Jingle all the Way

Summary: Christmas at the Utonium house-hold was always an eventful one. Add in three Rowdy brothers to the mix and it gets chaotic. REDS, GREENS, BLUES.

Playlist: Any classic Christmas song, and Nutrocker by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Definitely Nutrocker)

Authors note: The Powerpuff Girls don't belong to me, and as always they have human appendages.

The Puffs and Ruffs are roughly 22.

"I thought you said the girls were festive?" Butch asked Boomer with a raised eyebrow, as he turned his black Cadillac Escalade onto the street where the Utonium house-hold lived - the oddly shaped white house standing out immediately on the street.

Boomer frowned from the back seat as he glanced out the tinted window and towards the house. "I did, and that's the reason why we're here." He confirmed.

"If they're so festive then where the hell are all the Christmas lights and all the other decorations?" Brick asked from the passenger's seat beside Butch.

"We're here to help them decorate." Boomer elaborated.

"The fuck? I thought we were coming over here for dinner?!" Butch whined as he pulled up into the Utonium's driveway, next to a 2015 silver Ford Escape that the boys recognized as the SUV that the girls drove.

"Well yeah man, that too but it's like 2:15 in the afternoon, dinner isn't happening until six at least." Boomer snorted. Butch groaned as he took the keys out of the ignition and opened his door. "Man, I don't want to do manual labor today. I want to eat a shit-ton tonight, drink a lot, and get freaky with Butterbabe later-"

"John's coming home later today. You're not getting freaky with anyone."

"AW FUCK ME."

"Speaking of which, where is the Professor?" Brick asked – opting to ignore the comment from Butch – as he noted that the black Lexis that his girlfriend's father drove was not in the driveway where it was normally parked.

"He got called in for mandatory work at the lab." Boomer responded as he slid out of the back seat. "He's not supposed to work today, but he got called in for some overtime, and he wanted all of the Christmas decorating and prep done by the time he got back according to Bubbles."

Brick frowned as he checked the calendar on his phone. "It's Christmas eve. They've really left this to the last minute. They should have called us over far earlier."

Boomer let a sheepish grin spread across his face at his eldest brother's statement. "That's reason number 2. You guys know how recently there's been an influx of monster attacks on the city in the last few weeks?" Both Butch and Brick nodded their heads, signaling for him to continue.

"Well it's been keeping the girls busier than normal this time around. That and they do a lot of charity work around the city near Christmas, so they've barely been home enough to help work around the house – Bubbles mentioned that she meant to call us earlier, but she just hasn't had the time. This is the first they've been home long enough to get some stuff around the house done. "

"and let me guess: This is where we come in." Brick asked as he folded his arms across his chest. Boomer coughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a lot of work for them, and well I mean… we weren't doing anything this afternoon so I told her we could-"

"Lemme guess: You volunteered us to do their slave labor." Butch cut him off with a groan. "Fuck you man, I wanted to lounge today."

"That's all you do every day anyways! What's so bad about helping the girls put a few things together for tonight?" Boomer shot back.

Brick and Butch cast each other a look before glancing at Boomer. "We don't like the holidays." Both boys said at the same time. Boomer scoffed. "Oh come on guys, what's so bad about-"

"Need I remind you about what happened last year with Brick and Lobster Dad/Mom?"

There was a pause.

"Well I mean that was bad but that was one time-"

"What about the year before that with Butch and Ape Dad?"

"Ok fine, I'll admit that was horrific but still-"

"And the year before that with both of our parents-"

"ALRIGHT I GET IT JESUS!" Boomer cried as he threw his hands up into the air. "But we aren't celebrating with them this year! That's why we're at the Utonium's for Christmas!"

"Oh great. We get to see how a normal family functions during Christmas." Butch muttered as he and his brothers walked up to the house's cherry red door.

"But can you even call them a normal family?" Brick questioned as he rang the doorbell. "After all, the Professor created the girls from an old nursery rhyme, common kitchen ingredients and beakers… Last time I checked that's not how normal babies were made-"

The crimson eyed male was cut off as the door flung itself open to reveal Bubbles. Her hair was in a neat fishtail braid down her back and her baby blue eyes widened with delight the moment she saw Boomer.

"Hi you!" She squealed happily as she jumped into his arms, planting a kiss on his cheek. "It feels like I haven't seen you in a while! Thank you for agreeing to help us out, we've been meaning to get everything set up for a while now, but it kept being pushed back." She explained as she cast a glance at Brick and Butch before smiling happily at them.

"Thank you for agreeing to help us out you two! Boomer mentioned that you guys aren't exactly big holiday people but I really appreciate that you're willing to help us get things set up for tonight! My sisters are too!" She added as she wrapped them both in hugs, which the two boys retuned lightly.

"Yeah… sure Babrie, no worries…" Butch managed to weakly responded as he returned the smaller blonde's hug, shooting a smirking Boomer a glare over Bubbles's shoulder. "You owe me big time." He mouthed as Boomer only grinned wider. "Bite me." He mouthed back, causing Butch to squint dangerously at his youngest brother.

Bubbles ushered the three Rowdies inside the house and shut the door behind them just as the sound of light footsteps was heard from the upstairs hallway.

"Bubbles? Is that the boys?"

Brick perked up immediately as Blossom's voice floated down from the second floor of the house. Not a second later, the pink puff floated into view and gracefully descended the stairs with a small smile aimed at Brick.

"Hey babe." The crimson eyed Rowdy rumbled as she approached him as he pulled her in for a quick kiss on the cheek – smirking as her cheeks flushed the same colour as his hat.

"Hi Brick." The chestnut-haired woman murmured as she wrapped his arms around his broad torso, before reaching up to return the kiss. "Sorry for cancelling our date at the last second on Monday. You know how things are for me and my sisters this time of year."

"Don't remind me." Brick muttered as he looked down to meet her cotton candy pink eyes. "I hate the holidays for a variety of reasons. That would be one of them." Blossom frowned at his words, and gently nudged his broad shoulder.

"Aw, don't be like that Brick, they aren't that bad-"

"Is Twitchy down there?" A feminine rasp echoed from the upstairs, causing an excited grin to spread across Butch's face. "Ohhh shit, It's Butterbabe!" He cackled gleefully as the raven-haired woman rounded the upstairs corner and made her way down the stairs.

She shot Butch a sexy little smirk when she reached the bottom, and brushed some of her long obsidian locks away from her face. "Thought I heard you dumbass." She said almost fondly.

"Ah, my Baroness!" Butch grinned as he pushed past the Blues and Reds to pick Buttercup up in his arms and crush her against his massive frame, lifting her up off the ground as she wrapped her arms around his neck in return.

"Ok you big oaf, put me down." She laughed as Butch gently placed her back on the ground. "You act as if you haven't seen me for like three months."

"It feels like it's been three months!" Butch whined as he nudged her head with his own, much like a dog seeking attention, causing Buttercup to roll her eyes at her boyfriend's antics.

"It's been a week." She corrected him with an affectionate eyeroll.

"Yeah, but we haven't done anything the whole month of December!" The obsidian haired man argued. "We haven't gone on any dates, no B-rated horror movie nights, no sparring, no sex-" The rest of his sentence was abruptly cut off as Buttercup slapped her hand over his mouth, a bright red flush decorating both of her cheeks.

"Ignore him, he's an idiot." She stated coolly as she removed her hand from his mouth. Butch grinned slyly as he wrapped his arms around her middle from behind her, and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Yeah. An idiot who loves you." He winked flirtatiously at her, causing the lime eyed woman to roll her eyes again, but never the less gave his arms a gentle squeeze. "Yeah, yeah. Now release me you suck-up. Bubbles is never going to let me hear the end of this."

She nodded to her younger sister, who was covering her hands with her cheeks, and silently squealing at the affectionate display the normally violent Greens were presenting her with. Butch barked out a laugh, but released her regardless.

"So. What needs to get done?" He asked as he glanced uncaringly around the living room, his eyebrow stud gleaming in the living room's dim lighting.

"All of it." The girls responded in unison. Causing Butch to freeze and really look around the Utonium household. His eyes widened as he noticed that there were no signs of festive Christmas decorations anywhere to be seen – hell, they didn't even have a tree.

"Holy shit, have you guys not done anything?!" Butch exclaimed as he glanced around the barren house. Blossom shook her head. "We've been busier then normal this year." She admitted. "We seriously haven't had the time to do anything around the house, which is why we're grateful that you three are here to help out." She added.

"What about the Professor?" Brick asked. "Could he not do it?" Blossom shook her head again. "He's been working overtime at the lab. He and his colleges have come really close to a breakthrough on the new vaccine prototype that they're working on." She explained. "Besides, it's way quicker if my sisters and I do it. It would take father weeks to get everything ready."

"Fair enough." Boomer shrugged as he wrapped a long arm around Bubbles. "Was there a particular way that you wanted to get everything done?"

Blossom nodded. "I do have a game-plan that will hopefully get everything done quickly. It's Christmas Eve after all, public centers are going to be a nightmare so I want to get this done as quickly as possible."

She met the eyes of her sisters and nodded at them. "The things that have to get done today without any exceptions are: decorating the inside and outside of the house, finishing up the Christmas shopping, and last but most importantly – getting the tree." She guested to the empty living room where the tree was supposed to be.

