I hated very few things in life. I loved my sisters, the professor, peace, and love itself. I loved the feeling of winning a fight and loved my ability to keep Townsville safe. You could even throw puppies, rainbows, summer, etc. all into the mix of things I loved. But finding something I hated was hard.

I know I was terrified of the dark. I couldn't stand wearing glasses. My heart ached at the thought of my sisters getting hurt. But hate? Hate just wasn't a word I used.

Even with all the evil villains I've fought over the years I have never hated a single one of them. I've felt bad for them, sure, and even got really angry with them, but never have I hated one of them.

There was one thing, however, that I did hate. No one knew it, not even my sisters, but there was one thing I had always hated. And that, my friends, is being weak.

I've always been the cute, bubbly (pun intended) girl that everyone loves. Yet no matter how much I fight, win, and defeat crime I've always been the weaker one. I've always been third best in the super powered trio.

Buttercup is hands down the best fighter. There was no denying it. She lives and breathes to fight. Even at the age of sixteen her tomboy ways remains strong. She doubts me the most, which hurts, but I've learned to ignore it through the years. Besides, who am I to complain? We'd have lost hundreds of fights if not for her strength.

Blossom believes in me more. Not as much as I'd prefer, but I can't really complain, I'm thankful she's there to help me. She's more patient when I don't understand things and helps me learn new moves if she has the time. But in the end she's still a better fighter then me. She doesn't say it outright like Buttercup, but it doesn't really need to be said.

So I try, I really do, to not slow the team down. I work hard with my powers and listen to Blossom's plans in order to keep up the good work, but still I feel I come up short.

I love my sisters. And I love my powers. But sometimes I just wish I weren't so outshined.

Sometimes I wish it would be different.

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"Bubbles!" Buttercup yelled form the bottom of the stairs. I was still in our room, making the last adjustments to my outfit.

"One second please!" I yelled as politely as I could, which was hard because I was holding my brush in my mouth and it came out more garbled then I would have preferred.

"Just because you get ready it two seconds doesn't mean we all do Buttercup!" Blossom screamed from somewhere down the hall, probably the bathroom. I smiled when I heard Buttercup muttering under her breath downstairs. Did she forget out super-hearing?

I doubted it. She probably couldn't care less.

I looked over my features in the mirror. 'The perfect little girl' was what the experiment had intended to make us and that is exactly what all three of us had become. Gorgeous beyond the normal beauties.

Granted, there were still girls that were much prettier than us, but do they have laser vision? I don't think so.

I tugged at my long blonde hair, wondering mildly what to do with it. I felt bad about being late and didn't want Buttercup to get mad so I quickly pulled it into a lose ponytail. It wasn't perfection, but it would have to work.

I walked out of the room I had always shared with my sisters (even though we were older now and wanted out own space at times) and practically collided with Blossom in the hall. She smiled at me and I giggled.

"Sorry Blossom!" I said hastily.

Blossom's dark red hair was longer then mine and curled to perfection down her back. She had on a white tank top and a cute pink skirt that I absolutely adored. Her oddly pretty pink eyes were surrounded by thick lashes and her lips were a deep red.

All in all, she was the prettiest of us three. Sometimes it got to her head but most of the time she played it cool. Superheroes weren't supposed to be stuck up, right?

"Finally! I thought you two died from hairspray inhalation up there!" Butter cup yelled as we descended the steps.

"You can't die from hairspray!" I yelled back, but looked quickly over to Blossom in case I was wrong. "Can you?"

"Well. . ." Blossom began but Buttercup quickly cut her off.

"Who cares? Let's go and get this thing over with!" She snapped, putting her hands on her hips.

I looked at my other sister. Buttercup was beautiful too, although she'd yell at me (and punch anyone else) if I ever said it. She had short black hair that framed her pale face. Her light green eyes and flawless skin up against her dark hair made her seem exotic. She was wearing black jeans with patches all over them and a lose t-shirt. The only green she wore was a green stud in the upper part of her right ear.

"Quit staring, I know I'm sexy! Now come on, Beth won't let us early if we get there late. She's retarded like that." Buttercup complained, snapping her fingers to hurry us up.

"We'll be back by twelve!" Blossom, always the responsible one, called to the Professor who was somewhere in his lab.

"We love you!" I yelled out of habit before we all flew off to the direction of Beth's party.

-------

"This party sucks ass!" Buttercup yelled to me over the music as she pushed past me to get to the bathroom. I quickly stepped out of her way because 1: she looked mad and 2: it was the polite thing to do.

I looked around the room. Teenage bodies were bumping and sweating together as the grinded to the fast paced song pumping through the speakers. I spotted a few kids I already knew were drunk and hoped that they had a safe ride home.

