A/N: Hey everyone!

So, this has been sitting in my google docs and written and rewritten more times than I can count. I'm super excited to finally be publishing the next chapter! If there are still any PPG fans out there, I'd love to know what you think!

"Your total comes out to $54.43. Would you like to round up to donate to Bubbles' Fluffy Puppy Charity fund? With every dollar, a fluffy puppy in need gets a loving home." Ace asked for probably the thousandth millionth time since his first shift at Super Savings. He was getting better at it; his eye barely even twitched anymore.

"Oh, not today," the woman said. "Sarah and Jake have a birthday coming up and we're trying to save a bit of money. Isn't that right, kids?"

"Hey, aren't you the bad guy from the commercial?" the little girl asked. The way she looked at him made him feel like a tiger at the zoo.

"Sarah, don't be rude-"

"Yeah! He's the guy that gets beaten up by Buttercup!" the boy beside her laughed. "I really liked the part where she punched you in the face. Kapow!" He threw an air punch in Ace's general direction.

"Jake-"

"No, it was more like this. Kablam!" Sarah pretended to uppercut Ace. The two children continued to argue back and forth on the exact manner in which he was beaten up. In his peripheral vision, Ace could see Snake giving him a warning glance.

"Both of you, stop it right now!"

"Roundhouse kick!" Jake screamed. He spun around and, now somehow having gotten behind the register, kicked Ace right in his most prized body part.

"Jacob Jones!" the woman cried, rushing over to grab her son and pull him to her side. She gave Ace an apologetic look. "I am so sorry-"

"Just get your shitty brats out of here," Ace said, doubled over in pain. "And don't come back."

The apologetic look on her face instantly turned pissed. "Excuse me?"

Ace stood up, walking towards the woman. "I said-"

"Ace, stop it," Snake hissed. He rushed over toward his friend, putting himself in between him and the customers. He turned toward the woman. "I'm so sorry ma'am, he's new. We'll of course give you a full refund for your order if you'd like."

The woman sniffed. "I want to talk to your manager. This behavior is completely unacceptable."

"I promise I will handle it. It won't happen again. I'll pay for your next time up to one hundred dollars out of my own pocket."

"Next time?! You must be crazy if you think me or my family will ever be coming back here. This clearly isn't a safe environment for children." She turned toward her twins. "Come on kids, we're leaving."

After the woman walked out in a huff, Snake turned on Ace. "What the hell were you thinking?! You could've gotten us fired!"

"I'd like to hear you talk when you get kicked in the balls by an eight year old," Ace said, his voice still strained. "I'm taking a goddamn smoke break,"

Snake gave him an incredulous look. "Smoke break?! You've been here an hour and the store is packed!"

"Yeah? Well tough shit."

He ripped off his walkie talkie and stormed out, ignoring Snake calling out to him.

He made his way over to the bench outside, and was unsurprised to find that Tommy was there too, most likely avoiding work.

"Rough day already, huh?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Ace retorted. "You got a cigarette?"

Wordlessly, Tommy pulled out his pack from his back pocket, handing it to Ace. He pulled one out. Tommy reached over to light it.

Ace exhaled a cloud of smoke and felt a little lighter. "Fuckin' customers."

"Tell me about it," Tommy agreed. "At least when I worked at Taco Bell I could spit in their food."

Ace couldn't help but snort. Tommy, though he probably counted as an even bigger loser than he was, was an alright guy sometimes. Forty-five years old, balding and with yellow teeth, he was the only person who made working at Super Savings worthwhile.

At least he didn't treat him like a sideshow attraction, or act like he was about to shoot him dead when he walked by. And he got him cheap weed.

He glared down at his green polo shirt with the little picture of Buttercup in the corner staring up at him with a cocky smirk. Ace secretly wondered if Melinda knew about the green Powerpuff girl's former crush on him and chose to give him her shirt on purpose.

"You've been working here, what, five years now?"

"Six in November," Ace said. "Why?"

"I was just wondering," Tommy said. "Why haven't you gotten yourself a ride yet? Don't you have to walk like two miles back and forth everyday?"

"Why do you think? All my money goes to paying the bills."

Tommy barked out a laugh. "That's a load of shit. At least half of it goes to booze and drugs."

"At least I still don't live in my mother's basement."

"Alright, alright," Tommy held his hands up in surrender. "I was just asking because I could hook you up with something if you're interested."

"Yeah?" Ace lifted up his sunglasses. "What do you have in mind?"

"My stepdad kicked the bucket last month and left me his motorcycle. It's a piece of shit, but it still runs. I just bought a new bike last year so if you don't want it, it's going to the scrap yard."

