Brick stared for a second at the woman confused. "You're the one from yesterday. How on earth did you find where I was staying?"
"Well I apologise for doing so, but I had to improvise" the woman reached around to the bottom part of the bill of Brick's hat, and picked off something, showing it to him.
Brick took it and examined it. It was a tiny piece of metal. "A tracking device?" Brick realised. She must've placed it on his hat when she patted him on the head, just before leaving. How did that get past him? "Wendy, isn't it?"
She nodded.
"Why are you here?" he asked, skeptical of her motives.
"Sorry once again for intruding, but to be honest Brick, the reason I'm here is simply because, well I'm, curious about you and your brothers, but most of all, concerned" admitted Wendy.
"Curious?" Brick repeated. He looked at her. She was still wearing skinny jeans and high heels. And she wasn't wearing the raincoat like yesterday. Instead she was wearing some sort of lab coat, over a green and white horizontally striped top. He guessed that she was in some sort of science and technology profession. How else would she be able to have technology like this tracking device.
Just at this moment Boomer and Butch woke up, rubbing their temples and yawning. "Well that was a milder night at least" Butch muttered rubbing his eyes.
Boomer stretched a bit then looked over to see his red brother talking to a woman, who was wearing a lab coat at the warehouse side door. "Uhh, Butch" Boomer said to the green ruff, motioning over to where Brick was.
"Brick? What's going on?" Butch floated over to the ruff leader. "Who's this?"
"You two must be Butch and Boomer, right?" Wendy gave a small wave to them.
"How did she find us?" Butch looked at Brick.
"Tracking device" Brick showed to him, not looking his brother in the eye.
"How the hell did she manage to plant that on you?" Butch questioned.
"I, sort of talked to her yesterday."
"What? Were you meeting up with people behind our backs?" Butch accused.
"No, she found me on the street when I was investigating that hitman and accidently entered that officer's house."
"Is that what you were doing out on the street that day?" Wendy asked in a sympathetic voice.
"I'm guessing that's where you also got the umbrella from?" Butch figured.
"Well I'm sure you made it up to officer Jones by saving him in that shooting last night" Wendy assured.
"I suppose I-, wait I never said it was officer Jones" Brick pointed out.
"My father, chief Mccoy, told me what happened yesterday" she explained.
"You're the daughter of-, what's his opinion of us? Just out of curiosity" asked Brick.
"Well, the police force, doesn't exactly have the highest of opinion's of you three to be honest Brick. I mean after that, attack on the police force in Townsville eighteen months ago" informed Wendy.
"I admit it wasn't our, proudest moment" Brick admitted.
"Tell me something" Butch interjected. "How did you know that Brick wouldn't attack you? I mean it's not like he would've, but why would you just go up to a Rowdyruff on the street like that?"
"I understand what you're getting at Butch, but Brick didn't exactly look like he was in a position to attack anyone. He was practically drenched because of the rain and was slumped against the wall" Wendy described.
"Wow that sounds pretty pathetic" Butch muttered to his brother.
"You weren't there" Brick muttered back.
"And I know that you boys have a checkered past, which I certainly don't approve of, but judging by what happened at the mall, and Boomer saving that baby from a burning apartment building, plus Brick directly telling me quite sincerely that you were 'trying to stay out of the whole crime thing', it seems the three of you are trying to turn a new leaf. Rowdyruffs or not, you boys are humans too" Wendy finished.
"So, what are you doing here?" Boomer, who had been watching the whole exchange, floated over.
"Well like I said Boomer, I'm worried about you boys. I mean, if this is what you have to do everyday, scraping the bottom of the barrel for food. And I'm, well, slightly curious of the chemical x that resides within you."
"How do you know about that exactly? I didn't think that chemical to be very well known outside of Townsville" Brick wondered. "I mean, I take it by that lab coat you're wearing, you're in some sort of science profession, but that doesn't necessarily mean you would know about it."
"It isn't very well known here no, which is strange since it was created here" she expressed.
"Here? But I thought that, Professor Utonium created it?" said Boomer.
"He didn't. Let's just say, I know the person who created it, and we handed a supply of it to the Professor" Wendy explained.
"So you know Professor Utonium too?"
"Oh yes. Mark and I went to school with him back in Townsville actually."
"Who's Mark?" asked Brick.
