[Unedited] Protective Older Cousin

Unedited. Mistakes will be abound. I will return to touch up on it and make it look less messy.

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Alice was born an only child. Which made sense since her planet was destroyed by Fuse only months later and her parent's were killed as a result.

When she came to Earth, she was adopted by an Earth woman who did not have a husband and was childless herself. This left her as an only child once more.

Her family made up for that though. Roxie had been the youngest in her family before Alice's arrival on Earth, to which Roxie was five years older. Due to her age, she was Alice's immediate babysitter, along with Courage. Austin was six years Roxie's senior, and at the age of eleven, he didn't want to play with the little girls, so he was not as involved with Alice's life as Roxie was. Their other cousin Fred - nicknamed Freaky by Roxie - wasn't involved with their life as much, so they never felt close to him.
Roxie and Alice were very close as they grew up, especially when Alice discovered her alien heritage at the tender age of ten. Roxie had coached Alice through the development, considering she was half-alien and had been one all her life. With Roxie's support, Alice accepted her heritage, and even practiced her developing powers with Roxie.

When the invasion began and Alice lost her mother, the family had been devastated. Kotomi immediately offered Alice a room at their Pokey Oaks' home, but Alice instead lived with her aunt and uncle. It was nothing against the Leeblossom's, but she wanted to be as far away from her home as possible (she and her mother lived in Peach Creek Commons, which was where her mother was killed). Roxie visited regularly when possible, but the visits had shortened when she started working for Exervent.

Exervent was a company owned by Tessa Wren, a well known villainess with the powers of the Powerpuff Girls, making her their instant enemy. Roxie, before she received the job, had snuck into the building on many occassions and caused as much havoc as possible for the cyan-colored woman. Roxie would always recount the stories to her eleven year old cousin with a coco-eating grin, which was met with meek scolding from young Alice. It was on Roxie's fourth sneak in that Tessa offered her a job, after seeing how resourceful and skillful the sixteen year old could be. Roxie accepted, and was given the job of being the front desk receptionist, with the side job of doing anything Tessa wanted. Roxie was even given full access to the building, except the top level, which is where Tessa lived.

"Come visit Alice! I can get you into all the rooms," Roxie had urged Alice on the second week of her job. "It's actually really cool, and there's not a lot of workers, which means I'm not bugged out of my skull by morons."

"Okay," Alice had replied, a little scared to be in the same vicinity of Tessa. However, Roxie would be with her, and her older cousin hadn't let anything physically bad happen to her.

The tour of Exervent had been, more or less, interesting. Roxie was an excellent tour guide, and showed her all the nooks and crannies of the building. They ran across Tessa, which had scared Alice a little when she saw the appraising glint in her eyes. It unsettled Alice greatly, but she never brought it up to Roxie because she didn't want to hurt her cousin's feelings.

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"Do I have news for you."

Roxie sighed and looked up at her fellow co-worker, an older woman by the name of Bethany (a horrible name in Roxie's opinion, and Roxie took great pleasure in bad mouthing the woman behind her back). Roxie didn't really like Bethany, but tolerated her simply because her son went to Peach Oaks, which enabled Roxie another means of watching over Alice when Roxie was at work. Austin worked at Peach Oaks, but he was useless when it came to keeping an eye on Alice (he even criticised Roxie for being that over-protective, or as he called it "hovering").

"Let me guess, your husband kicked the bucket?" Roxie asked deadpanned.

Bethany laughed, which immediately irritated Roxie's ears. The woman had no clue on how annoying she was.

"Oh nothing like that. It's about your cousin, the cute little girl with the blue hair," the older woman replied.

Roxie immediately straightened, giving her co-worker her complete attention.

"What about my cousin?" Roxie asked, trying not to reveal her nervousness. If something bad had happened, the school would have called her, right? Or at least a family member would have called.

"My son just sent me a text a little bit ago telling me that he spotted her talking to a boy," Bethany replied with a mischievous smile. "And he mentioned that they were awfully close."

Roxie's mind immediately shut down at the words as she took the message in. Her cousin was talking to a boy? Her cousin? Talking to a boy? That was an immediate no-no in Roxie's mind.

"I honestly think it's cute! Young love," Bethany continued with a whimsical sigh.

"Right, uh-huh. Cute," Roxie replied through gritted teeth, thinking it was the exact opposite. The hybrid pushed away from the desk and got up, making her way to the staff room. "I'm going to take the rest of the day off."

"Wha? Will Miss Wren allow that?" Bethany asked in surprise.

"She won't mind," Roxie replied over her shoulder. Tessa honestly didn't care if Roxie took days off; Roxie was her favorite, and didn't care what the woman did. She would have no problem with Roxie leaving so she could plan out her strategy to handle this boy.