Ace considered it for a moment. "How much do you want for it?"

"Since we're friends?" Tommy shrugged. "Seven hundred should do."

"Well shit, Tom," Ace frowned. "That's practically all of mine and the rest of the guys' savings combined. Snake would have my head if I even breathed next to that money and wasn't bleedin' out in a hospital or something. Plus I don't got my license or nothing."

"There's nothing to it, I learned in a couple weeks when I was sixteen," Tommy rested his hand on his shoulder. "Look, throw in an extra three hundred and I'll teach you and all your buddies how to ride. How could he say no to that? There's no way in hell you'll be able to find a bike and someone to teach all of you how to ride it for only a grand."

"Well, when you put it that way…" Ace hesitated. He had always wanted a motorcycle, ever since he could remember. "Alright, it's a deal. I'll come over after work and we can start lessons Saturday; me and Snake are off and Arturo doesn't start his shift until 4. Just don't say nothing to Snake until I talk to him. He's already pissed at me."

Tommy shook his head. "You kids have too many worries for someone your age. You deserve to have a bit of fun."

Ace shrugged, taking another puff of his cigarette. He purposely kept his eyes straight ahead, avoiding Tommy's concerned gaze. They fell on the statue of Blossom, flanked by her two sisters, kicking Mojo Jojo in the face a few hundred feet in front of the store entrance. "A lot of things would have to change for that to happen."

Snake groaned as he unlocked the door to the apartment. He had just finished a twelve hour shift on a Friday, and Ace left early (again), leaving him as the only cashier. He'd been avoiding him all day and didn't even give him as much as a thank you for saving him from getting fired. Or arrested.

Not that he was surprised.

"Hey man!" Arturo greeted him with irritating enthusiasm. He and Billy were sitting on the couch, some cartoon playing in the background. "How was work?"

"Shitty," he deadpanned. "Ace snapped at a customer and all I can do is hope and pray the boss doesn't find out." He took off his shoes and threw himself down on the couch on the other side of Billy.

"He was acting kinda weird when he got home," Arturo said. "Barely said two words and went straight towards the linen closet. I think he was getting some cash. Said he had to meet up with someone for something."

"For Christ's sake," Snake muttered. He wanted to pull his own hair out. "If he's out getting drunk with Tommy again-"

"I don't know man," Arturo said. "When he does he usually just tells us. I think it's something else." He sat in silence for a moment thinking. "Maybe he's out looking for another job or something?"

Snake snorted. "He can barely keep up with the job he already has. He wouldn't get a second one if you put a gun to his head."

"Well, we have been kind of low on funds lately," Arturo said. "He's always been kind of like the leader so maybe he feels like it's his job to look after things? Maybe that's why he's being all secretive, he's embarrassed about it."

Snake looked back at Arturo. They've had this talk too many times to count. Arturo was the youngest member of the gang at only twenty, but he was only younger than him by a year and a half. He was far from being dumb or sheltered.

And yet he still maintained Ace was a good guy, and no matter what he said to the contrary, he never faltered. It was pointless to argue.

"Nah, he's probably just out getting high off his ass with Tommy."

Arturo shrugged and turned his attention back to the TV. "Billy, how can you stand watching this kiddie crap?"

"Billy love Clifford!" Billy shouted. "Could we get a dog like Clifford? Pretty please?"

"Hell no, man," Arturo said. "You have any idea how big his shits would be? You couldn't pay me to clean that up."

"Ooh," Billy looked down sadly. "But Billy really want a dog…"

"Hey Billy, I'm about to heat up some leftover nachos. You want some?" Snake asked quickly. He knew if he didn't distract him quick, he wouldn't shut up about it until Ace inevitably snapped at him and then he'd cry for hours, not allowing a single one of them peace until he tired himself out.

"Yeah!" he said, immediately perking up at the mention of food, Clifford completely forgotten. "Billy love nachos!"

"Cool. Arturo? How about you?"

"Nah, I'm good man. I ate earlier."

Snake nodded and walked over to the ancient, stained up refrigerator and opened the door. After pushing away a few cans of beer and Red Bulls, a half eaten sandwich, and a bottle of hot sauce, he found a basket of nachos Arturo brought home from work last night. They were filled to the brim with sour cream, guacamole, and onions, and his mouth started watering at the sight. He grabbed a couple plates and scooped out a generous amount on each before putting them in the microwave.

As he waited for his dinner to heat up, he saw that someone had brought the mail in and put it on the counter. He picked it up and started looking through it, frowning at the various bills, ads, and other junk mail. He frowned at the notice reminding him that rent was late, yet again. Sal was bound to come by soon, and he made a mental note to bring it up with Ace when he got home.

