Allies and Rivals II
Chapter 10 - Heightened Attacks
The City of Townsville, September 9.
It was Tuesday morning, and the boys had already gone to school. The previous night's all session studying the villains of Townsville made the boys more knowledgeable about crime in Townsville so as to give them an almost encyclopaedic grasp of it, but it left them with no idea on who could be behind it.
The doctor was in his study, lounging around doing nothing. 'Glad I called Blockhead to take the day off. Now I can relax.'
The doorbell rang. 'Wonder who that could be?'
He then went to the surveillance room to check who it is. 'It's only John,' he said, looking at the screen. 'Good thing I had those surveillance cameras installed yesterday. Can't be too careful when men with no color in their eyes and no fingerprints try to steal your secrets.'
Still, he took a gun from under the drawer and put it in his pocket, his left hand fingering the trigger just in case it was some kind of trick. He put on his hat and went to open the door.
"William, it's so you to wear that hat!" John said as Edwards opened the door.
"Oh shove it," Dr. Edwards said. "You know I like to wear hats! In fact, I think Brick might have inherited my love of hats. I've never seen him without a cap or a hat!"
"I'd hate to tell you," the Professor joked, "but technically, your boys and my daughters can't inherit anything, since they were created by Chemical X!"
"Yeah, you're right," the doctor said, "but everyday, I see a piece of me in each of my boys. You know how I am pragmatic, practical, cynical, always want to be on top, always want to lead, arrogant, ruthless, good at history and politics and economics?"
"Yeah?" said the professor.
"Okay, that's enough of the pleasantries," Dr. Edwards said, sharply changing the tone of his voice. "We're still not friends, remember? I still hate you, but I'll be willing to look past that. Anyway, I'm going to show you my latest projects and inventions that I have a difficult time with. I'm sure with you around, we can crack the secrets. But I must warn you, you probably know what happened yesterday. You'll be putting your life at risk by working for, I mean with me."
"Oh stop that tomfoolery, William," John said. "Stop pretending you still hate me! And I've been in riskier situations than this, in fact, I almost got killed in several of them. So bring them on!"
"Also, Brick requested that I give your daughters three communicator watches," Dr. Edwards said, giving the professor three watches colored green, pink and light blue. "Blossom demanded from Brick that they share these because they are now a team, and Brick said yes."
The Doctor then explained the events in the weekend.
"And Brick asked me to ask you to ask the principal to use calls from me using the watches to excuse the girls along with the boys. And tell the mayor and the police that they won't have to use the hotline anymore."
The professor was stunned by all that happened. "Wow. You're gone one weekend and when you come back, everything's changed! Oh well, as long as it's for the best! I'll tell the principal this afternoon."
"Okay," so the doctor led the professor to his lab and the two began working on the monster hide, and several of his inventions, and explaining his sons eating phenomenon.
It was Tuesday, September 10.
The boys and the girls were at their classrooms, listening to Ms. Cartwright. Brick and Boomer and Blossom were attentive, while Butch was bored, writing some numbers on a piece of paper. Buttercup was looking proudly at her new watch, while Bubbles was drawing with crayons.
Miss Cartwright was about to call into attention the three who were not paying attention but the kids were saved by a timely call from their father.
"Boys! Girls! There's a monster attacking Towsville. Hurry! It's just emerged from the sea!" Dr. Edwards shouted.
"Ma'am could we…" Blossom asked.
"Of course, you six could go. Just make it quick!" Miss Cartwright said.
Soon, the six members of the Ruff-Puff Alliance were on their way to the beach. The monster looked like a Tyrannosaurus with large arms and green scales. It is on the beach and was getting ready to go to the city proper.
"Okay. Do plan Alpha Omega Six!"
"Right!" Bubbles and Buttercup said, breaking into formation.
"Alpha what?" Brick asked. "What kind of attack is that?"
"Oh I forgot, you don't know about those attacks, my plans and formations," said Blossom. "Okay, me and the girls will take care of the monster, while you try and evacuate the people near the beach."
"And why should we save those people!" asked Brick.
"Because it's our duty!" Blossom said. "We have to protect them because they're too weak to protect themselves."
"No," Brick said. "My duty is to protect Towsville for Dad's sake, not save every critter and every biped that has a brain the size of a nut! No, we should concentrate on defeating the monster, and if some people die, then I couldn't care less."