"Oh um, never mind. Anyway I came here to ask you boys if perhaps, you would like to, let's say, come back to my lab so I could run a few tests on your powers? It's just that, I'd really like to know how the chemical that I assisted in creating works, since I never got to see it in action, not personally anyway. I mean you don't have to, but I don't think surviving by scavenging the streets is anyway for young boys to live. Even super powered ones" Wendy proposed, smiling a kind smile to the three Rowdyruffs.
Brick looked down at the floor for a few seconds, going over what she had just proposed. He wondered something. "What do you mean by that last part? Will you be feeding us or something?"
"I'm more than happy to prepare a meal every evening for you boys if you help me with the tests" replied Wendy, placing her hands together in front of her lap.
Brick cocked his eyebrow, looking up for a second, the way people normally do when they're thinking about something. He then looked back at her. "Excuse us for a second." He turned around to his brothers and lead them back away from the door. "So what do you two think about this?" he whispered.
"Brick we don't even know this woman. Just because she was kind to you yesterday and is promising us a meal every night, doesn't mean we should be completely trustful" Butch whispered.
"But Butch, she's obviously some sort of scientist. She just wants to examine our chemical x powers" Boomer, also in a whisper, countered.
"Yeah, says who?" Butch warned. "She could be anybody."
"You have a point" Brick put a hand to his chin.
"But we have powers Butch. I was in an explosion a while ago at the mall and came out with only cuts and bruises" reminded Boomer.
"Yes I know, but to this woman's credit, she probably is actually telling the truth about co-creating chemical x, I don't think she would lie about something like that, and that's what worries me" Butch expressed. "Even with powers, could we still be walking into some sort of trap?"
"I admit though, she wasn't exactly looking for me or anything when she did find me" figured Brick. "And she did seem genuinely concerned for my well being when she talked to me." Brick remembered her asking if he had anything to eat, and what he was doing out in the rain. And the tone she had, it had the same type of concern a bystander would have for a lost child. The last thing the ruff leader wanted to do was to put his brothers in any type of danger, but the thought of free meals for them was just too good, and desperately needed. If this was all a ruse, then Brick would have to think of something quickly to get his brothers away.
"We'll go with her. I don't think someone could conjugate a plan to capture us in a matter of twenty four hours anyway. But if it is a plan against us, we'll get out of there as quickly as possible" Brick concluded.
Boomer smiled, liking this idea. This Wendy person was the first one outside of Bubbles to show them some kindness. Excluding a few animals he talked to of course. Butch was still skeptical, but he just sighed and shook his head, maintaining his loyalty to his leader. "Alright, we'll go with her." After the events last night, Butch was still questionable of Brick's decisions, especially after the red ruff himself had said that he was even unsure whether he knew what was best for them.
"Butch, I know what I said last night" Brick said, almost as if he read his brother's mind. "But I'm only doing this because I'd rather take a chance than continue in the same terrible position we're in now" he put a hand on Butch's shoulder. Butch nodded, and the three brothers floated back over to the door.
"Have you boys reached a verdict then?" joked Wendy, chuckling.
"We'll go with you Wendy, to help you with your, investigation, on chemical x and our powers" Brick informed her. "We discussed it and it's fine with all of us."
Butch rolled his eyes.
"I'm glad to hear, I couldn't just let three little boys spend all day in a drafty warehouse now could I?" she motioned for them to follow her. The boys looked to see a car parked quite close to the door, which the scientist woman beeped open and opened the door for them. "Well aren't you boys coming?"
"You're, giving us a lift? I thought we we're going to fly there?" Boomer tilted his head.
Wendy chuckled. "Well I certainly can't do that. I don't have chemical x powers remember."
"I think what Boomer means is, do you really want to be seen with, well, us? I mean no offence Wendy, but associating with the Rowdyruffs, well it won't-"
"We were on a street the other day, and Boomer tried to return a wallet or something, all the crowd did was throw whatever they could pick up at us, chasing us out of there" Butch interrupted, scowling at the memory.
"The way I see it Butch, is that if people see someone with the 'dreaded Rowdyruff boys' whom are not hurting that person, then that's bound to make them think isn't it?" Wendy figured.
Boomer bumped his hand against Butch's arm and said "Cmon Butch, when's the last time we got to ride in a car that didn't belong to the city." He flew into the back of it, strapping himself in.
They had to admit, it was weird sitting in the back seat of a car instead of flying. It turns out the boys weren't tall enough for people to see them through the windows, apart from maybe a few people in other cars who pulled up next to them at red lights, who at first thought their eyes were deceiving them. All three of the boys found themselves subconsciously looking at their hands every couple of minutes expecting to see handcuffs on them, but every time were reminded that those days were over.
