An Education for Power
Dumb and stupid! That's the RRB to the PPG. They can't even spell right! The RRB, especially Brick, want to show that they were equals to the girls in brains as well as brawn. Without going to school. He vows to get their respect. Chapter 1. Brick stole Blossom's book. He finds out how much he needed to know, and how much he must do, to catch up with her.
Book I
How to Learn?
Chapter I
The Book
1. Blossom Alone
Monday. August 9, 2004
A pink flash! No, a streak!
His red eyes scanned the sky to look for the expected companion streaks. Blue and green ones, to be exact.
Nothing?
Perfect. She's alone.
He chuckled. What's Pinky doing alone? It didn't matter. It's time for some fun.
"Looks like Pink Eyes is all alone, boys," he, a boy with red hair and red eyes, said to his two brothers.
"Um, what does that mean, Brick?" his blond brother asked as they lay under a tree in Townsville Park.
"Well Boomer, what happened last time you faced 'em three alone?"
"Um, well, they didn't play fair, and they beat me up, and put me in a light thingy, and I thought they'd kill me, but lucky me, you saved me!" he answered.
"You are such a wimp, don't ya know?" Butch, the other brother, teased.
"They don't play fair!" Boomer, the youngest brother, rejoined. "See how you fare if ya fight three by yourself! Y'all be in your undies and stuck in that light thingy too!"
"Well, we can play that game too," Brick smirked. "What of it, Butch? Care for some…violence?"
"Violence, Violence! Vioooooooolence!" the black haired middle child began to shout, jumping from left to right. "We're gonna beat up a powderpuff!"
"Boom?"
"Yeah! Those girls are mean, and have cooties, and are stupid!" he replied. "They stole my clothes! Who steals someone else's clothes? They're creeps!"
The six-year-old leader grinned. "Good. Now, here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna distract her, and while I'm doing that, you, Butch, grab her!"
"What 'bout me?" asked Boomer.
"Boom, you go with Butch, help him if the high and mighty puff proves too hard," he instructed.
...
Brick quickly flew towards where the pink light was headed.
"Stop! Where do you think you're going, babe?" he shouted as she approached him.
Blossom stopped as she nearly crashed into her counterpart. She rolled her pink eyes as if he was nothing more than a distraction, an obstacle, not the threat that he was. "Move it, dummy! I'm in a hurry!"
"Oh you are, are you? You gotta go through me, first!" he declared. His red eyes darted over to something she was carrying in her hand. It was something he had seen before, but he had never touched. He was unfamiliar with what it's called. His curiosity got the better of him. "Gimme that!"
"Oh this? This is a book, something which you won't be able to understand!" she haughtily declared, waving the object before her eyes. "You can't even spell right! How can you even read it? You're too stupid to do so!"
"Who are you calling stupid?"
"You are! You can't even spell dumb!"
"Ha, you're wrong there! I know how to spell! You spell as it sounds! What's the use of b in dumb? Nothing! That's why it's spelled d-u-m!"
"You really are a dum dum," she teased. "And to think you're my counterpart! I'm ashamed that someone as smart as me is a counterpart to someone as dumb as you!"
"Oh I'm dumb, am I?" he smiled as he could see Butch silently flying behind her.
"Yes you are, and—hey, let go!"
Butch grabbed her, subjecting the pink puff to a bear hug. The red ruff quickly grabbed the book from her hands.
It was the first time he had ever held a book. He had seen lots before, but never even bothered to even touch one. He never even knew what they were called until Blossom told him. Why should he? He's too clever and smart to read any books! All those things were useless to the Master Masher, Duke of Destruction, and King of Crushing himself! Books were dumb and only for sissies!
He looked at the title.
ENGLISH FOR BEGINNERS
Still, he was curious. He never saw the inside of a book before, and he wanted to find out what it was. He was sure that it was something silly and inane and he could close the book immediately.
He opened the cover.
He saw what he later learned was the cover page. Then there was the table of contents.
He kept flipping.
Chapter One.
Hm.
Then he began reading the text. He was taught reading by Him before he was resurrected. He and his brothers were only taught basic spelling and grammar, but no more than that. Only enough to make graffiti, read signs, buy things, and read money.
Still, it was enough to read Blossom's book. It was for kindergarteners or first graders, and he understood well enough.
He expected to just close the book and dismiss it as stupid, but to his surprise, his eyes were glued on the words, and he just kept reading. Just kept reading. He could not keep his eyes off of it, as he learned the basics, some of which he knew, but most of which were new.
He was fascinated, and wanted to know more.
"Give that back!" Blossom shouted as she continued to struggle. "I've got to return that to the library or I'm gonna be overdue!"
He looked at Blossom, still struggling against Butch's grip. He saw Boomer stupidly floating around. "Hey Boomer, beat her up! Butch, just hold her while he's doin' it."
"No fair! You're three and I'm only one!" she shouted.
"Tell that to Boomer when you three beat him up and kidnapped him," Brick coldly said as he looked at her. "Boom Boom, do your worst!"
"Right!" the blond said as he punched the Powerpuff in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.
"Take that!" He then gave her a powerful kick on the head.
"You three beat me up while I was alone!"
Then a punch to her face.
"You stole my clothes!"
Another kick to her head.
"You put me in that light thingy and made me stand in my underwear!"
He gave an uppercut to her chin with his left hand.
"You would have killed me if I didn't get saved!"
Then more punches to the Puff's stomach.
"You deserved it!" She weakly replied. Blossom looked at the blond ruff, her pink eyes full of contempt. "You're evil! You stole candy!"
After five minutes of Boomer's nonstop beating, Blossom was weak and bloody, her eyes black and her face bruised.
Butch, with a grin on his face, was silent during the beating, his grip on the puff unyielding. Brick was silent with an amused expression, holding the book, as he watched.
"You won't get away with this," she weakly coughed.
"Let's see, Pinky," he grinned. "Hold this, Boomer. Don't lose it. Butch, let her go."
The blond boy nodded, satisfied with his revenge, and took the English book from Brick's hands.
"C'mon leader girl! Fight me," he said.
Blossom, bloodied and weak, tried to bolt, but her way was blocked by Boomer and Butch. She then attacked Brick, but she was already severely weakened. The ruff leader let her hit him on the face. It barely tickled.
Oh this would be sweet.
"Let the bludgeoning, begin!" he shouted, as his eyes shot laser, hitting her point black.
"This is for all the things you did to us, for killin' us, and for makin' fun of us!" he coldly said, and kicked her in the head, knocking her out and sending her into the pavement below.
"All right! That was awesome!" Butch shouted. "We got 'em! We got 'em! We're the best! We're the best!"
"Yeah! That should learn 'em! Nobody steals my clothes and gets away with it!" Boomer added, yelling, and pumping his fists.
"Should we finish her off?" Butch asked as they looked at the prone form of the puff leader.
"Nah. That'll send a message to those lame-o powderpuffs!" the redheaded leader said, grabbing the book off Boomer's hand. "Let's grab a bite to eat."
…
After eating their stolen lunch, the three ruffs went back to their home—Fuzzy Lumpkin's shack in the woods.
He went to a corner and began to read. Again, he was engrossed. He was unable to put down the book.
He was surprised with himself. He thought that reading was stupid. But he found out that day, that he really liked reading. So much so that his eyes kept looking for something to read. He knew he was clever and smart, but oh boy! Did he realize that he needed to learn much more than what he already knew.
He got distracted by a commotion.
"Will you keep quiet!" he hissed.
"He started it!" Butch shouted.
"No, you did, you meanie!" Boomer shouted.
Brick looked at the two. They were wrestling on the floor, with Butch getting the upper hand, but with Boomer not easily giving in. Ordinarily, this wasn't something that would concern him. After all, fighting each other was one of their ways to amuse themselves. Being superpowered beings meant that they could easily heal from blows and wounds. Blossom, for example, would be good as new in a few hours, and even faster if she was given proper treatment.
But right now, Brick wanted to read. He wanted to know what exactly was a noun, an adjective, or a verb. He wanted to know all the various grammatical rules of the language he was speaking.
He thought about ordering them to be quiet. But he knew it would be futile. Butch and Boomer trying to be quiet would end up being even more noisy than outright noise.