I spotted Blossom talking to a fellow honor student near the speakers. I didn't know how she did it, I had positioned myself as far away from the speakers as I could and I still had a head ache from the music hitting my sensitive ears. I admire her and wondered if the conversation was worth the pain.

"Hey!" Lilly, my friend, screamed as she threw her arms around my neck, pulling me tight against her. "Look to your right." She whispered in my ear.

I turned and saw and boy with brown hair and cute dimples bobbing uncertainly to the music. He was cute and I smiled at him when out eyes caught. He seemed nervous and I wondered if I should go talk to him. I wasn't really into these kind of parties either, but I had been invited and would have felt bad if I canceled.

"He's new!" Lilly informed me, taking a quick sip of her drink that didn't smell like soda. She flicked her highlighted hair over her shoulder and wiggled her eyebrows at me. I giggled at her antics. "I'm going to go talk to him."

She moved away from me and I was again standing alone against the wall. I saw a lot of my friends dancing, but the pounding in my head kept me from joining them. So instead I leaned against the wall and after a few minutes I decided I needed to get a drink.

The kitchen was full of people too and I wondered what the limit was on capacity for a normal city flat. Were we breaking the law?

The smell of liquor of everybody's breath told me they didn't care what the fire marshal would say.

I grabbed a soda from the counter. Blossom had reminded me to only drink out of cans that I had opened myself and I wasn't going to question her judgment.

"Great party, huh?" A boy with shiny teeth asked me as I stood against the counter. He looked familiar and I recognized him from my math class. I think he sat behind me.

"Really great!" I said animatedly, despite my headache. Truthfully it wasn't really a bad party, I just wasn't the partying type. If I said that, however, I'd appear rude and I didn't want that.

"You're a Powerpuff girl, right?" He asked with a smile. I think his name was Rob. Or Bob. Or maybe Sebastian.

"Yep!" I said, happy to admit it. I loved being a Powerpuff girl, what could be better?

"You're, like, the hottest one, right?" He asked and I giggled nervously.

"No, not me," I said quickly. I sipped my soda and looked around the kitchen discreetly so that he didn't think I was bored with our conversation. "What about you? What do you do?"

"I could show you," He replied, his voice changing into an emotion I couldn't recognize but the hairs on the back of my neck said it wasn't good. I ignored them and smiled again. I watched him sway slightly on his feet as he looked my over.

"No, thank you," I said with another smile before pushing myself off the counter and back through a crowd of gossiping girls that had formed by the kitchen door. I didn't want to go towards the loud music again but the kitchen had became a hazard zone as well.

What to do?

I quickly caught sight of a window led to the fire escape. I felt myself smile as I walked toward it. With one last look at the people behind me I pushed the window and stepped out from the hot room and into the cool night.

My heels hit the metal as I shut the window with quiet 'swoosh' and the music still pulsed dully from the other side. I sighed happily as I embraced the sounds of the city. Townsville was a wonderful place when it wasn't under attack. Really, it was.

Beth's flat was on the second floor so I could see the alley way beneath my feet and I leaned against the cold metal rail. It was colder outside then I planned (annoyingly none of my powers protected me from the cold) and my short blue dress blew in the breeze.

Maybe stepping outside wasn't such a great idea. Besides, could I even open the window from the outside?

I honestly needed to think things through. It was going to get me hurt one day.

I looked to my left, towards to opening of the alleyway and froze at what I saw. Yes, I really, really needed to think things though.

At the end of the alleyway, straddling a dark green and black motorcycle, stood Butch, the toughest fighter of the Rowdy Ruff Boys. His form looked almost haunting in the light of the streetlamp above him.

Luckily he hadn't seemed to hear me yet and was looking around him as if waiting for something. I swallowed as I watched him, fear making its trek through my body and paralyzing my limbs and mind.

Sure I could handle the Rowdy Ruff Boys with my sisters, but not alone. And certainly not Butch. Boomer I could handle, but not Butch.

I watched, glad that he appeared to be alone, as he stood there. I hoped that maybe, hopefully, he would just go away. I knew it was unlikely, but I didn't know what else to do. Maybe if I screamed my sisters would hear me. The sounds of the loud music coming from inside immediately squashed that hope as well.

So I just stood there, watching him.

His figure, bathed in the yellow light, looked different then I'd remembered. I instantly realized then he wasn't wearing the usual green striped shirt he wore when we fought him and his brothers. Now he was wearing a plain white t-shirt that hung against his broad shoulders and hid his muscled chest that he undoubtedly had from all the years he spent fighting my sisters and I. His tanned arms were muscled and taunt as he gripped his handle bars as if he were about to ride away at any moment. His strong jaw was tense and his profile seemed almost primal. Ready to attack at any moment.