The rose orbed woman straitened up and guested for the X powered adults to gather around her in a makeshift team huddle.

"Alright. So here is how this is going to work." Blossom started. "Since I went out and did the last-minute Christmas shopping run last year – after swearing to myself never to do that again – I will stay here and decorate. Since Brick isn't a fan of malls or people, he can stay here and help me. Sound good to you Brick?" She asked as she turned her light pink eyes onto her boyfriend's harsh red ones. He nodded.

"I'm fine with that." He confirmed, secretly glad that she didn't send him out on any errand running. He despised large crowds on a good day, and attempting to shop during the Christmas holidays was a horrible idea for him, and anyone else who was forced to shop with him.

Seriously, their siblings should thank her – the last time Brick had gone Christmas shopping with Butch and Boomer, he had gotten so frustrated to the point that he set the both of their jackets on fire. Amusing for him to watch – not so fun for his younger brothers.

Besides, their siblings would most likely be out of the house trying to complete the tasks that the pink Puff assigned them, which meant he would get her all to himself for a few hours…

"Boomer, Bubbles, I'm counting on the two of you to go pick up some last-minute gifts from the mall. Bubbles already has a list preped and ready to go, so you shouldn't miss anything. Bubbles, you Boomer can take the Escape for that – Are you alright with that Buttercup? I know that you're the one that drives it the most…"

"That's fine." Buttercup responded as she narrowed her eyes slightly. "Why won't I be driving it though?"

"Because with the job I'm going to have you and Butch do, you're probably going to want to take the Escalade." Blossom muttered as she rubbed her temples lightly.

"Butch, Buttercup… I can't believe that I'm saying this but… You two are on tree duty."

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" Butch asked, raising a confused brow. "It means we have to go pick out a tree and bring it back here dumbass." Buttercup deadpanned.

A victorious grin spread across Butch's face as he pumped his fist in the air. "Alriiiight, we got the fun job. Let's go Sunshine!" and before Buttercup could open her mouth to protest, the intimidating male had yanked her out the door in a flash of forest green.

The remaining siblings rushed to the open door, just in time to see Butch's massive Escalade peal out of the Utonium's driveway and floor it down the street, before turning the corner with a squeal, and disappearing out of sight.

"Why do I suddenly get a bad feeling about this?" Blossom asked quietly as she looked down at the tire marks on her drive-way. "Of all the jobs you could have given them, you give Butch the job of tree hunting." Brick muttered as he pulled the rest of them back inside the warm house.

"Is that a bad thing?" Bubbles asked timidly. Boomer only chuckled darkly as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders.

"Naw, you've just unleashed hell. No biggie. Let's see what kind of tree he comes back with this time."

"Wait… What?" Bubbles sputtered as Blossom rolled her eyes.

"Never mind, we'll find out soon enough I suppose." She sighed as she took Bricks warm hand in her own. "Alright team, 1, 2, 3, BREAK!"

"Sixty bucks for a fucking tree? No wonder people go bankrupt at Christmas." Butch whistled as he read the price tag on one of the trees he was inspecting.

"Keep it down idiot! There are kids everywhere!" Buttercup hissed as she glanced around nervously, before dragging her boyfriend down another row of trees at the Tree Farm they were currently at.

Both Greens had been looking for a tree for the past hour at the farm and were currently not having much luck finding the right tree, much to their displeasure.

"Seriously babe, I don't see why we can't just go into the woods and get our own tree. We won't have to overpay for it! Hell, it'll be free! All the good trees are gone anyways." Butch pointed out, gesturing around him.

"Oh sure, too bad it's illegal. I don't feel like committing a felony just for the sake of getting a tree." Buttercup muttered as she skimmed though another line of trees. Butch scoffed.

"This one has like three needles on it and it's eighty bucks. Can you say 'rip-off?'" He asked as he held up a tree that was indeed more sticks then an actual tree. Buttercup groaned in defeat as she turned to face him.

"Alright. What did you have in mind?"

"Oh my god, it's like Black Friday up in this place, only three times as worse!" Boomer cried as he was dragged along by Bubbles, who was lightly pushing the crowds of desperate consumers out of her way in the process.

If the blonde boy could be honest though – he was more amazed by the fact that they had managed to find a parking spot in the bustling parking lot outside the mall. Sure, it had taken the Blues nearly twenty minutes to find one, but he was still impressed regardless.

"Why did you leave all of the shopping until now? Christmas is tomorrow." Boomer sputtered as he griped onto Bubbles hand tighter as he moved forward to take the lead, and shove his way through the mob of people. Bubbles giggled at her disgruntled boyfriend as he gently pushed her behind him.

"I didn't leave all of it to the last minute." She corrected him. "There's just a few things that I have to get that I didn't have time to grab last time I was here – besides there are a ton of good deals on Christmas Eve."

"Yeah, for all the saps who didn't do any Christmas shopping." Boomer agreed as he tossed a man out of his way who had been refusing to move. He bit back a sick grin as he watched the man sail through the air before landing a few feet away with a loud "Opmfh".

"It's so all the people at home watching this can have some sick form of entertainment. It's literally bread and circuses brought to life in a modern-day rendition." Boomer argued as he shoved his way through another crowd, unwilling to let go of Bubbles's hand. "Now, where is the store you wanted to go to?" He asked as he was finally able to turn around to look at her.

Bubbles paused and glanced around the crowded wing of the mall they were standing in, before sighing lightly.

"Boomer… I hate to tell you this, but you've been leading us in the wrong direction. We were supposed to take a right back where the bank machines were."

Boomer was silent as he glanced back in the direction where they came from – The crowds of people they had just walked though seemed even thicker than before, if that was even possible. He looked down at Bubbles, trying to see if she was joking, only to find an apologetic smile on her face.

He sighed.

"Goddamn it."

Brick obediently followed Blossom out into her attached garage, pausing momentary as she flicked on the light before leading him over to several rows of shelfs that were stacked with boxes on the far wall.

"So, we're going to have to decorate both the inside and the outside of the house." Blossom warned him as she began to rummage through some of the boxes, before pulling some down and passing them to him. Brick nodded.

"I'll tackle the outside if you want to do inside." He offered as Blossom nodded gratefully. "I was thinking that we did it that way." She admitted, "Are you sure though? There are a lot of lights to put up around the outside…"

"Babe, I'll be fine, it won't take me long." Brick dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Now pass me the lights that have to be put up outside – it was starting to snow when we got here, so I want to make this quick."

Blossom sighed, but handed him several large boxes off of the shelf. Brick snorted as she balanced the boxes on top of each other.

"Is that all? This is going to be easy – I'll have this done in-"

"No, those ones are for the front of the house." Blossom corrected him as she jerked her head back to the rest of the boxes on the shelf. "The boxes on the bottom two rows are all of the outside lights."

Brick paled slightly as he glanced at what had to be at least nine large boxes – minus the three he was currently juggling – of Christmas lights sitting on two lower shelfs.

He let a small groan escapes past his lips, and he cursed Boomer for dragging him and Butch over to help prep for the holidays. Blossom chuckled deviously at him and patted him on the shoulder as she passed him to go back into the house.

"If you need me, I'll be inside decorating." A pause. "I'll find you a nail gun."

"Butch?"

"Yeah babe?"

"That tree is way too big."

"What? No it's not. It's fine."

"Butch, that thing is over 30 feet easy!"

"So?"

"So, explain to me how exactly we're supposed to fit it into my living room!"

Buttercup guested to the tree that Butch was proudly holding above his head – roots and all. After leaving the tree farm, he had driven them out into the woods in search of the 'perfect Christmas tree'.

Clearly he had gone and found the biggest tree that he possibly could – and while Buttercup apricated the enthusiasm – there was absolutely no way that the great pine tree could fit into her living room – much less them strap it onto the top of the Escalade.

"Well I don't know, we could just plant it outside-"

"Put it back. We need something smaller."

"I like how you're not even mad that I uprooted a tree."

"I just want to find a decent looking tree and go home – This way is financially better anyways."

"Ah, so you're finally starting to see things my way now huh?"

"I can't believe that I'm saying this, but for once in your life, something you said actually made sense."

"Thanks Butters, I love you too."

"Yeah, yeah, now go put it back. We have to find something that will actually fit in the living room."

"… So, 25 feet then?"

"SMALLER."

"Shit."

Ping – Staple.

"Damn it."

Ping – staple.

"Fuck me."

Ping – staple.

"Language!" Blossom's voice floated faintly from an open window from inside the house as Brick floated around Utonium's roof, stapling ropes of Christmas lights to the edges of the oddly-shaped white house.

"Yeah, yeah." Brick grumbled as he gave the line of Christmas lights another yank, only to see yet another massive knot appears from within the box that was placed down on the snowy ground below him.

Brick felt his right eye twitch. That was the fourth knot that he had found in the current line of lights, and needless to say – the red eyed male was not happy.

He grit his teeth as he yanked the knot out of the box and hulled it closer to his face. This one looked even worse then the last three that he had untangled, if that was possible.

Goddamn it, he was really going to kill whoever put the Christmas lights away last year. They must have been some sort of sadist.

Smoke began to gently billow out of the enraged boy's nostrils as he sat to work on untangling the strand. He was tempted to set the whole thing ablaze with his fire abilities, however they weren't his lights to destroy, and he didn't feel like having Bubbles sonic scream him into oblivion.