"I'm leaving. Don't follow me," he declared.
"Where ya goin'?" asked Butch.
"Somewhere quiet," he snapped. "Do what you want. Just don't wreck it, 'kay?"
The two nodded as they resumed their wrestling match. Brick flew through the window, trying to find a place of peace and quiet.
He settled on the top of Mojo's observatory.
2. Blossom's Recovery
Blossom opened her eyes. Her head was hurting a little bit. She looked around and saw Bubbles and Buttercup looking at her. They were at home, in their room.
She remembered. She was flying to the public library. Her book was due. She got trapped by three Rowdyruffs and got beaten up.
Stupid! How could I be so stupid?
Her mind still could not comprehend that those complete idiots, the Rowdyruffs, could come up with such a basic plan as fighting her three on one. Or even distracting her while two of his brothers sneaked up on her from behind. Or fight her while one grabbed her!
Brick obviously planned the sneak attack. But that can't be! Anybody who can't spell 'dumb' could not make a competent plan. If someone who got the brains of Mojo Jojo could not make a successful plan against one powerpuff, how could a braindead idiot who could not even spell come up with one?
He got lucky.
That's the only reason. Brick was a thick, disgusting, idiot that can't even spell dumb! There's no way he can plan, or think, or even read. And he certainly cannot outplan or outthink a smart girl like Blossom!
"She's waking up," she could hear Bubbles whisper. "She's waking up! Are you okay, Blossom?"
"I'm not sure. I guess I am," she replied, noticing that nothing was aching and everything felt normal.
"What happened?"
"I got ambushed by those stupid Rowdyruffs," Blossom narrated. "All three of them."
"All three of them?" Bubbles asked. "Why would they attack you when you're alone?"
"Why wouldn't they?" asked Buttercup. "That's a very smart thing to do."
"That's just it! Because they're too dumb to think of it," Blossom replied. "Or that's what we thought."
"No way! Those boys were dumb! D-U-M-B dumb, or in Brick's case, d-u-m! They couldn't think their way out of a paper bag!" the green puff charged.
"They were lucky, I suppose," Blossom said.
"You were lucky too! An ambulance happened to be passing by when you fell," Bubbles narrated, "and brought you here."
"Yeah. And the Professor put some medicine which speeded up the Chemical X fast healing."
At least her physical injuries were gone. She should never have left her guard down. She was just returning the book to the library. And the book…
Wait! The book!
"Buttercup, where's the book?"
"What book?"
"The one that I was supposed to return!"
"I dunno," she replied.
"You don't have any book with you when they found you," Bubbles added.
Then she remembered.
"Brick took it!" Blossom spat. "What time is it?"
"Four in the afternoon," Bubbles replied.
"There's still time."
"Time for what?"
"To get my book back, and return it before the library closes."
"What? Red, you've gone bonkers!" Buttercup shouted.
"You just got healed! You can't, you just can't!" Bubbles agreed.
"Look, they overpowered me. If we three go after them, then we could outsmart them like we always do," Blossom said.
"But—"
"I have a perfect record in the library! I won't have it ruined by stupid boys, got it?" Blossom asserted, in a tone that would brook no dissent. "I will go alone if you wish, but if you want to let your sister get beaten up again, that's on you!"
"Okay, we'll go with you!" Buttercup conceded, folding her arms in defeat.
"Yeah. We'll always stick together," Bubbles smiled.
The three girls flew towards the city to find the boys, and hopefully, recover the book.
"I don't think we'll find the book," Buttercup asserted. "After all, the boys are too stupid to even read! Brick, I'm sure, just threw it away after seeing letters he can't even understand."
"Well, there are pictures. Hopefully, they'll keep it if the images are interesting enough," said Blossom.
But Blossom was not so sure. Her sister was right. Brick, who can't even spell dumb, surely can't read well at all, and would probably destroy the book and she'll have to explain to the librarian why she lost it. Oh she'll beat up the good for nothing Brick for that!
"Look," Bubbles whispered. "It's Brick."
She pointed at the top of the observatory, and sure enough, a red figure was on top of it.
It was Brick.
Reading?
She blinked. She can't believe it. Maybe the pictures were more interesting than she thought.
"He's alone," Buttercup whispered.
"Excellent. Let's beat him up and get him to the Professor. Hopefully, he has repaired the containment ray," she ordered. "Then we can get the other two. But first things first. Let's get the book off his hands."
…
Brick had just read the last pages of the book, and he turned it once more. "Bibliography," he read and scanned. "What the?"
He turned the page.
Index.
His eyes read the entry but could make no sense of the words with numbers besides them. He wondered why anyone would write a bunch of words, arranged by letters, with numbers besides them. But it was an excellent book. It was his first book that he ever read, and he was pleased. It was dull, but useful. And he knew that he would rather have that knowledge, than be without it.
Nouns. Pronouns. Adjectives. Adverbs.
Who knew? He sure didn't!
"HEY ROWDYRUFF, BRING BACK BLOSSOM'S BOOK!"
His head turned to the sound of the voice. It was Buttercup.
"Buttercup! You alerted him!" Blossom reprimanded.
He blanched as he heard those voices. He looked.
Bubbles. Pinky. Buttercup.
All three Powerpuffs.
And he was alone.
He knew what fate awaited him if he fought them. He would be dragged to the dreaded white Untonium house, stripped naked, and put on the light thingy, as Boomer described it. He could still remember his horror in seeing his brother, trapped, helpless. It was only Bubbles' dumb act that freed them from certain death. He was sure they would have killed them—like they did the first time.
So he did the most sensible thing.
As fast as he could, he bolted to the opposite direction.
"After him, girls! We must get him before his brothers join him!" he could hear Blossom order.
Stupid! He was as stupid as Boomer and as stupid as Blossom for going alone and risking being caught in a three on one situation. He needed to lose them. He looked at the ground below. They were now above the forest just outside Townsville.
A plan formulated on his head.
They want the book? Let's see how much they want it!
Brick suddenly stopped and turned around. "Hey lame-o girls!" he shouted. "Looking for this? Stop, or I'll destroy this!"
The three girls stopped, curious as to what he's up to.
"Don't you dare!" Bubbles gasped.
"Give it back!" Blossom demanded.
"You can have it! I'm done reading it anyway!" he stated nonchalantly.
"All of it?" Blossom asked, a bit shocked. "In such a short time?"
"Yeah. I just stole it from you this morning," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Blossom scoffed. "Liar! That's 200 pages! No way an uneducated dunce like you could read it that fast! I'm sure you can't even understand it!"
"Yeah. You just looked at the pictures!" Buttercup added.
"Yeah! You can't even spell dumb!" Bubbles finished. "Give it back!"
He grinned. "Why don't you stupid puffs go, and get it!" he laughed, throwing it as hard as he could in the opposite direction.
"My book!" Blossom shouted and went after it.
He smiled before flying in the opposite direction, Buttercup and Bubbles chasing after him.
He stopped, turned around, and as expected, Buttercup reached him first, lunging with her right arm. He smirked, as he grabbed her arm. She was surprised by his action as he spun her and threw her at Bubbles, who was right behind her. The two girls were thrown to a moderate distance.
Brick then fell to the ground, landing on the forest below, and sat on the branch of a tree, the canopy hiding him from view. He could see the Bubbles and Buttercup recover and then look around.
…
3. The Library
Blossom grabbed the book, and opened it. She scanned it, and was relieved that the book was intact. There were no torn pages, no vandalism, and the only thing she noticed were the dog ear folds. It was not there before. Had Brick made those? Was he reading? Impossible. He was too dumb to read the book! Or even know that it was a book! He claimed he read it all for just a couple of hours. He was lying just to make himself look smarter!
Now to teach the Brick head a lesson.
"I got it!" she shouted, but was puzzled when she saw Bubbles and Buttercup staring at the forest below.
"Where's Brick?" she asked.
"He got away," Bubbles offered.
"How could he get away? You're two, and he's one!"
"He just got away, okay? He's hiding down there," Buttercup snapped, and pointed to the forest below.
"Let's look for him," their blond sister suggested.
"No time. Only five minutes till the library closes," she said, before she flew towards the direction of the library.
Buttercup and Bubbles, not wanting to leave their leader alone and be susceptible to ambush, followed.
