-Chapter 11: Pressure-
A triumphant Brick went back to his and his brothers' hangout, still having Blossom's shoe in his possession. He had decided to keep it as a trophy or a keepsake. While Boomer went off to do some graffiti on a nearby wall, Butch eyed his red clad brother with confusion and curiosity.
"What the heck is that?" the raven haired boy asked while pointing to the item in his brother's hand.
"Gee, I don't know, Butch." Brick replied in a sarcastic tone while raising an eyebrow and narrowing his eyes. "What do you think it is?"
Butch folded his arms and gave an unappreciative look.
"It kinda looks like one of those stupid girls' shoes." he said.
"Very good, bro." Brick replied nonchalantly.
Butch let out a cry of frustration.
"ARRRGGHHH! WHAT GIVES?" the green clad boy exclaimed. "You disappear somewhere, and don't come back till late, and now you come back with a stupid girlie shoe!"
Brick merely raised an eyebrow at his brother's ranting.
"What are you, my mother?" he asked.
"No, but what if HIM finds out?" Butch pointed out.
"What about 'em?"
"Well, if he doesn't like what you're doin', we could in trouble!"
Brick got up from the tire he was sitting back in.
"First of all," he began. "I don't care about what HIM thinks, it's none of his business. Second, are you gonna squeal on me like a lil' baby?"
The two boys exchanged death glares. Sensing trouble, Boomer tried to break it up.
"Awww, come on you guys." the blue clad boy protested. "Maybe if Brick tells us, we'll keep it a secret. And Brick's right, we don't have to tell HIM everything. And what he doesn't know, won't hurt him right?"
Brick and Butch exchanged aggressive glances again, then finally relented.
"...Fine." Brick agreed. "But we make a pact. A squealer who rats to HIM or anybody else, is gonna get 100 wet willies and an atomic wedgie!"
Boomer shuddered, even Butch. There was nothing more horrifying nor humiliating than that. They both nodded, spat into their hands along with Brick, and shook hands in agreement.
"Alright then," Brick began. "I kinda found a way to wrap one of them Powerpuff's around my finger."
Both Boomer and Butch blinked.
"Whaddya mean?" Boomer asked.
"You know how that Blossom chick has been acting weird around us lately?" Brick asked in reply.
"A little bit." Butch answered while scratching the back his head. "I never really noticed."
Brick let out a little sigh. Leave it to his brothers to be nonobservant.
"Anyway," Brick continued. "I got the leader girl around my finger, and now she's my lab rat."
Boomer perked up.
"A lab rat? You mean like where those guys in white suits do all sorts of crazy stuff to 'em?" the blonde haired boy asked.
"Something like that.." Brick replied.
"That's cool!"
Butch still didn't follow.
"I'm not getting it." he said with his arms folded.
"Then I'll show you, bro." Brick said while putting an arm around the raven haired boy's shoulder. "Let's go attack Townsville like usual so we can get those babies to pop out of their little gopher holes, and just follow my lead from there."
"Well...okay."
Butch didn't quite understand what his brother was trying to prove. And quite honestly, he didn't really give a damn. As long as he was causing the Powerpuff leader some form of trouble, Butch was pretty much satisfied. And that's exactly what Brick wanted in the first place. To have his brothers believe he was harming Blossom and leave it at that, which he was doing for a fact. Maybe not physically, but definitely psychologically.
XXXXXXX
Blossom was paranoid all day. Her previous misadventure with Brick left her with more fears and another disturbing nightmare. Now, she stuck to her sisters' sides like glue. She went wherever they went. Blossom did not want to be by herself anymore, lest she get picked off by Brick again. The pink clad girl kept looking around and probing for his presence. It was starting to drive Buttercup crazy.
"Dang, Blossom. Would you stop tailing me around like a lost puppy?" she cried, although she was quite one to talk. "Go read one of your books or something!"
"I don't feel like reading right now." Blossom solemnly replied.
Before the argument could go any further, the Powerpuff Hotline rang out. Buttercup let out a huff and went to answer it.
"What is it, mayor?" the lime clad girl asked, trying to sound polite.
"Buttercup, it's the Rowdyruff Boys. They're tearing the city apart!" the mayor cried.
Buttercup raised an eyebrow and cast a glance at Blossom.
"We'll get right on it, Mayor." the raven haired girl replied into the phone.
She put the phone down and was joined by Blossom and Bubbles.
"It's the boys again." Buttercup told them.
While Blossom gave a complete look of dread and horror, Bubbles looked annoyed.
"AGAIN?" the baby-blue clad girl cried. "What are they doing now?"
"Being a pain in the butt that's what."
"Right! Lets go get 'em." Blossom blurted out, trying to sound like her normal self.
