Hello, all!
Well, you can probably guess I decided to do another story including the one I'm currently updating/writing. Probably biting off more than I can chew but what the heck. I love this show and it's characters and...you guessed it...shipping the Rowdies and Puffs together.
Not everyone is fan of this but I must admit, I find the appeal pretty compelling. I like the idea of them not merely being rivals but compliments to each other as people. It's a shame the Rowdyruffs were never explored with more depth before the series ended but hey, that's what fan fiction is for.
A lot of this will be focused on the boys at first given their particular situation. But later on it will come to focus on the Ruffs and Puffs in equal measure, their strengths, weaknesses, insecurities, growth, etc. But the boys also need to stop being little shits first XD These two groups don't like each other as little kids after all.
Anyway, enough of my rambling. Hope you guys like it. Please leave comments! I love any sort of feedback!
TheWasp1995 Presents: Counterparts
Act 1: Rivals
Act 1 Part 1- I Don't Understand
The city of Townsville! A wonderful community where the sun shines, the grass grows, and little boys and girls play together...unless you're the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys! Oh my! Is this happening again?
Streaks of red, green, and blue zoomed in the air. In fact they were moving so quickly, the average eye could barely make out a proper identification beyond the multi colored lights. But if one were able to slow time down, even a fraction of a second, they'd see a rather peculiar sight: three little boys and three little girls gifted with bionic powers. For any outsider, it defied comprehension.
Of course, for the city of Townsville, CA this was just another day in the park. Quite literally too. The Powerpuff Girls, sworn protectors and guardians of their beloved home, were quick to jail and put a stop to any law breaking. Their male counterparts, the Rowdyruff Boys, were determined to give them as much trouble as possible. Even if it meant ruining a nice day in the gorgeous sunshine and pristine West Coast weather.
"Give up, doo doo brain!"
"I know you are but what am I?"
"GAHHHHH!"
A little blonde girl with pigtails, a blue dress, and equally blue eyes screamed as loud as she possibly could, creating a soundwave so powerful it temporarily deafened all within a two square mile radius. It also had the effect of slamming the little blond boy into a tree. He too wore blue, except a darker shade in the form of a sweater and his irises were cobalt.
Shaking his head rather stupidly, the blond boy's hands began crackling with electricity as he summoned an electric blue baseball bat which he swung with lethal effect. His counterpart crashed landed on the grass, creating a green stain on her blue dress.
"Home run!" the blond cheered obnoxiously.
"Why you-"
The fighting of the blues, however, paled in comparison to what was occurring up above. Two black haired, green clad children crashed their fists against each other so ferociously, sparks issued forth with each respective contact.
"Try to keep up, Buttercup!" the boy, who's spiky hair reflected his hyperactive personality. "I bet ya can't hit me! Hehehehe!"
"The knuckle sandwich I give you is going to be extra special today!" the girl replied. Her bob style haircut and hard edged, light green eyes also gave no room for interpretation. She was a fighter. And a damn good one to boot.
Unfortunately, so was her respective counterpart. He dodged one strike, kneed her in the stomach and brought down a merciless blow against her back.
With an almighty *boom, she hit the ground and a crater twice her size formed an imprint in the soft, impressionable grass. The boy chased after her but the Toughest Fighter wasn't about to be outdone. Launching herself back in the air, she struck out with an almighty kick, the heel of her Mary Jane shoe striking hard against his cheek.
Though he was sent crashing face first into the dirt, the crazed little boy soon was back on his feet with an equally crazed grin.
"Got another one in ya?" he taunted, spitting a piece of mud from the side of his mouth.
"For you, Butch? I always have time to kick your butt up and down the street."
Practically twitching with excitement this only seemed to encourage the green lad even more as his forest green eyes glinted maliciously. He began beating his chest like a gorilla and launched himself forward with an apelike roar.
"Yeah that's right, attack like the stupid monkey you are!" the girl growled.
And just like that they were back at it.
Of course, nothing compared to the rivalry of the reds. Well, actually, one was pink but it made no difference to anyone observing them. The boy, attired in a backwards baseball cap of the same color with fiery orange hair zoomed across the park grinning evilly at the little girl with equally fiery orange hair in a pink dress and bright red bow chasing after him.
Then without warning he abruptly stopped in midair. The girl tried to slow down but couldn't put on the brakes in time as her counterpart seized her by the hair, tossed her around three times like a ragdoll and sent her hurtling into a hot dog vendor.
He lowered himself down over her sprawled out form, laughing obnoxiously but became too distracted by his own minor victory as the girl sprang up, took a fist full of hair and slammed him backwards.
"OW! That was a cheap shot, woman!"
"As I recall, you cheap shotted me first...unless you want to make hair pulling off limits?" she said coolly.
