Buttercup sighed in her sleep and turned over in her bed. It was a cool night, the type one got right after a huge rainstorm, and the tough puff had taken advantage of the weather and slept with her window open. On the table next to her bed, her green cellphone lit up and started to play its signature jingle.

The green-loving fighter groaned as she came to consciousness. A hand extended from beneath the blanket and grabbed the phone; flipping it open, and placing it on the top side of her head.

"Buttercup here," she moaned.

"Buttercup!" The Mayor's panicked voice came loudly into her ear, making the superheroine wince and pull the device away from her ear. The man on the other end of the line continued to blather on about whatever villain had decided to make a mess of his fair town at such an ungodly hour. "-So you need to go down there this instant!" The Mayor finished, letting the woman know that she had dozed off while he was talking.

"What?"

"I said 'You need to go down there and stop them, the police are having trouble getting in there to break them up!'."

"Okay… and where is it?" she asked, more awake now.

"It's the Karaoke bar down on fifteenth. Hurry, the Police can't withstand another round!"

"Right, I'm on it, Mayor." Buttercup hung up before she threw off her blanket and searched the floor for a pair of jeans.

The green puff paused half-way through pulling a pair of pants up her hips.

"Huh? Another round?" she muttered to herself.

The cool, slightly humid, breeze further woke the sleepy puff up, ruffling her short hair; making her bed head even more pronounced. Flying past a tall office building the green-eyed Super managed to catch a look at her reflection in the moonlit windows and winced. She had never been one to care for appearances, but damn she looked like hell. The woman stopped in mid-air to glare at her appearance with a deeply etched frown.

Her hair was a mess, even by her standards. The short style she kept had bent and kinked in every which direction and defied her attempts to coax it into a more normal appearance, eventually, she gave up.

Her attention drew pat her wrinkled green wife beater, to her jeans. The only ones she could find that wasn't in the wash were by far the rattiest pair she owned. The ones with both knees blown out, with rips and tears all over the thin denim, one back pocket missing, and half the belt loops ripped half off. She also noted, sourly, that they hugged her lower half in a way that made her uncomfortable to fight in. She didn't remember them being so tight when she bought them.

She scowled deeper and brought her attention back to what she was supposed to be doing. She shook her head, mentally bitching herself out for letting her appearance delay her and took off again. A dark little part of her mind promising pain for the unlucky bastard who warranted her services at this hour.

The police officer's stationed outside the Karaoke bar breathed a sigh of relief at Buttercup's less-than-thrilled appearance. She distantly noticed that most of the officers present had either earmuffs or those bright orange earplugs.

Again, the powerpuff wondered what she had missed of the Mayor's blathering speech over the phone.

"Buttercup! They've been in there for the last five hours. They seem to be drunk and are holding the Bartender and night staff hostage." Buttercup nodded and yawned.

"Who am I dealing with this time?"

"The Gang Green Gang." The Police Officer looked especially grim as he answered.

The Tough Puff put a hand to her stomach as she felt the familiar knot of apprehension, rage, and bitter longing that she always felt when dealing with them. Though she had never forgiven him for his deceit, neither had she truly ever gotten over her first brush with love. Still, it didn't mean she wouldn't pound his ass into the concrete every time she came across him.

She nodded again and made her way through the police-car blockade. She scanned the building on the outside, for the chance that one of the green gangbangers was positioned outside as a lookout. Buttercup moved through the doors, the sound of her boots against the tile echoed throughout the hallway.

Inside the place was done out in a cheesy space-cosmos theme. Splashes of oranges and yellows and reds made up fake planets and stars adorning the walls and ceiling. Occasionally a blue or green or pink planet would break up the monotony. The dim lighting made the atmosphere and took off a lot of the harshness of the color contrast between the bright planets and stars, and the deep navy background that was supposed to represent space.

"Hey, Arturo, play dat song right… dere!" Ace's drunken voice came from somewhere inside the building.

"Okay." Even the littlest member sounded piss-drunk. A second later, Ace's slurred voice came back.

"Dis's for a very sss" belch "'pecial girl, though she treats me like a punchin' bag; I'm still hooked on 'er." There were cheers and hoots as his gang shouted, equally drunk from the sounds of it, about how romantic he was.

Buttercup felt a small stir of jealously to whomever the bitch was that caught Ace's attention.

"It better not be Sedusa again or this time I'll let her stomp all over him. Literally," she grumbled as the music started. The tough puff followed the sound of the music, trying to locate the exact location of the drunken men and put an end to the night.

"Why do you build me up (build me up), Buttercup, baby

Just to let me down and mess me around" Buttercup's spine shot up straight as the opening refrain reached her ears.