The puff leader looked at the library. It was an old Carnegie library, with a Victorian design. She had been there lots of times, and those times had been some of the best times in her short life. Yes, she was a bit of a nerd, but that was part of being the leader of the Powerpuff Girls.
She entered at 4:58 p.m. Buttercup and Bubbles followed a minute later.
"Hello Mrs Cartwright," Blossom said, almost breathless. "I'm here to return the book that I borrowed."
The grey haired old lady smiled and got the book, and stamped its back portion. Blossom handed her library card, and it was also stamped. The red haired powerpuff smiled as she saw the time stamp.
4:59 p.m.
Just in time.
"Still got the perfect record, Blossom," she nicely said, "No overdue books ever since you became a member!"
"I am the leader of the Powerpuff Girls," Blossom proudly declared. "I have to set an example."
"I know you want to borrow a book, but it's closing time already," Mrs Cartwright said as a loud bell rang as the clock struck 5:00 pm and the remaining library patrons streamed out.
"Don't worry, it's okay."
"We better go, or the ghosts of the Townsville City Library might get mad!" Bubbles whispered.
"She's right, you know," Mrs Cartwright said. "The ghosts of Townsville City Library haunt this place after closing hours, and protect the books from being stolen."
"I'm sure they won't be mad at me. Bye Mrs Cartwright!" she waved as the three girls left.
"Bubbles, you really don't believe the ghosts of Townsville Library really exists, do you?" Blossom asked.
"They do exist. Have you watched that TV program? People actually saw them!" Bubbles defended.
"More like they knew people who saw them, but those interviewed didn't actually see them!" Blossom explained.
"Ha, Bubbles, you are a scaredy-cat!" Buttercup teased.
"You should be! The ghost of Townsville library punishes mean kids like you," Bubbles asserted, sticking her tongue out at her sister.
…
Brick was standing inconspicuously just outside the library, standing beside a tree. He had followed the girls, all the time making sure he was not spotted. He was curious where Blossom was taking her book.
He had seen the library many times before, but it was only now that he really gave it notice.
Why did Blossom go there with the book?
Then the girls left. But without the book. Why did they leave the book in the building?
The answer was obvious.
The girls were stupid! Leaving books in such a public place!
He flew to the side of the building and peeked through the windows.
His eyes widened. Books. Tons of books. Innumerable books. More books than he had ever seen in his admittedly very short life.
He wanted to read it.
Badly.
He didn't care if it was stupid. It was stupid! But he would learn why those books were stupid and useless. And he wanted to learn.
Learn.
He flew back to Fuzzy's shack.
"Where have you been?"
"Mojo's."
"You met with Pops?" asked Butch.
"No. I sat on top of the lab."
"Where's the book?" Boomer asked.
"Finished reading it."
"But you said books were stupid! And only idiots read it!" Butch reacted.
"So I did. I wanted to know why they were stupid."
"So, for dinner, kill, or steal?" the green ruff asked.
"Steal!" Brick answered.
The boys flew into town and stole their dinner. They attacked a pizza delivery van, stole three boxes of pizzas, and flew back to the shack.
After dinner, the boys slept. Or at least Butch and Boomer did, on two flimsy mattresses with barely a cloth to cover them. Brick himself pretended to sleep, then once he was satisfied that his brothers were indeed sleeping, went out of the shack.
He carried his stolen flashlight, and flew to the center of Townsville. He smirked as he saw the building.
Townsville City Library.
He went to the front door, and checked if it was not locked. It was locked. So he went around the place, and saw the back door. It too was locked. But he anticipated it. He flew to one of the small terraces at the third floor. He got a paperclip from his pocket, and fashioned the wire to the shape of the key. He opened the locked door to the terrace, and locked it from inside.
He turned around, and stared. Where to start? He flew to a shelf of books. He looked at the titles at the spine.
Advanced Physics.
He bit his flashlight, and took the book. And opened it. And started reading. And his head hurt. Something about Einstein, relativity, quantum mechanics, and a bunch of formulas.
He immediately shut the book and put it back on the shelf.
He felt so stupid. He could not understand any of it.
He floated around. He would occasionally grab a book, and immediately would be discouraged.
Advanced Accounting 4.
He nearly got mad when he saw terms like debit, credit, worksheet and put it back.
Law.
Civil Procedure. Certiorari. Demurrer of Evidence. Pleadings. Petition.
He nearly got a headache.
Information Technology.
HTML. Spyware. Central Processing Unit. Antivirus. Microprocessor.
He was lost.
He realized that so many things were beyond him. He, the cleverest of the Rowdyruffs, knew very little.
But at least he was smarter than those stupid Powderpuffs. Come to think of it, what was a powderpuff anyway?
He looked around, and saw something.
Grade School section. Kindergarten books.
Then he saw it.
It was Blossom's book.
He grabbed it, and there it was. He put it back. He had already read it. He looked around.
English Grammar for First Grade.
Opening it, he was relieved that he could understand it. He smiled as he went and opened the lights. He looked around. There were a couple of chairs and tables. And a sofa. He settled on the sofa.
It was soft. It was cushy. It was better than any other chair he had sat on. He then opened the book and began reading.
He finished it, all 150 pages, with big text, in two hours, his eyes never leaving the text, his brain absorbing all the new information like a sponge.
He put the book down. He wanted to know more. Read more. It was nearly midnight. He ought to go home, get some sleep.
But he wanted to read!
One more book.
Then he'll go home.
He got another book.
Basic Science for first grade.
Reading science was even more revealing and exciting. He found out about the difference between plants and animals. About states of matter. About the nine planets. About the kinds of clouds. About simple machines.
He was overwhelmed. He read the book, all 200 pages, with big text and lots of illustrations, in two hours.
He forgot that he needed to go home, and got another book.
Geography for Kids!
He found out about the world, and about the continents. He was in North America. His country was the United States of America. In the state of Maine. And that Townsville was a really small city, about 250,000 people. Next to Townsville was Citiesville, with about 600,000 people.
He looked at the window. He saw light! Panicking, he looked at the sky. It was red. The sun was rising. And he felt really sleepy.
He immediately put out the light, and put the book back on its shelf. He left the library, and hurried home to the shack.
That night, he absorbed more knowledge than he ever had before he stole Blossom's book. It was so overwhelming. His brain was so tired, that he needed a rest.
He went back to the shack, saw his brothers still sleeping, went to his mattress, closed his eyes, and was out like a rock.
…
4. Big Blunder
August 10, 2004, Tuesday
"Big bro, wake up!" Butch said.
"Go away. I'm sleepy!" Brick whined.
"We haven't eaten yet!" Boomer whined.
"Go steal something."
"C'mon! You slept at the same time we did!" Butch growled, and settled the matter by giving his sleeping brother a hard kick on the stomach.
The red eyed ruff quickly stood up, and punched his brother in the stomach, who fell on the floor in pain.
"I'm awake! Okay?"
His black haired brother picked himself up from the floor, but before he could do anything, Boomer interrupted him.
"I'm hungry! I wanna have some food!"
"Wanna isn't proper, you should use want to," Brick quipped without even thinking.
"What?" Butch asked.
"I mean, yeah, wanna is fine," said Brick, trying to hide his knowledge. After all, it was stupid, right? "So, want to eat some animal?"
"Huh?"
"You know, burgers and hotdogs! They're meat, so they came from animals, while vegetables came from plants," Brick himself quickly replied without thinking, repeating something he's read.
"You okay, bro?" asked Butch.
Brick castigated himself. He was sure he sounded so stupid.
"I am okay," he said. "Come on. Let's find something to eat!"
"Yay! Food!" Boomer cheered, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, drool dripping on the floor in anticipation. "Steal or Kill?"
"Steal. I ain't in the mood to hunt," Brick snapped.
"Hunt?" Butch asked.
Brick looked at him. He realized he used another word he just learned in the library. "It means killing animals for food. I heard it when some schmuck talked about it."
They floated towards the town, and saw a hotdog stand in the middle of the park.
"Hm, that smells really good!" Boomer remarked, his mouth watering in anticipation.
"Looks really good! I bet Maine doesn't have anything as delicious!"
Butch look at him. "Where's Maine?"
"Well duh! It's our state!"