Without another word, they flew off towards the city. They went as fast as the wind could carry them. When they reached their destination, the local park was already in shambles. A debris field led them to an electronic store. The Rowdyruff Boys were either testing out the products and maxing out their capacity, or breaking them into tiny little bits. Blossom felt extremely unnerved and almost sick to her stomach to be there in the first place. When the girls entered, the boys leered at them.
"Well, look who's here!" Brick sneered.
"Yeah, wanna fight?" Butch piped in.
"Gladly!" Buttercup exclaimed.
The boys charged at them. Then they got out into the city outside and unleashed at each other. Once again, Blossom went against Butch and not Brick, which further proved the red clad boy's point to his brother.
'Hmm, maybe Brick is right. Leader girl is acting weird!' Butch thought.
The fight got more and more intense. Then the boys pummeled the girls into the ground, forming a crater in the process and flew up, laughing at their handiwork.
"Alright, boys." Brick whispered to his brothers. "Let's do this like we planned."
Butch and Boomer nodded. When the Powerpuff team surfaced from the crater, the Rowdyruff team took off in different directions.
"Let's go, girls!" Blossom cried.
They went after the boys, in the directions that they went. It had become a game of hide and go seek. Each Powerpuff flew around cautiously scanning the area for the Rowdyruffs. Blossom was trying to stay a little close to one of her sisters as much as she could. But then, she caught Butch's outline turn sharply and quickly into a corner. Narrowing her pink eyes, she followed him. Next thing the red headed girl realized, she was in a dead end alley and no Butch. Blossom made a stupid move.
"Hey there, Red."
A really stupid move.
Blossom reluctantly turned around, shuddering at the sound of his voice and found Brick leaning up against the wall.
"Wait a minute, where's-?" she rasped.
"Where's what, Red?" Brick snapped.
The pink clad girl got riled up.
"Look Brick," she said, trying to sound tough. "I'm not gonna play this game anymore."
Brick raised an eyebrow.
"Who said this was a game?" he asked in a low and malicious voice.
Blossom shuddered and her heart rate went skyrocketing. Somehow, the red clad boy was just able to get under her skin. Nearby, Boomer and Butch were watching from a safe distance. They were absolutely amazed at Brick's performance. Butch was struck to see how terrified Blossom was of his brother. He had never seen her react that way before. Ever. The pink clad girl took one step back and took off in a hurry. But Brick didn't go after her this time. he just simply watched her leave with an evil grin. Both Boomer and Butch came out of their hiding spots and flew over to Brick.
"Wow, Brick! That was awesome!" Boomer cried.
"I gotta admit, that was pretty hard core, dude." Butch said.
"Good. Now then," Brick began as he suddenly grabbed both of his brother's into a neck hold with his arms. "I wanna make this to both of ya, Blossom's imy/i lab rat. You make a move on her, and I'll get crazy. And you don't want me to get crazy..."
The red clad boy squeezed his arms around his brothers' necks to make his words good and clear.
"Okay, okay!" Butch exclaimed. "Jeez!"
"Good." Brick said, satisfied. "Now then, lets go whup those babies!"
"Yeah!" Boomer cried.
With that, they zipped away. Meanwhile, Blossom was in a frantic search for her sisters. She felt very ill. Not just to her stomach, but everywhere else. The pink clad girl's mind was going practically haywire, which fueled the fire in her belly. Blossom could feel her lunch coming forcibly back up. She stopped in mid-flight with her hands cupped over her mouth and her form shaking like a leaf. Blossom flew down and went towards a nearby trash can and let out the contents of her stomach. As she did, Buttercup and Bubbles discovered their stricken sister while searching for the Rowdyruff Boys.
"Blossom?" Buttercup called out. "Are you-are you okay?"
"Nuh...no.." Blossom rasped before gagging and puking her guts out again.
Her concerned sisters went to her side as she unloaded into the trash can. Buttercup rubbed the Powerpuff leader's back as she exchanged a worried glance with Bubbles.
"We need to get her home." the lime clad girl said in a low voice.
Although Buttercup wanted to continue the throw down with the Rowdyruffs, Blossom could fight in her condition and that left them outnumbered two to three.
"But what about the boys?" Bubbles asked.
"We'll have to worry about them later!" Buttercup exclaimed.
"Oh really? Why not now?"
The two Powerpuff sisters turned around and saw their male counterparts hovering over them. Brick was a little struck to see Blossom throwing up, but quickly wiped the concerned look off his face. Buttercup quickly scooped up her ill sister after she finished vomiting.
"Look, as much as I wanna pound you all, that's gonna have to wait!" Buttercup snarled in an irate tone.
Seconds later, the Powerpuff Girls took off into the air. Brick smirked in triumph as folded his arms.
"Let 'em go." he said. "I think we've had our victory."
Then the red clad boy and his brother's chuckles and snickered devilishly.