Kare's Curse

Disclaimer: I do not own Powerpuff Girls Z or the characters.(A/N lame title huh? I couldn't think of anything better... For those of you who don't know, Momoko is Blossom, Miyako is Bubbles and Kaoru is Buttercup. How I call them depends on whether they're transformed or not. Oh yeah, and Kare is Him.)

Chapter 1:The curse

"Stay down! Megaton Dunk!"

With a furious swing of her hammer, Buttercup slammed Robo Mojo into the ground.

"When will you learn Mojo? You can't beat us. So stop trying!" she yelled at the monkey inside of the robot.

"Hahahahaha, you say that now, but I will return and defeat you for good mojo!" Mojo responded.

"Just leave him be. He'll be back again and again and again, and we'll defeat him again and again and again," Blossom said.

After hearing the call for help, the Powerpuff Girls Z had moved out to find Mojo Jojo rampaging around in Tokyo City in another of his huge mechas. The fight had been short and violent. With Mojo running off, leaving behind the wreckage of his destroyed mecha, the girls flew back to school.

"If we skip more classes we'll definitely end up getting expelled someday," Miyako sighed.

"Yeah, but at least it wouldn't be for nothing. I mean, if we hadn't done anything Mojo would have destroyed the city," Momoko said.

"He should try something else," Kaoru said in a bored tone. "I mean, he's always showing up with huge-ass mechas, and we always end up either pounding them into the dirt or send them flying off."

"That's not true; what about the RowdyRuff Boys?" Miyako asked.

"We haven't seen them since they ran off last time; who knows where they are. Anyway, I doubt we'll have to deal with them anytime soon. Too bad..." Kaoru muttered.

Without wasting any more time, the girls went back to their class to experience the delightful boredom of mathematics.

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In an old museum the scorpion-clawed devil Kare sat on his coffin, in which he'd been sealed for more than a century. He was brooding in silence on a scheme to destroy the Powerpuff Girls Z, and unlike Mojo his plans didn't involve any giant mechas. It did, however, involve a lot of chaos and mayhem, ending in the ultimate defeat and humiliation of his greatest enemies. A cruel smile appeared on Kare's face and he leapt out of the basement.

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"Did you understand anything of that math problem?" Kaoru asked in desperation to her friends, who were similarly puzzled by their homework.

"No, becuase the background info was given while we were out fighting Mojo," Momoko answered.

"That stupid monkey! Next time I'll Graviton Drive him to oblivion!" Kaoru said angrily.

The girls had already spent hours on their homework because they had gotten extra assignments in nearly all classes for skipping them. And if they didn't do it, their parents would be contacted, and if that wouldn't improve the situation, they would be expelled. So they had no choice but to sit down and do everything. Fortunately, Ken and Professor Utonium had been willing to help them, and they'd promised to help the girls as soon as they finished an important experiment. But so far, both Ken and the Professor hadn't shown up, leaving the girls to do their work alone.

"Ugh, fuck this shit," Kaoru exclaimed and lay and on her back, staring at the ceiling.

"Come on, Kaoru. You know what happens if we don't do this," Miyako said reasonably.

"Yeah, I know." With a sigh, Kaoru sat back up and grabbed her pen. "But then, who cares if we get expelled? I mean, we're super heroes right? We wouldn't exactly need to scrape some money together."

"Don't bet on it," Professor Utonium, who was standing in the door opening with Ken and Peach just behind him, said.

"Professor!" the three girls said simultaneously. "Can you help us with these math problems?" Momoko asked.

"Of course, I promised I would didn't I? But really Kaoru, don't take your study lightly. Even if you're a super hero you need money, and fighting monsters doesn't really pay, does it?"

"I guess you're right...But that doesn't change the fact that we're stuck with this bullshit while we could be outside doing stuff," Kaoru replied.

The Professor shook his head and said, "You'll have time to play later; now, let's take a look at these math problems shall we?"

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The three boys lay hidden in the bushes, and looked through the window at the three girls they knew as the Powerpuff Girls Z. "Let's follow them and TP their houses," Boomer suggested.

"Why not just prank call them to madness?" Butch said.

Brick, their more-or-less leader, shook his head. "We won't let them know we're back in town yet. Haven't you noticed they've been doing that homework shit for hours? And remember, we heard them saying they'd get expelled if they keep skipping class."

"Yeah, so?" Boomer asked.

Brick sighed. "We'll start causing trouble in the city tomorrow, during class. As soon as those girls get to us we vanish, only to start screwing around again when they're back in school. If we keep that up for maybe a week, they'll get expelled for sure."

Boomer and Butch grinned. "You're evil, bro. So, do we follow them home when they're done with their homework?" Butch asked.