"What's a state?" Boomer asked.
Brick looked at his brothers and was appalled. How could they not know? Then again, he himself didn't know about it until last night.
"And what does decious mean?" asked his blonde brother.
"Delicious, Boomer." Oh right. Delicious was another word he learned the night before. "It means it tastes really good!"
"So why didn't you just say so?" asked Butch. "How did you know that? Are you going nerdy on us?"
"Um, I heard someone talking about it," their leader 'explained.'
"Well it's stupid!" Butch remarked.
"Yeah, it's stupid!" Brick agreed. "I'm just testing to see if you'd know it's stupid."
"What do 'testing' mean?" asked Butch.
Brick groaned. He inadvertently used another word he had learned the night before.
"Nevermind. Let's go steal some breakfast!"
"Brick, it's noon. It's lunch," Boomer corrected. "Even I know that!"
"Yeah. Let's go!" the black haired ruff agreed, his stomach growling.
They approached the hotdog stand, both the green eyed and the blue eyed ruffs ready to snatch, but Brick raised his hand. "I've got a better way. We're going to ask."
"But we don't ask! We take!" Butch whined.
"Just watch, and stick close to me!" he said as the three floated in front of the vendor.
The teen-age seller, with a freckled face, brown eyes and hair, and about 17, paled at the sight.
Brick growled. "You, do you know who we are?"
The hot dog man nodded.
"We're the Rowdyruff boys!" said the leader. "Now give us some hotdogs!"
"Or you'll end up like the last one who didn't!" Butch threatened.
"Yeah, you'll end up like the last one who didn't!" Boomer repeated, earning him a hit from his Butch.
"Say your own lines, stupid!"
"Please don't hurt me!" the seller cried as he hurriedly made three hotdogs on a bun and handed it to the boys.
"Let's thrash him anyway," Butch said as soon as he received his hotdog.
Brick shook his head. "Not now! Let's go!"
The three boys flew and landed on the top of a building.
"Did you see his face? He looked like he's gonna pee his pants!" Boomer shouted before biting his food.
…
Blossom smiled as she flew to the library. She wanted borrow another book, and her sisters were accompanying her so she won't be ambushed alone again. She cursed the Rowdyruff Boys for that. She nearly got an overdue book because of them.
Stealing books! How uncivilized and uncouth!
Her eyes darted around to see if they were around. She dismissed the thought. Those boys don't even know what a library was, let alone the knowledge to even go near one! They were uneducated boors!
Which was why Blossom was puzzled.
Why did Brick steal her book if that was so? Surely, that was not for the purpose of reading. Brick, reading? Blossom resisted the urge to laugh out loud at the mere thought...Still, looking at him, sitting at the top of the observatory, it really looked like he was reading. It's probably the pictures, as Buttercup said. There's no way he could be in anyway interested, couldn't he?
Of course not.
It was just to mess with me, she thought.
"We're here," Buttercup announced, breaking the pink puff's stream of thought. Seeing the building was enough to bring a smile to her face. It was one of her favorite places in Townsville.
They greeted the guard at the door, showed their library cards—even Buttercup had one, and entered. Blossom went to the elementary section, and scanned the books. She found what she was looking for.
Myths and Legends of Townsville.
She picked it up, and waited quietly in line to check it out.
"I don't get you, Red! It's summer! And you stick your nose in a book!" Buttercup complained. "It wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have to babysit each other!"
That earned her a couple of stares, and a quiet signal from the other library patrons.
"Sorry," the green eyed girl sheepishly apologized.
"Yeah, Blossom! We should enjoy the sun!" Bubbles agreed, besides her, in a whisper. "In a few weeks, it would be September. And first grade."
"Hello girls," the janitor, Joe Hendriks, greeted as he approached them, also in a whisper.
"Hello Mr Hendriks," the red haired heroine replied.
"Say, did you know that the ghosts of Townsville Library are back?" he whispered.
"What?" Bubbles asked, fear and surprise evident in her voice.
Blossom rolled her eyes, and Buttercup suppressed the urge to scoff.
"I saw them last night."
"You saw them?" the blonde puff asked.
"Well, not really, but I saw the lights on last night. The elementary section, I think."
"So why do you think there were ghosts?" Blossom asked, struggling to stamp out any trace of sarcasm in her voice.
"Well, I was the one who switched off the lights before it closed," he said. "I remember switching it off. And I was there when the library was locked. And I know that the lights were not on. But I was on my way home from the bar when I looked at the library, and the light were on."
"Couldn't it be a thief?" asked Buttercup.
"Nah. Nothing's stolen. Nothing's disturbed," said the janitor. "And all the doors were locked. Nothing could have entered!"
"Well, thanks for the information," Blossom said as she checked out the book. "Thank you Mrs Cartwright. I'll try my best to return it earlier than last time."
…
"Oh My God! The ghosts are back!" Bubbles shrieked, nearly in panic, as they flew home.
"He's trying to scare us!" Buttercup retorted. "There are no such things as ghosts!"
"He forgot to turn off the lights," Blossom argued. "He's making up the story to cover his mistake."
"But the ghosts—" Bubbles began.
"Aren't there!" Buttercup snapped. "Listen, I'm hungry. Who wants some hotdogs!"
Before her two sisters could say anything, she was flying towards a hotdog stand in the ground. Her sisters followed. Buttercup gave her order, and so did Blossom and Bubbles.
"Thank God you're here," the hotdog vendor stated as he received the money.
Blossom looked at him. He was scared, but mixed with relief upon seeing the girls.
"What happened?" she asked.
"The Rowdyruff Boys. They asked for free hotdogs. And they threatened me if I didn't!"
"Well, thank you," Blossom said as she rose in the air, one hand on her book, the other on her hotdog. The other two puffs followed her.
"So the boys are back to their old tricks," she said as she watched her sisters eat, before she herself took a bite.
…
She saw him.
She saw them.
The girls were high in the sky, doing a random patrol before going home. They again flew over the park when Blossom saw them. Boomer and Butch were on the ground, doing some horseplay under a tree.
Brick was on the tree. Resting on the branches. His eyes were open, but he was struggling to stay awake as his eyelids kept falling down.
She saw it.
Her opportunity.
Eye bags.
Perfect!
She grinned. "Girls, the Rowdyruffs are below us," she whispered loudly.
Buttercup and Bubbles looked down.
"Let's pound 'em!" Buttercup said, a sadistic grin forming on her face.
"Yeah. Let's teach 'em a lesson! Stealing hotdogs is mean!" Bubbles agreed.
Blossom noticed she still had her book. "I need to bring this home," she said. "Wait for me, and don't do anything until I come back, okay? In the meantime, just watch them, and don't attract attention."
Her two sisters nodded.
One minute later, Blossom was back.
"Let's do this!" she declared.
…
5. Boomer v Bubbles
Brick still felt a bit sleepy as he rested on the branches of a tree in the middle of the park. He closed his eyelids to rest his eyes just a little bit. He was really out of energy. His brothers were in the grass below the tree, doing something fun, but he didn't care what it was. He just wanted to take a nap.
"HEY, ROWDYRUFFS!"
He opened his eyes, annoyed. He wanted to rest, but he knew he had to wake up. It was Blossom's voice.
Leave me alone! I'm trying to have a nap!
And sure enough, the three Powerpuff Girls were there, floating, with determined expressions etched on their faces.
"Don't you know it's not nice to not pay for your food?" Bubbles remarked.
"Oh yeah! Don't you know it's not nice to steal someone else's clothes?" Boomer answered from below, bitterness evident in his voice.
"You stole her book and beat her up," Buttercup added. "You three dumb losers are gonna pay for that!"
Brick really didn't want to fight. He knew they could beat the girls up—after all, they hadn't lost physically any fight with the girls. All their losses were because of "dirty tricks". Or were not losses at all. He still laughed when the girls claimed the time the boys stole the boat, the tank, and the plane from the girls as a victory for girls! They had fun! The girls simply stood there and left! They were the ones who retreated! If they tried to attack them, he and his brothers could have moved, and moved easily to kick their butt!
But right now, he was out of energy. He really wanted to sleep.
Yet he could not back down. His pride would not allow it.