When Alice had turned thirteen, Roxie had considered herself Alice's primary guardian. While Muriel and Eustace cared for the girl, they were too old to take care of Alice. Kotomi was like a second mother to the girl, but being around Kotomi made Alice think of Gale. Austin was busy living his own life with his wife Frankie, and Fred was doing Lord knows what. Gale was dead, and Alice had no father. That left Roxie, who had been with Alice since Alice's arrival on Earth, as Alice's main guardian. And Roxie took her job seriously, especially after the death of her long-lost half-sister Maya. The loss made Roxie more protective of her younger cousin.

With these feelings in place, Roxie was waiting in her hovercar outside of Peach Oaks' school, waiting for the school day to be over with. As she sat and waited, she was coming up with the various ways to terrify the boy that was probably going to corrupt her cousin, and also various ways to cover her tracks if Roxie had to go to the....extreme. Hopefully it wouldn't have to come to that, but Roxie wasn't going to put the option on the shelf. She'd give it careful consideration. And maybe she'd consult Tessa on how to get away with it.

The hybrid was pulled out of her thoughts by the school bell ringing. She got out of the car and waited by it, keeping an eye out for Alice as teenagers and children walked past her. She spotted Alice, and immediately noticed the male companion next to her. That must have been the boy Bethany spoke about, and it set Roxie's teeth on edge. She was thankful, however, that Alice quickly sensed her and bade farewell to her companion. Using her alien EMP, Alice approached Roxie with a smile that was obviously hiding her surprise.

"Hi Roxie," Alice greeted immediately.

"Hi there," Roxie greeted with a sweet smile, hugging her cousin. "I got off work early and I thought, hey! Let's go shopping. You don't mind, right?"

Alice shook her head in agreement, "I don't mind."

"Great! Let's get going!" Roxie said, walking around to the other side and getting inside.

Once Alice was buckled up, Roxie made her way to the mall.

"So how was school?" she asked.

"It went well," Alice answered. "For GYM class, we were able to use the pool."

"I remember the pool," Roxie said. "It really worked you out. Sooo how are your friends going?"

Alice flushed and played with the arm rest.

"We're doing fine. I'm getting better at talking to people," Alice replied. "I've been taking your advise and just being myself." She smiled a little apologetically at Roxie. "I don't think I'll ever reach your status of popularity in the school, though."

"You don't need to be popular, you just need to get a good group of people to surround yourself with," Roxie responded.

"I know. I think I've found them," Alice replied.

"So, are there any cute boys at your school? And don't you dare say Ben," Roxie asked.

Alice flushed more and began playing with her thumbs, which Roxie immediately honned in on. Alice only did that motion when she was nervous or embarrassed.

"Uhm... I haven't looked," Alice replied. "School is really busy, and I've been focused on it."

"Well that's good. Education is important. Has any boys tried to ask you out though?" Roxie asked, still prodding for information.

"Boys don't really know I exist," Alice answered with a nervous chuckle.

"Really? Not a single boy?" Roxie asked.

"No," Alice answered with a head shake. "But I do have a friend named Xavier."

Xavier. A boy's name. Gotcha.

"Xavier huh?"

"Yeah, he's really nice," Alice answered, her eyes practically bright. "He's really good at math and is helping me out in it."

"So you two have study dates?" Roxie asked, trying not to spat out the last word.

Alice blushed and shook her head.

"Oh no. Just friends," Alice replied. She then chuckled nervously. "I don't think he even thinks about us that way."

He better not, if he knows what's good for him, Roxie thinks as they arrive at the Sunken Mall.

"Well, I'm sure the right guy will come along someday. You're young though, so don't go rushing into things," Roxie advised as the two stepped out of the car.

Alice smiled at her older cousin.

"I will," she replied. "I'm more focused on school right now."

"Good girl," Roxie said as they made their way down the steps. "Now, where do you want to go first?"

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The shopping was going well, and Roxie had almost forgotten about her earlier ire. Almost.

As she was looking for a nice pair of shorts to wear, she had looked up and noticed the boy - Xavier - walk by. Narrowing her eyes, she told her cousin she'd go and get them a snack, and then left the store, pursuing after her target. It was easy to catch up with him, since he was walking in a relax motion. She used her top right spider-leg to grab the boy by his shoulder and pull him into a small corridor between two shops. She moved the two far away enough for anyone to spy on them.

Xavier stared up at the woman in surprise and fear. He didn't know who this woman was, and he wasn't sure why she was glaring at him like he'd kicked her puppy. Maybe she was a serial killer. Wouldn't that just be his luck? Found dead in a corridor at the mall?

"Can I help you?" Xavier asked, thankful that he was able to keep his voice steady.

"I'm here to give you a warning," Roxie replied, practically growling around her words.

"A warning? What'd I do?" he questioned
.
"If you hurt my cousin in any way, physical, mental, emotional, whatever, I will personally make sure you meet your maker," Roxie continued, ignoring his question.

"What are you talking about!?" Xavier demanded. "You're not some sort of serial killer, are you?"

