June

Because a beach chapter is always needed.

Boomer hated the difficulty that summer brought.

No wind to save you from melting into a puddle. Lots of bugs clinging to you for no reason but to make you suffer. The sweat. Chemical X could do a lot of things, but one thing it couldn't do for Boomer was let him live normally whenever the sun decided to shine more than usual.

"I want to set a fire," Brick said from his place on the couch. There were fans and air conditioners all over the living room: in front of each of the boys, the ceiling, a good two or three stuck within windows. Yet still, they weren't enough. One would think Mojo Jojo would implement a good air system, being a genius and all, but the monkey was always more focused on the destruction of the Powerpuff Girls and the city of Townsville rather than his family's and his own living environment.

Weakly, Boomer sat up from the other end of the couch to look at his oldest brother. Trickles of sweat ran down Brick's forehead into the corners of his eyes. Gross. "Brick…" Boomer started, wiping at his own face like a windshield wiper. "Bro. No."

"Yeah, I'm usually one for destruction, but it's way too hot for that," Butch agreed from his place on the floor. "Can you wait until January again at least? It wasn't bad back then."

Brick groaned—and wow, he sounded just like his younger brothers when they could not get their way, and it was almost funny. Boomer would have died laughing if it weren't so damn hot.

"It feels like the inside of HIM's balls," Brick growled. He threw his cap to the ground and quickly tied his long, thick hair up into a messy high bun. It looked like it would escape the hair tie in any second. "Fuck it. We're going to the beach. I can not do this anymore."

Boomer grimaced. "Ugh, why would you make that disgusting ass comparison, though?" he couldn't help but ask, combing his hand through his ridiculously poofy hair. Seriously, humidity was never good for his blonde locks; he probably looked like a poodle.

"…Are you imaging HIM's balls right now, Boom?" Boomer could hear the smirk in Butch's voice.

"What? NO!" Boomer shouted, and Butch immediately began snickering. Boomer was close to taking the extra energy to blast Butch across a couple of continents. If it were a degree lower than what it was now, he would have.

"He totally is." Butch cleared his throat, then shouted at the highest volume known to man. "HIM'S BALLS, HIM'S BALLS, HIM'S BALLS—"

Boomer looked to Brick for help—maybe the redhead was just as annoyed at Butch's teasing as he was—but all Brick did was let out a singular laugh. The favoritism.

"Ugh, fuck off!" Boomer yelled, throwing one of the couch pillows directly at Butch's face.

The pillow stuck onto Butch until he swiped it off. It was covered in so much sweat just from his forehead, it looked like it would leak if one were to pick it up from the ground and give it a squeeze. That one got a good wheeze out of Brick.

Butch flew up to Boomer, a crazed smile on his face, charging a fist back. "You fucker—" he said, forest green energy vibrating in the air.

Before the two could get into a fight that would have probably set the whole place on fire, Brick got in between them. Arms out, he turned and gave each of them a hard stare that spoke a thousand words. "Settle down Thing One and Thing Two," he said. A smirk grew on his face when he saw his younger brothers glare at him for the nickname. "Now, now, let's not get mad at the better brother."

"Better brother?" Butch scoffed.

Boomer snorted. "As if."

"Not with that face."

"Or your crappy attitude."

"Or your lame ass hat. Like, please grow up and let that shit go—"

Without warning, Brick hit the two in the back of their heads, just enough to give Boomer a headache that probably wouldn't go away for the next couple of hours. Butch's grin was wide, but his eyes shook, probably trying to keep up with the pain.

Satisfied with his damage, Brick stuffed his hands in the pockets of his shorts and began flying to their room. "Now c'mon," he called to them. "Let's get ready for a beach day."

It was no surprise that the Townsville beach area was packed to the brim with civilians and tourists. The blazing sun in the sky refused to settle down, but at least Boomer didn't have to worry about it for too long. Hot sand squeezed its way in his sandals and underneath his feet with every step he took. It was either that or get more exhausted from flying, which unfortunately ate up a bit of his energy. So, temporary sandy sacrifice it was.