Smoking began emanating from the boy's head who growled savagely. Several hot dogs began spontaneously bursting into flame.
"Rules are for sissies, Puff. I don't hold back!"
"Have it your way, then."
The boy flew forward but the so aptly named 'Commander and Leader' stepped aside in a ruse, clevely tripping the boy on the edge of her black Mary Janes. This only served to enrage him further.
"Come on, Brick. This is low, even for you guys."
"And you're just interrupting our fun as always!"
"Fun? Butch gave a dozen kids wedgies, Boomer peed in the fountain and you ended up robbing and eating the entire stock from the ice cream van."
The rude little boy belched loudly, clearly not sorry about any of their misdeeds.
"Like I said, ya can't stop a good thing, babe."
"Well we're stopping it now," she said with a firm resounding tone of finality in her voice.
"You've been saying that since we were five and you haven't yet," he sneered back. "And I doubt today is any different."
"Do you even care about all the trouble you cause? About anything beyond being an enormous jerk? Do you even think?"
The redheaded boy snarled in pure unadulterated rage and reared back his hands.
"Some just like to heat things up!"
He issued a fire blast which was countered by a huge ice breath from his counterpart. Neither gave any ground until the force from the two elements caused an explosion. Both emerged from the smoke engaging in hand to hand combat.
"There is one thing I care about," he said dodging multiple kicks and punches. "And that's being better than you."
"Fat chance, Brick," the girl sassed. "As far as I'm concerned, you're no better than anyone."
She aimed another punch and missed, landed a kick to the side which landed, but her hand was caught in the next strike. Crimson eyes blazed into diamond pink ones with such fury and determination it was a wonder they weren't actually on fire.
"But I will be," he almost whispered. "One day, Blossom Utonium...you'll see what I can really do."
He gave a wicked grin and fired off a blast of heat vision so powerful it drove her back into the concrete sidewalk.
"Come on, guys!" the redheaded boy commanded. "This place is lame. Let's get out of here."
Both of his brothers obeyed without question, zipping into the air, leaving a trail of red, green, and blue in their wake. For the Powerpuff Girls it was yet another disappointment.
Another day, another battle with their male counterparts.
Another stalemate.
Buttercup was in a particularly foul mood upon their return home. Upon entering the foyer, she kicked off her Mary Janes so violently it created a dent in the drywall.
"Oops."
"Buttercup, will you please try to control yourself?" Blossom admonished her. "Your sensei taught you better than that."
"My sensei doesn't have to deal with stupid, obnoxious boys every other day!" Buttercup hissed back.
"I admit they're really annoying sometimes," her older sister acknowledged, rubbing the spot where Brick had struck her shoulder. "But they don't seem overly concerned with anything except being delinquents."
One day, Blossom Utonium...you'll see what I can really do
No, best not to think about those words. Brick always tried to get under her skin in unsettling ways.
"Delinquents whom we've never been able to stick inside a jail cell," Buttercup said furiously.
"What's the big deal?" Bubbles asked, checking herself for any additional injuries they might have sustained. Chemical X did wonders for the body but even minor injuries took a few hours to heal most of the time. "We don't always catch everyone."
"Yeah but unlike other villains we can't seem to catch them at all!"
The green Puff gave a huff and plopped herself down on the couch in the living room, still muttering underneath her breath. Blossom thought she could hear some of those 'bad words' the Professor told them not to use many years ago but chose to ignore that for now.
Bubbles plopped down next to her sister and tried to use one her trademark attempts at positivity.
"Aw, come on Buttercup. It's okay. We stopped them from ruining the park, didn't we?"
"Easy for you to say. You think your counterpart is cute. Which is why you go easy on him."
"I do not go easy on him!" Bubbles replied, indignantly crossing her arms. "Even if he is cute!"
"Don't blame Bubbles for our problems with the boys. You allow Butch to get inside your head all the time. It affects the way we deal with them as a group," Blossom wisely pointed out. Buttercup shot up from the couch, lime green eyes flashing dangerously.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly, what I said, Buttercup. The only way for us to even have a shot at capturing them is by working together. They may be physically stronger but we can outwit them any day of the week. When you go after Butch by yourself, it compromises everything."
The Toughest Fighter's expression turned to raw fury.
"Oh yeah? For all of your so-called 'wisdom'," she mocked using quotation marks. "You sure get outsmarted by Brick a lot."
It was Blossom's turn to become outraged.
"What?!"
"Yeah! Who's bright idea was it to kiss them when instead it made them bigger and more powerful?!"
"I didn't know that at the time! None of us did! Besides that was Him who made our kisses useless!"