Another wave of fear hit me, stronger this time, and I unconsciously took a steep back. Unfortunately for me I hit a the bar behind me that I hadn't remembered was there. The rusted metal gave way and clattered loudly to the alleyway beneath me.

I shut my eyes (out of habit) until the sound stopped echoing off the building and inside my head. When I opened my eyes again they immediately connected with angry dark green. Once Butch recognized me his eyes surprisingly got bored and his body relaxed.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked, his deep voice carrying over the other sounds of the city around us. I shivered, but not from the cold, but made sure to keep my face from showing any fear.

"Leave Butch! Or I'll call the authorities!" I said loudly, hoping that my sister just might hear and come flying out to save the day. Unfortunately I was wrong, and after a few seconds I was still alone.

"What? Can't handle me on your own?" He asked, but he said it mockingly, knowing already that I couldn't. My face burned with anger and embarrassment and I self-consciously pulled on the end of my dress. "Just go back inside Bubbles."

"W-what?" I asked, confused. Go back inside? Wasn't he going to attack me? "But I thought-"

"Listen babe, I'm not letting you off the hook, okay?" He asked before swinging his leg over his bike and walked a few steps into the alleyway towards me. "It's just that you're not the one I'm supposed to get."

He said it like it was obvious, like everything was really simple and I was making it unnecessarily confusing. But sadly I still didn't understand and I shifted awkwardly, bawling my hands into fists incase he came closer.

"Leave!" I said again, feeling slightly dull with my obvious lack of ability to handle this situation. I narrowed my eyes for good measure, hoping to scare him. If anything he just looked amused.

His messy black hair fell into his eyes as his dark green orbs lit up with silent laughter. His face, however, remained stoic and his jaw tensed. "Look," He tried again, his voice sounding annoyed. "Just go back inside."

""Please leave." I tried desperately, wondering if I'd have to fight him in my dress. That thought didn't make me feel any better and I held on to the small (and slowly dying) hope that he'd just leave. He shook his head slowly at my last plea. "Why?"

"Because," He said with an annoyed sigh, running his fingers through his tussled hair. "In about ten minutes Buttercup is going to sneak out onto the fire escape to smoke a cigarette like she always does. That's when I attack her. Then, Blossom will step out the front door for a breath of fresh air like she usually does. That's where Brick is waiting for her. Boomer's waiting for you on the roof."

"Oh," I said dumbly, trying to tell if he was lying or not. He seemed to be telling the truth though. "Wait, Buttercup smokes?"

"Um, yeah sweetheart," He said, looking at me as if I were crazy (hey, it was a good question!). His thumb was tapping against his jean clad thigh, the remains of the nervous twitch he'd had since he was younger. I saw this and realized he was ready for a fight. He always got like that before a fight, all energetic and animal like. The word 'primal' ran through my head again.

"Well you're plan won't work!" I said confidently, but not too loud now that I knew his brothers were around. "We'll defeat you!"

"Okay, great, now go back inside. Or to the roof, I don't really care which one," He said impatiently, his thumb still strumming against his leg as he took a step closer to the fire escape I was still perched on.

What? Why couldn't he fight me? Why'd we have to fight our counterparts? I could handle him!

Even thought I voice in the back of my head said 'No Bubbles, you can not handle this one.' I just ignored it. I wasn't weak. I could be just as strong as Buttercup!

"No, I think I'll stay here," I said, almost casually. I was amazed at how calm I sounded.

"What?" He asked, clearly upset that his plan (or most likely Brick's plan) wasn't working out. "No, you didn't hear me right-" He began.

"I heard you, but I don't care! I'm fighting you!" I said, and this time my voice sounded less strong and more whinny but I was past caring. Boomer would just have to wait on the roof for a while, my battle was here.

Butch looked me over, clearly unimpressed. Then he sighed. "Well, if you're going to fight me come down here. I'm not going to play Romeo and climb up there to get to you." He said in that bored tone of his that I immediately disliked.

"No, you come up here!" I demanded and Butch sent me an exasperated look that unmistakably told me that he thought I was acting like a two year old. I stuck my tongue out at him just for good measure.

"I can see up your dress from here," He said dully. I blushed with anger and embarrassment. Stupid boy.

Then I did what I usually do in fights. You know when you're walking home or through the halls at school, at you somehow get to where you're supposed to be but you don't know or remember walking there? You just do it automatically. That's how it is when I fly during a fight. I don't think about what I'm doing, I just do it.

So that's what I did. I leaned forward, every ounce of my attention on the green-eyes boy in front of me and when my brain caught up with my movements I had already tackled him to the ground. My legs startled his hips and my hands press down hard against his shoulders.