Brick considered for a moment, and than he said, "Nah, let's just try and find a place to hide in for the next week. If we're going to get the girls expelled we'll need a base of some sort, and I don't think Mojo will let us stay at his place seeing how we fuck around with him every time we happen to see him. The girls are done with their work! Quickly, let's get the fuck out of here!"

The boys crawled back into the bushes, and when the laboratory was out of sight, they flew off.

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"Did you guys see that?" Momoko asked.

"Huh? See what?" Kaoru replied confused.

"Yeah, there's nothing to see there Momoko," Miyako said.

Momoko shook her head. "I thought I saw the RowdyRuffs. Must've been my imagination."

Kaoru smirked, "Heh, we won't see them again anytime soon. They may have embarrassed us last time, but we scared them off just the same."

Despite Kaoru's cocky words, Momoko was sure she'd seen three boys crawling back into the bushes, one of them wearing a red baseball cap backwards, with red hair sticking out from under it. She decided not to make too much of it. It could've been other boys, or just her imagination. She snapped out of her thoughts and followed Kaoru and Miyako, who had already gone ahead.

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"What kind of a dump is this?" Boomer wondered.

It was night, and the RowdyRuffs had gone into the forest on Brick's direction, to a hide-out.

"It's an old, shut down museum. Perfect as a base," Brick replied.

"Since when are you all cultural?" Butch asked him mockingly.

"Shut up, do you know a better place to stay?" Brick demanded.

"Hell no, I was just asking," Butch replied.

"Well don't. I don't give a fuck about culture or history or anything else that's even slightly eduational. So I'm suggesting first we trash this dump, shape it more to our liking. Then we can...What's that?"

The boys were quiet and listened. From the roof, cruel laughter could be heard. The tone was so cruel and chilling that even the RowdyRuffs shivered.

"Let's check it out," Brick whispered.

The other two nodded and flew after Brick, to the roof of the museum. Standing on the roof, facing the city, was a harlequin-like man with two scorpion claws. The dark aura that emitted from him was overwhelming. He spoke in a high, chilling voice.

"Soon, little girls, you will have nothing more but your eternal nightmares...When we meet I'll place the curse on you, and watch from the shadows as your minds are ripped open, leaving nothing but empty shells."

The RowdyRuffs were stunned. This creature was pure evil. Even though the RowdyRuffs were created to destroy Powerpuff Z, they had no intention of doing so. Only screw around a little, get them in trouble. But this...this thing would destroy them. And even though Brick didn't want to admit it, he sort of felt for Momoko. He didn't want to actually hurt her, or see her get hurt.

"We have to warn them," he whispered to his brothers.

They looked at him increduously, and then Boomer asked, "Why?"

"Because I..." Brick couldn't finish his reply, because he noticed the demon on the roof had stiffened. "Move," he hissed. The RowdyRuffs quickly flew down and into the forest.

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Kare turned around and saw nothing. "Are my evil powers tricking me? How can I, master of paranoia, be prone to such nonsense? Maybe it's just the thrill of finally being able to break those little bitches...Yeah, that must be it." Grinning wickedly, Kare jumped off the rooftop.

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"So, why exactly do we have to warn the Powerpuff Girls? They're our enemy!" Butch exclaimed furiously, although in reality he nearly cheered for his brother when he'd said they had to warn the girls. He'd never tell his brothers of course, but Kaoru actually meant something to him, and the other girls weren't bad either.

The RowdyRuffs were on the edge of the forest and the city, and were debating their next step.

"Because if they're ash or zombies or whatever we can't get them expelled from school," Brick replied. He knew his answer was the lamest he'd ever come up with, but to his amazement his brothers nodded.

"Okay, so how do we warn them?" Boomer asked. He was relieved they'd try to warn the girls. Miyako was so cute...But of course, no-one would ever know he thought so.

"We'll have no choice but to follow our plan, but instead of running, we attempt to talk to them," Brick said.

Butch shook his head. "That might already be too late. I say we sneak to their homes and warn them immediately."

"That could be risky, but it's probably necessary," Boomer said.

Brick nodded and said, "Okay, we'll warn them right now. I'll go to Blossom's place."

"I'll take Miya-um, Bubbles," Boomer said.

"I'll warn Buttercup, then," Butch said. The boys nodded and sped away in separate directions.

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Momoko was sleeping soundly, and dreaming of being honored for her work as a super heroine together with Miyako and Kaoru, when she was woken up by the sound of someone tapping on her window. Sleepily, she got up and opened her curtains, and realized with a shock that Brick floated in front of her window. She realized vaguely that her biggest discomfort was that she worried more about being seen in her nightgown than about the fact that one of her enemies was knocking on her window. She opened the window, half curious and half anxious, and Brick flew in and landed in her room.

