To the surprise of no one, least of all himself, Ace had gotten more than a bit tipsy that evening.

As he stumbled out of his private session with "Raven" to retrieve his two friends and found that they were also intoxicated, he convinced Tommy to drive them back to Mojo's hideout.

"C'mon man," he slurred. "It ain't that far."

"Yeah? And I just got a new ride," Tommy retorted. "I don't want you or your buddies puking all over it."

"It'll be finnneee," he said, stretching out the last word. "I'll even, ugh, 'scuse me, I'll even make you the vice mayor or whatever once we get Townsville. Cross my heart," Ace drew an X over his chest with his finger.

Tommy chuckled softly, giving him the same look his Ma did when he told her he was gonna be a rockstar when he grew up. "You still think that's gonna pan out for you, eh?"

"Course it is," Ace said defensively. "I got all of Mojo's shit and no Powerpuffs in my way. Now what do ya say? Are ya gonna help us or not?"

Tommy looked at the three intoxicated men and sighed. He checked his watch.

"Tell you what," he said. "My shift ends in ten minutes so if you can wait until then, I'll take you guys back."

Ace grinned. "Knew I could count on ya, Tom."

"Yeah, yeah. But you're all riding in back. If any one of you pukes in my truck you're gettin' me a new one."

After Tommy dropped off Ace and the others in front of Mojo's old hideout, the green gang leader got out of the back of the pickup truck and turned to see the other two fast asleep.

"Jesus," he hissed under his breath. He climbed back in, shaking his giant friend awake.

"Billy," he shook him. "Billy! Wake up, man!"

"No Mama," he mumbled half asleep. "Billy don't wanna get up. Billy tired."

"I ain't your mama!" Ace snapped. He slapped him lightly on the cheek, causing the giant to whine and his eyes to flutter open.

"Now get up! We're here!" Ace looked over at Arturo on Billy's other side, noticing how he was still completely out.

"And get Arturo," he added. "I ain't waitin' all day for ya."

As Billy tiredly grabbed his smaller friend and carried him out, Ace waved Tommy off and the trio made their way up the long, winding staircase.

Shortly after their attempted takeover of Townsville, Ace had finally taken care of what he referred to as "the Mojo and Co. situation," a few days ago. After a few drinks, he and the boys finally managed to drag the bodies down and bury them at the base of the lair. Even after they cleaned up the crime scene as much as they could, the smell still stuck around like a clingy visitor who didn't get the hint that they've outstayed their welcome.

"Alright Billy, toss him on that chair over there," Ace commanded once they got to the living room.

"Duh, okay boss," Billy said, letting out a yawn. The giant, taking the order literally, dropped his shorter friend on the loveseat with a thud before making his way over towards the couch.

"Billy!" he cried. "Careful, man!"

Ace rushed over to check and made sure that his friend didn't break his skull and was surprised to see that he hadn't even stirred.

"Huh," he mused. "Little guy's really out cold, eh?"

Curiously, he picked up Arturo's arm, lifted it in the air, and let it drop. When the unconscious Arturo still didn't react, an uneasy feeling sat in his stomach.

"Probably just had too much to drink," he said to no one in particular. "He just needs to sleep it off."

Ace got up and let out a yawn, and started to head towards Mojo's bedroom. A moment later, he felt the ground vibrate beneath him.

"What the hell," he froze. "Billy, did you feel that-"

When he turned to look back at the giant, he saw that he was fast asleep on the couch.

"Guess I need to start cuttin' back drinkin' myself," he mused. As he continued to make his way to bed, he felt the ground below shake once again, and he almost fell to the ground.

"Shit," he muttered to himself. "If we're havin' an earthquake now of all times-"

He walked over towards the window, and quickly he found the source of his annoyance. And it wasn't an earthquake.

It was a giant robot in the shape of a Powerpuff Girl.


It took a few minutes for Buttercup to figure out how to remember how to pilot the dynamo. She hadn't even seen the thing since she was a little kid, and even back then Blossom did most of the work.