Finally managing to untangle the knot, he let out a sigh, allowing more smoke to poor out of his mouth as he turned back in midair to continuing stapling the lights to the house.

Ping – staple.

"I."

Ping – staple.

"Hate."

Ping – staple.

"The Holidays."

Ping – thump.

Brick paused at the odd sound and glanced down. Sure enough, he had stapled the end of his shirt to the roof of the house along with the Christmas lights.

Brick fought hard to keep the flames in his throat at bay as he griped the nail gun so hard it almost broke.

"Fuck this. I'm so goddamn done."

"Language!"

Buttercup trudged through the dark, cold forest after her excited boyfriend, grumbling profanities under her breath.

She was cold. She was tired. It was getting darker the further they traveled into the woods, and to top it all off, it was staring to snow. She zipped up her jacket tighter and let out a hiss as she almost stumbled over her boot shoelaces.

She bit back an angry snarl as she bent down to tie them up again – calling out for Butch to wait as she laced them up. Fucking things. This was the fifth time that they had come undone since they had come out here.

Fuck it. She was flying.

Butch chuckled as he watched his girlfriend levitated up off the ground and floated over to where he was standing. Taking her by the hand he began to pull her along after him.

"Sick of walking sweetheart?"

"Let's just find a tree and get out of here. It's starting to get dark, I'm cold, and I don't know where we are." Buttercup deadpanned as she allowed Butch to pull her along.

"Just a little bit farther baby. The deeper you go into the woods, the better the trees are." Butch cackled gleefully as he tugged his girlfriend along. Buttercup glared suspiciously at the back of his head.

"You've done this before."

It wasn't a question.

"Mmmmm, yeah."

"Do I even want to know?"

"I don't follow the laws Sunshine. This should come to no surprise to you."

"Oh it's not, I just feel bad for the dozens of hundred year old trees that you've mercilessly slaughtered- Ophf!" The lime eyed woman grunted as she collided into Butch's muscular back. Frowning, she let go of his hand and floated in front of him, snapping her fingers in front of his face.

"Oi, babe, what's going on? Why'd you stop?" Butch simply jutted his chin out, pointing to something just behind her.

"How's that one?" He asked quietly. Buttercup turned in mid-air towards that direction he was looking at, and felt her own eyes widen.

There, a few feet away from them, was a pine tree standing off on it's lonesome. It had long, strong branches full of thick, lush needles. The tree was completely full and didn't have a single barren spot in sight – best of all, unlike the tree's that Butch had uprooted before – this one only looked to be about 10 feet or so.

"What about that one." Butch rumbled quietly, his eyes flickering up to meet hers – looking for her approval. The raven-haired woman was silent for a moment longer as she gazed at the tree. Finally, she met his questioning eyes and nodded in agreement.

"Butch. Fetch."

"Boomie? What are you doing- HEY, PUT ME DOWN! I CAN WALK!" Bubbles screeched as she felt herself being lifted into the air and carried by her ever-chivalrous counterpart.

"We aren't moving in this mob Bubs, It's easier if I carry you."

"BUT… BUT… PEOPLE ARE STARING!"

"They're staring at the screaming blonde hun. The fact that I'm carrying you is irrelevant." Boomer corrected her with a devious smirk as he pushed his way forward, still carrying the wriggling blonde girl above his head.

"This is ridiculous Boomer! I don't see anyone else being carried! We were moving… Just… slowly." Bubbles protested as she tried to squirm out her boyfriend's hold, only for the grip on her hips and legs to get tighter in response.

"I also happen to know you can get clusterphobic if there's too many people in one space… Honestly, I thought you would be thrilled. Most girls would love a guy to carry them like this."

Bubbles suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at his statement, as she felt down to pat one of his hands. "While I can't argue with the first part, I don't think that most girls want to be carried like this." She gestured down to how he was holding her above his head. "and not in a public mall either."

"Oh jeeze Boomie, thank you sooooo much for not letting me get mowed down by savage holiday mall shoppers. I'm so grateful for everything you do for me, you're the best baby!" Boomer tried and failed to mimicked Bubbles in a high-pitched, falsetto voice – fighting back laughter as he adjusted his grip on her as he surged forward again.

"Oh my. You are sassy today, aren't you hun?"

"You know it sweetness. Now, where the hell is that store you needed to go to?"

Brick stared at the Utonium's house in disbelief – right eye twitching as he took in the sight before him.

He had managed to finished setting up all the lights from the boxes (and had managed to separate his shirt from the side of the house in the process.) and had just barely managed to plug the lights into the fuse box located on the side of the house (why the Utonium's didn't have any extension cords was beyond him.) – only to step back and admire his handy work to find…

The lights on the house were flashing on an off like some kind of obnoxious, multi-colored, neon billboard sign.

Something deep inside the red-haired male (and not that deep either.) told him that they were not supposed to do that.

Sure enough, a look on the side of the box where the directions for setting up the Christmas lights were located, told him the same thing.

He snapped.

"NOW WHY THE HELL ARE THEY BLINKING?!" He roared, ready to tear out his hair. His outburst prompted Blossom to stick her head out the front door.

"Brick? I just finished decorating the inside, what are you screaming about now- oh my." Blossom trailed off as she caught sight of the blinking Christmas lights.

A puzzled look crossed her face. "Are they supposed to be blinking like that? I don't remember them doing that before-"

"Where's the main power box?" Brick hissed as smoke began to curl out of his mouth. He was about ready to lose it – in fact he could have almost swore that he felt a blood vessel burst in his eye from the rage he was suppressing.

"Basement… What are you going to do?" The rose orbed girl responded as he red clad lover stomped towards her.

"I'm going to find out why the hell they're blinking." Brick responded gruffly. "I'm going to redirect the power flow, that should fix it."

"Are you a licensed election?" Blossom questioned him with a raised eyebrow as she followed him inside. "Nope, but how hard can it be?" Brick shrugged.

Blossom rolled her eyes. "Famous last words." She muttered under her breath as she took his arm and steered him away from the basement door.

"How about you look at it later and just relax for a bit. You can help me put the finishing touches to the living room." She smiled gently at him. Brick rolled his eyes but allowed her to pull him along.

"Sure, babe. Whatever you say."

"Butch?" Buttercup muttered lowly as she stepped outside the Escalade's heated cabin – both Greens having stopped for a moment to stretch their legs.

"Yeah Sunshine?" Came Butch's muffled reply as he attempted to get out of the massive SUV.

"Where's the tree?"

There was a long pause before Butch's spiky black mane became visible, as his head pooped up from the other side of the car – his eyes frantic as he observed the top of the SUV, only to discover that the tree was indeed missing.

"Shit."

"Holy fuck these people are savages!"

"Boomer! We are in a public store! You can't use language like that baby!"

"What's that sugar? I couldn't hear you over the screams of the ninety-three-other people that are crammed into a store that's only meant to hold twenty." Boomer shouted as he tugged Bubbles towards him.

The blonde girl rolled her eyes at his antics. "Ok, so maybe there is more people shoved into this store then necessary, but we're almost done. Just try to grin and bear it a little longer, please?" She asked.

"I'll grin once we're out of the mall and back home." Boomer grunted as he pushed Bubbles towards the cash register. He sighed and shook his head, as he nodded to the box in her arms. "I can't believe you dragged me here just to buy a blender of all things."

"It's not just any blender! Bubbles protested. "It's one of those Nutrabullets – you know, the ones that you use to whip up specialized dietary shakes with? Buttercup has been wanting one so she can make protein shakes to go along with her training diets."

"Oh yeah that's right – she and Butch do those together sometimes don't they? What is it that they're on right now again? Paleo?"

"Combination of Warrior and Paleo." Bubbles corrected. "It's bulking season, and Buttercup makes really good homemade shakes – you'll have to try them when she decides to make one, she has her own original recipes that she uses, believe it or not!" The blue eyed girl insisted.

"Yeah sure babe as long as its- HEY I SAW THAT PAL, NO CUTTING IN LINE!" Boomer roared as he swatted a man holing a toaster to the back of the hastily formed line at the cash counter. Bubbles rolled her eyes as Boomer sucked in air though his teeth in frustration.

"Goodman line cutters. See, this is why I avoid shopping malls during the Christmas season." Boomer muttered as the pair of blondes were finally checked out by a frazzled looking employee. Boomer quickly grabbed Bubbles's hand and pulled her out of the store and into the bustling mall walkways again.

"So, can we go home now? Are we done?" Boomer asked hopefully, only for Bubbles to shake her head in response. Boomer bit back a sob as she took his hand again and pulled him in the opposite direction of the mall exits.

"We still have to hit up Game Stop, Lush, and Saffora." Bubbles informed him. "Bloss and Butters have been asking for some new product, and me being the cosmetic guru I am – promised to get them top-of-the-line materials like the good sister I am."

"But that's makeup." Boomer whined. "Can't I just take the stuff you've already bought and go wait in the car?"

"No, because I need you with me when we go to Game Stop." Bubbles protested. Boomer raised an eyebrow. "Why do you need to go there?"

"I need to grab something for your brothers – I've already done all of your shopping, so you're already done – but I had no idea what to get Brick and Butch, so I need your help."