Setting the notice aside, he stopped again once he saw a postcard from Grubber. Attached was a picture of him along with his two nearly identical brothers, posed with their various instruments; one with a flute, the other with a piano, and of course, Grubber with his violin.

In the most horrifically messy handwriting he'd ever seen, Grubber wrote:

Greetings from Monster Isle!

The boys and I are having a spectacular time and the band is doing swell. We're thinking of booking a show in Townsville soon, and it would be most excellent if the four of you gentlemen would come see us.

Your esteemed friend and compatriot,

Grubber

Snake snorted. Grubber, barely able to speak two words when he first met him, learned most of his English from the old movies and nineteenth century British novels that he naturally gravitated towards for some ungodly reason. Still, it was charming in an odd way he could never pin down.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the ding of the microwave, and opened it, taking out both plates. He walked back over to the living room, handing one to Billy.

"You guys see this from Grubber?"

Arturo looked towards Snake, who was waving the postcard in his direction.

"Yeah, he wants us to come see his show or something. I don't know, I couldn't read all of it. I love the dude but he really needs to learn to write better."

"Billy want to go see Grubber!" Billy exclaimed as he shoveled nachos into his mouth.

"Yeah, I mean I guess we could," Arturo said. "It's really cool that his family band thing is working out for him."

Snake nodded. He remembered when Grubber told all of them that he had found the brothers he lost contact with years ago on a social media site called MonsterSpace. He almost didn't believe him, thinking it must be some weird joke or something he saw on TV. But when Grubber showed him the pictures, he couldn't deny the resemblance. Grubber made an account of his own and reached out, and before they knew it he was packing his bags and moving back to Monster Isle.

"As long as he's performing somewhere close, I don't see why not." Snake said. "Maybe when Ace gets home-"

A loud, angry knock on the door interrupted their conversation. The two boys exchanged an anxious glance. Even Billy stopped eating and froze.

"Damn it," Snake said under his breath. "It's him."

"Maybe Ace just forgot his key?" Arturo whispered hopefully.

"Open up you lazy bastards!" came the gruff voice of a middle aged man. "I know you're here!"

Damn it, Damn it, Damn it. Shit.

"I said, open up!" yelled their landlord. "Unless you want me to start writing your eviction notice now."

Snake sighed. "Just stay cool, I'll get him off our backs."

He walked reluctantly over to the front door, opening it to see a balding and sweaty fifty year old man. Despite the fact that he was a few inches shorter than Snake, the glower he was giving him made him feel two feet tall.

"Hey Sssal," Snake tried to sound as casual as possible. He winced internally. He had mostly grown out of his speech impediment, but it still came out when he was nervous.

"Don't "Hey S-ss-sal" me! You're late on your rent! Again!" the man yelled. "You know how much grief I get by even letting you guys live here? I should be charging you extra for that alone."

"I'm sorry," Snake said pleadingly. "It's the off season. All our hours have been getting cut at work, but it's sure to pick up soon with the holidays coming. We'll pay back every penny we owe you, I promise."

"That might mean something kid, if this wasn't the fifth month in a row," Sal said. "I've tried the patient and understanding act, but apparently that doesn't work on you lot. No, what you need is some tough love."

"What… exactly does that mean?"

"It means," Sal began. "No more waiting. Either you pay up now, or by this time tomorrow you and all your buddies are out."

Snake closed his eyes and felt his stomach drop. They did, technically, have the money. Even though it would nearly drain all their savings from the past year and a half.

"Let me go check, we might have some cash on us," he said in a shaky voice.

"Humph," Sal grumbled. "Fine, but you better be coming back. I ain't leaving."

"Snake, maybe we should wait until Ace gets home-"

"Like hell I'm waiting on that punk," Sal interrupted. "You got the money, you give me the money."

Snake and Arturo exchanged a worried glance before Snake made a beeline to where they kept their stash.

The stash, kept in a safe in the linen closet, was the gang's emergency savings that was only supposed to be touched in, well, an emergency. If someone lost their job, or there was a fire, or if one of them got shot and landed in the hospital. Which, unfortunately, wasn't a possibility that could be ruled out in this neighborhood.

Snake tried to ignore the burning look he knew Sal was aiming in his direction and focus on the task at hand. He quickly put in the combination and opened it to find…

"Thirty bucks?!" he hissed. "That asshole-"

"What's going on back there?"

Snake flinched. He looked down at the measly three ten dollar bills that Ace had left him. He got down on his hands and knees, reaching into the safe as far as he could, praying that the rest was hiding in a hard to reach corner.