The boys set down their towels toward the far-right end of the beach where there were significantly fewer civilians around. Boomer wiped a bead of sweat away from his brow, then slipped off his sandals. It seemed like the more he stood outside, the more the heat scorched his entire being.

The water looked nice and cold, even from a distance. Boomer remembered how characters in a cartoon would look at bodies of water like it was the best thing in the entire world when they were dry and thirsty. He didn't get it at first, but now, staring off at the water, he could see just how much it sparkled, even though he knew deep down that it wasn't really like that.

A spark of forest green energy sped through the sand. Butch's feet tapped on the ground, first slow, then picking up speed. "Race you guys! Readysetgo!" Suddenly, he zoomed off towards the water.

Brick didn't say a word. He adjusted the red visor on his head, then flew off to try and reach Butch, a fire red streak following close behind him.

Boomer blinked, then processed what was happening. He could feel a spark of energy run through his legs as he blasted off, quickly trying to catch up to his brothers. "No fair!"

Boomer's hand moved before he could even think properly, gripping onto his brothers' ankles and using them to propel himself forward enough to at least be neck-and-neck with them. He heard Brick growl and Butch huff, and he couldn't help but smirk. Cheating was morally wrong, sure, but damn did it have its perks.

The three fell into the water at the same time, not that it mattered. For once, it was less about the race and more about rewarding themselves. There would be other chances to fight about who won what, but for this time and perhaps this time only, they had all won.

The water was even better than what it looked like from afar. "Finally! Cool water!" Boomer lied on his back to settle to a gentle float. He closed his eyes and let his muscles relax. He felt all the heat let go, and a comfortable warmth spread through his body.

"Hot babes!" Butch shouted. Even though Boomer couldn't see, he was sure many females were either giving his brother a look of disgust or pretending he didn't exist at all. Good for them, truly.

Suddenly, the water grew hotter, then even hotter. Boomer felt like he was melting all over again. At first, he thought it was the sun deciding to play him for a fool, but once he could feel a familiar red hot energy circling his back, he knew it had to be Brick.

His leader was quiet at first. Then. "Powerpuff Girls," Brick said through gritted teeth.

That was… a weird response. It was completely out of place. Boomer opened one of his eyes and looked at Brick. "We're saying things that are gonna be good today, not things that could be bad. Why'd ya bring the girls up?" He knew his brother had a strange infatuation with making them mad, specifically Blossom, but he didn't know his brother had gone that far off the deep end. Must be the heat or something. "You know, stressing about them is not good for your blood pressure. Mojo said you have to chill on that. High blood pressure is a serious problem that runs in our family, bro."

Brick looked a bit offended. Understandable. He never liked it when people explained stuff to him, even in those rare moments where he needed the explanation. His egotistical view on his intellect was a sight to behold.

"I know, idiot," Brick said quietly, and the water around him began to bubble and boil. "I was giving an observation, not a complaint. Look to your right, both of you. And don't make it obvious."

Boomer stood up and took a quick peek as instructed, but of course, that was easier said than done for the middle child. Butch's head literally snapped to the right, and because fate just loved being a bitch, he locked eyes with his counterpart. To make matters worse, Butch wiggled his eyebrows at her and grew a cheeky grin before sending a wave of water in her direction. Butch's strength went a bit overboard, and the wave of water that was meant just for Buttercup landed on all of the Powerpuffs, along with some other unfortunate bystanders.

Buttercup's face settled into her usual scowl as the water splashed over herself and her sisters. As she exhaled, water escaped her mouth. It looked like there was some seaweed in there as well. Yuck.

"You," Buttercup growled at Butch.

Before Buttercup could move an inch, Blossom grabbed her younger sister by her swimsuit's shoulder strap. "Nope, not today," she said, pulling her back. "You two already messed up that slide at the park. I refuse for another incident to happen. I do not need the Mayor and Professor on our butts again because of these stupid, petty fights."

"Let me at him! Please let me at him!" Buttercup looked like a hawk just waiting to pounce on her prey. "I'll legit pay you to let me get one hit. Just one!"