"Oh, yeah? Well how about the time we tried using Bubbles as a decoy after catching Boomer and they ended up escaping?"
"Hey! That would have worked if she hadn't fired off a snot rocket that broke the containment ray!"
"Blossom, I thought you were on my side!"
The arguing persisted nonstop and threatened to devolve further until the timely arrival of their father and creator Professor Robert Utonium. Donning his usual lab coat, black tie and crew cut, he had likely emerged from an experiment of some sort in his lab. Though used to the occasional squabbling among his daughters, seeing them argue this intensely required intervention.
"Girls! Girls! What is going on here? Why all the fuss?"
More shouting and talking over each other followed before he again had to cut in between them.
"One at a time!" he said a bit more forcefully this time. "Now, tell me. What's gotten you so riled up?"
Only the firm yet soothing words of their father had the ability to calm them down. As always, Blossom went first.
"It's the Rowdyruff Boys again," she said with a sigh. "We just…" It was a rare sight to see her flustered. "...we don't understand them at all."
Surprisingly, the Professor chuckled as he gestured for his daughters to gather around on the couch. They were too big now to all fit on his lap (Bubbles still enjoyed snuggling up against his chest) but they paid close attention all the same.
"Girls, the last thing you need to worry about is understanding little boys."
"But Professor, how come we can never beat them?" Bubbles asked innocently.
"Well logically speaking, honey it makes sense. They are your male counterparts after all. They have the same powers, strength, durability, and superhuman speed as you do...with a few differences give and take. But the point is, like it or not, they're the only humans on earth besides you with Chemical X running through their veins. It makes them unique opponents and much more challenging than say the Gangreen Gang or Fuzzy Lumpkins."
"So what?" Buttercup grumbled. "This has been going on for three years. I still say we should have kicked their butts and thrown them in the slammer by now. They're no good and rotten to the core."
It was the Professor's turn to sigh. Blossom noticed a pang of what looked like regret, even guilt, pass over his normally good natured features.
"Girls, someday you'll learn that not everything is as it seems. The Rowdyruff Boys may be mean spirited and difficult to handle. But they are human, nonetheless."
"You make it sound like they're not inherently evil."
"Very few things are in the beginning," the Professor pointed out. "Even Mojo Jojo was a mere lab assistant before he went bad. The point is girls, when I created you I immediately surrounded you with the best love and care I could provide as a father. I can't imagine the boys were given the same."
"You mean...they're jealous?" Blossom asked, incredulously.
"It wouldn't surprise me, even if they don't know it themselves. Ask yourselves, do they have parents? Homes? Schooling? A proper demonstration of right and wrong?"
No one answered that question. No one needed to.
"Trust me girls, you're doing just fine. The city adores you three and the mayor's ratings wouldn't be anywhere close to where they are without the Powerpuff Girls," he added with a small bit of dad humor. "But more importantly, you're all wonderful people and I couldn't be prouder."
He tapped Bubbles on the nose who couldn't resist a giggle.
"Just remember one thing: don't let villains get you down. Always allow the capacity for people to surprise you in positive ways. Okay?"
"Yes, Professor."
"Good!" he said, clapping his hands together. "Now, I think you girls deserve a treat tonight. A special dinner."
"Please tell me it isn't liver and onions," Buttercup groaned, sticking out her tongue.
"Not this time," their father said with a wink. "I'll be making pork chops, macaroni and cheese with cinnamon apples. Your favorites."
That immediately perked up the girls' respective moods.
"Thank you, Professor! Thank you, thank you!"
"Of course. Consider it an early present for your eighth birthday...my how time flies. You can even help me make it."
"Yay!"
The four made their way to the kitchen to begin the meal prep. One happy household.
One beautiful family.
Over at an abandoned playground in the north side of town, the Rowdyruff Boys were enjoying themselves with the usual assortment of gags and antics.
"HAHA! Did you guys see the look on Buttercup's face when I drove her into the dirt?" Butch laughed hysterically as he sat on top of the slide. "I thought she was going to explode. Literally!"
"Pfff, sometimes I think you rile her up for the sake of riling her up," Brick waved off with a dismissive hand.
"And? If it gets me a good fight, why not?" the green Ruff said with excitement once again, eye twitching ever so slightly.
"Whatever, dude. You got problems if you're trying to tick her off on purpose."
"Yeah, what's up with that? OW!"
Butch laser eyed Boomer from above in revenge.
"Oh shaddap, it's not like that actually hurt you."
"Lay off, Butch," Brick said, which surprised both his brothers. He usually took Butch's side whenever picking on Boomer was involved. "At least dumb and dumber over here got a pretty nice hit with his bat."
"Tch, whatever. And you think I'm obsessed with my counterpart."
The redhead's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean by that?"