"Um, what...what are you doing here?" Momoko asked uncertainly. Her belt was on her desk, so she couldn't transform. She realized she had been stupid by opening the window.

"I'm here to warn you." Brick's voice sounded serious, not at all mischievous like last time. It seemed as if he were a different person. "We were at the old museum, the reason for that doesn't matter. When we were talking, we heard laughter so we went up the roof to check it out."

Momoko felt a chill run down her spine. She feared what would come next.

"There was some harlequin-like guy there. He was really creepy, but that's not the point. He wants to place some sort of curse on you when you meet him. He says he'll rip your minds open."

Momoko shuddered and muttered, "Kare..."

Brick looked up confused. "Yeah, him. I told you didn't I?"

Momoko shook her head and said, "That's what he's called. His real name is so frightening that no-one dares say it. That's why everyone just says Kare. But why would you warn me for this? Don't you want me destroyed?"

Brick looked uncomfortable for a moment and then said, "Well, um, I gotta go now. Watch out, okay?" He jumped through the window and flew away into the night. Momoko looked after him with a weird feeling in her stomach, and more than just the dread from Brick's prediction. He actually looked kinda good to her.

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"What the fuck are you doing here?!" Kaoru hissed at Butch. She had put on her belt, but didn't transform yet. Butch had just come in through her open window and woken her up.

"You have to be careful. A man with scorpion claws wants to curse you. Be on your guard."

Kaoru was shocked. Scorpion claws...that could only mean Kare. "How do you know this?" she demanded.

"We were at the old museum. We heard something so we checked only to find that guy on the roof talking to himself. He feels really dangerous," Butch said.

Kaoru nodded. "Kare is certainly dangerous. Um...thanks for warning me, I guess...But don't think I'll go soft on you if come barging in here again!" she added.

Butch smiled, raised his hand in a greeting, and flew away.

"You gotta be kidding me..." Kaoru muttered when she realized she was still thinking about Butch even ten minutes after he left. She shook her head and went back to sleep.

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"You know, you could've just rang my doorbell," Miyako said, still half-sleeping. Boomer was standing in her room.

"In the middle of the night?"

Miyako shook her head to clear her mind and said, "Well, I guess you're right. So why are you here?"

"There's some kind of...demon or something that wants to curse you. We heard him at the museum," Boomer said, doing his best not to gaze at Miyako too obsessively.

Miyako was startled by this. "You heard Kare say he was going to curse us? When will he strike?"

Boomer looked at the ground for a moment and said, "I'm not sure. He said when you meet him again. I guess that'll be soon. That's why I'm here right now. We planned to get you expelled from school, but we don't want you killed. Yet, anyway," he hurried to add. He wondered why he had revealed their plans to her, but he didn't really care. He wouldn't allow Miyako to get hurt.

Miyako looked troubled, but then she snapped out of it and said, "Thanks for warning me, Boomer..."

Boomer blushed a little and flew off at top speed to prevent Miyako from noticing. Miyako smiled after him. Boomer was actually really nice.

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The next morning, the girls woke up extremely early and decided to go to school early. Because all of them had had the same idea, they arrived at the gate at the same time.

"Did you get warned too?" Momoko asked, already knowing the answer because Miyako and Kaoru were also early.

Kaoru nodded. "Yeah, Kare seems to want to curse us."

Momoko and Miyako nodded grimly. "We'll have to be really careful; Kare is no joke. That guy is evil incarnate," Momoko said.

"I'll just smash him!" Kaoru said boldly, but they all knew that such a thing was impossible. Kare was an ancient demon with terrifying powers. And he wasn't just a mindless destroyer; he enjoyed sophisticated chaos, destroying his victims both mentally and physically. The fact that no-one dared to say his name was prove of his power.

"Why does it have to be Kare, of all people?" Momoko sighed.

"He's without a doubt our strongest enemy. But if you turn it around, we're also his strongest enemy. Isn't it logical he wants us destroyed?" Miyako said rhethorically.

"Anyway, does any of you know why exactly the RowdyRuff Boys warned us?" Momoko asked while the girls walked up the stairs to their classroom. "I mean, they're enemies; they want us gone just as bad as Kare."

"Actually, they don't," Miyako said.

Momoko and Kaoru stared at her in confusion. Both of them seemed to think Miyako had gone crazy.

Miyako smiled when she saw the confused faces of her friends. "Boomer told me. They wanted to get us expelled from school, not kill us. I guess they wanted the museum as their makeshift base."

"And unknowingly chose the Devil's Lair," Kaoru grinned.