Blossom was shocked by his callousness. "Not as long as I am leader! Now listen Brick, and you too, Boomer, Butch, as long as I am leader, you will protect and defend every citizen's life to the best of your abilities, and that's not a request. It's an order!" she said, digging her heels. "We're superheroes, for crying out loud! You'll just have to learn to care about them, because without them, being a superhero with powers won't mean squat! We have a moral duty to ensure the life of every Towny, no matter how stupid they are. Besides, you don't know the plan yet, and Buttercup and Bubbles and I could take care of it easy!"
"That's not good enough," challenged Brick. "There's no war without casualty on both sides, and sometimes it's needed to win. Look, we can save more lives by concentrating on killing that monster. Is the whole city worth a few citizen's lives?"
"I don't have time to argue! How about this! It's an order! Do it!" Blossom shouted. "As your leader, I order you to evacuate those citizens, ensure their safety, and deposit them as far away from the battlefield as possible."
"Okay, okay, you win! But not because I think you're right, but because you're the leader and I should follow you, whatever your orders are," Brick said. "But you must accept responsibility when something goes wrong. Boomer, Butch, go and do as Blossom ordered."
The brothers grumbled at having to take orders from Blossom, but did as told.
Blossom decided to observe the boys in action before joining her sisters battling the monster. What she saw impressed her.
The boys under Brick's direction evacuated the people in an efficient and clean manner, with Butch going building to building on the left side of town picking up people and depositing them in the central park besides Mojo's lab. People thanked him, but he never lost his scowl, and he grumbled all the way.
Boomer picked up the people littered in the streets, and like Butch, deposited them in the park. He didn't grumble nor did he scowl, still, he didn't smile or express enjoyment.
Brick directed his brothers' efforts on a manner that impressed Blossom while he picked up people in the buildings in the right side of town barking orders at the same time using the watches.
'How does Brick do it? How could he make Boomer and Butch do his orders without so much as a grumble or challenge and make them do it one second after he gave those orders? And Butch and Boomer could alter their activities to conform with Brick's plans,' she thought with envy as she watched as the boys used superb cooperation and coordination to perform an efficient sweep of all the people. 'If I could command Bubbles and Buttercup with such efficiency, things would be much much better!'
"Blossom, are you going to help us or are you going to stare at those boys all day long!" she heard Buttercup say.
Meanwhile…
Bubbles and Buttercup attacked the monster. Buttercup quickly headed and punched its belly, but to her surprise, it had no effect. 'What is this monster made of?' The monster then flicked Buttercup off like she was just an annoying fly. Bubbles tried punching the monster in the head, but it too had no effect.
Buttercup tried to laser eye it, but it was ineffective, and an irritated monster tried to stomp on her. She was caught off guard, and soon, the monster tried stomping Buttercup to the ground. Soon, Buttercup was stuck between the asphalt road and the foot of the monster trying its best to squish her. Bubbles tried to fight the monster but it just flicked her with its tail and she was sent crashing into several nearby buildings that was just evacuated by Butch.
Buttercup was struggling hard when she saw Blossom just looking at the boys' rescue of the people. Her blood boiled.
"Blossom, are you going to help us or are you going to stare at those boys all day long?" she shouted.
"Um, oh yeah, sorry!" Blossom said. "Bubbles, give me an assessment of the strength of the monster!"
"Well, the monster is super strong! Stronger than the strongest of strong of strong of toughest strongest strong of toughest…"
"All right I get it!" Blossom said. "Bubbles, distract the monster with a sonic voice. I'll go get Buttercup!"
Bubbles then went close enough to the monster and before it could make a move against her, she screamed at it, causing it to back off a bit. It gave Blossom her opportunity, kicking the foot as hard as she could, which caused it to lift a bit, and enabling her to pull her sister from her predicament.
"What the heck are you doing Blossom? You ruined your own plan by arguing with those boys instead of doing your part!" Buttercup angrily shouted at her leader.
"Shut up, Buttercup! I was trying to ensure the safety of all the citizens of Townsville! I'm sorry, but the situation at hand demanded that I act the way I did! Besides, nothing bad happened!" the red-haired girl replied. "Now, go and try taking out his eyes. That monster has got to have some weakness! I'll go and try freezing him."
"No way Jose! Your plans are useless!" a still teed-off Buttercup said. Then, just to spite her sister, she went and tried lifting the monster by its tail. Blossom nearly boiled from Buttercup's insubordination, but remembered that more important things required attention. She decided that Bubbles would do the fighting in the head while she tried freezing it.