"Why did you park your car so close?" Brick broke finally spoke up, though he already had an idea of the answer.
"Well, when I tracked you to that warehouse, I then realised that it wasn't exactly in the nicest part of town, and I didn't want to park my car out in the open" Wendy explained.
"Even in daylight?" asked Boomer.
The scientist sighed "That's, how bad it is I'm afraid. You were there at that shooting last night Brick. I imagine living in that area of the city, you don't have the quietest of nights." She said this with a tone as if this problem had been going on for a while, and had a look in her eyes as she briefly looked up at the buildings, as if she were ashamed of the city almost.
Brick took this opportunity to ask something he had thought about the previous night. "I heard that it isn't just that part of the city that has a problem with crime. In fact we've experienced it, with the incident at the mall and everything. Quite a lot of people get hurt, don't they?"
"They do, unfortunately. My father's got a hell of a job sorting out all this mess. I worry about him sometimes, and his safety. The amount of shootings he's been in, and stand offs. I don't know who loses more sleep at night, him or my mother" Wendy expressed, braking slightly to turn at a junction.
"Yeah" Brick replied in a quiet voice. "I know the feeling."
"You mean, there's been more shootings other than the one last night?" Butch wondered, as he too seemed curious.
"Shootings, robberies, riots, destruction of property, murders, drug smuggling, you name it. My father and the Founders police force are on the case of a series of murders as of recent, believed to be connected to the mob. I don't know if it'll do any good though" sighed Wendy. "Folla and the rest of the mob haven't been convicted for anything in years."
"Who's Folla?" asked Boomer.
"Sofia Folla. The Don. She inherited her father's criminal operations after he was shot by a rival gang. A gang of which, Sofia Folla had massacred last Valentine's day."
Brick thought of the hitman he tried to capture. He wondered, just for a second. Would Joe Briggs, if he had been one of the inmates during the boys time in the prison, would he have been the type who would've terrorised them? But before Brick and his brothers knew it, they looked up to see that they had pulled up into a driveway.
"Here we are" Wendy announced, turning off her car's engine and stepping out.
The ruffs looked around at their surroundings with confused expressions. "Here? This house?" Butch asked skeptically. It looked like a normal suburban house, in quite a pleasant looking suburban neighbourhood, far from the centre of the city, as the boys noticed when they got out of the car.
"I thought you said we were going to a lab?" Boomer curiously asked.
"We are, it's in here" informed Wendy, taking out some keys from her handbag.
"In the house?" wondered Butch.
"Well I suppose it's not too strange. Remember Professor Utonium has one below his" reminded Boomer.
Wendy gestured for the boys to follow her in, and Brick did a quick x-ray scan of the house just in case this was all a ruse, and he kept both his brothers behind him. But as far as he could tell this was just a normal looking house, with no signs of devious intent, made more evident as they floated inside. All three of the Rowdyruffs kinda just stopped and looked around. It was so much, warmer, than in the warehouse. Had they ever been in an actual house without breaking into it before? Brick remembered the last living room he'd been in was officer Jones's by accident.
"So" Wendy got their attention. "Have you boys had any breakfast yet?"
After Breakfast, which the boys were grateful for, the four of them walked, or floated, down to some type of basement. Flicking a light switch, the room lit up to reveal a white walled, technology filled room, with a few smaller rooms connected to it. The tables were covered with beakers, test tubes, computers, and colourful buttons. This was definitely the image the boys had when they pictured a laboratory. It probably still lingered in their mind from when Boomer was captured and held in Professor Utonium's lab. And in truth, this lab was a lot bigger than Professor Utonium's.
"Woah, this must go under from your front garden to your back one" Butch floated around the lab, as if he were inspecting it. "How'd you get the money for all this?"
"I, sell and work on pieces of technology for the city's government. As you can see, they pay me quite handsomely." Wendy made her way to a control panel, which activated some sort of small room next to them with a screen to see inside. "I would like to start by examining the laser vision you boys have if that's okay?"
"Uh sure, what do you want us to do?" Brick asked, now beginning to trust this woman more.
Wendy placed three thick sheets of metal at the end of the testing room and requested the boys to simply shoot their laser vision at the metal, and timed how long it took for them to do so. "Six point three seconds. But that was titanium alloy."
"Probably why it took so long to burn through" Brick figured.
