. Like, I want chaos, but I also don't want it. All my brain thinks about is creating chaos, and destruction, and hurting people, it's stronger than me. I know you probably think it's not true, that it's just me, and it's all in my head, but it's not! I swear mom, it's something inside me, it's in my gut, and it even burns, it hurts!"

Blossom buried her face in her palms and took a deep breath. This was too much to bear, she knew Jacque was telling the truth, and that she was in pain, and it was hurting her to see Jacque like that. It'd hurt every time. The girl had her temper, but sometimes, something deep down would make her snap, and there was no controlling the teenager from that point on. Blossom had seen it in the flesh, many times during her daughter's life, and now they had come to the breaking point where her daughter was about to give up on herself, and Blossom needed help stopping her.

Jacque hung her head down and shook it. "Ok, whatever, no phone, no TV, I know the drill," She gave in, placing her phone at the coffee table, before walking to her room.

Blossom watched her daughter pace away, as she cleaned the glass pieces, and wine from the floor. She was about to serve herself another glass of wine but froze, taking a glimpse at the full, unopened bottle of Scotch that had been in her alcohol cabinet for ages, a gift from a former boss.

Screw it.

The redhead chose to treat herself to the stronger beverage, dialing Buttercup's number. That was not going to be an easy mission.

"This better be good." Her sister growled on the phone, "Half of my team had to be deployed to Pokey Oaks Elementary because of your spawn," There was a pause while Blossom took a big gulp off her scotch, "Blossom? You there?"

"I need to speak to Brick," She could almost hear the sergeant's paled, wide-eyed expression through the phone. "Phone, address... Buttercup, anything. You know he is not into social media or anything that abides by the law... So, I figured you must have the means to get his contact."

Unlike her sister, there was no pause, Buttercup didn't miss a beat as she ordered, "Blossom, cough twice if you're being held, hostage."

"Buttercup, I mean it," Blossom stated with a firm voice, "I'm hanging by threads here. He's my last resort."

"Gosh..." The brunette breathed, "How desperate are you?"

Blossom sighed, "You can't even imagine."

It took a while to convince Buttercup that she was not drugged, had not hit her head, and was not on gunpoint. Finally, the brunette gave in and promised she'd do her best to find the contact of "Jacque's deadbeat dad", despite Blossom assuring her over, and over the years that she was the one to tell him to stay away, that she was the one who told Brick she didn't need him, that she could raise a child on her own… which made the situation quite humiliating for her, and a massive jab at her pride, but the thought of stopping Jacque from becoming a runaway teen made it all worth it.

Blossom didn't hear from Jacquotte until much later, and she didn't mind. The teenager usually would shut herself in her room, and read or study, to calm herself down. At least this bit she'd gotten from her mother.

It was a Friday night; it had been a tough week in all aspects. After calling Buttercup, Blossom downed a couple more scotches, showered the day off, and headed to the bed, clad in her most comfortable nightwear. It was past midnight when there were thunders outdoors, followed by heavy, storming rain.

As soon as she heard the storm, Blossom put down her book, turned off all the lights, and turned on the TV to a random, old-time movie. These types of storms that time of the year lasted all night, which meant one thing…

"Blossom?"

Jacquotte's figure was barely recognizable under the television's blue light, "Sweetie..." Blossom breathe, making the teenager gag.

"Stop..." she moaned.

Blossom just grinned at her daughter, "What are you doing up so late?"

The teenager hesitated for a minute, "Can't sleep." she muttered.

"Yeah..." Blossom breathed, looking back at the TV, "These thunderstorms can be quite scary."

"I'm not scared of them," Jacquotte bluntly stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

Blossom just kept staring at the TV, "Really? Because I am."

"You're not!" Jacquotte snarled.

"Yes, I am. I've told you so!" Blossom argued, glancing back at her daughter, "Always did."

Jacquotte fell silent for a long moment, shifting her weight from one foot to another, before offering, "Want me to keep you company? I mean, only if you need it."

Blossom smiled at her, "I think I'll take that offer."

Mother and daughter embraced each other in silence, gazing without much interest at a late-night movie. Jacquotte's head rested on her mom's shoulder, and Blossom couldn't keep herself from running her hands through her daughter's thick hair.

"Blossom," Jacque muttered, her eyelids weighing down, "I don't wanna hurt you."

The question startled Blossom a bit, making her stare down at the barely conscious girl, "I know you don't."

"But this thing..." the teenager's body was fighting to keep her eyes open, "it won't let me be, someday it'll just take me, and it'll make me hurt people. Bad. I don't want it to be you."

"I won't let it happen," Blossom whispered, rubbing her daughter's shoulder, "I'll fight for both of us."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Just like that, Jacque finally fell asleep. Blossom watched Jacque's body relax as she fell into unconsciousness.

The next morning, an off-duty police Sergeant knocked on Blossom's flat door.

"Hey..." Buttercup greeted, waving a handwritten note, "Got your info."

"You did!?" Blossom gasped, nearly dropping her mug, "Oh my God, Buttercup... Get in! Get in, please," She offered, stepping aside. Buttercup nodded, running a hand through her raven, neck-length locks, "Thank you so much! And so quick, too! Was it hard?"

"Before anything else: can I try to talk you out of it one last time?" the brunette asked, taking a seat by the kitchen counter.

Blossom sighed, serving her sister a cup of coffee, "You can try all you want, I assure you," She scoffed, lightly raising her shoulders, "How did you find him?'