"Bubbles, try and distract the monster by swirling around its head. I'll freeze it!" said Blossom.
"Okay Blossom," Bubbles said, and she started making swirls which distracted the monster by making it dizzy. Blossom started freezing the lower part of its body.
Meanwhile, the monster was making mince meat out of Buttercup. It swung its tail against building after building, and repeatedly slammed her against the concrete slabs in the ground. Buttercup, who was trying to spin it by its tail but failed because of its' weight. For some reason she just clutched the tail as she was being pummelled because she thought being the toughest one would enable her to withstand the pressure. She was wrong.
Blossom got barely halfway through when a twitch in the muscles of the monster broke the ice, and it tried swinging its tail with the clutching Buttercup towards Blossom. Blossom dodged, but Buttercup was thrown off the tail and hit Blossom square on. The monster turned its attention to Bubbles and soon, the blue puff was eating asphalt beside them.
"That monster is going to eat crow!" shouted Buttercup. "Come on Bubbles!"
"Wait," said Blossom, but it was too late. Buttercup was soon engaged with the monster. Bubbles followed Buttercup, and Blossom was just standing a few yards away, having totally lost control of the situation. 'This is bad. I need a new plan fast!' She was about to join the rumble when she heard Brick's voice over the communicator.
"Brick here. The evacuation is complete. What else, your majesty," he sarcastically said, drawing snickers from his brothers.
Blossom described the situation.
"What, you're losing control this early? Okay, what's your plan?" said Brick.
"Well, just attack and attack until we wear it down," said Blossom.
"Now that is the most idiotic and stupid plan I've ever heard for someone who claims to be such a smart pants," Brick replied, "but before you go on to 'I order you mode', listen to what I'm going to say. Boomer and Butch had already fought that kind of monster before, when you made the monster alliance. Now, repeatedly attacking head on the monster would be at best useless, at worst fatal. And whatever you do, don't heat it up and pore sandstone over it. I would only make it tougher."
"If you're so smart, then what would you do?" asked Blossom.
"Pull your sisters off that monster and find a way to dent that hide. Remember, as long as you don't heat it up and mix it with sandstone on a windy day, it wouldn't get that tough as to be impossible to crack. Just ask Boomer."
Blossom then went to her sisters. "Buttercup, Bubbles, let go of that monster and retreat! We've go to regroup and think of a new plan."
"Yeah, it'll work like your last plan!" said Buttercup.
Bubbles at once complied and stood near Blossom, battered. Buttercup however, ignored Blossom and continued fighting the monster futilely.
"Buttercup, stop it and come here!" Blossom shouted. "That's an order! Don't worry, my new plan will work."
"Okay, but that plan better work!" said Buttercup said as she backed off.
At that second, the three brothers appeared besides the leader of the Powerpuff Girls.
"Ha, that monster is a lamb compared with the four monsters I fought!" Boomer boasted.
"Yeah, but Boomie, that monster is tougher than all those that we fought before!" Bubbles said. "It's hide is like rubber. It stretches and stretches, but doesn't break when you punch it!"
"Don't call me that!" said a red faced Boomer.
"So it's like rubber, eh!" Blossom said. "Does anybody know how to break rubber?"
"Brick, tell Blossom that we could make it more brittle by subjecting it into extremes of hot and cold. But what has that got to do with that monster?" Boomer said, who could not even talk directly to Blossom without blowing up.
"Okay, Blossom, Boomer said…" began Brick.
"I heard it!" said Blossom. Suddenly her face brightened. "Boomer, Bubbles, go and heat that monster using your laser-eyes!"
"Right," said Bubbles. "Come on Boomie, I mean Boomer! Make sure you keep your distance."
Boomer looked at Brick, who glared back, and slightly nodded his head, then went with Bubbles. The pair then went and started zapping the monster. They held the monster in a steady stream of laser, in the process heating him it up to extreme temperatures. In the process, it became so hot that everything it touches burns. Bubbles and Boomer stayed just out of reach of the monster's range so as not to be harmed by it.
"Butch, Buttercup, go and break the top of that building," Blossom said, pointing to a skyscraper with a sharp pointed end like the Empire State Building.
"Okay," said Buttercup.