He stifled a yawned as he went into a defensive position. He tried thinking a way to avoid a fight, but his brain was so tired that nothing came out. Running away would be useless, since he had not enough energy to get away from three determined puffs.
"Well, bring it on, Pinky," he remarked dryly.
The girls attacked them. He tried to formulate a battle plan, but again, the only thing that he could think of was how he wanted to crawl back to the sofa in the library, and take a nap.
Brick knew this was going to end badly for them.
…
With no orders from his leader, Boomer shot high in the sky, forming an energy ball in his hand and threw it at Bubbles. The blonde puff easily avoided it. She immediately sent an energy ball of her own his way. He smiled. He formed an electric bat, swung it, sending Bubbles' energy back to her. She easily avoided it.
He then flew at her, swinging his bat at her head, but she maneuvered herself from being hit, and gave a roundhouse kick that caught the back of his head. A stinging pain was felt and he fell to the ground.
"That hurt!" he whined, touching the bump on his head.
"That's what you get for being a meanie!" his counterpart shouted as she dove right after him.
He smiled. He waited until she was very close, then the bat reformed in his hand, he jumped forward until they were nearly touching, avoiding her fist, and swung his bat, crashing into her stomach, and throwing her high into the air. He then flew up, faster than Bubbles' velocity, appeared above her, and again, used his bat to hit her in the top of her head and send her to the ground.
"And Boomer's going for the homerun!" he shouted in excitement, even though he had no idea what a homerun was.
Bubbles emerged from the crater that she formed, determination etched into her face even as her body ached and she rubbed her head on the spot where the bat hit her. She flew to him, seemingly to repeat what she had done before, as Boomer waited in anticipation, bat in hand, ready to use it on her. Then she stopped a few feet, opened her mouth. And screamed.
The scream was so loud that he was forced to cover his ears. He noticed that he was thrown far away, the sound waves physically hurting him.
"That girl's shout! That hurt!" he said to himself.
"Take that, you mean bully you!" he heard her shout.
He looked at the direction of the voice, and he noticed Bubbles lunging for him.
He waited until she was close. He noticed that her mouth opened, about to scream. His eyes glowed, and laser shot her point blank.
She screamed. Not the sonic scream, but a scream of pain as laser engulfed her, and she fell to the ground. Boomer let himself fall to the ground, and drilled her into the pavement below. When they were on the ground, he punched her repeatedly in the head.
"Take that! And that! You meanie! You sissy! You stealer of clothes!" Boomer shouted as each blow landed on his opponent. "I hope your cootties hurt you and make you cry!"
Bubbles put her arms in front of her face to block the blows. Her eyes glowed red, and in a swift movement, lowered her arms and zapped him with laser. He was thrown back in pain. She followed and gave him a knee on his stomach.
He doubled up in pain, and felt her foot dig into his back. He fell to the asphalt. He saw Bubbles diving for him. He took a nearby lamppost, detached it from the ground, and swung it at her, catching her by surprise as it hit her on the face, sending her crashing into a nearby building.
The blue ruff stood up, pain throbbing throughout his entire body, but pretty sure that she was in greater pain. "You'll gonna pay for that! You played as me, and you sucked! Go and each a roach!" he shouted as he followed her into the rubble of the building.
She was not there. Where was she?
He was answered by a knee to his face, and he fell. This time, he felt blood tricking from his cut lip, as he stared at Bubbles, blood also dripping from her forehead and staining her blonde hair.
"You're the meanie, Boomer! You stole hotdogs, and beat up Blossom while she's alone!"
"We asked, and so what? You beat me up while I was alone, took away my clothes, put me in that light thingy!"
"Well, you're evil and you stole candy!" Bubbles replied. "You're a dumb and mean boy!"
"I am not dumb! And don't call me that! Only my brothers could do so," he said in anger, as he attacked her once more, his head crashing into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. He grabbed her ankle, spun her around, and slammed her into a nearby building, demolishing it.
He grinned as he plowed into her, giving punch after punch into her stomach and face, but she was able to escape, and gave him another sonic scream. He was forced to cover his ears as he was again thrown away, weakening him further.
"I'm gonna end this," he shouted, flying high in the sky. He formed a giant blue energy ball, in the sky, intending to throw it at the city.
"Don't do it! You'll destroy the city!" Bubbles shouted frantically. "People would die!"
"I don't care, as long as you three sissies with your stupid cootties die with them!" he shouted, and threw it the blonde puff. He didn't want to destroy the city, but he knew that she wouldn't let the ball hit the city.
C'mon stupid girl, save the city! Catch it and explode!
Bubbles gasped as she made her own energy ball, and threw it at the gigantic one heading her way. The two energy balls collided, and there was a loud explosion in the air.
"Surprise," she heard a voice from behind her, and his foot connected with her head, sending her down to the concrete sidewalk. He followed her into the ground, and laser eyed her point blank, eliciting a painful scream from her counterpart. He then lifted her up by her leg, and swung her into a building, before moving right in front of her and giving her punch after punch in the stomach.
He threw her into the ground, and went into the sky, intending to create another energy ball to finish off his counterpart. Despite the beating that she took, she was still conscious. He was weak, but she was weaker.
He smirked, but before he could do anything, he heard his brother shout. "BOOMER, THIS IS BAD!"
He looked at his black haired brother, and to his horror, he was carrying Brick, unconscious, followed by Buttercup, and Blossom. He looked at Bubbles, who was down but not out. She joined her sisters.
…
6. Butch v. Buttercup
Earlier…
"C'mon, sissy!"
Butch twitched in excitement as Buttercup charged him. He howled happily as he took a defensive position, not something he usually does but without orders, he will not attack.
The green puff initiated the fight by aiming a kick at his head. He raised his right hand and easily blocked it. He grinned sadistically, as he buried his left fist on her stomach. She staggered in pain, yet recovered quickly enough to avoid his next punch, aimed at her head. She ducked, and punched him hard in his stomach, causing him to jump back, before creating an energy ball and throwing it at the green puff.
Buttercup jumped to her left, avoiding the energy ball, and formed an energy ball of her own. She threw it at her opponent. He made an energy shield and grinned as it absorbed and dissipated the attack. His eyes glowed, and red laser shot from his eyes, though his shield, hitting her.
"What the? You gotta be kidding me! Your own energy attacks go through your shield, and mine don't?" she cried in astonishment.
"Drink it in, Butters!" he scoffed as he began pumping his first in the air, an energy ball forming, and threw it at the green clad girl.
She dodged it, and closed the gap between them. She grabbed him, and prepared to headbutt her counterpart. She slammed her head through the shield, passing through it without any problem, and stopped her head one inch from his face.
"Guess physical attacks go through your stupid shield!"
Her eyes glowed, and he suddenly found himself engulfed in laser.
"AHHHHH!" he shouted, but her gripped tightened, and she swung her head back with as much force as possible. She smashed it against his noggin, making him feel dizzy. She released him, but there was no reprieve as it was followed by a kick to the head, to the stomach, and an elbow to his back as he was bent over, sending him to the concrete below.
Before he could recover, he felt both of her feet on his tummy, sending him deeper into the sewers and into the rails of an underground railroad. To get her off, he looked at the toughest puff, and laser shot her point blank, and she retreated.
Gathering as much energy as he could, he flew into her, smashing both his fists into her back, eliciting a painful scream that made the green eyed ruff grin. He crashed her into a building, got her legs, swung her around and tossed her up in the air.
He followed, and kicked his right foot into her head, sending the toughest puff into the pavement below.
"Had enough?" he laughed.
"Not on your life," she spat as she flew into him, only to be stopped by an energy ball that he threw into her path. The explosion hurt her and threw her back into the concrete, only to be met by Butch, who smiled, as he grabbed her head, and gave her one sickening headbutt. It made him a bit dizzy, but it was okay. It was revenge for the earlier headbutt she gave to him. He stared into the back of her head, before laser beams shot out and hit it.
She screamed as pain engulfed her being.
He attacked her with more physical assaults. A punch to her stomach. A kick to her head. More punches to her face. He threw her high in the air, and prepared to finish her. He created a giant energy ball, and threw it at the green puff.
But it was a mistake. She, despite being weakened, was able to dodge it, and it continued on harmlessly into space. She shot up in the air, desperate to have some breathing room. She was tough, but Butch, to her distaste, was just as tough, and in some cases, even tougher.