My inner-Bubbles, however, stopped mid-victory dance when I caught the look on his face. It wasn't a look of pain from being slammed into concrete, or surprise from being tackled. Instead he looked bored. Bored!

His face was lax and even his usually tense jaw seemed to be at ease. His black hair brushed his face and the alley floor as he laid starring up at me. Green eyes, so full of life, movement, the need to fight, bore into mine with extreme intensity and I instantly realized what had happened.

He had let me tackle him.

He hadn't even tried to move out of my way. He wasn't even struggling beneath me, just lying pliant under my tense form. I waited for him to try to move but he didn't, he seemed completely alright to be sprawled out on a cold, damp alley floor under his enemy.

I wanted to cry with frustration. What was wrong with me? What was wrong with him? Couldn't he even fight me, even though I was weaker then him? Why didn't he even give me a chance to show him what I could really do?

I made a pathetic noise in the back of my throat, something between a whimper and a moan of anguish. Not thinking before I acted, I began to punch his chest, not forcefully, but feebly as I fought back tears of embarrassment and despair.

I did this for what seemed like a minute or two. I no longer saw Butch laying there under me, my eyes were too blurry and my mind had gone almost blank. I just continued to hit him, each punch getting harder and harder until I know that I must've been hurting him. But still I didn't stop, I couldn't. He had to see. He had to know I was stronger then what they thought. He had to fight me.

I felt one of his hands catch both of my wrists, stopping my movements with a firm grip. I tried to hit him again but my arms wouldn't budge. A tear slipped down my cheek as I squeezed my eyes shut and made another desperate sound in the back of my throat.

"Let go," I said, my voiced was laced with tears and anger. "Let me fight you." I tried again but he still didn't let my fists hit him. "Please." I choked out.

He reached up with his free hand and placed it on the side of my head. It would be considered I comforting gesture if not for the person doing it and instead of relaxing I just cried harder, not caring how pathetic I sounded or looked.

"Please," I whispered, finally opening my eyes and blinking past the tears. I saw his same bored expression, nothing had changed. He didn't look the least bit in pain. I sighed, defeated and slumped sideways off his body and onto the cold concrete.

He let go of my wrists and took back his hands before he sat up. I felt water seeping through my dress but I didn't care, I just shivered slightly in the cold air, wanting to be far away from this alley.

"Go to the roof Bubbles," He said, but this time his voice was calmer, if not gentle. He must have realized his change as well because his next word was harsh and cruel again. "Now."

I didn't have time to do anything. Before I could talk, stand up, fly away, or even cry the window above us flew open and Buttercup climbed out. She wasn't aware of us below her yet and she angrily lit her cigarette, and took a long drag.

I watched as smoke back out of her mouth, mesmerized by the sight of her smoking. Wow, she really smoked. A Powerpuff girl broke a law. Tonight was just one let down after another. Oddly enough, I wasn't too disappointed in her. Maybe it was her way of cooling down, like studying was Blossoms and crying was mine. Maybe she needed to let go. God knows she gets wound up so tightly sometimes.

Suddenly two legs were in front of me, blocking my view of my sister. I realized Butch had gotten up and quickly looked down at the ground again at the risk of staring at his butt. I was slightly surprised that he didn't immediately attack Buttercup, and I wondered if I should attack him from behind before he did.

"Hey!" He shouted, making me jump slightly. His voice was back to being cocky and his body was tense. From where I was sitting I could watch up close as his thumb tapped against his leg.

"What're you doing here asshole!?" Buttercup yelled, and I couldn't see her bur I could imagine her pretty face contorted with anger.

"I'm about to pound your ass into the ground if you'd shut up!" He yelled cockily back, moving his head to pop his neck suggestively. Wait? Was he purposely blocking me from Buttercup's view?

"Take that!" Came a familiar shot from around the corner and I recognized the sounds of Blossom and Brick fighting at the front of the building.

So, that meant the ambush was underway. I was immediately ashamed that I hadn't been able to warn my sisters in time.

I was vaguely aware that Butch and Buttercup were fighting above my head. They were blurs of color and occasionally one of them would hit the wall before jumping back into the fight. That only left me. . .

I sighed and pushed myself off the ground. I readjusted my dress before letting my body lift of the ground and I drifted up towards the roof to meet my match. The only boy they thought suited my abilities. The poor weakling they thought matched my equally weak state.

Many questions filled my mind as Boomer came into view, his blonde hair tucked behind his ears and a dumb grin pasted on his face. The main question that bothered me though, more then anything else, was this:

Why did they expect me on the roof?

"Because they thought you were dumb enough to somehow wind up, up here!" Boomer yelled after I asked him. "Stupid girl!"

I hit him extra hard for that one, all the while secretly agreeing with him.