Butch just looked at Brick, who nodded, and without saying anything, went with Buttercup. Butch picked up his speed, flying past Buttercup, crashing through the skyscraper, picking up the pointed top before it fell to the ground.
"Hey sissy, catch!" Butch shouted to Buttercup, and threw the building at Buttercup.
"Huh?" said Buttercup and then saw the building accelerate towards her. She dodged and caught the building by its end.
"Hey, you catch like a girl, no wait a sissy!" Butch said, derisively laughing and flying towards Brick and Blossom. Buttercup clenched her teeth and carrying the building, followed him.
"You're a big fat jerk, you know that!" Buttercup shouted.
"I know!" said Butch. "Don't you love it?"
"Yup, it's great being a jerk!" said Buttercup, though it's hard to detect if she was being sarcastic or honest. "Though you shouldn't have thrown this to me without warning!"
"I shouldn't have, but I could, and I did, and that's all that matters!" said Butch. "Why, are you telling me that the toughest Powerpuff Sissy can't even handle building thrown in her way without warning? Oh how horrible!"
"Of course I can! Bring 'em on! I can handle anything," Buttercup said defensively. "So stop whining!"
"Hey, you're the one's who's whining, not me!" protested Butch.
"Butch is whining!" Buttercup began, taunting Butch.
"No I am not!"
"He is whining! You are whining!" said Buttercup.
"No I am not!" said Butch, his veins in his forehead clearly seen bulging.
"Oh you two shut up!" said Brick to the two squabblers.
Butch immediately shut up.
"And that includes you, Buttercup," said Blossom.
Buttercup stopped her teasing, though she chuckled for getting the better of the argument. Butch just fumed. 'Why did I deserve to take orders from that girl?' thought Butch, referring to Blossom.
"Okay, leader girl, what's next," said Brick to Blossom.
"Just wait, just wait," said Blossom.
"You're going to heat it up then freeze it to crack the rubber hide, aren't you?" said Brick.
"Wow! When did you get a brain?" said Blossom in mock amazement, teasing his counterpart. "You got it!"
"I bought my brain in the flea market just this morning! And it's a real bargain too. Only fifteen cents!" joked Brick.
"Never mind," said Blossom. "I think that that monster's heated up enough. Boomer, Bubbles, that's enough. Back off. Brick, you and I are going to freeze that red-hot monster."
"Well, just make sure you don't do it small enough or else the ice would melt and evaporate faster than a hot knife slices through butter!" Brick said.
"Don't insult my intelligence Brick," said Blossom. "Of course I am aware of that!"
"I wouldn't in my life insult your intelligence!" Brick hysterically said. "Because even if I would, there wouldn't be any intelligence in you to insult!"
Blossom stopped and looked dangerously at Brick. "Oh shut up! Let's not waste any time arguing. Let's freeze that monster!"
"Whatever you say, leader girl," Brick said.
The angry, and literally red-hot monster began to march towards the six children. The entire city of Towsville adjacent to the beach was burning because the monster is so hot anything it touches immediately burns like a paper thrown in a red hot charcoal.
Brick and Blossom began freezing the monster before it could do more damage. They used all their power in their ice breaths just to make sure it was effective. After it was over, they were literally out of breath and exhausted, but it worked. The monster was encased in an ice prison, but it showed signs of cracking.
"Buttercup, impale that monster using that building, now!" ordered Blossom.
"Way ahead of you, Blossom!" she said, and threw the building, point first, into the monster. The six held their breath as it pierced the monster through, and it broke right through its back. Soon, the ice broke, then the monster broke into many pieces like china, and the fight was over.
"Way to go Blossom," Buttercup said, forgetting her earlier spat with the leader. "You rock!"
"You were great there, Blossom," Bubbles said, praising her sister, though her face seemed as if she had gone to a funeral.
"Why the long face, Bubbles?" asked Blossom. "Aren't you happy we defeated the monster?"
"I am, but…" she then stuttered.
"I tried talking to the monster, but that monster is not like the monsters we fought before. It's like that monster did not have a mind of its own and it wasn't from Monster Island," said Bubbles. "Something is very wrong here, I can feel it…"
"Oh don't be paranoid," said Buttercup. "The monsters are all the same. They know the price if they tried destroying Townsville, and they got what they deserve!"
"Yeah, there's no need to worry!" Blossom said. "That monster is dead!" Then turning to Brick, she asked, "So what do you think? Am I great or what?"