Buttercup passed the note to her, "He's been running multiple bars and businesses of the sort across the city. Some shady stuff goes on in some of these places, so that's why we hear from him from time to time. This is the bar he's seen at the most. Everybody knows him by name there, and that's also where my team goes whenever they need to question him," The brunette shrugged, before sipping her coffee, "You did always say he was business-driven."

"Guess I was right..." Blossom muttered.

Buttercup raised her eyebrows, "Not exactly squeaky clean, though."

"Much cleaner than when he and I last spoke, that's for sure."

"That's a way to look at it." The brunette chuckled, "Still can't believe that happened..."

"It was a strange time in my life," Blossom cut her off with a warning glare.

"Auntie BC!"

Buttercup turned around to see a smiling Jacque, wearing red and black pajamas that were three times too big for her.

The brunette winked, "Hi Jake!" she greeted, as the teenager floated to hug her, "My favorite niece!" she giggled, before leaning into Blossom's ear, "Not too fond of Bubbles' kiddos, they're so boring."

"Yeah, sorry about that whole thing yesterday..." Jacque breathed, awkwardly scratching the back of her head before floating towards the fridge.

Blossom scowled at her, "Oh, now you're sorry."

Jacque raised her arms in defense, "I already grounded myself, I spent the entire day studying, barely speaking to anyone or having distractions, you can see for yourself," she motioned down the hallway.

"That's beside the point and you know that," Blossom snapped back, sternly, "You don't know how busy you make your aunt. Every week."

Buttercup giggled, "No problems, Blossom! It's Saturday and I'm off, I would use the time to hang out with Jacque if she weren't grounded."

This made Blossom freeze in place, "So, can you stay with her?" the redhead muttered.

Buttercup turned to her deadpan, widening her eyes, "You're not thinking-"

"I can look out for myself, Blossom," Jacque complained, making her mother snap at her.

"When you prove me that I'll believe you," Blossom scolded before turning back to Buttercup, "You know how my work can be. The only time I'll have to go to this place is after dark during the week, and-"

"Oh, you better go, then," Buttercup cut her off with a nod, "Just make sure to come back home before dawn. Do you want me to ring my buddy? Just so he's around if you need?"

Blossom bit her lip, "That bad? I mean, we have superpowers, remember?"

The brunette gave her a knowing look, "It ain't no Pokey Oaks."

Blossom had been in shady downtown places before, but Buttercup's heads-up was welcomed. The street was a limbo between downtown's busy side and its bohemian side. The numerous pairs of eyes watching her as she parked made the woman thank the gods for remembering to renew the car insurance.

The place itself wasn't half as bad, rather clean and well-lit. It was a spacious place to fit tables, and snooker boards, with industrial decor.

One of the guys playing snooker leered at her for a moment, "Hey sweet pie... Lookin' for somethin'?"

Blossom just walked up to the bar, running a hand through her long hair.

"Good afternoon..." She smiled at the old man bartending, who seized her up and down in return.

"What're yous gon' have?" The man asked, cold-blue eyes staring at her. Blossom thought he looked like an aging Hell's Angels member, which made him look way more like a grandpa than a burly bartender.

Blossom smiled at him, raising a hand, "Oh no, no! I'm not here to drink!" She politely refused, confusing the man, "I need to speak to Brick..." her voice weakened a bit as she mentioned his name.

The man narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "You's a cop?"

Blossom raised her eyebrows, "A cop? No, not at all." She gently assured him with another polite smile.

"Then why's you's lookin' far Brick?" He questioned her with a head motion, rather abruptly. Suddenly, Blossom's lawyer eloquence had dissipated.

"Hm, I, I I'm an acquaintance of his..." she muttered.

The old man slapped the rag in his shoulder down the counter, before raising an eyebrow at her, "Personal?"

The redhead swallowed the lump in her throat, "Y, you can say that-"

"Very personal?" He further questioned, making Blossom go red in the cheeks. Nonetheless, she nodded, "Then I have nun to say to you's." He stated, turning away from her.

Blossom frowned, "Excuse me?"

"You's gals come to hear, you's ask where's Brick, why's he didn't call back, why's this and that. Ever weekend is the same thang." He started to complain, dusting off the bottles of liquor.

The redhead fought the urge to roll her eyes. Typical.

"N, no!" Blossom meekly lifted a hand at him, "That's not the case! Not at all!"

He turned back around to stare at her, "Then why's you here?"

"Actually, we..." Blossom swallowed hard, glimpsing at the mirror behind the bottle of liquors, the group of snooker players watching the scene unfold. She decided to just be straightforward, "We've had a kid."

The man scowled, "What?"

The redhead swallowed again, "We have, uhm, I have a daughter... and he's her father..." She paused, watching him get even more confused, "Hum, but my, our daughter is born! I've already had it, had her! You understand?"

The bartender kept staring at her up and down like she had a second head. Blossom was almost calling Buttercup for help when she heard a voice from behind her.

"She my baby momma, Steve."

Blossom didn't even need to glance at the mirror behind the liquor bottles to confirm exactly to whom that voice belonged, and it made her want to smash her head on the bar counter.

A tall, broad figure loomed in the corner of her eye. Steve's jaw dropped as he stared at the figure with an amused grin.

"She...?"

Blossom peered to her side as the figure's neared her, placing its rough hand at the counter, "Mhm."

Steve's grin turned into a peal of laughter, "Why didn't you's said befo'?" He asked Blossom.

Brick chuckled, his chin mere inches from Blossom's ear, "Yeah, Steve, she talks weird."

Blossom jerked her head to try throwing Brick a dark look and nearly failed. She thought this would be easier, due to seeing his red-colored eyes every day, but it didn't compare to seeing him in person.

Brick locked eyes with her, "Long time no see. To what do I owe the honor?"