"No. Just no." She whispered, refusing to let her heart speed up and trick her brain. It was just a coincidence that her name was in the song. Purely coincidence.

Though she treats me like a punching bag. Repeated in her head.

Oh please, she dismissed, any girl that idiot picked up would. She hurried up, practically running through the complex as she searched for the room he and his goons had holed up in.

"I need you, (I need you), more than anyone darling'

So build me up, Buttercup, don't break my heart." The closer she came to the group the more she began to realize why the police hadn't invaded before. Ace had a spectacularly awful singing voice, and it had probably been made much worse by the alcohol he had consumed. She winced as he hit another sour note and paused to clasp her hands over her ears before steeling her resolve to save the poor staff who had endured this torment for longer than anyone else.

"Hey Hey Hey - Baby, baby try to find

Hey Hey Hey - A little time and I'll make you mine

Hey Hey Hey - I'll be home

I'll be beside the phone waiting for you" Buttercup literally had to grit her teeth at the terrible singing.

When I get my hands on them… She promised herself darkly.

Somewhere between the pounding sensation developing between her ears, and the horrible, slurred, warbling Ace was proudly belting. Buttercup had blindly stumbled upon the "hostages" and gestured for them to get out. A young woman whose name tag read "Amy" pointed to the door where the source of the noise was in before taking off as fast as her high heel shoes would allow.

Buttercup pivoted on her heel and walked over to the door in question, far calmer than one would expect. With one well-placed kick, the door flew off its hinges and clattered harmlessly in the middle of the room.

"All right you punks!" She roared over the music, but only three of the Gang Green Gang even paid attention to her. Snake, whose hands had been firmly clamped over his ears, got up and hissed a sibilant "thanksss" on his way out to the back door. She blinked and let the tall man by without any problems. A second later, Big Billy got up to join his serpentine friend.

"Daw, Ace nevar lets me join da fun!" The large Cyclops wailed.

And with good reason. She thought. The last time Big Billy drank he went on a rampage. Apparently, the normally congenial giant was a violent drunk. -The city had agreed to not press charges against the gang if they agreed to never let their largest member drink ever again.

Moments later Grubber came by, Buttercup couldn't tell if he was drunk or not, leaving Arturo and Ace behind.

"Why do you build me up, Buttercup, baby

Just to let me down, and mess me around

And then, worst of all, you never call, baby" The littlest member swayed to the music, but eventually fell over onto his back. From his new vantage point, he could finally Buttercup standing there by the door. The short man sat up and got to his feet; deciding that Ace's performance wasn't worth getting the drink knocked out of him by the anger-management puff.

The green powerpuff scowled as now she was alone in the room with a drunken Ace, trying to figure out her next move. On one hand, he was being a punk and inconveniencing others. On the other hand, she couldn't really get behind beating up a guy who was probably so drunk he couldn't throw a punch without hitting himself.

"I need you more than anyone darling

You know that I have from the start

So build me up, Buttercup, don't break my heart…" He crooned softly before collapsing at the end of the song.

Buttercup had come up to the stage before she even realized she had moved, staring at the man before her in slight awe. Ace finally noticed her and offered a shit-eating grin and a drunken giggle. The woman felt any remaining anger within her disappear as her mind tied to wrap around the occurrence of Ace doing something as out of character as giggling.

Nope, not possible. It is not within this man's genetic make-up to giggle. I have somehow entered the twilight zone, she concluded.

"Ace," she spoke up. Her voice calm despite the whirlwind chaos that was her mental faculties. He looked at her and frowned somewhat. "Get up and go home."

Having spoken her peace, Buttercup left the building, not caring if Ace actually left or let the police drag him off to jail.

She had some thinking to do, and if there was one thing Buttercup wasn't, it was a thinker.

Buttercup had wandered around Townsville Park till the sun had come up, and still, she couldn't quite grasp the significance of the song or why it should mean anything to her.

Worse, she had a prime chance to beat Ace into the ground and she passed it up.

"So fucking lucky you were drunk," she mumbled as she sank into the seat of the swing and glared at the offending holes in her jeans.

Ace groaned as a beam of late afternoon sunlight stuck him right across the face. His face squeezed into a grimace before he opened his eyes to the late afternoon.

"Assspirin and a glasssss of water." Snake's lisp cut through his dulled senses painfully. Ace bit back an angry retort and snatched the pills and water, downing the two in a rush. The slightly older man bit back a groan of pain and nausea and gently laid back down on the couch.

"Tell me. Last night… She wasn't…?" Snake couldn't hold back the snicker and nodded his head in confirmation of Ace's fear.

"Shit…"