"Oh well that's easy enough. Butch is always down for some GTA, Mafia, Last of Us or Mortal Combat, and Brick likes survival type games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Dead Rising." Boomer shrugged. "They aren't picky when it comes to games. Anything you get them they'll like." He assured her.

"Well that's good to hear. We'll save Game Stop for last though – that's going to be the hardest place to get into." Bubbles muttered as she pulled him towards the nearest Saffora store. "What makes you say that?" Boomer asked.

Bubbles pointed to a line that was wrapped halfway around the mall. "Because that's the line to get into Game Stop – I'm going to need your "expert negotiating skills" to help me actually get into there." She sent him a sly wink as she continued to drag the reluctant male into the Saffora store. Boomer didn't even bother to try and hide the groan that escaped his throat at the sight of the line.

"Fuuuuuuucccccccccck."

"What do you mean you lost the tree?" Brick asked disbelievingly into his phone. "How the hell do you lose a tree?"

"I don't know man. It must have fallen off back on the highway. Butters and I are going back to look for it." Butch responded from the other end of the line.

"How did you not notice that it had fallen off?" Brick muttered as he rubbed his temples. His middle brother had somehow managed to lose a 10 foot pine tree – how exactly he did it was beyond him.

"Dunno man. We didn't hear anything. I'm just as confused as you are."

"Was the tree even tied on properly?" Brick questioned. There was silence from the other end, before a tell-tale groan from Buttercup answered his question.

"…You dumbass, I even asked you if you had it tied on properly and you told me you did…" Brick managed to hear Buttercup snap in the background. "Well I couldn't tie it super tightly!" He could hear Butch protest. "The top is all glass. The branches would have scratched up my moonroof to hell – do you know how expensive it is to have repairs done on the Escalade…?"

"Butch – just focus on finding the tree." Brick groaned, feeling a migraine start to come on. "Bloss and I are still at the house, Boom and Bubbles still aren't back from the mall yet. Let me know if anything changes."

"Sure bro. Turn on the T.V. for me will ya? Keep me posted if you see a news story about some poor fool getting taken out by a pine tree on the highway." Butch cackled as he hung up, leaving Brick to slowly shake his head, but he turned on the news regardless.

Blossom walked into the room with her arms full of tinsel and shot him an odd look. "What was that all about?" She asked. Brick sighed as he dropped his phone on the living room couch and shuffled toward the basement door – intent on fixing the light problem outside.

"Butch somehow managed to lose the Christmas tree on the highway…"

"How in the hell are we going to get out of here?" Boomer asked, slightly panicked as he cast a glace around the mall parking lot.

They had finally managed to make it back to the car after nearly getting run over twice in an attempt to book it across the parking lot – prompting Boomer stop and yell some very choice words at the stunned driver, before Bubbles was able to yank him away.

"We wait I guess." Bubbles shrugged as she turned into the line of cars attempting to leave the bustling mall parking center. She sighed lightly, and turned on the radio – adjusting her seat slightly as she did so. "Get cozy, we're going to be here for a little bit."

Boomer glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "It's 3:30pm now. I say we aren't going to get out of here by 6." He grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Maybe not. It is moving… Slightly." Bubbles mumbled. "I say 4:30 latest."

Boomer grinned. "That sounds like a bet." Bubbles returned his grin. "Maybe it is. What are you betting?"

Boomer reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out a fifty – slapping it onto the dash. "Fifty bucks says we get out of here at six." He challenged. Bubbles nodded, before reaching down into the space beside the driver's seat for her purse. She fished around in it for a moment before pulling out another fifty and putting it with his.

"Another fifty saying we get out of here at 4:30." She countered with a tiny grin. Boomer chuckled as he counted the bills. "Pots a hundred bucks? I'll play. You down sweetheart?"

Bubbles let a confident grin pull at her lips. "You're on."

A loud pop echoed though the Utonium residence and not a moment later, all the lights shut off.

A muffled "Fuck" came from the open basement door, followed by a string of other profanities, causing Blossom to pause from making hot chocolate for her and Brick, and cringe at the vulgar language.

She counted to three silently before calling out: "What happened?"

There was a moments pause, and the basement was quiet for a while before Brick's voice floated up from the darkness below.

"Get a flashlight. I blew a fuse."

"Holy shit Butch, stop the car!" Buttercup exclaimed as Butch slammed on the brakes, forcing the massive black Cadillac to a screeching halt.

"WHAT? WHAT?!" He bellowed as he twisted his head to look at her so quickly, Buttercup was surprised that he didn't get whiplash.

Buttercup leaned over to point out of the driver's side windshield to something off to the side of the highway they were currently traveling down.

There, off to the side of the highway, was a large pine tree – still wrapped up in the cables that Butch had used to originally tie it to the top of the Escalade.

"Isn't that our tree?" Buttercup asked exasperated. Butch squinted against harsh white glare of the snow on the sides of the freeway, as he focused his attention on the limp pine tree.

"… Yup." He confirmed after a moment. "It is."

The Green's shared a look – one exasperated and one confused and slightly flustered. There was a pregnant pause as both raven haired adults tried to process the situation. Finally Butch let out a groan as he put the Cadillac into 'Park' and pushed open his door.

"I'll go get it then."

"Yeah good idea, and hurry up, I don't think it's legal to park in the middle of the highway."

"Whatever, like I care whether something's legal or not." Butch snorted. "Besides, this is a backroad, it's not considered an actual highway. If you haven't noticed, we haven't exactly seen any other cars since we've been driving down here." He pointed out.

"… I also see some people on the other side of the road giving us some weird looks." Buttercup pointed out as she glanced across the road, only to notice that a family had stopped their car to watch the pair of adults retrieve their fallen Christmas tree with baffled expressions on their faces.

Butch followed her gaze and bit back another groan as he noticed the family as well. "… Double time then?" He asked her.

"Make it triple – people don't need to see this. If people figure out who we are, you better damn well believe that this is going to end up on the news somehow, and then everyone is going to see what a pair of dumbass's we are."

"Roger that Sunshine."

"Brick, I don't think you just blew a fuse." Blossom called down into the basement nervously.

"What makes you say that?' Came her boyfriends muffled reply, shortly followed by yet another muffed "fuck." As he attempted to get the power back on.

"Because I just looked out the window, and I don't think anyone on my street has power." Blossom clarified.

A quiet groan came from the darkness of the basement, before Brick's glowing red eyes appeared down at the bottom of the basement steps.

"Do me a favor babe, and pass me my phone." He requested as he held out his hand. "Alright… why?" Blossom asked as she found his phone and gently tossed it down to the crimson eyed male.

"I'm telling Boomer to get his ass over to the power plant and give it a boost. He and Bub's both have electricity powers, right? and Boom has enough juice in him to kick-start about three cities, so getting the generators back on shouldn't be a problem for him." Brick muttered as he typed out a text to his youngest brother.

"Does he… Can he- Is he even allowed to do that?" Blossom asked confused. Brick put his phone in his hoodie pocket and shrugged.

"Dunno, and don't care. This isn't the first time he's had to go boost the generators. Butch has a bad habit of knocking out the power at our place whenever he gets pissed." Brick grunted as he floated back up the basement steps.

"… How many times has he had to do this?" Blossom asked, dreading the answer.

"Like twelve. Hell, maybe more – I don't know, I stopped counting after five. He's a pro at it now actually. Just give it a minute – power will be back on shortly."

"Oh no fucking way." Boomer barked out a laugh from the passenger's seat as he read a new text from Brick. "Oh man, that's priceless." He cackled as he typed out a quick response, before moving to undo his seat-belt.

"What's going on?" Bubbles asked confused as Boomer made to open the passenger side door.

"My idiot brother was trying to figure out why the Christmas lights on your house weren't working, and he ended up taking out your entire street." Boomer laughed as he stepped outside the car.

"and where do you think you're going?" Bubbles asked. "Get back in the car!" She cried.

"Can't sweetness, I gotta go kick-start the generators – shouldn't take me very long, maybe ten minutes at max." Boomer grinned as he shut the door.

Tapping on the window he held up the fifty dollar bills with a smug smirk. "I'm going to hold onto these for safe-keeping – You'll probably still be here by the time I get back anyways." He cackled as he took off into the sky in a flash of cobalt blue.

Bubbles scowled as her grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly. "We'll see about that." She muttered, unwilling to lose the bet.

"… Make sure it's actually tied on properly this time you crazy fuck. I can't believe this actually happened."

"Yeah, yeah I know baby." Butch grunted as he pulled on the ropes attaching the tree to the top of the car. Giving them an experimental tug, he nodded and gestured to them. "Satisfied Butters?"

Buttercup nodded as she moved to get back into the passenger's seat, Butch followed suit a moment later, slamming the drivers-side door behind him as he started up the Escalades engine again.

Throwing the SUV into drive, he floored it down the highway, past several gawking civilians, who had pulled over on the side of the highway to watch the green couple hoist their tree off the road – and what looked like a news crew.

The greens drove in silence for a while – Buttercup glancing up at the glass top of the Escalade every so often to make sure the tree was still there – before she let out an amused snort, breaking the silence.

"I can't believe that we lost a fucking tree. How stupid can we get?"

"Apparently pretty fucking stupid – but if it makes you feel better, there's no other person I'd rather do dumb shit with then you." Butch grinned as he shot her a wink, causing Buttercup to roll her eyes fondly.