"Not bad," said Brick. "Not bad at all for someone as idiotic and annoying like you."
Blossom ignored the insult. "I told you I was right. Now the monster was defeated without a single loss of human life! If we had your way, then those streets would now be littered with dead bodies. Anyway, thanks for saving those lives, even if you didn't want to in the first place."
"Keep your thanks to yourself," Brick said. "The only reason I did it is because you ordered it, and you're the damn leader. Though I suppose since it didn't distract from defeating the monster, nor did it delay it, then it was justified. Thought your first planned flopped and you lost control of Buttercup in the middle of the battle! If this were any other battle, that could seriously screw you up! So I would say it's good, though it wasn't that great."
"Geez, you sound like a film critic. Yeah," Blossom said, "but the only reason my first plan flopped is that I forgot you guys don't know the code words for my battle plans. I think you should show me your battle plans, and your strategies, so we could develop a unified plan of action when the next battle occurs."
"Is that a request or an order," said Brick.
"Is there any difference?" asked Blossom.
"Well, if it's a request, no you can't have our secrets. But if it's an order, I wouldn't have much choice would I?" Brick replied.
"Then it's an order!" said Blossom. "Show me all your battle plans, and we could form a joint strategy while we're at it."
"Oh all right," said Brick, not really happy about having to divulge all his plans, but he felt he had no choice. "But I want to know your battle plans too!"
"Sure! You can have it!" said Blossom.
"Okay, then come anytime at our house and I'll show them to you."
Later, at home…
"What the hell were you thinking!" Butch shouted to Brick when they got home and nobody else was looking at them. He was enraged at his leader, his eyes glaring at him. "Giving away our secret techniques! If you don't remember, we have several strategies to finish off the girls in there, and it would totally screw up our plans!"
"Yeah!" Boomer shouted at his face. "You are an idiot, a moron for agreeing to it! What kind of a leader are you!"
"You fool, you big fat imbecile! You totally screwed up!" Butch shouted at him, resisting the temptation to zap his brother. "You are turning into a puppet of that girl!"
"Are you two finished ranting?" asked the calm Brick.
"Not yet," said Boomer.
"Then by all means carry on," said Brick. "I won't say anything that!"
So for the next fifteen minutes, his brothers shouted, verbally bashed, insulted and generally mocked their leader. They were in the training room, so they kicked about everything around them, the walls, the floating targets and others. However, they quickly got tired of it, or just lost their voices and all of their energy.
"Guessed you run out of voices after all that shouting," said Brick. 'At least they have vented all that anger at me. Now I won't have to worry about it being stored up and exploding like a volcano, like their anger at Blossom.' "Now, listen up and listen good. Look, whether you like it or not, we are allies to those girls, and nothing's going to change that. I know you are mad at me for saying that I'm going to divulge our secrets, but listen to me, IT WON'T HAVE A RAT'S ASS DIFFERENCE if I gave it or not! We're not going to fight with the girls anytime soon, and besides, we'll get their secrets in return, so it would cancel each other out. Besides, following every order of Blossom has some hidden benefits for us that she isn't even aware of."
"Like what?" said Butch.
"Simple. When I become leader, she would have to follow my every order, because she would be hypocritical if she doesn't. That Blossom believes in all that golden rule stuff. Remember, just bite your tongue and wait," said Brick. "Now, does it make all make sense?"
"So that's the reason you keep on following Blossom," said Boomer. "Well, if you put it that way, then I guess I have to say it's okay to me. Sorry Brick about earlier, I was angry and I needed to vent!"
"Yeah, me too," said Butch. "I also needed to vent, so I said all those things to you. But that doesn't mean I like it! I can live with it, but only that! That girl makes my blood boil every time she gives an order!"
They then heard the doorbell ring. "It's Bubbles on her daily afternoon appointment," said Brick.
Soon, the three boys with Bubbles' help cleaned the house up. In return, they thought Bubbles how to race a remote control car, which to the boys' surprise, she really enjoyed it.
It was early Thursday afternoon, September 11. To the pleasant surprise of the kids, school was dismissed a little early and the boys were lounging around lazily in the house. Brick was reading a history book, Boomer and Butch were playing video games. When suddenly the doorbell rang.
"It must be Bubbles," said Brick. "Boomer, get the door. You're girlfriend's waiting for you!"
"She's not my girlfriend!" shouted Boomer. "Okay, I'll get it."
