Some Nobody

Fifth Grade

Bubbles was scanning a dirty train yard when she got Blossom's call. "Girls!" It was their 'muster at my position' order. She rushed out of the building and traced Blossom's movement.

Blossom was already charging at Brick, a clear breach of their standard procedure. If it had been Buttercup, Blossom would have given her a lecture on how their protocol and formations effectively countered the boys' disorderly behavior. And Blossom would have been right. It was only because they were organized and found unorthodox ways to defeat them that they were able to stave off the Rowdyruff Boys. Blossom had let her frustration get the better of her and was making a big mistake.

Brick avoided Blossom's attack and punched her in the side of the head.

Buttercup barreled at him from the side. Butch burst through a concrete wall and grabbed her before she could get to Brick. They rolled on the ground, punching each other recklessly, screaming curses.

It was all so dumb. Bubbles took a breath to prepare her sonic scream. It was the best way to get them all to stop.

Before she could get to full volume, Boomer zipped in and gave her a quick strike to the throat.

Bubbles choked, not being able to force out the huge block of air caught in her throat. She couldn't breathe in either. Her lungs felt like they were about to burst.

Boomer glared at her, squeezing his fist. He came at her with a punch aimed at her tummy and Bubbles couldn't stop him. Instead of actually hitting her, he hooked his arm around her midsection and flew her away from their siblings.

Bubbles was still struggling to open her windpipe when he dropped her onto a roof. She finally let out the breath and lapsed into a fit of coughing on her hands and knees.

He didn't hit her again, he just stood there with his arms crossed, an angry look over his face.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to hit you that hard. I just wanted to make it look good for Brick."

Bubbles' heart pounded. Boomer looked away but let her cough it out in peace. She eventually stopped and caught her breath.

"Why did you guys attack him anyway?" Boomer asked. "He wasn't doing anything."

Bubbles took a few more breaths before answering. "Brick had some pills and Blossom said-"

"Butch needs his medicine, okay!"

Bubbles held his gaze, took one more deep breath, and stood up.

As mad as he was, he wasn't threatening. His stance was more guarded than anything. Boomer usually didn't try very hard when they fought. It had started the year before. She didn't notice it at first, but over time all the missed punches, the underpowered lightning bolts, and maneuvering around her attacks without countering had added up. This time he wasn't attacking at all.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "I don't feel like fighting."

Bubbles sighed. "Me neither."

Something had happened with Butch's medicine. Medicine wasn't illegal. She wondered why he needed it.

Boomer brooded, looking off into space. "You beat us up, we beat you up." He scoffed.

Bubbles' fingertips tapped together. "Maybe we could talk it out."

Boomer looked over the side of the roof. "They don't want to talk."

Their siblings were still fighting below them. It had been a near constant in Bubbles' life. The Rowdyruff Boys were always making trouble. Usually, they were stealing food from fast food joints and supermarkets. Blossom said it was because they weren't smart enough to understand the concept of money, which was why they had never tried to rob a bank. But Boomer, at the very least, didn't seem dumb, not anymore. He was almost like a normal boy.

Why was Blossom so ready to attack Brick? And why did both her sisters dismiss her objections? It was like they didn't give Bubbles any credit. She knew there was a reason they didn't just attack any villain on the street, they saw Princess every day in school. And then Bubbles had to go along with Blossom and Buttercup's accusations, all because she felt like she had to do what her sisters told her. Boomer wasn't doing what Brick told him to do.

Boomer took a quick glance over the side of the roof to see what their siblings were doing. "We should get down there." He turned toward her. "Just make it look like I hit you or something."

Bubbles looked at the floor. "okay..."

Boomer grabbed the collar of Bubbles' dress and rose into the air. When he got high enough, he tugged lightly on it twice, like he was asking for her permission. He wanted her to fly with him so he wasn't pulling on her clothes. It was a nice gesture.

"If you want it to look good, you have to drag me," Bubbles said, her eyes downcast.

Boomer grumbled and pulled her into the air. Bubbles let her body go limp.

Back on the street, Brick and Blossom were discussing something inside of a crater, but Bubbles was focused on Buttercup. She was gripping at the ground and had several bruises on her arms, legs, and neck. Butch stood over her, daring her to get up.

Boomer dropped Bubbles next to her sister. Bubbles pulled herself up and checked her cautiously. She didn't put it past Butch to hit her while she was on the ground.