"Thanks butt-head. Same goes for me I guess." She slowly reached over to take one of his hands and give it a small squeeze, prompting Butch to squeeze back, not taking his eyes off the road. Both Green's lapsed into silence for a short while before Buttercup shook her head with a small grin.

"Our siblings are never going to let us live this down."

"Oh hell no."

Boomer silently touched down inside the Townsville power plant facility and stuffed his hands inside his hoodie pockets as he causally made his way over to the massive generators.

Skimming over the labels on the massive generators he quickly found the one that controlled the power flow to the suburbs that the Utonium residence was located in. Sure enough the massive turbines were quite, prompting Boomer to shake his head.

"Jesus Brick, you somehow manage to overload the system, now I'm going to have to reboot the whole thing." He grumbled as he broke the lock on the generators pad, allowing him access to the wiring inside. "When are you going to learn that you're not an electrician?"

Rolling up his sleeves, the tall blonde placed his hands on the silent wiring and watched as bright blue sparks started to crackle around his figure tips.

"This will only take a minute-"

"HEY YOU! YOU'RE TRESPASSING ON PRIAVTE PROPERTY! BACK AWAY FROM THE GENERATOR AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"

Boomer cursed under his breath as he slowly turned around to see three security guards glaring at him a few feet away from him – their stun guns pointed at his chest.

Boomer scoffed. Stun guns. Really? That was mere child's-play compared to what he could do with an electric current... Clearly these guys didn't recognize him, his lightning powers were legendary after all…

He fought back the urge to slink into a fighting stance. He could easily waste these guys if he wanted too, he knew how easy it would be to as well – but he had also promised Bubbles a while back that he wouldn't hurt civilians if he could avoid it.

He bit back a sigh. He was going soft, but she was worth it.

Instead he ginned widely at them as he raised his hands, allowing the guards to see the streams of electricity dancing around his figure tips.

"Uhhh… you guys ordered an electrician?"

Bubbles pulled up to the houses driveway and set the Escape in 'Park' before gathering her bags from the backseat and shut the door, locking the car behind her.

Fishing out her house keys, she unlocked the cherry red door and walked inside the foyer, kicking her boots off at the same time. "I'm back!" she called out.

"In the living room Bubs!" she heard her oldest sister reply. Following the sound, she came face to face with the sight of both Red's desperately trying to untangle a large ball of lights. The bubbly blonde bit back a giggle as she placed her bags down and went to join them on the floor.

"How was decorating?" she asked them with a small smile. Brick shot her a nasty glare and growled something under his breath as he went back to fighting with his tangle of lights. Blossom took the initiative and spoke for him.

"Oh… well you know… Lights will be lights." She muttered as she untangled another loop. "These ones are for the tree though, so we have to get them untangled before Butch and Buttercup come back with the tree."

She paused to let out a tired sigh before continuing. "It was a little more challenging then both of us would care to admit I'm afraid. I don't know how you managed to do it three years in a row Bubbles."

"It wasn't challenging." Brick cut in – his eyes were mare slits, and a hint of smoke was starting to billow out of the fire-breathing man's nose as he struggled to get his strand of lights untangled. "I got the lights up just fine. The house is completely decorated inside and out. You're welcome, by the way."

"Brick you knocked the power out for the whole street."

"A minor setback."

"It's still out."

"… Point taken."

Just as he finished speaking however, there was another pop as all the lights turned back on in the house, and the T.V. beside them came back to life. Brick guested around triumphantly.

"You see? Minor setback, nothing to worry about. Told you Boomer would come through." He paused. "Speaking of which, where is my little brother?"

"HA!" Bubbles shouted excitedly as she clapped her hands, Christmas lights momentarily forgotten. "I told him I'd make it back before he did! He has to pay up!" She cackled as she rubbed her hands together.

Brick and Blossom both simlatiously raised a brow at the blonde Puff, causing her to flush lightly as she resumed untangling her strand of Christmas lights.

"We, ah… We had a little bet…"

"Holy shit, was that a news reporter van?" Butch cackled as he glanced in the rear-view mirror. "They must be bored if they're coming after us for the tree stunt."

"Don't stop and look, just keep driving. I don't want to deal with them right now." Buttercup warned as she glanced back as well. "We already look bad enough as it is right now, we don't need to make it worse."

She glanced at his speed monitor and balked. "Jesus Butch slow down! You're going 50 over the speed limit here! If the news reporters don't catch us first, then the cops will!"

Butch rolled his eyes. "Like I care about the cops-"

"A little birdy told me that if you get one more ticket, they'll suspend your license for a year." Buttercup interjected as she examined her nails coolly, causing Butch to jolt.

"How did you know-"

"Boomer told me. Road rage, drag racing, speeding… No wonder you go through a tank of gas every week."

"Fuuuck." Butch grumbled as he begrudgingly slowed down. "Fucking kid, doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut."

"I would have found out eventually." Buttercup pointed out. "Just slow down a little. You're lucky the roads aren't complete ice."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Butch muttered. Suddenly his eyes flashed back to his rear-view mirror and he frowned. "Isn't that the news van that we passed like a minute ago?"

Buttercup turned around in her seat so fast that her ink coloured hair wacked Buch in the face, causing him to sputter around the strands as he batted them away. Sure enough, to Buttercup's horror, it was indeed the same news van they had passed moment ago.

"Shit, they're found us!" She panicked. "Well not like it's a difficult feat, we have a fucking tree strapped to the roof of the car." Butch pointed upwards with a shrug.

Buttercup looked around frantically. "Oh no. Hell no. I am not going down for this stupid tree. Blossom will kill me if she finds out about this." She hissed. We need to lose the reporters."

"and how do we do that babe?" Butch asked calmly as his eyes slid over to meet hers. Buttercup let out a small sigh as she leaned over to grip his arm that was closest to her.

"Back when you were still committing crimes… Did I, or did I not overhear that you used to be a getaway driver?" She asked quietly. Butch shot her a sly grin.

"Depends. Who did you hear that from?"

"Just answer my question."

"Among one of my many talents, yes I was. A couple of times actually." Butch chuckled, his sly grin not leaving his face, as he refused to take his eyes off the road.

"I don't see that as a talent per say, all you need to do is drive fast."

"… I was ten when I first started out doing it."

"…. Oh."

"Yeah, just when you think you know a person right?"

"While I will admit that it is an impressive feat – and it explains why you are so good at GTA, I need to know: how good were you?" Buttercup muttered, her grip on his arm becoming slowly tighter.

Butch sent her a wink. "I was the best. Never got caught once." Buttercup breathed in slowly, mentally preparing herself to say the next few words.

"Then… I need you to lose the press."

Butch stared at her – shocked.

"Are you seriously telling me that you're allowing me to-"

"DAMN IT BUTCH JUST DRIVE!"

He smirked darkly. He switched gears and turned on the turbo in the Escalade, signaling to the lime eyed woman to find something to hold on to.

"Yes ma'am." He rumbled and floored the gas.

"Is that my sister on the news?" Blossom's confused voice broke Brick's concertation as he sat on the floor next to the stunning red-head – desperately trying to untangle the Christmas tree lights from what had to be the single worst knot he had ever encountered in his life.

Pausing for a moment to glance up at the T.V., Brick almost choked as he saw two people that looked suspiciously like Buttercup and his brother, haul a pine tree ontop of a very familiar black Escalade, and peal out of the area before the camera had a chance to zoom up on them.

Brick reached over Blossom's legs to turn up the volume on the T.V. and managed to hear the end of the reporting woman's speech:

"- An interesting story of two adults stopping in the middle of a highway to grab a Christmas Tree off the side of the road has quite a few people confused this evening. The story is only getting more and more strange as it would appear that the same SUV has been spotted down town, running serval red lights and going well over the allotted speed limits. Local police are engaging in a high-speed chase of the vehicle and the couple within. The identity of the two adults cannot be confirmed at this time, but we have several sources telling us that it was none other than Buttercup Utonium and long-time beau, Ex-Rowdyruff Butch Jojo-"

Brick quickly switched the channel before Blossom could even get a word out.

"BUBBLES?! BUBBLY? BUBBLY WHERE ARE YOU?! Bubbles- NOPE sorry, you're not my girlfriend." Boomer apologized profusely as he nearly tore off the passenger's door of yet another silver 2015 Titanium Escape.

He had been floating around the packed mall parking lot trying to locate the SUV and his girlfriend for half an hour, going up to all of the silver Escapes he could see, in hopes of finding the one his girlfriend was inside.

So far he had no success.

After finally dealing with the security guards back at the power plant (which had taken him longer then he's care to admit – honestly they gave him such a hard time when he was trying to lock them in the guard booth – he had flown back to the mall parking lot in search of Bubbles, only to find that she wasn't in the spot that he had left her.

He had texted her roughly twenty times at this point, and had called her close to eight times – all of which went to voice-mail, leaving the tall blonde male panicked and distressed.

He ran a hand though his freshly cut blonde locks as he frantically floated around the still packed parking lot.

He was starting to think she wasn't there anymore, and had somehow made it back to her house.

But on the off chance that she wasn't… Boomer paled slightly – he'd be out a hundred bucks. He shook his head – now wasn't the time to be thinking about that, his main mission was to find Bubbles.