However, the real challenge was figuring out how to get it out without alerting the Professor or her sisters.

It doesn't matter, she told herself after a few minutes of looking for something that could possibly keep it quiet and found nothing. All I need is enough time to deal with Ace and his cronies once and for all. No one uses a giant robot for stealth anyway.

As the dynamo launched into the air, it made a screeching noise that she was certain would wake up the entire neighborhood. She couldn't bring herself to care.

When she heard that the cops had made some sort of deal with the Gangreen Gang instead of locking them up the second they tried to take over Townsville, she was beyond furious.

"Stupid cops," she complained to her sisters the other day. "How can they just let the Gangreen Gang get away with this?"

"Well, we don't know the situation," Blossom defended. "I'm sure everyone in the police department is doing what they think is best. Once Ms. Bellum gets back into town, I'm sure everything will get sorted out."

Yeah, right. And she was supposed to be "the smart one."

Buttercup's fists tightened around the controls of the dynamo as she made her way towards Mojo's former hideout and fumed over Ace for the first time in years. Within a couple minutes, she landed at the base of the volcano.

"Woah, woah," she desperately tried to straighten the dynamo out as it stumbled. She grabbed the grounding lever moments before she crashed into the former supervillain's lair.

As she forced the Dynamo to stand as straight as possible, she searched around for the control to zoom in the vision and for the microphone.

"Ace!" she yelled, her voice echoing through the area. "I know you're in there! If you and your stupid friends don't get your asses out of Townsville now I'm gonna blast you all into the sun!"


"Shit!" Ace hissed. "Shit, shit shit! I thought that thing got destroyed ages ago!" In a panic, he turned back toward Billy, now starting to stir.

"Duh, what's going on, boss?" Billy asked lazily.

"Billy!" He exclaimed. "It's that fucking Powerpuff! That little brat don't know when to quit!"

"P-Powerpuff?" Billy stuttered. "But you told Billy that we don't have to worry about the Powerpuffs no more!"

"Yeah, well forgive me for not anticipatin' them to be usin' a giant fucking robot to do their bidding," he snapped.

"Get out here, asshole!" Buttercup's voice rang through the air, the entire lair shaking violently as it was hit with a blunt force object.

"You took away our powers!" Another hit, this one almost sending Ace collapsing to the ground.

"You set half of the criminals in Townsville loose!" Another hit.

"You made my sister cry!" Another one.

"And I don't know what you did to my best friend, but I know you had something to do with it!" The most violent hit yet. A picture of some monkey in a captain's hat hit his head.

"Ow!" he hissed in pain. He put his fingers towards his temple and saw they were red with blood.

"You ruined everything! And if you don't get the hell out of Townsville, I'll take you down myself!" There were no breaks between the assaults anymore. Everywhere in all directions, things were falling to the ground and crashing; the TV, the various ships in a bottle Mojo had decorated the living room area with. Even the loveseat Arturo was sleeping on fell, Arturo himself still out cold.

"Jesus Arturo," Ace cursed. Unable to walk, he crawled over toward the floor by the loveseat, and shook his shorter friend as violently as he could.

"Wake up, man!" he yelled. When Arturo remained unresponsive, he slapped him across the face as hard as he could.

"Arturo!" he screamed. "Wake up!"

"Uh, boss?" Billy asked timidly. "Is he okay?"

To Ace's horror, Arturo's eyes remained closed.

"Fuck!" he yelled. He put his ear up to his chest, and breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his heart still beating.

"Billy," he ordered. He pulled out his wallet and threw it at the giant. "Grab Arturo and take him straight to the hospital, you understand me? Straight there. I'll distract the Puff to keep her from comin after ya. Once I take care of her, I'll be right behind ya."

"H-Hospital?" Billy asked, his eyes starting to water.

"Yes, the hospital! Now go, now!" he yelled. "If you can find a phone and get an ambulance or hell, even a taxi, even better."

As Billy held back his tears and picked up his smaller friend, walking towards the exit, Ace made his way toward Mojo's lab, where he kept his giant laser gun.