"Hi Bu…" he began, but was surprised. Sure Bubbles was there, but so was Buttercup, and…Blossom!
"Hi Boomie!" Bubbles greeted.
"Don't call me that!"
"Hi Boomer," said Blossom. "Is Brick home?"
"Brick, your master is here!" Boomer taunted.
"Who?" said Brick.
"Blossom," shouted Boomer.
Brick ignored the insult, even if he knew it has a ring of truth in it.
"So, Brick's girlfriend is here? That's explains why he follows her every time she gives an order!" Butch teased.
"Will you shut up, Butch! She's not my girlfriend for crying out loud, you morons," he shouted, totally losing his cool at his brothers remark.
"I thought you two were still grounded?" asked a perplexed Brick.
"We were, but the Professor doesn't know we were dismissed earlier. So I thought, now's the perfect time to swap strategies," Blossom said.
"Oh yeah. Butch, Boomer, stay here and entertain Buttercup and Bubbles. Blossom, follow me," Brick said, and the two went to Brick's room.
Brick's room is painted blue, with an average sized bed. A stack of books is found in a bookcase, and it ranged from every topic. But the majority of books are history, political, geography, military and economics books. She saw one science and math book. Her own collection of books lean heavily towards foreign languages, science, math, English and geography too.
Brick took out a small book, about a hundred pages in length. The book has a title, Strategies and Tacticsby William Knox Edwards Sr., William Bricker Edwards Jr., Boomer Edwards and Butch Edwards.
"Here," said Brick, "are all my plans, strategies and tactics."
Blossom opened the book and it was a gold mine. In it were all the plans and tactics Brick devised when they were training to defeat the girls, the various plans made by the boys, complete with charts and diagrams and pictures with captions.
"You wrote this," asked a disbelieving Blossom.
"Well, I wasn't alone. Dad pretty much did all of the hard work, I just added my thoughts and opinions and Boomer and Butch just added a paragraph or picture or so. Now, where's yours? I'd love to pore over your plans," said Brick. "I'd love to see what that Alpha Omega whatever means."
"Um, well, I think I'll learn this first, then I'll give you my plans!" Blossom said nervously.
"Just make sure, or my brothers will kill me!" said Brick.
"Hey Blossom, I've been thinking, since much of the work of his city is, well, too little for six to handle, how about let's divide the responsibility. Me and my brothers will take the monsters and villains, while you and your sisters take on crime and we'll take on the monsters and villains!" Brick proposed.
"You just want to hug all the glory!" Blossom accused. "Sorry, but I have a better idea!"
"Oh yeah! Then let's see you dish it out! I bet it's the worst idea in the world."
"We'll see! You're right about the problem, but you have the wrong solution. Here is my solution. We divide the alliance into three parts, one boy with his counterpart, and we alternately answer calls from your Dad. That way, we would conserve energy. Now, if something big happens that can't be solved by the two, then he or she would give the rest of us a call, and would come to the rescue. What do you think?" Blossom asked.
"I don't like it," Brick replied. "I don't like it one bit. It's the worst idea since Butch said we're in alliance with Mojo!"
"Well, tough luck, since we're doing it anyway, since I am the leader and what I say goes!" she said as arrogantly as she could, pounding her fist on Brick's table. "Now, first, me and you, then Butch and Buttercup, and Bubbles and Boomer. After the first rotation, you and Buttercup, me and Boomer…"
"Wait, wait, wait," said Brick. "You do not want Boomer or Butch to be your partner!"
"And why not?" said Blossom.
"Trust me. You won't be able to maintain your authority with them without me! I'm telling you Blossom, you would become partners with my brothers at your own risk," Brick warned.
"So what? You have no say in this, I will be partners with Boo…wait a minute, are you sure about that?" asked Blossom.
"As sure as the death and taxes," Brick replied.
"They really don't like me, do they?" Blossom asked.
"Ha, not liking you is an understatement! I'm not telling you the truth of what they think about you, but I'm giving you a warning," said Brick.
"Okay, okay, what do you suggest then?" asked Blossom.
"Well, for the second rotation, I will be partnered with Butch, you with Buttercup and Bubbles and Boomer. Then for the third, I will be partnered with Bubbles, Boomer with Butch, and you and Buttercup. And so on and so forth. Just remember, you would not want to be partnered with my brothers."