She was losing. He knew it.
Butch grinned and followed her into the air. The battle transformed into an aerial battle as he attacked her head on. Buttercup was able to block the first punch, but not the second. She retaliated and gave a kick to his stomach, but he blocked the follow up hook to his head. He gave a left hook on her cheek, connecting, but she recovered and landed her own straight left into his forehead.
She rammed her head into his tummy, knocking the wind out of him, and leaving him clutching his stomach in pain. She followed it up by a kick to the back of his head, and he crashed into the concrete below. Before he could react, she was upon him, sending punch after punch against his face. She finished by grabbing his arm, and threw him to the sky.
Luckily, he was able to stop his ascent and threw a laser ball at the charging Buttercup. The green puff avoided it, and closed the gap between them, giving an uppercut to his chin that nearly dislocated his jaw.
She then swung her body, delivering a roundhouse kick to his head from her left foot, and another swing and her right foot connected to his face. She grinned as things seemed to be going her way, and prepared another swing. Her left foot spun to smash his head, but it stopped. She looked, and he caught it with both his hands, with a sick grin on his face.
His eyes glowed red, and she felt herself hurting as laser poured from his eyes into her exposed body, his hands' firm grip on her left ankle never relaxing. He then held her limp body upside down with his left hand.
She looked at him, and tried her laser eyes.
Only for him to put up his shield.
He began pounding her up-side-down form with his right hand like she was a literal punching bag.
She was going.
He knew it.
That was the advantage of the Rowdyruff Boys over the Powerpuff Girls. They were always a little bit stronger than the Powerpuff Girls. They had beaten the girls before in a straight fight. The girls, hadn't. They won before, but only after using tricks and outsmarting them, but never a straight and fair fight. He was weak, dizzy, and hurting all over, but he knew Buttercup was way worse.
He threw her to the ground, and prepared to finish her off before she could recover.
He looked around to see his brothers do the same to their counterparts. Boomer was doing his part, and Brick…
Butch paled as he saw his leader on the ground, unconscious, and Blossom heading straight for him at a sickening speed, obviously intending to kill him. All thoughts of finishing off his counterpart vanished from his mind as he raced towards his brother. He formed a ball of energy, and threw it at the pink puff.
"What the?" she said after she was hit. She momentarily stopped her dive to her counterpart, to see her assailant.
It was enough for Butch to pick up his brother.
"BOOMER, THIS IS BAD!" he shouted.
He joined his blond brother, and the two looked at their counterparts, and Blossom. Buttercup and Bubbles were beaten up, weaker than Butch and Boomer, but Blossom…
Blossom was fresh, and seemingly without a scratch.
What had happened to Brick?
7. Blossom vs Brick
…
Earlier…
Brick prepared for Blossom's assault. He saw the kick coming to his left, so he prepared to raise his left hand to block. Yet before he could fully raise his hand, her foot connected with his cheek, and he was thrown far away.
Hurt, he stood up, and attacked her, but his punch was avoided. He swung his foot, intending to plant it on her stomach, but she moved back and easily avoided his offense.
Was he slow today?
His eyes glowed, and shot at Blossom, but it was easily counteracted by her own laser eyes. A tug of war laser attack commenced, and both pink and red supers pumping as much energy into it to try to overwhelm the other.
At first it was a draw. It was even to his seeming advantage. His laser inched close and closer into her. Then he saw her smile, and suddenly, her laser and energy became so much stronger. His own energy was easily pushed back, and he felt the sensation of being hit by a powerful laser attack.
He screamed in pain, and he backed off a bit.
His body was hurting, and he was weaker than before. Blossom was barely scratched. He knew that a simple laser attack shouldn't do so much damage.
He knew it! His energy was low! He lacked sleep!
"Brick, Brick, Brick! Give up already," Blossom said with an air of superiority as floated in the air. She looked down at him, literally and figuratively. "You know you can't win this one."
He knew that already. But he wasn't giving up.
"Me give up? To a dumb Powerpuff like you? You're weaker than us!" he taunted.
"Look at you! Do you really think that you are weaker than me? Especially after you haven't slept at all last night? How many hours did you sleep?"
How did she?
"How did I know? Look at your eye bags," she said.
"So what?"
"So it means that you are weak. I had a good night's sleep last night, and I will take my sweet revenge on you, dumb ruff!"
"Who you callin' dumb?"
"You. Especially now. You dare expose yourself after having no energy because you partied somewhere by yourself without your brothers? Your brothers are full of energy, while you are not," she lectured. "That's dumb! D-U-M-B dumb!"
"I'm gonna sock you!"
"But then again, I should've expected that from you. Someone who can't spell dumb surely would not think of such a complicated thing as actually being ready for battle, all the time! You are sooooooo stupid! I am ashamed to call you my counterpart. I am a genius, while you are mentally deficient."
So she's making up big words to make me feel dumb? Two can play that game.
"Well, you are delecant yourself! A smurgarent sissy!"
He knew those words didn't exist, but he assumed so did words like expose, or deficient, or eye bags. Well eye and bags do exist, but there's wasn't any bag made to hold eyes, was there? Blossom was just making it up to make her look really smart. She's dumber than Brick the Bludgeoner, that's for sure.
She gave a haughty laugh. "Oh Brick, it's so pitiful that you wallow in your ignorance. Ignorance is bliss they say, and it applies to you more than anyone else. After all, that's the only way you could be happy given how stupid and dumb you are! I'm sure you don't even know that you're violating the law."
"Shut up, you califulac crilek!"
"Speaking French? But I don't think you even know that language exists! But just so you know, ignorance of the law is not an excuse! IGNORANCE IS NOT AN EXCUSE! Because if it was so, you three are off the hook, since you're so dumb and stupid, and you don't know anything!"
Thinking that she was just engaging in a battle to make up words, he shouted, "No, it ain't Prench, but it's Arlish!"
Blossom laughed. A mocking laughter. "You are a riot, Brick, but I'm sure you weren't making a joke. You're perfectly serious. Because you're the joke."
Brick gritted his teeth. He needed a way out of this. He was going to lose. He knew that. But he does not want to die. Or be taken captive by the Powerpuff Girls. He looked at his brothers. They were doing well. Perhaps he could buy time by talking and talking until his brothers could dispose of their counterparts and they could take Blossom all at once?
"Well, you're the joke anyway! You never beat us in a fight without resorting to tricks!" he shouted.
He could see Blossom's eyes dart sideways, looking at their siblings.
"You're just too stupid to fall for such simple strategies," she said. She smiled, then suddenly moved and Brick found her right wrist buried in his stomach.
The wind was knocked out of him, and he fell to his knees, clutching his tummy in pain. Then he felt her feet give him a hard kick on his chest, giving him more pain and throwing him into a building. The concrete cracked, but did not break. He felt bones breaking. He coughed and blood poured out of his mouth.
"Understand this, Ruff! You're never a threat! You're never our equal in any way! You are evil! You will never ever win against us!" Blossom declared as she grabbed his shirt and pulled his face to hers, her pink orbs staring into his red ones.
He smirked. "Sez you! We already beat you before, and we'll do so again!"
His eyes glowed, and laser eyed his counterpart point blank.
His smile disappeared when it didn't have any effect.
He was very weak.
Blossom dropped him. "Let's see. I'm going to give you a chance. A free shot. Make it count."
She dropped her defenses and put her hands down.
"You're stupid to do that!" he shouted as he gathered his remaining energy and punched her in the face.
It did not even faze her.
He gave another kick. He hit her on the stomach.
She did not even move.
"You are pathetic," she said, her pink orbs staring into his disbelieving red eyes. She looked at her sisters and their fight against his brothers.
She, in a movement too fast for the ruff to see, went behind him. He felt a powerful pain in the back of his head, and his vision became black.
8. Defeat and Retreat
…
Butch looked at the three Powerpuffs above them. Blossom was in the middle, a smirk appearing on her face, without a scratch. Bubbles was on her left, weak and beaten up, but still strong enough to fight Boomer for a few minutes. Buttercup was also weak, and she would be defeated if she fought him alone. But Blossom was with them, and she could easily defeat either of them in their weakened state.