"I ain't in no mood to deal with your bullshit, Buttercup," Ace muttered to himself. "If you think you can come here and threaten the Gangreen Gang, you got another thing comin.'"


When Bubbles saw her sister grab some clothes out of their closet and leave the room, she instantly grew worried.

It wasn't completely out of character for Buttercup to sneak out at night; she had done it once or twice before, usually to hang out with Mitch or go to some party one of the eighth graders were throwing.

And yet, with Mitch still missing and none of the girls having been in school for months, she knew it had to be something else.

She hesitated to follow behind her; after all, both Blossom and the Professor always said it was wrong to spy on people, and Buttercup had been so angry lately.

What if she's planning on doing something dangerous? She thought to herself. I should at least try to talk to her to see what she's up to.

Eventually, her curiosity and concern won out, and she slipped out of bed, careful not to wake her redheaded sister beside her.

"Buttercup?" she whispered once she was out of the room. "Buttercup, what are you doing?"

But Buttercup was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh gosh," she whispered to herself. "I hope she didn't leave already."

As quietly as she could, she made her way down the staircase and towards the front door.

"Buttercup?" She whispered out into the night sky. As the chilly night wind bit into her skin, she felt goosebumps start to form. Absent-mindedly, she began rubbing at her arms and looked around outside for any sign of her sister.

As she stepped outside, she heard something in the backyard and looked back, and froze in shock.

The dynamo, in all of its rusted and fifty-foot glory towered over her, their house, and their entire neighborhood. Moments later, it launched into the sky with a screech, smoke trailing behind it.

"Oh no," she breathed. "That can't be good."


Bang! Bang! Bang!

With every strike towards that stupid lair, Buttercup felt just a little bit better.

She thought back to when she and her sisters were first created, how that stupid monkey tricked them into building it as a safe haven to build his weapons of mass destruction.

Shoulda done this ages ago, she thought to herself. Shoulda taken care of the Gangreen Gang ages ago too.

She pictured Ace trapped inside, screaming like a little girl, and grinned. She hoped he was scared, as scared as Mr. Reeserson was.

"Buttercup!" she heard Ace's voice call up to her from the top of the observatory. Just slightly above her, she saw Ace's disheveled, sweaty form. "What the hell do ya think you're doin?"

"Doing what I should've done years ago!" she retorted. "Taking out the trash!"

When she struck the structure again, Ace slammed the door shut in a hurry to avoid falling out onto the ground.

"C'mon you sniveling asshole!" Buttercup screamed as she continued to attack Mojo's hideout. "Get out here and face me like a man! Or are ya scared of a little girl with no powers?"

For a few minutes, all she received in response was silence. Her fists clenched around the controls.

"Alright, if that's the way you wanna play it," she hovered her hand over the button for the missile launcher. "Then I'll force ya out!"

Just as she was about to blow Mojo's old hideout sky high for good, a massive laser gun appeared.

"I ain't goin' nowhere, kid," a bright green blaze flew out, aimed directly at her.

She only had seconds to process the blast coming straight towards her, before the emergency lights came on and she felt a searing pain throughout her body, and then, darkness.


As Ace watched in disbelief as the giant Powerpuff shaped robot was lit bright green and fell to the ground below, the first emotion he felt was relief, followed by satisfaction.

After that, there was terror.

"...Shit," he cursed under his breath.

After the attack, he was sweaty, out of breath, and had more than a few cuts and bruises from being knocked around.

He continued to look down at the collapsed, dilapidated robot, and the girl inside.

It was self-defense, a clear case of it if there ever was one. It was either her or him, and well, what self respecting villain would choose a Powerpuff over saving his own skin?

She'll be fine, he thought to himself. She has to be. She's a Powerpuff for cryin out loud. And the toughest one on top of that. Ain't no way some stupid laser gun could take her out…

He looked down at the robot, covered in scorch marks, and felt a strong sense of unease in his stomach.

He thought back to the deal he made with Officer Samson in exchange for his and the gang's immunity.