He didn't hit her, he just taunted them, saying things Bubbles paid no attention to. Boomer didn't say anything.

Bubbles' cursory examination revealed all of Buttercup's damage was superficial, no broken bones, just scrapes and bruises.

Brick and Blossom finally finished talking and the boys flew away.

Bubbles shuffled to a sitting position and covered her body with her arms to hide the fact that she hadn't been beaten up.

Sophomore Year - September

Boomer had trouble concentrating while surrounded by the clanging of weights and everyone grunting. He flipped through memes, chuckling to himself every now and then. Every few minutes he'd find a good one and send it to Mike. They traded memes back and forth.

Nearby, Brick glared at himself in the gym's mirror while curling a weight very slowly. Butch finished loading the squat bar and positioned himself under it. "Brick, spot me."

"Fuck off," Brick said, not looking away from himself in the mirror. "You know you could lift something while we're here."

Boomer looked up from his phone. "Why'd you even make me come anyway?"

"Training."

Boomer rolled his eyes. "This isn't training, this is weight lifting."

"Super strength is a straight multiplier. The stronger you get without powers, the stronger you are with them." Brick lifted the weight obnoxiously slowly. "That's why Buttercup can kick your ass."

Boomer scowled at him. "I'd like to see her try." He let an arc of electricity shoot up his arm.

Brick dropped the weight. "What the fuck man? Not it public."

Boomer sneered, but stopped anyway. "Why do you give a shit?"

Brick pointed to an outlet on the wall. "You don't see me setting off all the damn fire alarms. Don't go giving our gym a blackout."

Boomer grumbled, going back to his phone. Mike had sent him another meme. Boomer chuckled at it.

He felt Brick's hard stare on him, like he expected Boomer to do something. "You want to train?" Brick put down the weights and turned to the boxing ring in the back of the gym. "Get in the ring with Butch." Brick looked over to Butch who was mid-squat. "Butch, come fight Boomer."

Butch arched an eyebrow, lifted the weight and reset it on the machine. He walked over to them with a smile growing on his face. "You want me to kick Boomer's ass?"

"Kickboxing." Brick handed both of them pairs of padded gloves. "No grabs, no powers."

Butch beamed, practically jumping through the ropes, excited for the fight. Boomer put on the padded gloves and stepped into the ring after him. Butch jogged around the ring, punching his fists together.

"Quit that," Brick said.

"I'm just excited," Butch said. "I finally get to take my revenge for last week."

Boomer huffed. During their last training session he had blasted Butch around with his eyebeams and electrocuted him with lightning before Buttercup had shown up. It was a lot of fun. But, on Brick's order, he couldn't use his powers. He just needed to avoid Butch, tire him out or something.

Boomer got into the ring and squared up with Butch. Butch stood with his head leaned back, grinning at him. They were about the same height, but Butch had a lot more muscle and probably weighed a lot more. Boomer was a skinny guy, not that he didn't have muscle, just that it wasn't very much. He put his fists in front of his face like fighters did in movies.

Butch tilted his head and his smile got wider. He didn't put his fists up, just held them near his hips.

Brick looked at Butch, then Boomer. "Go."

Butch took two steps forward.

Boomer got lower, he didn't know why, but it made sense at the time.

Butch came at him with a right.

Boomer blocked only to be hit in the chin by an uppercut he didn't see coming. He fell to the mat, cushioning his fall with his elbow.

"Break," Brick said. "Reset."

Butch walked back to his position shaking his head with restrained laughter.

Boomer winced and let his regeneration power take care of the pain in his arm and chin. It didn't make him feel much better. Butch wasn't going to win without getting hit at least once. He got to his feet and squared up with Butch again.

"Go."

This time Boomer stepped left, circling around Butch just out of his reach.

Butch pivoted with a jab then lunged with a punch that hit Boomer in the gut.

Boomer doubled over at the pain, but he didn't let himself fall again.

"Break. Reset."

Butch came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, annoyingly pressing his weight down into him. "Nice try." He went back to his starting position.

Boomer growled and got into his position.

"Go."

Butch immediately came at him with a fist. Boomer took a step back to avoid it, but Butch threw another punch. Boomer had to take another step back.

Butch kept coming forward throwing punch after punch. After a few steps, Boomer's back hit the ropes.

Boomer tried to step around to get more space, but Butch had him blocked in. He took a fist to the temple and went down again. The only thing keeping him up was holding onto the ropes.