The other girls smiled too, but then Momoko said, "Well, they did warn us. So we should thank them if we see them later."

"If we survive Kare's curse. I mean, it's good to know, but if that curse flash-fries us we're still going to die," Kaoru said bluntly.

"Kare is not one to instantly turn us into crisps. He plays mind games remember? Cause mental pain and fear first before ripping everything apart," Momoko said.

Before the girls could continue their conversation, their teacher walked into the classroom. And, feeling anxious, the girls had no choice but to sit through it.

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"So, do you think our warnings will save them?" Boomer asked. "Um, I mean, save them from this demon, of course," he quickly added.

Brick looked up at the sky. "I hope so. Of course I wouldn't mourn for them if something happened, but I really hope we were of any help."

Normally Butch would have made a snide remark about his brother wanting to be of help to someone, especially an enmy, but he didn't say anything. Mainly because he too wanted to help. So instead of something cynical, he said, "Can't we try to fight that demon ourselves? If we want them to live, we should just take out the danger."

Brick shook his head, but secretly sympathized with his brother. He'd do anything to beat the shit out of anyone who would really hurt Momoko, even though he was her enemy. "This demon, Kare, is so strong that even his name is feared. Well, that's what Blossom says anyway," Brick said.

"Do you believe her?" Boomer asked.

Brick turned towards him angrily. "Of course I believe her, why wouldn't I? She clearly knew who I meant when I described him, so she must've known what she was talking about."

"Well, she's still an enemy," Boomer said uncomfortably. He didn't want to piss Brick off, seeing how he was the strongest of them, and besides, he liked Miyako enough, he was sure Momoko wasn't that bad either.

Brick was in a fierce mental struggle at that point though, so he didn't hear what Boomer said. He was debating whether or not he should tell his brothers that he actually really liked Momoko a lot. Seeing their reactions in his mind, he decided to say nothing for the time being. Such things would have to wait for now, and probably for ever.

"Well, what will we do?" Butch asked.

Brick sighed and said, "We'll follow them from the shadows. If they run into that queer demon dude Kare we'll help them. We'll be playing bodyguard for now guys, so let's move." The boys nodded and flew off towards the school.

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"And so, in 1874..." The teacher just droned on and on about some stupid war in some stupid country, and frankly Momoko was bored out of her mind. But underneath the boredom she felt a little fear. Kare would appear again. She'd never told Kaoru and Miyako, but Kare had given her nightmares before. The nightmares always involved flames, screaming, and bleeding. Momoko shivered and struggled to focus on the teacher.

Again her thoughts wandered off, this time to a certain boy with a red baseball cap. She quickly shook her head, destroying the image.

"Yes, Momoko? Is there something you wish to say?" the teacher inquired.

"I, um..." Fortunately, right at that moment the compact on her belt flashed. "My hair suddenly gives me the power to defy gravity," she said.

"My voice gives me super strength!" Kaoru said.

"I'm more popular than Jesus!" Miyako yelled.

"We'll go to the infirmary, bye!" Momoko yelled as the girls ran out of class.

"Do you think it's Kare?" Miyako asked as they ran up the stairs to the roof.

"I hope not, but who knows," Momoko replied. They reached the roof and transformed.

"Hyper Blossom!"

"Rolling Bubbles!"

"Powered Buttercup!"

"Powerpuff Girls Z!"

The girls flew off and contacted the lab. "Girls, it's Kare! He's rampaging in the middle of the city, go there and stop him!"

"We're on our way!" Blossom said. Inwardly she sighed. Already she felt the fear. "Well, I guess now we'll find out what he's up to. See how strong this curse is," she said.

Bubbles and Buttercup said nothing, but their faces looked grim. They got to the center of Tokyo City, and found a flaming chaos, with Kare at the center.

"Fighting Love Science Legend, Powerpuff Girls Z!" the girls yelled when they arrived.

Kare looked up and grinned. "How nice of you to join my little party. Isn't it too cold for you? I can turn up the heat a little more if you'd want!"

With that, Kare shot two jets of flame from his claws at the girls.

"It won't be that easy Kare! Applepie Shoot!" Blossom yelled.

"Bubble Champagne!"

"Swing Sonic!" The three attacks reached Kare, but he raised a wall of flames to block them. He grinned again, this time even more sinister than before. He spread his claws and a storm of dark particles surrounded him.

"Goodbye girls, sweet dreams!" he said, and launched the black storm at the girls; the first hit separated them from eachother, the second one struck them head on. Just before she got hit, Blossom thought she saw a red baseball cap flash in front of her. Then the dark particles hit and the world went dark.

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Well, that's chapter 1, hope you liked it. Apology to LittleKuriboh for using his quotes:P