"Would you shut up and listen to me!" Roxie shouted, slamming him against the wall again with her spider-legs. "Alice is very precious to me and I will not have some stupid boy try and corrupt her."

"Wait- You're Alice's cousin!?" Xavier asked in shock.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty defensive of her," Roxie replied. "And I take my job as her favorite cousin very seriously, so if you do anything to harm her, you'll face my wrath."

"I wouldn't hurt her! We're friends!" Xavier shouted.

"A likely defense," Roxie replied with a sneer. "I've heard those words before, and that's never stopped anyone."

"Trust me!" Xavier responded, struggling to free himself without striking at her; what good would that do to prove that he would never harm Alice if he hurt Roxie? "She and I are just friends. I haven't even asked her out yet!"

"But you're thinking it, I'm sure," Roxie argued.

Xavier fell silent, and he stopped struggling. He stared at Roxie straight on, and said,

"I did ask her out, once. But she turned me down, saying she was busy with school and that she wasn't sure she would be ready for a relationship. So I told her I'd wait until she was ready. I don't want to push her into anything she's scared to do. I'll wait."

That....that wasn't a response Roxie had thought of. And she believed him. He was staring straight into her eyes, not averting them in any way. He wanted her to know the truth, and she believed him; but she wouldn't let him know that. Lifting him away from the wall, she threw him to the side, glaring at him when he landed with a painful thud.

"I want you to be aware of the sort of crap you'll be in if you ever harm Alice. Not only will I come after you, but her uncle, my brother, my best friend, the Powerpuff Girls, the Rowdyruff Boys, every single weapon available at Exervent that I can get my hands on will be on your tail. So watch your step, because I won't hesitiate to use all the power I can get to make you regret hurting her, am I clear?"

"Crystal."

"Good."

With that, Roxie turned heel and walked off for the food court; she had promised to grab food, and not coming back with something would probably look suspicious. When she returned to the store, Alice greeted her with a smile, and Roxie returned it, feeling better about what went down with Xavier moments before. However, the last thing he had said ran through her head; Alice had lied when she said she wasn't sure Xavier thought of the two as boyfriend-girlfriend.

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"Are you okay Roxie? You seem really spaced out," Alice asked.

"I'm fine, just thinking about work," Roxie lied smoothly.

"Oh, is it tough?" Alice asked.

"Just an annoying coworker," Roxie replied as they ate their snack at a nearby bench.

"Ahh," Alice hummed around a piece of pretzel.

"Hey Alice, have you ever thought about dating?" Roxie asked.

"No," Alice replied, suddenly tensing and looking nervous. "I'm really busy, you know, with school. You, and uncle, and...and mom were always telling me school is very important, so I want to put as much attention on it as possible."

Roxie nodded.

"Do you....do you think anyone could actually like me?" Alice asked self-consciously. "Like... could they actually like me, like how Bubbles likes Holden?"

Roxie was surprised by the question, but saw the younger girl's vulnerability, and scooted closer, wrapping a supportive arm around her shoulders.

"There's someone out there for everyone Alice," Roxie responded. "You'll find your special someone in time."

Alice gave another hum of agreement, nibbling on her piece of pretzel. Deciding the conversation was too serious, Roxie decided to be a bit dramatic and wrapped both arms around the younger girl.

"And until that time, you're just going to have to make due with me," Roxie joked, pulling Alice closer.

Alice chuckled at her cousin's antics, trying to break free of the strong hold so she could have more of her food. Roxie relented a little, but still kept an arm around Alice's shoulders. Her mind once more replayed Xavier's earlier words, and it brought about two questions in her mind:

Was Alice not ready for a boyfriend?

Or was Roxie not ready for Alice to have a boyfriend?

Even unedited it's great!

I see this Roxie knows how to drive and didn't have her high school collapse and kill everyone. It's funny to see Roxie talk about how important school is when she didn't even finish her freshmen year.

But it's still great!

Professor Utonium wrote:I see this Roxie knows how to drive and didn't have her high school collapse and kill everyone. It's funny to see Roxie talk about how important school is when she didn't even finish her freshmen year.

Tessa made her learn so she could run errands for her; however, I never mentioned she had a license. When driving with Alice, she'll pay attention, but Eris help you if you're a pedestrian on the street (*think Gavin in any GTA*).

As for the high school, since this one-shot is more RP-inspired, Peach Oaks would have been the school she went to, and it wasn't collapsed. However, she did create such havoc at the school (blew up the school; her workout comment can be alluded to her many attempts to get the thing to go before she finally got it right), that Principle Goodvibes expelled her just as she was hired by Tessa.

Roxie's following down the "do as I say, not as I do"; school was never for her ('cept for the social life), but she can tell that Alice likes school, so she encourages her in the studies.

*Will address these issues sometime this weekend.
**Internet is still slow and -sometimes- makes me want to rage quit, so unedited version may remain unedited until this weekend/next week.