He knew what he must do. Yet he did not want to seem a coward. He hesitated.
Fortunately, the decision was made for him.
"RUN!" Boomer shouted, fear evident in his eyes, as he dove to the streets below.
He decided it would be better to be a coward than to die or be captured, and he flew after his brother. He found him hiding in a narrow alley.
"What should we do, big bro?" he asked. "I don't wanna die! Or be put in that light again!"
"Hey Rowdyruffs! Come out, come out wherever you are!" Buttercup shouted.
"Yeah, meanies! Come out!" Bubbles added.
"You can't hide forever!" they heard Blossom shout.
There was a loud crash in the distance, and they heard screaming. It gave the two ruffs hope.
"Oh my God! A monster!" they heard Bubbles shout, gasping.
The boys looked at the direction of the sound, and there was a giant lizard monster attacking the city near the sea. The green ruff hoped that the girls would prioritize the monster over them.
"Girls, let's save the city!"
Butch could almost cheer Blossom for her decision.
"But what about the boys?" asked Buttercup, still in a loud voice.
Forget about us!
"We'll get them next time. Saving the city from the monster is top priority," Blossom answered. Butch could swear there was a hint of disappointment in her voice even as he sighed in relief. He looked at Boomer. Hope had returned to his dark blue orbs.
"Hurry! The monster is destroying the beach district!" Bubbles shouted in panic.
Butch desperately hoped that they would attend to the monster first.
Leave, you cowards! Please leave us alone!
"Let's go girls!" Blossom commanded, and the two ruffs saw the three puffs fly toward the monster.
Butch looked at his blond brother. His dark green eyes looked into Boomer's dark blue ones, and nodded.
Both flew as fast as they could towards the forest, towards Fuzzy's shack.
Towards home.
He looked at the city as they left. The girls were having a bit more trouble than before, since only Blossom was fully fit to fight.
He looked at Brick, slumped over his shoulder. What was wrong with his brother?
They reached the shack and immediately put his brother to a "bed"—a mattress without any sheets, and covered him with dirty cloths—their blankets. Boomer came with some wood, and put it on the fireplace. He used his eyebeams to light up a fire.
"Watch over him, lil bro," he said.
"Where you goin'?"
"Getting some grub."
"You gonna steal?"
"And risk getting caught by three powderpuffs? Nah. I'm gonna kill some critters," the green ruff answered.
Butch went deep into the forest, and immediately saw what he was looking for.
A small deer. He crept close to it. The deer spotted him, and galloped away.
It was futile.
The ruff easily overtook him, and snapped its neck. He carried it back to just outside the cabin. There, he skinned the carcass, and extracted the meat and placed it on Fuzzy's tub. He incinerated the liver, intestines and other organs. The fur he put in another place. It would be useful as blankets and coats during cold weather.
He used a large machete to cut the meat into strips, and spread the said strips on the tub like it was a giant pan. The green ruff used his laser eyes to cook the meat, using small amounts of power and heat to do so.
It was not the first time he did so. All three learned how to utilize their powers to cook meat since they stole the shack from Fuzzy. It was one of the few things that Fuzzy was able to teach them, in exchange for untying him and letting him permanently leave "his property".
After a few minutes, the meat began to smell good. He increased the power to increase the heat, noting that the metal tub was now red hot, until he judged that the meat was ready to eat
"Is it done yet?" Boomer asked as he opened the door.
"Not yet, now go back and watch our leader, dummy!"
"Call me when it's done!"
"Dumb idiot," Butch grumbled. He went to the woods and took three wooden stakes. He used a mild form of laser to sterilize it. It would be used as a fork since the meat was too hot to touch.
"Hey, he's waking up!" he heard his brother shout.
"Because you're too noisy, idiot!" he replied as he went inside. Boomer was looking at the redhead.
Butch joined him, and was about to say something when they heard their brother make some kind of noise. His eyes slowly opened, and his red orbs were staring at both of them.
"What happened? You beat Buttercup and Bubbles?"
Butch knew that it would crush his pride to learn that he was the only one who lost. He hesitated, considered fibbing about what really happened, but he hated lying to his brothers. So he nodded. And he almost regretted it upon seeing his brother's red eyes get deflated.
"We're sorry, big brother!" Boomer said, sounding ashamed. "I didn't beat up Bubbles fast enough and I didn't get to help you!"
"Same here," Butch whispered. He guessed that was Brick's plan all along.
"I… I got beaten up," he said, and the green ruff could see how crushed the spirit of his brother was.
"I'm sure that Pink Eyes did some trick and did not play fair," Butch reassured. "They're pathetic and weak!"
Brick's eyes seemed to brighten at that suggestion. "Yeah. We're still stronger than the girls. We're still better."
"We'll get 'em next time!" Boomer reassured. "They're meanies! Only we should be meanies, since we're evil, and they're goody two shoes. Goody two shoes shouldn't be mean! We outta kick them and learn em a few lessons!"
"Hey, what's that I smell?" asked the leader.
"Meat. Deer."
"Oh venison?" Brick asked.
"What?" Butch replied.
"Meat from a deer. Just like pork is meat from a pig, or beef from cow?"
"Dunno what you're talking about," the green ruff replied.
"Where'd you learn that?" asked Boomer.
"Oh I heard someone talk that while I was swipin' something from the meat shop," he said as he got up, still sore from the beating he took, and walked out. He took one of the stakes Butch made, and impaled one of the strips of venison on the still hot tub.
The other two ruffs did too, and they ate their dinner in silence.
9. Stupid Rowdyruffs!
Two days later, August 12, 2004, Thursday…
Brick looked at the library. It was about six in the evening, about an hour after it closed. He really shouldn't be here. He really shouldn't leave his two brothers alone. Pinky and her sisters could spot him and he'd be in the same spot Boomer was when he was caught alone.
But he wanted to go here. He needed it. Two days without reading, without knowing something new, was excruciating. So he and his brothers ate dinner at a very early hour of five in the afternoon so he could come to the library early, and go home early too so he could have enough sleep and avoid his mistake.
His mistake…
It was his mistake that led to the defeat of the Rowdyruff Boys. Not that he lacked sleep, only that he was stupid enough to expose himself and his brothers to the possibility of being spotted by the Powerpuffs in the open while he lacked energy. It rankled him that he was the weak link in that fight, but also proud of Butch and Boomer for beating their counterparts. That confirmed to him that they were stronger than the Powerpuff Girls.
One of these days, their enemies will run out of tricks, and true strength will be victorious.
And Brick will step on them, laughing at their faces, proclaiming their victory.
And he would shove Blossom's face in the dirt! He got so mad at that girl! Who does she think she was? Thinking herself so mighty! And smart! She'd resorted to making up words! He showed her! She got so mad at his cleverness she decided to beat him up instead.
He was the smartest one! Smarter than any dumb powderpuff. And with him reading all the time, the gap will only grow wider.
So he got beaten up. So what? He was fully healed within a day. Chemical X made sure of that.
He got his paperclip, and entered through the terrace door. He flew to the kids section, and began reading.
He picked World History for Kids and settled on the sofa.
His eyes were glued as he found out about the past. Alexander the Great. Julius Caesar. Augustus. Attila. Charlemagne. George Washington. Hitler. Kennedy.
He found his new favorite subject.
He finished 300 pages, with lots of pictures and big fonts suitable for seven year olds, in two hours.
Then he went for United States History for First Grade.
Again he couldn't stop reading. The Thirteen Colonies. The Revolution. The Civil War. The World Wars. The Cold War.
He finished 200 pages in a little over an hour.
He looked around and it was already dark. He switched on the light.
He was pleased with himself. The past was a fascinating story. He wanted to be on the pages of history books one day. His name would be written alongside Napoleon. Alexander. Washington. His picture would grace the history books, and kids in the future would read about him.
He decided he'll go back to English. He browsed the English section, and picked up English Spelling and Pronunciation. He began reading it, and began to learn the rules of English orthography.
His mood was positive, humming as more information got imprinted into his brain.
Until he came into the topic of silent letters.
At first, he had nothing to be apprehensive about. He learned about silent e, and how it made the pronunciation of vowels long or short. He already knew that based on his reading, but now he understood why.
Then he went under the heading dummy letters. He noticed an example.