Taking one last look around the parking lot, Boomer decided that she probably wasn't there anymore, which meant…

Crap.

Sucking in air though his teeth, he took off in a flash of cobalt blue back towards the Utonium residence.

"HO HO HO, MERRY CHRISTMAS YOU PIECES OF SHIT." Butch grinned broadly as he kicked down the Utonium's front door, dragging both Buttercup, and the tree into the household, before slamming the door with his foot behind them.

"We've come bearing gifts, and by that, we mean the tree." The green Rowdyruff grinned wickedly as he allowed Buttercup to wiggle out of his grasp. Hoisting the tree up with both hands, he walked over to the tree stand that Brick and Blossom had set up moments prior, and slammed the pine tree in it, wiping his hands off on his pants.

He smirked in satisfaction and nudged his crimson eyed brother. "You would not believe what we had to go through to get this baby!"

"Oh no, trust me, I have an idea." Brick replied as he rolled his eyes at his middle brother's antics.

Buttercup bent down to take off her boots and hang her coat, and ran a hand though her long dark hair as she came to stand by her sisters. Blossom shot her a look as she pointed to the T.V., where the lime eyed girl noticed a blurry visual of herself and Butch taking off with the same tree that was currently upright in the living room. She swallowed lightly as Blossom shot her a look.

"You mind telling me just what exactly happened-" She started, only to get cut off cut off by Buttercup.

"Believe me Bloss. It's a long story." She groaned as she leaned over one of the living room couches. Judging from the downright exhausted look that her onyx haired sister gave her, Blossom could tell that she didn't particularly want to know.

The five super powered humans settled down in the living room and began to talk idly amongst themselves as they set to work on decorating the large pine tree. They had just finished untangling the last strand of tree lights, before Butch peered around the room with a puzzled look on his face.

"Where the hell is Boomer?"

Several minutes later, the five super beings had unboxed some of the tree decorations and had just started putting them on the tree when Blossom stepped back to look at the base of the tree.

"Has anyone else noticed that the base of the tree is slightly uneven?"

"Northing's wrong with it Pink, it's totally fine." Butch protested as he reached up to fix a bulb that was close to the top of the tree. Buttercup scowled. "I swear to god, if this is going to be a huge issue, you and Brick can go pick a new tree. You lot have any idea what we went through to get this thing back here?"

"No, no it's fine." Blossom reassured her obsidian haired sister. "As long as we keep the weight on both sides even and no one shakes the tree, then we should be just fine!"

"Oh good." Bubbles smiled as she reached into one of the decoration boxes and pulled out the star. "It would suck if it fell over." She added as an afterthought as she floated up to the top of the tree to place the glittery star on top of the tree.

"Don't jinx it blondie." Brick muttered as he eyed her carefully place the star on top.

Not a moment after Bubbles had put the star in place, did the front door slam open with enough force to rattle the entire household – causing the tree to shift in its stand, and lurch forward – slamming down onto the living room floor with a loud 'crunch' as the X enhanced humans stared at it, shocked.

They all turned simultiously in the direction of the front door to glare at the intruder, only to see a red-faced and out of breath Boomer panting in the doorway.

He glared spitefully at all of them – promptly ignoring their glares – before locking eyes with Bubbles, and the X beings watched as his face got even redder.

"YOU!" He bellowed, pointing a finger at her. "I SPENT THE LAST 20 MINUTES FLYING AROUND THAT DAMN PARKING LOT LOOKING FOR YOU AND I COULDN'T FIND YOU ANYWHERE! YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I WAS?! HAVE YOU BEEN HERE THIS WHOLE TIME?!" He screeched. Bubbles fought to keep a laugh from escaping her as she nodded and watched as her boyfriend slowly start to lose his sanity.

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" IVE BEEN CALLING YOU NON-STOP TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE YOU WERE!" He wailed, looking ready to tear out his hair. Bubbles frowned as a confused look spread over her face.

"Calls? I didn't get any calls." She informed him. Buttercup rolled her eyes. "You haven't been on your phone since you go home Baby Blue. Where is it anyways?"

"It's over here." Bubbles responded as she floated over to her purse. Digging around in the designer bag, she found her phone and brought it out with a sigh. "See, I told you I don't have any-" Her voice cut off as her message log popped up onscreen.

37 missed texts from Boomie 3

9 missed calls from Boomie 3

Bubbles blinked sheepishly at her boyfriend who was tapping his foot with his arms crossed in front of him, she shot him an apologetic smile. "Heh, heh… oops?" she squeaked, before a sly grin spread across her pretty features.

"But… you still lost the bet. I made it home at 4:22pm, waaaay before you got here." Boomer bit back a groan, but never the less, reached into his hoodie pocket and forked over the hundred dollars to his grinning blonde. Looking away from her for a moment he glanced over at the fallen Christmas tree and nodded at it.

"What happened there?"

"You happened dumbass. You made the whole damn thing topple over." Brick informed his youngest brother.

"Yeah, nice going Boom."

"Ah shuddup Butch."

Sneaking a glance behind them at the T.V. that was still on quietly in the background he let a nervous chuckle escape him as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Umm… if you guys happen to seen me on the news, I'm just going to throw a disclaimer out there and say that I didn't do it."

"What did you do?" Blossom groaned as he placed her head in her hands. "I kinda tied up the security guards that were at the power plant. In my defense, they were trying to tazze me."

"Oh great, a felony!" Blossom cried as she threw her hands in the air. "You know what? I give up. Who what's hot chocolate?" She asked before disappearing into the kitchen with her sisters on her heels.

"Huh, felonies must run in the family bro, because I just spent the past hour of my life reliving my old getaway driving days." Butch grinned proudly as he laced his hands behind his head, causing Boomer to stare incredulously at him.

"…What the hell were you doing?"

"Long story man, I'll tell you over dinner."

"Girls! I'm home!" The Professor called out as he shut the door behind him. "I saw the front of the house! It looks very nice!" He took off his shoes before looking about the downstairs. "… and I see you got the inside decorated as well! Excellent job girls!"

"Hi dad, welcome home!" Blossom smiled as she floated out of the kitchen with Buttercup and Bubbles on her heels. "How was the lab?"

"The vaccine is pretty much done, it's just in the final stages now – it should be ready to be distributed within the next few weeks." John smiled tiredly as he moved forward to kiss each of his girls on the cheek. "I must admit though, I am impressed that you got all of the decorating done in a few hours… and on Christmas Eve non-the less! You even managed to find a good-looking tree!" He nodded to the large pine that had been recently up righted. "I trust the last-minute shopping is done as well?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Everything's done daddy, but we had some help." Bubbles smiled shyly. John's eyebrow raised farther. "Really? From who-"

CRASH.

"Shit Brick, you dropped the fucking pan. Way to go my man."

"Butch if you want to eat so badly – you can help me get this shit ready, so that when the Professor come's home he can get started on making dinner without any interruptions!"

"Can the both of you shut up for a second? I thought I heard someone come in."

The Professor's face paled slightly at the voices he heard coming from his kitchen. He closed his eyes and slowly counted to three in his head, only to open them and see three more sets of eyes looking back at him from the kitchen archway.

Blood red, forest green and cobalt blue.

Yup. It was them. Of course it was them.

After all – who could mistake the infamous Rowdyruff Boys?

Boomer offered the older man a small smile and sent him a wave before floating over to shake his hand. "John, how are you? Thank you for having us over for Christmas this year. Sorry that we're a couple of hours early, the girls needed some help setting up."

John's posture relaxed slightly, and he allowed a smile to cross his face as he shook hands with the blue-eyed male. He was ok with this one. The blonde one had some eliquite. The same could not be said for his older brothers.

"I'm alright Boomer, thank you. I appreciate you helping my daughters get things ready for tonight – we just haven't had any time to do it!" He chuckled lightly, before nodding over his shoulder where Brick and Butch were lingering in the kitchen doorway.

"Brick, Butch." He acknowledged the disgruntled looking boys, who grunted in response, sending him lazy waves, much to the displeasure of Blossom and Buttercup.

John pulled at his collar nervously. As much as he hated to admit it, those two still managed to scare the living daylights out of him at times. Boomer had his moments too, but Brick and Butch were something else.

"Right." He muttered as he pointed to the kitchen. "I'll just go get started on dinner then yes?"

"Damn Prof, if that isn't the best thing I've heard today!" Butch grinned as he stepped out from the kitchen archway, allowing the older man to pass by.

"Keep it up Butch, you'll be helping him make dinner in a second." Buttercup threated, casing the tall ravenette to back down with a small "Yes ma'am." John grinned secretly to himself at the exchange.

"That's my girl." He murmured as he began to get started on dinner.

"Hey babe?" Butch called out, eyeing the liquor cabinet in the dining room. "I see rum in here. Do you have eggnog per chance?"

Buttercup groaned from her spot on the living room couch as she peered behind her to look into the adjacent dining room. "Probably yeah. The rum isn't mine though. That's dad's.

"Oi Professor?" Butch called out, causing John to appear in the kitchen doorway. "Yes Butch?" He asked, somewhat wearily. Butch held up the bottle of rum in response.

"Do you mind? I make a wicked eggnog and rum." He grinned savagely, causing John to shiver slightly.

"It's only… 7pm." John muttered faintly, as if that would make a difference. Secretly the older man could have done with some of that rum himself after the day he had at work. Butch shrugged. "I'll make you some." He offered. "Done." John replied instantly.

