* * *

"Look, there she is!"

The crowd started applauding as Bubbles flew down the corridor of the museum. She was wearing a pair of sunglasses and smiling, and she waved at people in the crowd as she made her way to the exhibit everyone was gathered around to see. Reaching it, turned to face the crowd and held her hands out to get their attention, and to quiet them down.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she said, reaching over and taking hold of a pull rope next to a set of drapes hanging on the wall. "I give you…'Townsville'!" Pulling the rope, the drapes pull opened up, unveiling what was behind them: a large framed picture of Townsville, as drawn by Bubbles. The crowd gave oohs and ahhs at it, and another appreciative round of applause went up.

The crowd split up after this was done, most of the people moving to get a closer look at Bubbles' latest masterpiece. Amongst them were Blossom and Buttercup, who stared up at the drawing incredulously. "I don't get it," Buttercup said. "What do people see in this? It's just scribbles!"

"I really don't know…" Blossom admitted.

Someone standing next to them overheard their conversation and said, "Don't you get it? These 'scribbles', as you call them…they're emotion, observation, and innovation in its purest, unrefined form! Yet we can still see and understand them, because they form shapes amongst the chaos…"

"But crayon?" Buttercup protested.

"The medium doesn't matter," the man continued. "What matters is that her heart and soul have been poured into her work, and are shown for all to see! How could you not see this? What are you even doing here, if not to admire her work?!"

Before they could say anything, Bubbles flew down next to them, placing a hand on each of her sister's shoulders, "It's okay," he said to the man. "They're with me." The man nodded and wandered back off into the crowd.

Blossom turned to her and said, "Bubbles…don't you think this is getting a little out of hand?"

"Yeah," Buttercup agreed. "I mean, it's cool that you're makin' all this money and stuff, but geez…these art nuts are so edgy about anyone saying anything bad about your drawings."

"That's only because they can appreciate how good they are," Bubbles said with a confident smile.

"Well, they're pretty good," Blossom said. "But, I mean, they are just doodles…"

Bubbles folder her arms and said, "Hmph. Well, no need to make fun of them just 'cause you're jealous."

"What?!" Blossom exclaimed.

"You heard me," Bubbles nodded. "You're green with envy, that's all…if you were any more green, you'd be Buttercup."

"Now hold on a minute!" Buttercup said, getting angry. "I'm not jealous of you! I can draw just as well as you can!"

Blossom was a little upset too, but she was more concerned than anything. She said, "Listen, Bubbles…maybe you should forget about this whole art thing. This isn't like you at all!"

"Forget about it?!" Bubbles shouted. "No way! I'm getting fame and fortune, and I'm not just gonna give it up! And all this money…I feel like I can do anything with it!"

"That's just it," Blossom said. "It's like you're on some kind of power rush here…"

Bubbles laughed, "Look who's talkin', Miss Bossy Leader Girl…"

Buttercup almost snickered at that, but she was still a little upset, so she didn't. Blossom, on the other hand, grew even more upset and said, "Money can't get you everything, you know. You've also got to have…"

Cutting her off, Bubbles withdrew a large wad of bills and said with a smirk, "I'll give you five hundred dollars if you give me your hairbow right now. Whaddaya say?"

Blossom froze…part of her knew that this was wrong, and that she'd just be proving Bubbles right, while another part of her reminded her she could always get a new bow, and of the good she could do with the money. Thankfully, she didn't have to decide, as Buttercup stepped between the two of them and said, "That's enough, Bubbles. Just go back to your little group of followers, then, if it means so much to ya. C'mon, Bloss…"

The two of them turned and flew out of the room, heading for the exit. As they went, Buttercup said, "You were gonna give her the bow, weren't ya?"

"No!" Blossom said, then hesitated. "Well, maybe…"

As they disappeared into the crowd, Bubbles watched them go. For a moment, her expression turned regretful…but then, some people came up and wanted to take a picture with her, so she broke into a smile and posed with them for the camera…

* * *

Later on, back at home, Bubbles was at the kitchen table, hard at work making her newest artistic masterpieces. Blossom and Buttercup were upstairs, but only for the moment, as the hotline in the living room suddenly buzzed. In twin flashes of light, both of them dashed downstairs, and Blossom answered the phone.

"Hello, Mayor?" she said. After a pause, she answered, "Ok, we're on it." Hanging up the receiver, she shouted, "Trouble downtown. Let's go!"

Both of them started flying for the front door, when they stopped…Bubbles was still at the table drawing. Buttercup said, "C'mon, Bubbles…move it or lose it!"

"But I'm busy!" Bubbles called back. "I hafta have these finished by tonight…"

Blossom was angry now, "It's an emergency! What are you going to do, stop fighting crime because of all of this?"

"Who's gonna stop fighting crime?" came the reply. "I'm just too busy to go right now, that's all."

Buttercup frowned, "Yeah, sure, but what about the next time? An' the next time? 'Sides, we're a team, Bubbles."

"Well," Bubbles replied, focusing on her drawing again, "what's so important that all three of us need to be there?"

"A robbery at the museum," Blossom told her. "So if you truly cared about art like you say…"

Bubbles looked up from her drawing for a moment, "The museum?"

"That's right," Blossom answered.

Bubbles hesitated, and then set her crayons down with a serious expression. "Let's go," she said, and flew up from the table to join her sisters. The three of them headed out together, heading for the museum. Well, at least she's still going to fight crime with us, Blossom thought, but for how long?

PREV -- NEXT