The Dare

By Duskgrass

Disclaimer: Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys are © Craig McCracken and Cartoon Network

It is warm Spring afternoon in the City of Townsville, the busiest and friendliest city where people go about their everyday business and children playing gleefully in a nearby park, since it is Saturday. Way up in a tall old tree the three certain boys were peering avidly through the foliage at a young blond girl quietly drawing something in her art book in the backyard of her whimsical house.

"You really like her, don't you, Boomer?" The redheaded boy said, grinning.

The tow-headed boy blushed and shook his head violently. "Nu-UH!"

The boy with dark hair snickered and sidled up to Boomer. "Aw, come on, we both know you always have the hots for her!"

"I do not!" Boomer retorted angrily, pushing Butch roughly away.

"You don't fool us; we've seen you sneaking off to look at her every chance you got!" The redheaded boy said, smirking. "Right, Butch?"

"Yeah, Brick! We sure did!" Butch grinned widely, "Come on, Boomer, if you really like her so much, why don't you go down and give her a kiss?"

Boomer's face turned a darker shade. "NO WAY I'M GONNA KISS HER!" He hollered, waving his arms wildly.

"I dare you!" Butch declared, leaning toward him with a malicious grin, "I DOUBLE DAWG DARE YOU!"

Brick laughed and pushed Boomer lightly in the direction where the girl is sitting. "Yeah, go ahead and kiss her! We dare you!"

"I'm not going to kiss her! No way!" Boomer jumped away from his brothers and turned around to glare at them, "What about you? Why don't you - " He pointed at Brick, " – kiss Blossom?

And you - " He swung his hand to point at Butch, "Why don't you kiss Buttercup?"

"Are you kidding?" Brick exclaimed. He huffed, crossed his arms and turned away, muttering snobbishly, "I'm not gonna kiss Blossom, she's just not MY type!"

Butch likewise turned away and leaned against the tree trunk with his hands behind his head, and looked off to another direction. "Me either. I'm not gonna go out with Buttercup! She doesn't even want me anyway." He grinned roguishly, "And besides, I'm way too busy kissing every girl I met!"

Brick roared in approval. "Way to go, Butch!" He cried, exchanging high-fives with Butch.

Boomer shook his head in disgust. "Even so, I'm not gonna kiss Bubbles! So why should I, when she doesn't even look at me?"

Butch and Brick exchanged glances and then looked at him. "My poor innocent brother, you will never know until you try!" The redheaded boy chided, shaking his head and making a tsk-tsking noises. Boomer glared at him, quite annoyed. Undeterred, Brick went on, "You wouldn't want to miss out all the goodies until too late. So just go right ahead and try and see!"

"And besides, we all agreed that Bubbles just seems like your type," Butch drawled, "So go for it! We all know you'd love to have a chance to make good on her!" He added with a lewd grin.

"No, NO, no-no!" Boomer howled, squeezing his eyes shut and clapping his hands over his ear areas. He turned away from them, "La, la, la, la, I'm not listening to you!"

Brick sighed and shook his head again. "He's stalling, Butch."

Butch smirked. "He cannot delay it any longer. Sooner or later he'll have to face her himself!"

"Only one way to do this," Brick said decisively. He and Butch slowly rose into the air and hovered close to Boomer. Before the blond boy knew what was happening, his brothers grabbed him and threw him straight down toward the blissfully oblivious Bubbles. Boomer hit the ground right in front of the startled girl, throwing up a large cloud of dust.

"AAH!" Bubbles cried, staring wide-eyed at him. Boomer climbed to his feet, coughing and sputtering and dusting hastily himself off. Then he looked up and realized he was right in the very presence of the Powergirl Girl he had avoided for so long. Despite his loud denials he had indeed has a secret crush on her, but he had been too tongue-tied to even approach her. That is, until his eagle-eyed brothers took notice of his unusual interest in her and did something about it. Inwardly he cursed himself for being so awkward around Bubbles, and cursed his brothers for sticking their noses in what should be none of their business in first place.

"What do you want?" Bubbles asked, eyeing him warily.

Boomer took a long deep breath and tried to say something. "Uh, uh…I-I-I," He stammered, feeling like a fool, "I-I…I mean, I…I-I-I." Oh, great! Now she's gonna laugh at me! Boomer thought desperately, growing frustrated at his inability to form even a simple word.

Bubbles didn't laugh, however. She only looked at him curiously, even tilting her head as though she found something intriguing about him. Boomer blushed again and ducked his head, shuffling his feet. Just then his eyes fell upon a single forget-me-not flower. That gave him an idea; he bent over, plucked the flower, and with his heart pounding furiously within him, Boomer shyly presented it to Bubbles.