"All your stupid chatter to Blossom all day long. I'm going to be better than you Blossom. You're going to pay, Blossom."
Butch's snickering and mockery went too far as Brick suddenly socked him in the face and hard.
"Dude! What's your problem?!"
"Keep your mouth shut about what I say to that stupid, lame-o powerpuff. Especially if you like your jaw in place."
"Whatever."
Boomer watched his brothers cautiously hoping he wouldn't have to break up a scrum. Usually it was the other way around with Brick intervening him and Butch. But thankfully, the middle sibling didn't raise a ruckus over it. Impulsive as he might be, he was smart enough not to push their leader too far.
Suddenly, Brick changed the subject and pulled out a tiny white object, grinning devilishly.
"Hey, guys! Check it out!"
"Where'd you get that?" Boomer asked.
"Stole it from the last gas station we robbed," he practically bragged. "Watch this!"
He lit the lighter underneath the seat of his pants and farted so loudly a stream of fire ten feet long came out the other end. His brothers laughed like a pack of drunken hyenas.
"Wait! Wait!" Butch twitched with excitement. "I got one better."
The green clad Ruff was sitting at the top of a large tubular slide while Boomer sat at the bottom. Chugging a (likely) stolen root beer, Butch belched with such force, it sent his younger brother flying backwards onto the woodchips. Again, wild laughter ensued.
"Oh man, you shoulda seen the look on your face!"
Not to be outdone by his brothers, Boomer puffed himself up and pointed towards one of the cars on the side street.
"Well watch this then!"
The blond really took his time in swirling around the ball of snot, coated by a thick layer of saliva, savoring the salty juices before hucking a loogie so large and so fast, it busted straight through the glass through the side window. Sure enough, the car alarm went off.
"Nice job, Boomer," Butch sassed. "Now the cops are gonna show up."
"Meh, no one patrols this side of town anyway," Brick said with a casual shrug. "Besides, it was a nice loogie. Super spitter as always."
Boomer chuckled, clearly proud of himself. Until his stomach gave a creaky rumble.
"Uh, bro I'm hungry."
"I can see that or rather I can hear it moron," Brick replied, his complimentary mood all but gone. "We're all hungry. We'll steal some food like usual."
Boomer nodded but then settled his gaze on the row of houses across the street. True, some of them were not well kept- weeds sprouting on the lawn, wood rotting, rusty screen doors- but they were homes nonetheless. People lived there with enough money to keep a roof over their heads and food to eat. It suddenly occurred to the blond that he and his brothers had neither of those things.
"Brick, do you think someday we...won't have to steal anymore?"
Both of his brothers gave him sharp looks.
"Whadya mean? Why wouldn't we steal it? That's what makes it fun!" Butch said dismissively.
"I'm just saying...we don't really do nothin besides graffiti stuff, steal stuff, and blow stuff up...and fight the Powerpuff Girls."
"Idiot!" Brick sneered. "Of course we do those things. That's the rule of being a Rowdyruff boy. We're bad."
Are we though?
Boomer usually didn't question his older brother's declarations or whims. But this time he couldn't help but feel something was off.
"I didn't know there was a rule or nothin," he said, scratching his head, which was promptly smacked by Brick. "OW!"
"I'm making it a rule. Get your head out of the clouds, Boomer. You can barely walk on two legs as it is."
Rubbing his cranium, the blond resisted the urge to cry. After all, Rowdyruff Boys didn't cry like a bunch of sissy girls even if he did despise Brick's cruelty sometimes. But he couldn't help but look up at said clouds again. They were dark and overcast.
"Okay, well uh...can we at least find some cover?"
"Why?" Butch asked with a casual shrug of the shoulder.
"I think it's about to-"
*CLAP *BOOM
"...rain."
It came suddenly and heavily as a downpour quickly drenched the little boys.
"Come on! Get in the slide!" Brick ordered.
There was no place to take cover other than the twisting plastic contraption. Each of them found their own little space within the tunnel but there were no jokes to be had this time, no expression of pride in being a Rowdyruff Boy.
They were on their own. For better or worse.
Boomer tried to sleep against the backdrop of heavy rain and that car alarm. Brick had been right, no one bothered to shut it off.
"Oh for the love of!"
A quick burst of heat vision from Brick and the car exploded in a ball of flame.
Overall it was the worst eighth birthday ever...if they even bothered to celebrate.
Alrighty, let's see how this goes for a start. Though there's no doubt the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys were created at different times, I head canon it wasn't too far away from each other given Mojo created the boys in Season 1, which is not too far from the beginning of the series. Honestly, the boys just kind of 'picked' a time and stick with it even if they don't really acknowledge it much.
Leave a review! Updates will be regular!
~The Wasp