Tears pricked his eyes and threatened to spill over. Nothing.

He got up and sighed, walking back over to his landlord, presenting him with the thirty dollars that represented all of his and his friends' hard work.

Sal glared down at it as if it was an insect. "Is this some kind of joke? Where's the rest of it?"

"We've had some unforeseen expenses," Snake said. "But if you give us just a little longer-"

"Hell no. I got my own bills to pay," he said. "You kids better start packing up your stuff because I was serious about wanting you out by tomorrow. That's what you all agreed to when you moved in and I'm not in the business of supporting freeloaders. Just ask my ex wife."

"Sal, come on," Arturo spoke up. "You know we're good for it."

"You, maybe. But Mr. Tall, Dark and Loathsome? Fat chance," Sal said. "But look on the bright side. I hear the city dump is nice this time of year." The bastard grinned as he said it.

"Dump?" Billy said, tears welling up in his eyes. "Billy has to go back to the dump?"

"Hey, don't blame me, kid. Blame that worthless sack of-"

"Billy don't want to go to the dump!" he sobbed. He collapsed onto the ground, pounding his fists and feet like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Every single hit nearly knocked everyone in the room off their feet.

"Can't you get him to shut up?" Sal asked, his hands over his ears.

"Billy, calm down," Snake tried. "We'll think of something-"

"Billy don't like the dump! The dump had all those scary bugs and weird cats with pointy noses that Ace said would bite me if I pet them!"

After a few more unsuccessful attempts to calm down Billy, Sal finally spoke up.

"Jesus, alright alright!" Sal shouted. "I'll give you guys another week to get your shit figured out if you stop him from destroying the entire building!"

"Billy can stay?" he sniffed, wiping his tears.

"Sure, whatever. Just don't get too comfortable-"

"Thank you! Thank you!" Billy pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"You're welcome," Sal said. "Now get off of me before you break my spine."

Billy let the man go. Sal grasped for breath for a few seconds.

"You kids are going to put me in an early grave, I swear it," he muttered. As he headed for the door, he looked straight at Snake.

"Make sure you get your friend in line, because I mean it. One week."

"Sup, fellas!" Ace said, as he walked in. He was in an uncharacteristically good mood. He spinned a pair of keys around his finger as he stumbled slightly over towards the others. Snake knew immediately that he must've been drinking. "Come outside, I got a little surprise for yous."

Snake felt his mind wander as he thought of what Ace could possibly mean by surprise, and none of the options were good.

"Ace," he said firmly. "We need to talk. Sal came by and-"

"Pssh! Did that blowhard threaten you again? When a guy swings his dick around that much you just know he's compensating for not having one."

"Ace!" Snake shouted. "This is important! Whatever stupid thing you did we can fix tomorrow but right now we really need to have a serious talk."

"Yeah? What I have to show you is even importanter." Ace slurred. "Now quit being a baby and come outside so I can show you what I got."

Snake sighed. He really wanted to throw something at that stupid smug face.

"What did you get, Ace?" Arturo asked.

"Finally! Someone is asking the real questions here," he walked over to Arturo and ruffled his hair. "I can always count on you little buddy."

"Whatever. Just take us outside and show us whatever you got so we can drop it and get back to the serious matter at hand." Snake stormed towards the door, followed closely by Ace, Arturo, and Billy.

"Well, what do you guys think?" Ace said, gesturing towards the vehicle. "Tommy was gonna get rid of her, can you imagine? Send her straight to the scrap heap. I saved her life, I'm tellin' ya."

Snake gaped at the horrific contraption before him. He tried to speak, but the words got caught in his throat. Ace, the leader and, at least in theory, main provider of the gang, bought a-

"You bought a motorcycle?" he eventually spit out. This was a bad dream. It had to be a bad dream. Of all the stupid things to do.

"Hey, if opportunity knocks," Ace said without a single care in the world. "I'd have been a dumbass if I didn't take it."

"You don't even know how to ride!"

"Tommy promised to teach us all the basics. Can't be too hard if he can do it," Ace laughed. "And this way, we won't have to walk everyday to work. We can go wherever we want, whenever we want. Not to mention all the chicks. They won't be able to keep their hands off of us when they see this bad baby."

"You fucking idiot!" Snake yelled. "This is what you spent all of our savings on? This piece of shit?"

"Jesus Snake, what the hell has gotten into you?"

"Sal came by today, while you were out getting drunk with Tommy. He almost kicked us out because we were late with rent, again. I was going to pay him back but you stole all our money."

Ace froze. "You were about to give Sal our emergency savings?"

