Our ruffs are finally making an appearance _ rr
Blossom collapsed on her bed. It was 10 PM but there was no way she was staying up any longer, it had been an exhausting day. Between studying, debate club and defeating a minor monster around noon, she felt positively drained.
'I bet I look drained, too.' she pondered as she raised her phone to her face and examined herself in the selfie camera. Her eyes were bloodshot, she'd been staying up night lately to work for a project that was due today. Her usual sleek ponytail was ruffled up , random hair sticking out and the mascara she'd put on in haste in the morning was now smudged around her eyes. Blossom grabbed some
make-up removal wipes from her nightstand and started wiping the residual mascara off.
'I bet Layla never looks this messy, she's probably got Disney birds helping her get ready in the morning.'Blossom chuckled. Over the past few days she realised she might be a tad envious of her. It wasn't easy to admit to herself, but it wasn't healthy denying it either. They'd been in a few classes together and Blossom was in awe of her intellectual prowess already. Her envy wasn't lessened by the fact that all her friends (and David) fawned over her.
'Doesn't matter. I should take this as a challenge to better myself. I can still raise my GPA, I just have to try harder this year.'Blossom closed the lights before crashing in her bed again. She could almost feel herself drifting off to sleep when she heard a distinctive knock on her bedroom door.
'What is it, Bubbles? I'm sleeping.'
The door opened ajar and Bubbles head peeked behind it.
'Um, the mayor called. There's an issue with Butch again.'
Blossom groaned and quickly got up from the bed. This happened at least three times a month lately, it was getting really annoying.
'What? Is he drunk again?'
Bubbles simply nodded before entering the room.
'Ok, fine. Let me get some clothes on before we leave.'
Blossom hastily put on some jeans and a rugged hoodie. Last time she wore one of her good jackets and Butch ruined it by puking all over her. She wasn't doing the same mistake twice.
'Where's Buttercup, is she coming?'
'No idea, she isn't answering her phone. She's probably out.' Bubbles replied.
'Incredible... It's a week day.' Blossom complained before she opening her window.
'So, where is he?'
'The mayor said he's at the 'Jack the Lad' bar in West Townsville.'
'Ok, I'll google it. Not sure where it is.'
They were soon flying and made it to the bar in no time. It was easy to see why people had complained, one of the walls was already missing. Most of the clients were already gone, probably left quickly when Butch had started his brawl. A few punk looking guys were sitting outside at a safe distance from the bar, they all had wounds of various degrees of severity on their bodies.
Blossom recognised one of them, it was Butch's best friend, Lil Sam. He was anything but little, tho. Standing at about 6'4, very muscular and dressed in chain-clad clothing.
'Hello, what's the situation here? What happened this time?' Blossom asked him, resting her right hand on her hips.
'Oh..hey, boss lady.. I didn't know they asked for you. I called Brick and Boomer already.'
'Well, I guess we're already here, so tell us.' she replied, slightly irritated.
'He had a bit much to drink...and Noodle managed to annoy him.'
Blossom barely recognised Noodle who waved her hello reluctantly. A tall, gangly punk with his face now swollen twice its original size. He seemed conscious enough to greet her, so Blossom sighed in relief.
'We managed to get Noodle out before he hurt him more. But he's still in there, angry as fuck.'
'Did you call an ambulance for Noodle?' Bloosom asked, taking a closer look at the boy.
'I think it's coming. We called for it a while ago.'
'Bubbles, take Noodle to the hospital, please. You'll have to talk to Brick to cover his medical expenses, though.'
Bubbles complied, grabbing the tall punk as if he was nothing and flied away with him.
'So, nobody else is hurt?' Blossom inquired.
'Not today, no. Are you going to go inside? No offense, but I don't think you can take him by yourself.'
'No, I'm waiting for his brothers. Didn't you say they were coming?'
Lil Sam nodded as he lighted himself a cigarette. This seemed to relax a bit, and he even offered one to Blossom, and she declined.
'Sorry for ruining your night.' he coyly smirked at her. 'I bet you were already in bed, in your undies maybe?'
Blossom scoffed, she wasn't in the mood for any of Sam's sleazy flirting. She came on to her last month with one of the most disturbing pick up lines she'd ever heard. Needless to say, she promptly shut it down.
'I'm not in the mood for this.'
'That's cause you don't know what you're missing.' he playfully winked and the rest of the group laughed.
Before she could reply she noticed Brick and Boomer's familiar figures dropping nearby.
Brick seemed neutral, with a slight hint of irritation. He was wearing a V neck burgundy T-shirt and simple jeans, his hair gathered in a messy bun. His brothered looked unfazed, wearing short colorful shorts and flip flops.
'What are you doing here?' Brick squinted his eyes at her.
'The mayor called me, Brick. Trust me, I have better things to do than following your brother to sketchy bars.'
Brick smirked:
'I don't know, you seem to do it a lot. Tell your mayor to stop sending you after him. I can handle it.'
'Really, Brick? You think you can 'handle it'? If you can 'handle it' why are WE always the ones taking people to the hospital after one of his temper tantrums? Blossom spat at him, crossing her arms together.