"Break!" Brick shouted. "Boomer! Corner!"

Boomer hobbled to the corner where Brick was standing and plopped down.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Brick asked.

"He's bigger than me."

"So the fuck what? You're faster than he is."

"Only for like, long distances." He tried to scratch his head, but the padded gloves stopped him. "Dodging those punches, it's harder."

"That's because you're twitchy. Stop being scared of him."

"I'm not scared." Boomer squeezed his hands tight. "Why are we even doing this?"

"So you get better at the shit you're bad at."

Boomer sighed, looking away. "We use powers when we fight. It's not like we're going to have to fight without them."

Brick crossed his arms. "When you fight him, what's he doing?"

Boomer shook his head. "I don't know. Swinging?"

"Does he ever not swing?"

"No."

"And how hard does he swing?"

"Like he wants to punch my head off."

"So, hard. Maybe figure out how to get a shot in when he finishes a swing?"

"I heard that," Butch said.

Boomer looked back at Brick. "By the time he finishes a swing, he's already on the next one."

Brick made a face at him. "Figure out a way around that." Like it was supposed to be that easy, like he could just avoid two punches and give one of his own. One punch probably wouldn't even affect him and he'd be on him with another series of punches.

Brick squinted at Boomer. "Why do you let him do that to you?"

"Do what?"

"You let him make you think you can't beat him. You've already lost. Size doesn't matter. This is all a mental game and he's winning."

Boomer sighed, abashed. "Then why are there weight classes?"

Before Brick could say anything, a reminder chimed on his phone. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked it. "We're going to be late. Let's go."

Boomer had forgotten their plans for later in the day. He typed out a text to Mike. [Hey, do you want to play football?]

Trevor and Dave, two of Brick and Butch's friends, stood in middle of the field as the team captains. The rest of the guys got into a line so the captains could pick teams. Boomer didn't know most of their names. It looked like there were a few middle-schoolers there too, probably a few of the older guys' little brothers.

"All right, so this is gonna be full-tackle," Trevor said. "No two-hand touch bullshit. Anyone covering the QB has to count 10 alligators before rushing, but you do get one blitz for every 4 downs. First down on two completions. Everyone got it?"

Most of the guys grunted some form of agreement.

"And no superpowers," Trevor said, looking at Brick and Butch.

Butch chuckled and nudged Brick.

"You heard him, Butch." Brick said.

Boomer stood in the line a few guys down from them, next to Mike.

The two captains looked over the line of guys. Trevor chewed on the inside of his cheek, looking between Butch and Brick. One of them was going to be picked first, as usual. Boomer had never been picked first in his life.

"Butch."

"First!" Butch jumped up and down running to Trevor's side. "Suck it Brick!"

Brick flipped him off. "Yeah, yeah. I bet that's the highlight of your year."

Boomer wondered what getting picked first felt like, probably really good. He had never been picked first for anything his entire life. It was okay though. As long as he didn't get picked last again. Boomer hated getting picked last, it happened all the time.

"I'll take Brick," Dave said.

Brick walked to Dave's side.

The order the guys got picked meant something. When you got picked was your status among the guys. Usually Brick was a captain, and when he wasn't he was almost always picked first. Butch was usually first or second, almost never third.

"I'll take Mitch."

"Todd."

"Floyd."

"Lloyd."

"Andrew."

"Pablo."

"Wes"

"Joey"

"Harry."

Dave looked toward Boomer. Could this be it? Was he about to get picked?

"You." Dave pointed at Mike. "Don't know your name."

"Uh, it's Mike," Mike said, running to Dave's side.

Boomer had been sure he would have been picked before Mike. It didn't matter. Everyone else who was left was small, much shorter than him. A bunch of peons to fill out the ranks. Boomer stood up straight, knowing he would be picked next.

"Nick." A little kid ran to Trevor's side. There must have been some mistake. The kid had to have been thirteen at most. What the fuck was going on?

"Billy." Another little kid ran to Dave's side. There had to be some mistake, Boomer was better than some little kid.

"Jake." Did they think he wasn't playing?

Dave looked over the rest of the guys without acknowledging the fact that Boomer was over a head taller than the rest. Was that what they really thought of him? That he was the worst? That he wasn't even as good as some middle-schoolers?

"Boomer," Dave said. He hadn't been picked last, but the damage was already done.