DUMB.
He stared at the word. Surely, that cannot be right? He was hoping that he was right. Normally, he wouldn't bat an eye, but that word had special significance for him.
If he was right, then he really was smarter than Blossom. If he was wrong… Hopefully, he was not.
Maybe dumb meant something else? And the correct spelling for the synonym of stupid is dum?
He looked around the section. He saw Dictionary For Kids.
He wondered what it was. He dropped the Spelling book and got the dictionary. He looked at it, and immediately grasped its significance. Perhaps the book could confirm that he was right.
He went to the letter D.
Da, De, Di, Do, Du.
Dual.
Duck.
Dud.
Due.
Duke.
Dull.
Dumb.
He froze.
He reread the dictionary. He had hoped to find dum.
It wasn't there.
The word didn't exist.
With dread, he looked at how dumb was defined.
Dumb. Lacking intelligence or good judgment; stupid; dull-witted.
Dumb. D-U-M-B.
He quickly went to the Spelling for Kids book. He again read on silent letters.
He still could not believe it. So he went back to the dictionary. He recalled all the words that Blossom supposedly "invented" during their fight.
Expose. French. Violated. Deficient. Strategies.
All were existing words. And Blossom correctly used them.
He hoped that the words he invented really existed.
Califulac. Crilek.
It was not there.
He was wrong.
He was not smart. He was stupid. Dumb. Dumber than Blossom. Dumber than Bubbles even. His belief that he was smart…
Was a myth.
Was just a delusion.
It was Him's fault. He was the one who was their first teacher. After their death, they went to Hell, and Him "trained" them for their return. Part of their training was lessons. Like how to read. And spell. Too bad he only thought them the basics. They wouldn't need to know much after they destroyed the Powerpuffs, after all. That's what Him said.
And he was stupid enough to believe him.
He now knew why he can't beat the girls even if he and his brothers were stronger. The Rowdyruffs were too stupid to win, and the Powerpuffs easily outsmarted them.
He reflected on the insults Blossom gave.
They were not meaningless or baseless banter or ignorant calling of names.
They were true. They really were insulting. He, the Rowdy leader, was worthless. He was an ignoramus who knew nothing. He, not Boomer, deserved the title of Dumber than the Dumbest.
Pinky was not calling him those names just to get into his head or to mess with him. She really was putting him down, looking down upon him upon her high pedestal. Looking down from her high throne. She knows everything. Well, not everything, but she's smarter than him.
Better than him.
She knew more.
He knew nothing.
He was even, before this night, too dumb to know he was dumb.
He saw the book got wet. Tears were pouring from his eyes. It did not matter. How can he have any pride left after he found out that every basis for his ego, for his very identity, turned out to be a lie? He was an idiot. A retard. An imbecile.
"NO! NO!" he shouted. He slowly floated to the sofa, and cried.
10. The Promise
The next day, August 13, 2004, Friday…
Boomer opened his eyes, and the first thing he noticed were the red eyes of his brother looking at him.
"Brick?" he asked, yawning. He noticed something about his eldest brother. His crimson eyes had that look that told him that something was going to happen.
His brother had plans.
Big plans.
There was a look of excitement, as if he had discovered something new, yet there was a hint of disappointment.
"Boomer, get up," Brick commanded, and Boomer did as told. It was only then that he noticed that Butch was already awake, standing beside his brother. He had that look that told him that he was just as puzzled as he was.
"What's up?" Boomer asked.
"Everything," his red eyed brother said in a slow, deadly, scary tone.
"What?" Butch asked.
"My brothers, let us do again what we did in Hell. Let's do the promises again, or as I learned, let us swear an oath. You two go first."
"What for?" asked Butch.
"Don't question me," he snapped. "Just do it!"
Butch and Boomer looked at each, and he nodded. Boomer remembered the time when they did it the very first time. They were dead. Boomer rather not recall the circumstance that occasioned it.
Both kneeled, one knee on the floor, their left hand over the chest, their right in a fist, raised towards Brick.
It was position that was taught by one of the friendlier devils in Hell.
"I, Boomer," Boomer began. Butch said the exact same words, but instead said, "I, Butch,"
They continued, "promise to follow you, our brother, our leader, Brick, wherever we are, forever. We will always follow your orders, and do what you say, whether you are right, or whether you are wrong."
The two then stood up. Brick then put one hand on the chest of each brother, his left palm on Boomer, and right one on Butch.
"I promise to lead you, to be the best leader that I could be, and to never, on purpose, let you two down. I will lead you to glory, to victory, and power!"
The three then raised their right hand on the air and began saying in unison the conclusion of their promise.
"I promise to always take care of both my brothers, and never to lie to them on purpose. We will live together, we will die together, and never leave each other! We will kill all those who stand in our way, and help those who stand with us."
Boomer reflected on it. It was the only reason that they survived Him's training. They stuck together no matter what Him threw at them. And they spoke with one voice. That of their leader, Brick. Their experiences with Him etched all the words in the memories.
Nothing, not even their teasing, the fights, the fact that they could be cruel to each other, could break that.
"My brothers, I found out something," he began as soon as the oaths were made.
"What?" asked Butch.
"We are stupid!"
"What? We're not!" Butch protested.
"Shut up! Yes we are. We are idiots! We know nothing. And I hate to say it, those Powerpuff Girls are better than us. At least for now."
Boomer looked at his brother in horror. He was crazy. That was not their brother. He would never admit of such a fact. Not to mention that it was not plain true. The Rowdyruffs were better than the Powerpuffs!
"Don't joke, brother," Butch snapped.
"Oh it's no joke. I found out recently why we can't beat the girls even if we are stronger," said Brick. "It's because they keep outsmarting us. We were too stupid to fall for their tricks."
"That's not true!" Boomer shouted.
Butch was too stunned to even talk.
"No, it's true," said Brick. "We're stupid. We're dumber than the Powerpuff Girls! We're dumber than Bubbles for crying out loud! I am dumber than Bubbles. So are you, Boomer, and Butch. And she's the dumbest of the Powerpuffs!"
The two brothers can't believe what his brother was saying.
"Take that back!" Butch said.
"Make me!"
Butch gritted his teeth, raised his fist, and attacked his brother. Brick caught his lunging arm, walked slightly to the side, and gave a punch on the green ruff's stomach.
"Now listen here, and listen good," Brick stated. "Right now, the Powerpuff Girls are better than us, and smarter than us. So what should we do?"
"We become better than the girls!" Boomer answered.
"Right," Brick said.
"But how?" asked the blue eyed ruff.
Brick grabbed the shirt of Butch. "You Butch, you will become smarter than Buttercup. Promise me that."
Butch glared at him, but he nodded.
"Say it loud!"
"I'm gonna be smarter than Buttercup!"
Brick released him.
"I am going to be better than Buttercup!" Butch again recited, his voice becoming excited, his body twitching. "I am gonna show that good for nothing Puff that I am better than her in every way!"
"That's okay. Now Boom, you are dumb. Dumber than Bubbles. For now. Promise me this. You are gonna be smarter than Bubbles."
"I promise."
"Say it again!"
"I am gonna be smarter than Bubbles, Brick!" Boomer nearly shouted. "I am gonna show everyone that I am smarter than Bubbles!"
"Great. Now listen to my promise. I swear, I swear that I will be better and smarter than Blossom."
Both Boomer and Butch nodded.
"My brothers, we the Rowdyruff Boys, are gonna beat those girls up! But first, we will show them that we are better, and smarter than them! I promise you that!"
"And I promise you that I'll do my part!" Butch shouted, raising fist in excitement
Boomer wondered what this was all about. Still, he trusted his eldest brother. "And I'll do mine! Bubbles will never know what hit her!"
"Good. First thing we gotta do is we should become smart and know things," Brick began.
Boomer paled. That means school. He doesn't want to go to school! Luckily, Butch voiced out his thoughts.
"I hate school! I ain't gonna go to one!" he declared.
"Who says we're gonna go to school? We're gonna learn, and we're gonna know things, and we're gonna be smarter than the girls, without going to school! And I know how!" Brick declared.
Boomer could not help but clap. His brother was planning something, and if it would lead to the Powerpuff Girls getting their butt kicked, he's all for it!
End of Chapter I