'We would be doing it if you gave us the opportunity. But you're such a desperate workaholic you always get here before us.'
Brick bitingly stated, emphasizing on the word 'workaholic'.
Blossom felt herself get crimson with anger.
'THE NERVE!!!'
'It's not my fault you're so slow. Actually, this shouldn't be happening in the first place, but your idiotic brother has ZERO self-control and you're doing a terrible job at controlling him.'
This seemed to hit a nerve with Brick who got closer and barked back:
'You should be thanking your lucky star every day, Blossom. You know why? If we hadn't made the sensible decision to bury the hatched this city would be in ruin. No, this whole continent would be in ruin. So, do you think it's wise to give me so much shit for Butch's occasional indiscretions? I thought we were past this point.'
Blossom felt herself get angrier by the minute, but she bit her tongue to avoid giving him another snarky reply.
'I thought so, too, Blossom. There's a price to pay for our neutrality. Remember this before you open your big mouth again. Brick added before turning towards the ruined bar.
Blossom decided to follow them, people might still be inside with Butch and someone needed to take them as far away as possible from the deranged boy.
'I'm coming with you in case there's anyone left inside.'
Brick turned towards her:
'Fine, I'll allow it. Now, let's take care of this'
He entered the bar followed by Boomer and Blossom, and instantly had to dodge a chair hurled at his head. Unfortunately, it caught Boomer head on.
'Jesus, Butch, what did I do to you?' Boomer moaned in pain, flying towards his brother who proceeded to hurl another chair at them.
'Wh...at..the ..fu..ck are you...guys...doing here..? What...is she...?' Butch pointed a wobbly finger at Bloosom.
'I don't know, either, Butch.' Brick sarcastically replied. 'Now, we're getting your useless ass back home.'
'I'm not...fucking...leaving...Right...boys?' Butch looked around in his drunken haze.
'The boys aren't here, Butch. You really did a number on Noodle.' a look of disgust flashed on Blossom's face as she noticed the pool of vomit near the stool Butch was sitting on.
'I told Sam to send you their hospital expenses again, by the way. AND you're paying for the damage done here.' Blossom turned towards her counterpart.
'Why do you bother telling me this? I know. I always cover the hospital expenses. And everything else.'
'I know. I just thought you might be a little...short on cash. Since it's the third person getting into hospital because of Butch this month.' Blossom eyed him intently.
'No, you know us, Blossom, we're doing just fine.' he flashed her a fake smile. 'Our dear dead father invested in coin early, as I always need to remind you. And I'm following in his path.'
Blossom narrowed her eyes at him, he always brought up the coin, but Blossom KNEW that just because they're not openly fighting anymore, it doesn't mean they're not outlaws. The copious amount of cash they disposed of was clearly obtained through illegal means, but the mayor insisted on them not investigating the boys since the balance of peace could so easily be disrupted. The mayor would rather have them steal and live lavishly than burn Townsville to the ashes.
Brick scanned the bar, not seeing anyone among the rubble.
'There isn't anyone left here. You can go, don't you have...classes to attend? he said the words with such contempt as if he were speaking to a cockroach.
Blossom gnashed her teeth, he always managed to piss her off with such ease. The brothers never attended school, and Brick always insisted on reminding her how stupid he thought her choice to follow a formal education was.
'As a matter of fact, yes. I do have classes to attend. I, for one, enjoy knowing how to read and write. It's an useful skill.'
This made Brick burst into a bout of laughter.
'Oh, I'm probably better educated than you, sweetheart. Unlike you, I don't spend my precious time studying shit I don't like just for some useless grade.' he got closer to Blossom , towering over her. ' Unlike you I'm not cuckolded into thinking I NEED to get some traditional career. I've already got superpowers, playing life on easy mode.'
He got dangerously close to her, until Blossom could feel his hot breath on her face.
'You think your imprint on history is going to be :' Blossom the great 'whatever-dumb-career-you -decided-on''? his crimson eyes bore into hers, and it was the first time Blossom really got close enough to properly study their color. Somehow they looked even stranger than hers, their color accentuated by the tiny broken capillaries on the white of his eyes.
'He's as tired as I am.' a fleeting thought passed in her mind before she was once again overcome with anger.
'No, you're going to be 'Blossom- the Powerpuff Girl'. And how is that not infinitely better?'
For some reason, this last sentence sent shivers down her spine. She opened her mouth to attempt a reply, but Boomer interrupted her:
'Uhm...guys...? I think we should leave.'
Butch's face had a greenish tint and his eyes widened before he once again emptied the contents of his stomach on the floor.
Brick sighed in frustration and turned towards her:
'Just leave, powerpuff. We'll deal with this. '
Seeing the flesh pool of vomit made Blossom nod in agreement before getting out of the building.
The punk group was waiting nearby and looked at her expectantly:
'It's fine, they're taking him. Go home, guys.'
The group disbanded and Blossom stood in place for a moment, hugging herself as she watched the destroyed bar.
Soon the boys were out, and Brick glanced at her for one last time before leaving in a flash of red and blue.