"If you harm a hair on a single citizen in Townsville," he said. "My men will gun down you and your boys like dogs. That isn't a threat, it's a promise."

Yeah, he was in trouble.

His heart going a million miles an hour, he ran out of the lab and towards the exit, going down the stairs as fast as he could.

When he got down to the ground and stood next to the fallen robot, he saw that there was a crack where its eyes were supposed to be.

Inside, he saw the unconscious body of the twelve year old Puff.

"Shit," he whispered to himself yet again. He looked around to see if there was anyone around. A wave of indignant anger rushed over him. "What the hell were you thinkin, Buttercup!"

He grabbed a nearby rock and slammed it against the glass windows, making a big enough hole so he could reach inside and grab the young girl, placing her gently onto the ground.

He knelt down, putting two fingers on her wrist like he had seen Grubber do every now and then after one of the gang had gotten knocked unconscious by a particularly bad beating or were passed out after a night of getting wasted.

When he felt the steady rhythm of her pulse, breathed a sigh of relief. But his thoughts quickly went back to Billy and Arturo.

"Look kid," he said, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. "I'll tell the docs that you're here once Arturo's up and runnin, but I gotta take care of my own first. It ain't my fault you decided to be stupid and play hero."

He left, leaving the green Powerpuff lying in the grass.


When Bubbles woke up Blossom and told her what she saw, she didn't quite believe her at first.

"Bubbles," her redheaded sister mumbled half asleep. "It was just a bad dream. Go back to bed."

"It was not a dream!" she defended. "If it was, then where is Buttercup, huh?"

At this, Blossom stirred, and reached out for her other sister on her right side. "Buttercup, tell Bubbles she's dreaming."

When her hands found nothing but air, her eyes shot open.

"Buttercup?"

Blossom leaped out of bed, and found that her dark haired sister was nowhere to be found.

"Where did she go?!" She exclaimed.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Bubbles said. "She took the dynamo and flew away!"

"What?! But why-" Blossom paused. She looked at her sister in fear. "You… you don't think she's going after…"

"We gotta stop her before she gets herself hurt!" Bubbles cried. Her thoughts turned toward the dynamo, and she flinched remembering how destructive it was. "Or she does something she'll regret."

"Come on!" Blossom grabbed her by the hand, and rushed her out the door. "We gotta tell the Professor!"


"Arturo de la Guerra!" Ace demanded, slamming his hands on the receptionist's desk, blood pouring from his forehead and covered in sweat. He had ran as far as he could until he happened to come across a Taxi driver who was working the night shift. He flagged the terrified man down, threw himself into his car and ordered him to take him straight to Townsville Hospital.

The middle aged woman blinked at him in surprise. Her eyes turned wide as saucers once she recognized who he was. She reached for the buzzer.

"I'm calling security if you don't leave right now-"

Ace snatched her hand, gripping it as hard as he could.

"Let go of me!" she yelled.

"I don't have time for this bullshit! Just tell me what room Arturo is in!" he snapped. "The little green Mexican guy? He was with the seven foot tall cyclops? Impossible to miss if you have two working eyeballs and half a braincell."

The woman hesitated, looking at Ace with a mix of fear and hatred.

"Ask your friend over there," she gestured over towards the waiting room area. Ace turned around and just a few feet away, he saw Billy sitting on one of the chairs.

"Billy!" Ace rushed toward the giant. "Where's Arturo? What happened?"

"Boss!" Billy embraced his leader in a bone crushing hug. "The doctor guy said that he's really sick! He started asking me all these confusing questions about what happened and what he did, and I told them about the pretty ladies and the beer-"

"Do you know where they took him?"

"Uh," Billy paused, looking to be in deep thought. "They said something about an Emergency Room and tests, and his stomach and getting it pumped, but when I asked them how you'd pump a stomach they just left."

"Fuck," Ace slid down in the closest chair next to him, and put his head in his hands. "Did they say when he was gettin' out?"