Butch grinned as he sauntered into the kitchen and pulled out seven glasses and a carton of eggnog from the fridge. Pouring the rum and the eggnog in the glasses he passed one over to the professor and tapped his glass with his. "Cheers man, happy holidays." The forest eyed man muttered as he tossed his glass down while John stared incredibly.

"Now take that easy Butch... it's strong stuff." John cautioned him, only for the burly male to wave him off. "Hey, X Child remember? The X in my system burns through booze like no tomorrow. You should know that."

"Still though… you shouldn't overdo it. X or not, this stuff can knock you right out."

"I'll be fiiine." Butch grinned as he poured him another glass, before scooping up the rest of the glasses into the crook of his arm and walking out of the kitchen and into the living room. "Hey guys, ya'll ready for the most amazing drinks you'll ever have in your life?"

John sighed as he picked up his glass and drained it back before moving onto the second one.

He needed another drink.

Blossom made a face as she took a small sip of the drink that Butch had passed her. "This is… really strong." She managed to get out as she sank father into the crook of Brick's arm. Brick let out a low chuckle at the sight, before plucking the glass out of her hands and drinking it for her.

Blossom wrinkled her nose at the sight. "How you manage to do that is beyond me." She muttered as she adjusted her head on his arm.

"Practice babe. I'll teach you one day. Don't worry." The crimson eyed man responded with a sly grin as he sank back into the living room couch, feeling slightly buzzed from the alcoholic beverage.

"Not a good idea. Remember our twenty-first birthday?" Buttercup asked from her spot on Butch's lap. "I don't think I've ever seen Red puke that much in my life-"

"MOVING ON." Blossom interjected quickly. Only to get a few laughs from her siblings.

"I remember that." Bubbles giggled as she cuddled closer into Boomers side, next to the Greens. "I mean… Just barely, but I thought you had alcohol poisoning for sure." She laughed as she turned her sky-blue eyes on her sister's lime green ones.

"You can really hold your own though Buttercup, I was amazed, not going to lie." Buttercup raised her glass to her youngest sister before draining the remainder of her drink. "You too Baby Blue – gotta admit, I was impressed."

"You guys remember our twenty-first birthday?" Boomer asked with a sly grin. Brick groaned as he covered his eyes with his hands. "No. and what I do remember, I'd rather forget."

"Man we got royally fucked up." Butch shook his head, "That was pretty bad, not going to lie."

"You were the worst." Buttercup raised her head to glare at him. "and guess who had to take care of you? Me. You were throwing up for hours. I've never felt more disgusted in my life."

"He drank close to five bottles of tequila straight, what did you expect?" Brick replied, only to see Butch frantically shaking his head at him as Buttercup raised her eyebrows.

"Oh so that's what you were drinking." She glowered at the muscular ravenette. She hadn't known beforehand what he had been drinking that had gotten him as violently sick as he had been.

"Mitch said I couldn't do it… I proved him wrong."

"Since when is it a good idea to listen to Mitch?"

"Never, but I was three hundred buck richer."

"I also seem to remember you puking all down the front of his shirt as you went to collect your winnings." Brick added coolly as he played with a stand of Blossom's long auburn hair, his statement causing Boomer to gag mid-swig of his drink. Glancing around frantically, the blonde boy gently pushed Bubbles down as he turned his face towards the Greens.

Buttercup barely had time to lunch herself off Butch's lap, just as eggnog exploded out of the blue-eyed boys mouth and directly into Butch's face.

"OH YOU WANNA SEE JESUS?!" Butch roared as he began to wipe the eggnog off his face, squinting murderously at Boomer.

"You mean the Devil? Considering that we lived in Hell for a couple of years?" Boomer shot back ginning.

"YOU WANNA SEE LOBSTER MOM? BECAUSE THAT CAN BE ARRANGED VERY EASILY!"

"Ok kids, dinner is ready-" John paused as he looked around chaotic living room. Butch somehow had eggnog all over his face, the Blues were laughing hysterically and the Reds looked as if they had enough. Somehow he could tell that the three Rowdies were already tipsy.

Just how much had these fucking kids had to drink already?

Bubbles glanced up at him and offered him a weak smile. "I'll help you put it on the table daddy. Butch is also going to need a cloth." She added as she stood up and walked over to him, disappearing into the kitchen to grab the first couple of dishes.

The Professor nodded, unable to take his eyes off the scene in front of him.

This was going to be an interesting dinner.

Christ, he needed another drink.

"Boomer are you sure you're ok? You and your brothers inhaled a lot of rum." Bubbles muttered as she gently nudged her boyfriend to the table.

"I'm peachy sugar. Juuussst peachy – turkey looks fantastic John." Boomer slurred as he made his way into his seat.

"Kiss-ass." Butch coughed from across the table, only for Buttercup to roughly jab him in the ribs with her elbow. "The turkey does look very good Professor, thank you for cooking." Brick stepped in as he took a seat on Blossom's right. "My brother's and I have been looking forward to this all evening if you couldn't tell."

"Oh, Butch made that perfectly clear – But I suppose it's a good thing?" The Professor asked curiously. Brick nodded. "Mojo can't cook for the life of him, and Lobster Mom- sorry, HIM can, but he just doesn't."

The crimson eyed male looked down into his glass, where the remains of the rum and eggnog swirled at the bottom. "I have to say though – this rum is pretty strong stuff. I'm starting to feel some of the effects already- you'll have to forgive me, I'm not usually like this at formal dinners."

"Well I mean… that rum happens to be 70% I think, so no wonder you're feeling it." John cocked an amused brow at the flame haired man, watching as his blood red eyes widened slightly. "Well that would explain it – I have to admit though: You sure know how to pick a good bottle."

John puffed out his chest with pride, as he picked up the carving knife and fork, ready to serve the turkey to his daughters and their boyfriends. "Well not to boast, but I am an expert rum chooser-"

DING DONG

The familiar chime of the doorbell rang through the house, causing the seven people around the table to pause.

"Who could that be?" Blossom asked. "Dunno, tell 'em to buzz off, they're interrupting the family dinner." Buttercup grumbled, eyeing the turkey.

"Well someone has to answer the door, it'd be rude to just ignore them." Bubbles pointed out from her spot beside Boomer.

"Alright Blondie, you get it then."

"But I just sat down!"

"I'll get it!" John said exasperated as he put the carving utensils down to move towards the front door.

"Damn it, I just want some turkey!" he heard Butch sob behind him as he left the room. "You've waited this long, you can wait two more minutes." Buttercup snapped back.

John suppressed a sigh as he wiped his hands off on his pants, before opening the door. He was not ready for the sight that greeted him on the other side of the door however.

There, standing on his front doorstep was none other than the genius ape Mojo Jojo and the devil himself HIM.

The two super villains and the scientist stared at each other for a solid minute before John - without taking his eyes off of the devil and the ape on his doorstep – turned to call back into the house, "Ah, Boys? I think it's for you."

"What?"

A few moments later Brick and Boomer floated into view, only to stop dead upon seeing their creators at the doorstep. Boomer cringed. "Hey dad one and dad-mom two… what's up-?"

"AND JUST WHERE HAVE YOU BOYS BEEN?" HIM roared cutting him off, the falsetto voice replaced by a deep, unearthly bellow. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU? HOURS YOU UNGRATEFUL BRATS, HOURS."

"Wait, hold up." Brick muttered. Why have you been looking for us? Did we do something that we weren't supposed to do or something?"

"It is Christmas Eve oldest son, we are supposed to be doing the Christmas things like a normal family!" Mojo cut in, folding his arms across his chest. Boomer stared at him.

"But I thought we weren't doing anything this year, considering all the other years before that were a disaster." He pointed out. "You are still our children. We want to spend time with you during the winter holiday's like everyone else." Mojo huffed.

Boomer mulled it over, before shrugging at his oldest brother. "Can't argue with that."

"The hell's going on here?" A thick drunk slur cut thought the air behind them, causing the five to turn to look at the new-comer. Butch stumbled into the foyer behind the, holding an empty bottle of rum in his hands

"Did you just finish off the rest of the bottle Butch?" Brick asked.

"Yes sir." The green-eyed male slurred with a drunken grin plastered on his face.

"You're a menace to society you know that?"

"Born and raised to be one bro – don't worry, I found another bottle of the stuff!"

"Stop drinking my dad's booze you freak!" Buttercup muffled cry came from somewhere behind them.

HIM narrowed his rotten green eyes at him middle son. "Is he drunk already?" he asked, his high-pitched voice bordering on a growl.

"It would appear that way yes. He downed my bottle of 70% rum, I warned him beforehand. Your other two are also slightly intoxicated" John responded with a small sigh. "I give up – the X in their systems will sober them up soon enough I suppose."

Another awkward silence filled the air, as John shifted his weight between both balls of his feet. Finally, when the tension grew too thick for him to bear, he moved aside slightly.

"Do you two… er… want to come in?" he asked hesitantly.

Both the lobster demon and the ape looked at one another for a second before they shrugged. "Just this once wouldn't hurt I suppose." HIM muttered as he floated into the threshold, Mojo following suit.