Boomer's throat closed completely. He could walk away and nobody would care, nobody would even notice. He was just there to take up space. But he wanted to play, and maybe he could get the ball. He would have liked to have touched it at least once in an actual game. They clearly didn't want him there and he didn't want to be there either.

Even worse, they might make fun of him if he left. They'd think he was scared, call him names while he walked away. He didn't really have a choice, he was there, he had been picked, he had to play even though they wouldn't really let him.

He walked over to Dave's team while Trevor made his next pick. He couldn't look any of the guys in the eye from the shame.

Once the captains had finished picking teams, Dave's team stood in a big circle while Dave explained what they were going to do when they got the ball. They didn't let Boomer into the circle. Mike seemed to be the only one to know he was there.

Trevor's team kicked the ball. Dave caught it. Brick and some of the other guys screened him before he got taken down. Boomer just stood there, watching and chewing on his lip. His throat was so tight he could barely breathe and swallowing only made it worse. He wanted to go home.

The guys got in line. Boomer took a position on one of the ends. Nobody bothered covering him, not that being wide open would matter.

Boomer didn't want to go home, not really. What he wanted to do was get the ball, even just once in the whole game. If he could touch the ball once, it would all be worth it. But no one ever threw to him and Dave didn't let him run it.

Several plays went by. Each of the teams scored a few touchdowns. Todd kicked the ball down the field after he scored.

They lined up for the next play. Boomer hung out on one end, not sure what to do on defense.

Trevor hiked the ball, and the other team cleared a lane. Butch slammed into Brick, other guys slammed into each other. No one slammed into Boomer.

That little kid, Nick, had the ball. He looked right into Boomer's eyes, the first one to even notice he was playing. "I'm gonna cream you!" the little kid shouted, running right at him.

Boomer widened his stance and outstretched his arms, determined not to let him by. The kid kept running right at him.

Something happened the moment before they collided, Boomer stepped back, turned, and let him pass. It all happened so fast and the instant after, Boomer couldn't believe he let him do that.

Someone else took him down before he got to the end zone.

Boomer's heart sank, knowing someone else had to do the job he was supposed to do. He was no good at football. Even a little kid could get past him. That's why he was always picked last. He wanted to run away and never see any of them again.

The teams mulled around a bit while the captains talked to their top guys about how the next play would go.

"Hey, if you can take down Tyler, you can take that little guy," Mike said.

Boomer looked at him. "I used superpowers on Tyler."

Mike nodded. "Yeah, and your superpower right now is that everyone underestimates you."

Boomer looked back downfield and found the little shit. With his super-hearing, he could hear Nick bragging to his friends about how he took down a high-schooler. His friends laughed.

Boomer didn't get taken down, he had let him by. And the kid was making fun of him for it. A lump built in his throat. He searched for why he had flinched when he could have made a difference for his team and the only thing he could come up with was that flinching was what everyone expected him to do.

Boomer had fought monsters way bigger than himself and he kicked their asses. If he could take down monsters and Nick could barge right past him, Brick had to be right, size really didn't matter. It was just what everyone assumed was going to happen. Nick took down Boomer because that was what was 'supposed' to happen. Boomer got picked last every time because that was what was 'supposed' to happen.

But that wasn't it at all.

Neither Brick nor Butch had scored a touchdown, and that was why you got picked first. They all said it was about who was good, but it wasn't about that, it was about something else. Boomer didn't know what, but he felt himself slide back into that place, the place he went to when he had fought Tyler.

All of these guys didn't care about him, so he didn't care about them. He didn't like thinking like that, but it did make him feel better.

When they got back into the line, Boomer took a few steps back to watch what was going to happen.

Trevor hiked the ball and handed it off to Nick while his team cleared a lane.

Nobody was covering Boomer or even knew he existed, so he broke left and stopped right in front of Nick.

Nick crashed into him like he hadn't seen him coming, but he didn't fall down. He looked up at Boomer confused.

Boomer reached down and snatched the ball right out of his arm while pushing Nick to the ground with his other hand. He snorted at the little shit before jogging past everyone, right into the end zone.

He turned around to see everyone else trying to figure out what had happened. Boomer smiled and held up the ball. Everyone was still confused, Mike was the only one who looked impressed.

Trevor clenched his fist and growled, stomping up to him. "You can't do that!"

Boomer cocked his head. "Do what? Score a touchdown?"

"Nick had the ball, and you took it from him."