"Uh, I don't know," Billy said. He was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "I-Is Arturo gonna be okay, boss?"

Ace looked up at the giant, and narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses. He saw that the cyclops was starting to sniffle, a clear warning sign of the flood of tears that was sure to come.

"You listen to me," Ace snapped. "Of course Arturo is gonna be fine, he's always fine. How many times has one of us passed out after doin' somethin' stupid?"

"Uh," the giant hesitated, not sure if this was a trick question. "A lot?"

"Exactly," Ace said. "This is just another one of those times. Arturo got stupid, and the second he steps out of the ER on his own two feet I'm gonna make the little dumbass regret ever bein' born. So you can just quit your whinin' because everythin's gonna be fine."

"O-Okay, boss," Billy nodded, wiping his eye with his arm. "After Arturo gets better, are we still gonna take over Townsville?"

This question made Ace pause. For the first time since he stepped foot in the hospital, he looked around and saw how half of the people were staring at him warily, and the other half were purposely trying to avoid eye contact as much as possible.

"I… I don't know," Ace whispered. "Maybe the little guy was right. We should've just cut our losses and got the hell out of town," he sighed. His thoughts once again turned toward Buttercup, still lying on the ground unconscious outside of Mojo's former lair.

Whatever happens to Buttercup, it's over for him and the Gang now as soon as she's discovered. As much as he hated the Puffs and this entire town, watching Buttercup nearly die at his hand proved to him that he didn't have it in him to use Mojo's weapons to try and take the town by force. Their only option left was to leave.

As he was lost in his thoughts, it took him a moment to realize that Billy was nudging him with his elbow.

"Look boss!" Billy gestured toward the TV. "It's Ms. Bellum!"

"What-" Ace looked up at the early morning news station on the TV, and stared wide-eyed at the image of Ms. Bellum.

"Good morning, Townsville," a male news reporter said. "Just a mere few hours ago, former Mayor Sara Bellum gave a press conference in Toronto regarding the fate of our dear city. Here is what she said."

The image of Ms. Bellum in the corner turned full screen, and it showed the redhead sitting at a table beside a blond woman Ace didn't recognize, a stack of index cards in her hand.

"Thank you all for meeting with me today," she started. "I called this press conference today to talk about the future of Townsville, and what role I'll play in it's future," she took the index card, and moved it to the back.

"As some of you may know, but some of you may not, I came here to Toronto at the request of my brother a few weeks ago. He, his wife, and my two young nieces needed me here with them, and they will continue to need me for the time being," the hand holding the index cards shook, but she steadied herself and read off the next card.

"Therefore, I am unable to fulfill my duties as Mayor of Townsville and… and I surrender the city to Ace D. Copular to do with as he will. My… lawyer," her voice hesitated at the last word, turning toward the smiling blond woman. "Justine St. Claire will be on the next plane to the States to make sure the transfer of power goes over smoothly."

"Thank you Ms. Bellum," Justine said cheerfully. "Yes, times like these can indeed be tumultuous, but I promise I'll do everything in my power to make sure Townsville remains the shining city all of its citizens deserve."

As Ace stared into Justine's wide green eyes through the TV, it felt like she somehow knew he was watching right at this very moment and was looking at him specifically.

The room murmured in cacophony as everyone in the room spoke over one another muttering in outrage and fear, but the overlapping voices were nothing but a steady hum in Ace's ears, as easy to ignore as the hum of the fluorescent lights. As he looked at Justine, he felt a warm feeling come over his body.


PPGGuy06: If you were guessing something ill advised and reckless, you'd be correct lol

Anon: She definitely took a stand, that's for sure!

GGGFan: Yeah, poor Snake is getting the short end of the stick as usual. Though with everything going on with the Gang, he might be safer in jail at the moment...

Visitor: Thank you! Yes, Ace is starting to feel the consequences of his actions in a big way, as are the others. How it all will end, only time will tell.

Thanks again to everyone reading! I did a few minor edits for the previous chapter if you want to check that out. Other than that, feel free to let me know what you think!