Wendy thought for a second before going to a cabinet and took a vial of black liquid, which the boys recognised as chemical x, from a holder. The three Rowdyruffs, who were now floating behind her, watched as she grabbed a piece of that same metal, and poured a drop of chemical x onto the metal. Nothing happened. "Amazing" she whispered.
"What is?" Boomer questioned.
"That the thing that gives us powers, doesn't really have any powers on it's own" Brick observed.
"Right, it has to be channelled into a living thing first. I wonder" Wendy seemed lost in thought for a second.
"What?" Butch asked, snapping her out of it.
"Oh, nothing" she dismissed. "I heard that the metal, Duranium, is something you boys can't break, or that you have no effect on?"
All three of the Rowdyruffs shuddered. "Don't remind us" muttered Butch.
"Why? Something wrong?" Wendy asked, slightly worried.
"We'll, tell you later. Just tell us what you want us to do next" Brick dismissed.
"Well I was hoping to see whether you're laser vision would burn through Duranium, but since I don't have any, I suppose I can't. Anyway, could we test your strength levels next?"
Throughout the day, Wendy tested how much the boys could lift. Unsurprisingly, Butch managed to lift slightly more than his brothers. She tested speed, which was quite difficult to do in the lab, until Brick suggested they fly in circles in the testing room.
Out of the three brothers, Boomer scored the quickest times in his laps he flew. Wendy was becoming more fascinated by the minute, amazed at what the chemical that she had co-created could do. They fired balls of energy from their hands, which Wendy measured how much damaged it could really do at the objects they hit. Meanwhile Brick took an interest in the technology she had lying around.
"All these computers, are they really all for research and programming technology?" the red ruff wondered.
"Some of them. A lot of these computers are used to scan blood samples or DNA for things like research, though I haven't used them in years since I mainly work with technology now" Wendy informed whilst scanning a few pieces of metal.
"But you still work with chemicals" Brick motioned to all the beakers and test tubes.
"I still experiment sometimes with different alkalies, it's a little hobby of mine."
Brick began to contemplate this person who had welcomed them in. She had shown no ill will towards them. Despite being dangerous former criminals, she welcomed them with open arms. She wasn't the slightest bit afraid of them, despite what all the media reports were saying about them, which he had seen occasionally on newspapers and through shop windows. She talked to them like they were her own-,
Just then Boomer zipped out of the testing room. "Woah, now I see why Henry liked running around all over the place!" in his excitement, he accidently knocked a beaker over with some sort of chemical in it, and caused a small explosion, which damage anything, or harm anyone, but gave the two ruffs and the scientist a faceful of smoke and ash.
"Boomer honest to god, we're in a science lab" Brick scorned.
Wendy just started chuckling, with a hand over her mouth. "It's okay Boomer, honestly, but maybe I should put any hazardous chemicals away first before you boys come in" she said, brushing the ash a bit out of her curly orange hair.
It was evening now, and after Wendy Brick and Boomer had cleaned up, they decided to finish with the tests and went back up to the house. "Thank you ever so much you three for that" Wendy clasped her hands together. "Now, to cook you a meal, like I promised."
While the boys waited in the living room as Wendy was in the kitchen, they took the liberty of poking around at their surroundings, as they really hadn't had the luxury of being welcomed guests in a house for a, well, they hadn't had that luxury. "Guys, have you ever felt how soft carpet is?" Boomer asked whilst on the floor, running his hands through it.
"Amazing not watching these things behind something that's protecting it" Butch tapped the TV screen.
Brick had noticed a few opened letters on a coffee table addressed to Wendy. He noticed something, they were addressed to a Wendy Innlost. 'Innlost? I thought she was the daughter of chief Mccoy.'
The boys were then called to the kitchen where there were four plates of a roast dinner on a table. The boys eyes widened. "I hope this is okay, I'm more of a scientist than a chef" joked Wendy. The three nodded, and the four sat around the table, eating the meal together. "I'm surprised you three are eating this so happily, most little children hate vegetables. Then again, with your current situation,"
"We're just grateful for anything at this point really" said Boomer with a mouthful of broccoli.
Wendy looked down with a pitying expression for a second at that sentence. She then looked up again and asked "So tell me boys, what, was it like for you, inside that prison?"
Hey guys, another chapter. I was worried that the boys agreeing to go with Wendy was a bit sudden, but I figured that her running tests on them would be the best way for them to get to know the other. Bubbles is still going to visit them, which is why the boys would want to go back to the warehouse. I decided to change the summary around a bit too, as I thought that sounded better.
Powerpuff girls and Rowdyruff boys belong to CN.