"Yes! Because he was about to kick us out!" Snake cried. "And now we're all well and screwed because you bought a fucking motorcycle without talking to any of us first!"

Ace turned towards Arturo and Billy, who were busy trying to make themselves as invisible as possible. "He's overexaggerating, right? Sal always talks big but that's all he is. Talk."

"I don't know man, he seemed pretty serious to me," Arturo shuffled his feet, looking at the motorcycle. "It's a cool bike and all but maybe you should've said something first. You know the money situation isn't too hot right now."

Ace sighed, knowing he was outnumbered. "Fine," he acquiesced. "I'll tell Tommy I want a refund tomorrow at work. Are you happy now?"

"Thrilled," Snake deadpanned.

"Whatever. C'mon, let's get back inside. I'm freezing my nuts off out here."

Once they got back to the apartment, Ace threw the keys onto the coffee table and threw himself on the couch. He sneered when he saw what was on.

"Which one of yous put on Clifford?"

"Uh, I did boss," Billy said. "Billy like Clifford!"

"Well I don't," Ace spat out. "No more of that baby shit, we're watching something good." He grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels, frowning when he realized the only other thing that was on was the news.

"Piece of shit TV," he muttered. "Everyone else in this goddamn city has cable, and we're stuck with this. It's the twenty-first century for god's sake."

The rest of the gang looked at each other awkwardly, the tension still thick in the air.

"I'm going to bed," Snake said to no one in particular. "It's getting pretty late."

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna hit the hay soon too, I got work tomorrow." said Arturo. "Hey Snake, is it okay if Billy sleeps in our room tonight? He still looks a little rattled from earlier."

"As long as he doesn't mind sleeping on the floor. I got a couple extra pillows and blankets he can borrow."

Since their apartment only had two bedrooms, Billy spent most of his nights sleeping on the couch. But it was clear Ace wasn't about to budge from his spot.

"Yay! Billy gets to have a sleepover!" Billy cheered. "Can we play Go Fish?"

"Sure man," Arturo smiled, walking him over to the bedroom. "We can play anything you want."

"What about Hide and Seek?"

"Anything that involves sitting down and being quiet."

Snake listened to their banter as they headed to their room. He desperately prayed to whatever god who might be listening that Ace followed through on what he said. Because if they didn't get that money back, they were well and thoroughly fucked.

Ace scowled at the screen staring back at him. Of course, today of all days was when those damn Powerpuffs decided to "save the day," aka beat the shit out of some lowlife criminal, and get praised for it on national television.

At least, that's what he assumed when he saw the three eleven-year-old girls he hated with every fiber of his being sitting across from some reporter lady he barely recognized. And from the looks of it, it must've been one hell of a fight. Buttercup had a bloody scar on her cheek, and Bubbles a bloody nose. Even Blossom, who had fought fifty foot tall monsters and walked away without a hair out of place, looked as though she had been thrown in a tornado. He didn't think he'd ever seen those superpowered little freaks look so disheveled in his life.

"So tell me girls," the lady started, her expression serious. "How was it that the Amoeba Boys were able to rob the bank, escape with ten million dollars, and make it all the way to Citiesville before you were able to apprehend them?"

The Amoeba Boys?! Ace nearly choked. He thought it would be a cold day in hell before the Powerpuffs ever lost to the Amoeba Boys, of all people. Even his gang could run circles around them back in the day. Hell, they probably still could.

Buttercup scowled at the woman. "Look, lady-"

"Mrs. Carlson," Blossom interrupted her sister before she could go on a rant. "You have to understand that fighting crime is complicated; even with superpowers, it can still take time before you're able to take down a perpetrator. But we got them in the end, before they could use any of the money they stole or hurt any innocent civilians. And that's what matters."

"I see," Mrs. Carlson scrunched up her face. "But the real question is: Can Townsville still trust you to keep them safe? A close call today could mean a tragedy tomorrow."

"As I said," Blossom said, grinning with rigid posture. "Crime fighting isn't an exact science. But I can assure you and everyone watching at home that we will always do our best to fight for the good of everyone."

"Good of everyone my ass," Ace muttered. He shut off the TV and tossed the remote aside. He needed a drink.

He walked over to the fridge and pulled out a beer. He could still feel the buzz from the whiskey shots he and Tommy did earlier but clarity was starting to return. He opened the bottle and chugged.

He lied back onto the couch, trying not to think about what Tommy would say to him tomorrow when he came back, tail between his legs, begging for his money back. He'd never hear the end of it.

He continued chugging until the bottle was empty, and then he went back and grabbed another one. And another one. And another one after that.