"Yeah..." Boomer side-eyed Trevor like it was obvious. "He should keep a better grip on it next time."

"Brick." Trevor turned around to look at Boomer's brother.

"Perfectly legal play. What's the problem?"

"The problem is..." He gestured to Boomer. "Who even is this guy?"

"That's Boomer," Mike said.

Trevor recoiled. "Butch, you're with me right?"

"With you on what?" Butch outstretched his arms. "You gonna cry 'cuz he pushed your little brother?" A few of the guys laughed.

Trevor turned back to Boomer. "Your kick." He walked to the other side of the field with the rest of his team following him.

Boomer smiled.

"Gimme the ball," Dave said, like they all expected him to do whatever they told him.

"Nah, I'm gonna kick it," Boomer said. It was his right as the guy who scored a touchdown.

Dave grimaced. "Whatever."

The way they played, when you 'kicked' the ball, you also had the option of just throwing it. Boomer and his brothers threw the football around every once in a while and he didn't know if he would be very good at actually kicking it, so Boomer opted for throwing.

It was a long way down the field. He looked at his team. They were watching him, waiting for him to go. Would it matter? If he juiced it, just a little, enough to make it look like he could throw a ball, would it matter? Strength was an all or nothing, but not speed. No one really knew how fast he could run without his powers, not even Brick or Butch.

Still in the end zone, Boomer got a good running start, ramping up to a full sprint. He squeezed the tiniest bit of X into his legs for only two strides. When he got to about the 25-yard line, he jumped and threw the football as hard as he could. It didn't make it the whole way, but he hadn't embarrassed himself.

He landed and kept running, picking up speed to regain a full sprint.

Trevor grabbed the ball and while he was bigger than Boomer, Boomer was going much faster. And again, no one was covering him.

Boomer plowed into Trevor at a slight angle with his shoulder, tackling him to the ground. Trevor slid through the wet grass with Boomer on top of him.

Trevor looked at him, shocked and more than a little offended. Then Boomer showed him who had the ball. In the middle of the tackle, Boomer had managed to wrench it out of Trevor's hand. He had used just a little X to speed his reaction time. No one would be able to tell, anything could happen in the middle of a tackle. The guy was livid.

Pablo offered Boomer a hand up. "Good job, man."

Boomer took his hand and let him pull him upright.

Either Floyd or Lloyd helped Trevor up. The guy had mud and grass stains running down the right side of his jeans.

"He fuckin' he fuckin' did something!"

Dave was laughing. "Are you guys blind?" That got a few of the other guys on their team laughing. "You seriously didn't see this guy coming?"

"Yeah, Boomer's a sneaky fucker," Butch said.

Trevor was so mad he couldn't speak. But that didn't matter, Boomer had the ball. He had stripped it twice in two plays. And it was all because none of them knew who he was and what he could do.

They were all watching now though. And Boomer wasn't about to let it go, he was going to be the quarterback for the first time ever.

Trevor pulled Butch away. "You watch him. I don't want him doin' anything."

They all got back into line for the next play. "Yeah, yeah," Butch said. "I got him." He came over, opposite Boomer, and grinned that same grin from earlier in the gym. With Butch watching his every move, he wouldn't be able to use his powers. But size didn't matter, they weren't in a tiny ring anymore. Boomer had a whole field to play with.

Boomer hiked the ball and everyone sprung into action.

Butch started counting alligators. "One alligator. Two alligator..." He had to get to ten before he could try to tackle Boomer.

Boomer didn't move. The guys were scrambling around, but none were really open.

Butch stared at him like he was doing something wrong. None of the rules said he needed to go anywhere. "Six alligator. I knew you were a pussy. Seven alligator."

Boomer still didn't move.

Butch finally got to ten and charged.

Boomer pivoted on his foot and launched himself away, able to cross the line now that Butch was on him.

All eleven guys on the other team were watching and scrambled toward him. Trevor had an enraged look in his eye.

Boomer clutched the ball tight in his arm and kept moving.

Trevor was almost to him when Brick slammed him to the ground with his shoulder from upfield.

Boomer jumped over them and plowed right through one of the little kids, he didn't see or care who it was. The rest of the field was clear and he ran it right into the end zone again.

The rest of the team cheered him on, dog-piling him. They all whooped and laughed. Three plays and two touchdowns. Brick stood over them with his arms crossed and a weird look on his face, but Boomer didn't care. Nobody could deny him ever again.