The blond girl's eyes widened and stared at the flower, totally befuddled. Then her cute mouth curled up a little and she reached out to accept the proffered gift. Boomer's heart leaped, and he smiled. What do you know? Maybe she actually likes me after all! He thought giddily.

Up in the tree, his brothers are bending down, almost hanging from the branch like monkeys, trying to see what Boomer and Bubbles are doing. "What do you think what he is doing?" Brick said to Butch.

"Well, they are just looking at each other but not kissing yet," Butch replied, sounding a bit annoyed. "Oh, damn, he's about to turn and walk away!"

"What? That stupid boy, he's letting his opportunity pass by him? That will never do!" Brick exclaimed. "Someone has to do something about this!"

"You got it," Butch nodded. So saying, he uprighted himself, took off his shoe and flung it at Boomer with all his might.

"Well…I really should be going…" Boomer mumbled, shuffling his feet again. My brothers are telling me I should kiss her. But I can't. I can't dare to kiss her. I just don't want to! He thought to himself, blushing. "So…will I see you?"

Bubbles gave him a big smile. "Yes, I'd like to!"

Boomer grinned and was about to open his mouth to say something when Butch's shoe came flying toward him and slammed onto the back of his head. Being a RowdyRuff Boy, it really didn't hurt him at all, but it was enough to knock him off his balance. With a loud startled yelp Boomer fell forward and crashed into Bubbles, his mouth pressing hard against hers. The action was so unexpected that Bubbles let out a shocked shout.

Before Boomer could stammer out an apology Bubbles reflexly kicked him, so hard that he went flipping head over heels high into the air. The sheer strength of a single kick was such that he lost his shoes, socks, pants and his shirt (not necessarily in order) as he somersaulted helplessly across the wide span of city until, wearing only a pair of shorts, he fell straight down in a private outdoor pool with a splash, all the way to the bottom. The all-girl party swimming around in the pool came running out of it, scattering to different directions and screaming, "A pervert in our pool! A pervert in our pool! Terrible, terrible!"

Oh, chee! The mortified Boomer thought furiously as he recovered quickly and flew out of the pool. Only did he realized he had left his shorts behind and was now buck-naked. I'm gonna kill Brick and Butch! Already he could hear, with his superhearing, the raucous laughter of his brothers running off all the way to their home. Never has he felt so humiliated in his own life. Now Bubbles will never look at me ever again! He thought with a groan. He flew off as fast as he could, heading home where he would certainly pummel his stupid brothers to bloody pulp.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Bubbles, are you all right?" Blossom was saying, patting the dazed blond girl's hand anxiously.

"Yeah, we heard you shouting and saw what that creep Boomer did to you!" Buttercup said, looking quite furious. Indeed, Blossom and Buttercup were inside the house when they heard their sister hollering in apparent distress and had looked out the window in time to see Boomer on top of her. That pervert! "It's good thing you kicked him away, it served him right for messing around with you!" she growled, slamming her fist in her other hand.

"See, that's why we should keep away from The Rowdyruff Boys! They are always up to no good!" Blossom said, frowning. "They cannot be trusted, not even for a second! They are creeps…"

"And total jerks, too!" Buttercup interjected with a firm nod.

"So they must be avoided at all costs!" Blossom finished with an air of finality.

Bubbles was still sitting in the same place where Boomer had spotted her, and her face still bore a shocked expression. She has a now-crumpled flower in her hand. Dumbly she nodded. "Yeah…they are jerks, all right."

"Listen, Bubbles," Buttercup leaned over to her blond sister, "If any of the Rowdyruff Boys ever approach you, just let me know and I'll beat the tar out of them and stuff their heads up their butt!"

"Yes, Buttercup," Bubbles nodded again. Slowly she rose to her feet and then, with a sudden flash, she took off and flew through one of the round windows into their bedroom.

Concerned, Buttercup looked at her redheaded sister. "Do you think Bubbles will be okay, Blossom?"

Blossom sighed and nodded once. "Yeah, I think so. Poor Bubbles, to be treated so badly by that despicable Boomer…how awful!"

Meanwhile, Bubbles flew under the large, tri-colored bed and after a moment she came out carrying a small book she had hidden in a secret place that only she alone knew. Hurriedly she rushed into the closet, pulled the door shut and turned on the light. There she put aside the flower, flipped the pages until she came to a blank page, and took out a pen. Eagerly and with a bated breath she scribbled on the page;

Dear Dairy,

Guess what! Today Boomer showed up. I never thought he'd pay any attention to me, but he did! And guess what else? He gave me a flower! And what's more, he actually kissed me!

Isn't it AWESOME!

The End ;)