John, the Rowdies and the two new house-guests, all moved back to the table where the girls were waiting – all three jumping up upon seeing HIM and Mojo, only for the Professor to wave them back down, mouthing "it's fine" to them, watching as they reluctantly took their seats again.

"Now then." John paused. "Who's hungry?"

"Yours's truly Prof!" Butch pointed to himself. "Highlight of my day right here – well except for speeding through the downtown, trying to avoid cops and reporter vans with a Christmas tree strapped to the roof of my car, THAT was pretty good-" only for Buttercup to slap a hand over his mouth, preventing him from completing his sentence.

"Now, what did you all want to do after dinner?" John asked quickly, before anymore question regarding the topic could be asked.

"I got an idea! Let's sing Christmas songs!"

"Oh god Butch, you really are drunk aren't you?""

"Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock-"

"No Butch, we've already sang that like, four times in a row already, I think that's enough." Buttercup sighed as she patted her clearly intoxicated boyfriend on the arm.

"But Sunshine it's ourfavourite!" Butch slurred drunkenly as he wrapped a muscular arm around her shoulders – drawing her into him. Buttercup rolled her eyes, but never the less reached up to rub his obsidian spikes fondly.

"Yeah, but I don't know about everyone else. Let's pick something else m'kay?" She tried to reason with him as she discreetly tried to pry the eggnog and rum concoction out of his hand

"FUCK NO!" Butch barked, jerking his arm out of her reach. "You liiikke it. So Imma sing it for yooou baby, just for yooou." He blew her a mock kiss as he stood up – swaying slightly as he struggled to find his balance. "Brick, Boom, give me a beat will 'ya?"

"Sure thing man." Brick hiccuped as he raised his own glass in a toast. A moment later, three drunken choruses of Jingle Bell Rock filled the house again, causing Buttercup to massage her temples as Blossom and Bubbles tried in vain to muffle their laughter.

"Of all the man to get stuck with. Why him?" Buttercup moaned as she watched Butch start to sway his hips and do a little dance in their living room – Brick and Boomer still slurring the words to Jingle Bell Rock, before collapsing into heaps of drunken laughter at the sight of their middle brother's atrocious dance moves.

"Aww come on Butters, he's not so bad. He's actually got a pretty nice voice actually." Bubbles giggled. "I think it's kinda sweet actually – he just wants to sing you your favourite song."

Buttercup rolled her bright green eyes but couldn't help the small smile that played across her lips as she watched her male counterpart fondly. "He has his moments where he can be endearing. Tonight's one of his better nights." She agreed. "And if you think he can sing right now – you should hear him when he's sober." She added as an afterthought.

"Hold that thought, do either of you know where dad, Mojo and HIM went?" Blossom asked as she looked around the living room with a confused expression on her face.

"Oh, I think they went to go watch a movie upstairs or something." Bubbles cracked a grin. "I overheard Mojo say that they-" she gestured to the three drunken boys, "- Only get worse before they get better. HIM was apparently pretty grateful that they're over here this Christmas. He said something about his downstairs not being able to take any more abuse from them – whatever that means." The blonde girl shrugged.

Blossom frowned. "I don't particularly like the sound of that-"

"SHIT. I SPILLED MY DRINK ON YOUR WHITE ASS COUCH." Boomer yelped as he stood up suddenly. "WHO EVEN HAS WHITE COUCHES ANYMORE? THIS WAS A TERRIBLE MISTAKE."

"Having you over here was a terrible mistake." Buttercup muttered darkly, giving Boomer the evil eye.

Blossom sighed. "Well now we know that. I'll go get a cloth."

"Give it an hour." Buttercup muttered. "They're going to crash. Just give it an hour."

"I take it that they're staying over then?" Bubbles asked quietly.

"Oh hell yeah. Butch is not driving home with the way his is now. I'll go set up the pull-out couch." Buttercup groaned.

"Well I mean… Boomer could just stay in my room-"

"No Bubbles."

About an hour later the six X powered adults had settled back down in the living room. The boys had started to sober up, and currently the couples were relaxing after their eventful day.

Boomer adjusted Bubbles in his arms as he cracked his neck, feeling it pop and loosen pleasantly. The blonde man bit back a yawn as he glanced up at the ceiling, only for something hanging above his head to catch his eye.

He grinned deviously and nudged Bubbles, pointing upward. "Hey Bubs, you know what that is?" he asked with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Bubbles followed his gaze upward only to grin back. "It's a mistletoe… Geeze Boomer if you wanted a kiss you could have just asked." She giggled as she leaned in to press her lips to his.

Butch looked up only to notice what his youngest brother was doing. Glancing upwards, he noticed the mistletoe and let a wicked smile cross his face as he gently turned Buttercup's face towards his.

"Oi, Sunshine, looks what's up there?" he cooed. Buttercup turned her head slightly to see what he meant, only her eyes to widen and rapidly shook her head. "No. absolutely not. We aren't even under it dumbass."

"Meh, does it look like I care?" Butch asked, before flipping them on the floor so that he was on top of her. "Now pucker up Butters."

"This is harassment." The obsidian haired woman protested as she struggled feebly under his crushing weight. "Blossom, you decorated the inside of the house, how could you do this to me? I thought you hated mistletoe- Mpfh!" She was cut off as Butch's rough lips came crashing down onto hers.

He pulled back after a moment. "That so bad?" He asked teasingly. "Aw shut up and kiss me again you walking freak of nature." Buttercup rolled her eyes as she brought his head down for another kiss.

"I do hate mistletoe." Blossom responded quietly as she watched the Greens engage in a heated make out session. "I don't even remember putting it up there…" Suddenly, she felt a set of intense eyes boring into the side of her head. Turning around, she met Brick's blood red orbs with her cotton candy pink ones.

"Can I help you?" She asked with a teasing smile. "Might as well go along with the flow babe." Brick rumbled as dipped his head to meet hers. "Giving into peer pressure? I thought you were better than that." Blossom laughed lightly as she lifted her head up at the same time to meet in the middle.

"I'll cave just this once." Brick chuckled as he gently placed his lips on her colder ones, giving her a kiss that wasn't demanding, but wasn't soft either. After a moment, the Red's pulled away, only to see their younger siblings looking at them with amused smirks on their faces.

"You don't like Mistletoe." Buttercup mimicked her. "That's a joke."

"Brick and Blossom sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G-"

"Later Boomer, later." Bubbles laughed as she gently pushed his arm, "I was enjoying the moment."

"Well I hoped you liked it, because that's the last time you're evening going to see it." Brick scoffed as he tried to fight the flush that was quickly spreading across his cheeks.

"Joke number two right there."

John muted the T.V. – That happened to be playing Elf – and was silent as he listened for noise coming from the downstairs. Mojo and HIM, who were sitting on either side of him, frowned and turned to look at him.

"John? Be a dear and turn the sound back on. The tiny human is attacking the nimrod in tights, and I do want to hear the exchange." HIM requested in his high-pitched voice, clicking his claws in the direction of the remote in John's hands.

"I must agree with my vile partner, normally I do not partake in watching Christmas movies, but this one I find intertaitng and so I, Mojo Jojo, must insist that you turn the sound back on so we can enjoy listing to the tiny human scream profanities at the foolish elf man-"

"It's quiet." John muttered as he strained to hear any kind of sound from the lower level of the house. "It's too quiet."

"Obviously silly man." HIM rolled his rotten green eyes as he tried to reach across John to grab the remote. "You've muted the sound."

"No I mean from downstairs. It's gotten very quiet all of the sudden. I don't know what to think."

"Oh the boys have probably exceeded their natural limits and are more than likely sleeping it off." Mojo waned dismissively. "They will be fine, the girls are with them anyways, I am sure they will not let them do anything reckless."

John sighed. "Alright… that's true. I just don't want my downstairs to be demolished when I go back down."

"It'll be fine." HIM muttered as he managed to grab the remote out of John's hand, turning the sound back on the movie. "Now hush, the both of you and watch the movie."

"You know what?" Brick asked quietly. He was lying on his back on the living room floor, Blossom curled up into his side. Their siblings were scattered around them – Butch and Buttercup were sprawled out across the couch, her head rising and falling with every breathe her male counterpart took. Boomer and Bubbles were lying back in the recliner, curled up into each other, breathing in sync. Both males were currently sleeping off all of the alcohol they had consumed earlier in the earning. All and all, it was calm and peaceful in the living room.

Blossom lifted her rose coloured eyes up to meet her beau's intense crimson ones and shook her head. "No, what is it?" she asked gently.

"Today wasn't so bad." Brick replied as he ran his fingers though her long, strawberry scented hair. "I could honestly do today again and I wouldn't mind – even dealing with those fucking devil knots." Blossom giggled, squeezing his hand lightly, prompting him to squeeze back.

"This is honestly… the best Christmas I've ever had. The same goes for my brothers." He admitted quietly. He turned his head slightly to look at her.

"Thanks Blossom." He murmured as he pressed a kiss to the side of her temple. Blossom flushed happily and held his hand tighter.

"You're welcome Brick. Merry Christmas."

Authors note: Watch as our favorite super-powered X team slowly turns Professor Utonium into an Alcoholic during the Christmas season.

That being said, Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's from me to you! Have a wonderful Christmas break to my readers who are in school, and stay safe! And to all of my readers who are not in school, have a great Christmas and New Year's!

Stay amazing lovies,

Mrs. RoseGold