"Okay, but we'll start this tomorrow. Remember, we'll be first one to test this!"
"I still think it's a bad idea, but you're the leader, and I can always blame you if anything goes wrong!" Brick said.
"Well, I gotta go now, or the professor's going to get really mad!" said Blossom.
"Good luck," Brick said, slapping Blossom in the back.
That caused Blossom to fall to the floor. "Hey, that hurt!" she complained.
"Huh, it did? Well, me and my brothers always slapped each other's back if we want to congratulate each other or wish each other luck, why should I be different with you?"
"Because I'm a girl, and you don't backslap girls! It's not nice."
"Well boo-hoo and cry me a river. Get used to it, especially when you're lucky!" Brick teased in a mocking tone. "And you can't order me not to do it, since this has nothing to do with being a superhero or something!"
"Why you jerk! You'll pay for that!" Blossom shouted.
"Well, there'll be time for that. I think you should tell your sisters of your brilliant new plan, don't you think?" Brick sarcastically said. "After all, it isn't everyday that somebody with a twenty cent brain can do something idiotic as your plan. But you have to be the leader, and so I have to go down with the ship when your plan fails!"
"At least I don't have a fifteen cent brain, you jerk! And don't forget that I'll always get my way since now, I'm the leader!" Blossom shouted and huffed out of the room, carrying Brick's strategy book.
'Girls are strange. I never had trouble backslapping anyone. Mitch and Mike certainly didn't complain about it, in fact they did it to me also. And certainly didn't have trouble with my brothers. Oh well, at least I found the right button to push!'
"That Brick is a jerk!" the redhead shouted as she saw Buttercup watching TV. Boomer, Butch and Bubbles once again was helping each other clean the house, and they just finished when Blossom huffed out of the room.
"Hey, don't badmouth my brother!" said Butch.
Blossom just ignored him. "Bubbles, Buttercup, let's go home. I wouldn't want the Professor to throw a fit for us acting like we're not grounded.
"You two go on home without me," said Bubbles. "I was only grounded for three days, remember?"
"Oh yes," said Blossom. "Okay Bubbles, just go home before dark so we won't worry."
"Yes Blossom," Bubbles said.
With that, Blossom and Buttercup left and went home.
Bubbles played until six with Boomer and Brick. They taught her how to play poker, then Bubbles insisted that they play hide and seek in the house.
Bubbles went home at six in the evening.
Later that night, at about eight in the evening…
A gray van three houses away from the Edwards's house parked. In it were four heavily armed men. All have guns and have clubs. They were wearing black all over, had shades over their eyes, and are wearing gloves.
"Is that the house of Dr. Edwards?" asked one passenger besides the drivers seat, wearing back all over with dark shades and gloves.
"Yup. Remember, the master said we won't hurt him until we got the data on that monster hide, but when we have it, we should beat him up then kill him," said the man in the driver's seat.
"Remember, wait till the master unleashes that monster to distract the Rowdyruff Boys, then we move," said the third man in the back. "It should be like shooting fish in a barrel once the boys are gone."
"Remember, we must not fail. We wouldn't want to end up like forty nine last time," said the fourth man.
"Don't worry. Last time, William Edwards was not alone, and the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls were there to save his ass. Now he's alone. And the good thing is, the master said that the monster he's sending is enough to kill both the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys. It shouldn't fail, unlike the monster he sent two days ago."
Meanwhile…
The doctor and his sons were having their Q&A session when somebody called on their watches.
"Dr. Edwards, this is Red Rover! A monster is attacking Townsville, and it is in the beach right now!"
"Boys, you heard it, now go. I'll contact the girls," said the doctor.
Soon, Brick, Boomer and Butch were flying towards town, when suddenly, Blossom's voice was heard form Brick's watch.
"This is Blossom, are you there yet?"
"Nope, but we're close. No, cancel that. We've just arrived!"
"What, is that some kind of a robot or something?" asked Butch as he stared at the newest monster.
"What's that Butch?" asked Blossom from his watch.
"Well Blossom," said Brick, "I don't know if it's a robot or something. You've got to see this."
Soon, the girls arrived.
"Oh no!" said Bubbles.
"It's a monster," Buttercup began.
"Covered with duranium plates," Blossom finished.
Meanwhile…
The four heavily armed men stealthily headed for the doctor's house. The doctor was alone, reading some company reports. Soon, they began picking the lock of the back door in a professional way.