Bubbles made sure to avoid her wild sibling as she stood behind Blossom, wringing her long auburn hair dry. "That sounds tempting… We should go for it," she said, letting out a little giggle.

Butch barked out a laugh. "Sugar's on the right track!"

That infuriating fucking nickname. Boomer bit the inside of his cheek to avoid commenting on it. If he didn't know better, he'd think that the heat from outdoors was coming from his anger alone.

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with her," Butch continued, and he cracked his knuckles, a bit of forest green energy escaping him. "Let's go for it!"

Blossom, however, did not look amused. If anything, she looked distraught. "Bubbles!" Her voice raised in pitch, and it sounded similar to a teacher seeing a student talking when they shouldn't have been. "How could you even think to suggest something so barbaric?"

If Bubbles felt bad, she didn't show it at all. "What?" she asked, reaching to remove something that was stuck in Buttercup's hair. "I need to stack up on more sewing supplies, and money doesn't grow on trees. Nothing they can do is as bad as what they did to that park slide, Bloss. I say we just let this one play out and hope for the best."

Boomer let out a quiet laugh from his nose. Bubbles caught his eye and after she shook some of the water from her hair, she gave him a small, sneaky smile. He felt his cheeks heat up, and his eyes immediately snapped to the water below. Suddenly it was even hotter. Maybe Brick should cool down a bit; the heat was messing with his brain.

"Doesn't matter," Boomer heard Blossom say. "Potential money or not, this fight will not happen, and that is final."

"Aww," Bubbles and Buttercup whined in unison.

Butch let out an exaggerated sigh that seemed to go on for a minute. Maybe more than that. "Leaders always ruin everything."

Boomer looked up to see Buttercup nod her head. "They really do," she said.

"Why haven't we started a war against them?"

"Honestly? I don't know. If things progress any farther, we might have to overrule them."

"I'd be willing to put our differences aside just to do that. This has gone too far."

"Way too far."

Blossom rolled her eyes, then looked over to her counterpart. "Hello again, Brick. I see you and your brothers decided to have a day at the beach as well. How nice," she said, and there was some bite hidden within her slight bark.

It was almost funny how Brick's expression changed from a deep frown to a smirk. When it came to Blossom, Brick would never stop looking like a cocky bastard who was having fun, even though he (apparently) hated her guts. "Pinky. A pleasure to see you as well. You can never get enough of me, can you?" Brick asked.

Blossom laughed, and it almost sounded genuine. Almost. "Don't flatter yourself," she said, staring down at the water that continued to boil. "Must you do that? You know as good as anyone that it's way too hot to deal with your little anger issues today. Have you thought about waiting until January when this would be more beneficial? Your blood pressure can't handle this, I'm sure. Mojo said—"

"I don't have anger issues and I don't have blood pressure issues!" Brick shouted way louder than what was necessary because of course, he had anger issues and blood pressure issues. "And why'd you come over here, hm? You could've minded your business. Could've even used your ice to cool me down and balance me out." He crossed his arms. "Lemme guess, you're looking for another competition?"

Blossom scoffed, unfazed. "I don't waste my powers on idiocy, and you know better than anyone that I don't like my time wasted. We've done these silly competitions for years and they always end up the same. Either we win, or you guys do." She tucked a loose, wet strand of her hair behind her ear. "There's no point, no gain. Only mindless actions."

"You're only saying that because you guys are in the lead by two wins—"

"I thought it was three wins now," Boomer couldn't help but correct. Pissing off Brick was one of his top three favorite activities; no matter what mood he was in, an angry Brick by his hand always made his day just a little bit better. "You definitely threw that bowling match we had last week."

Pissing off Brick was Butch's favorite activity in general. "Yeah, Gutter Boy," Butch snickered out. "You should get a medal for how bad you were."

Brick didn't turn around to hit them, but the stiffness of his shoulders indicated that he would as soon as they got home. "Three wins," Brick said through gritted teeth. "But, to appease the 'nicest' of them all, let's make things interesting this time."

"To appease me. Blossom Utonium. The girl you quote, unquote, 'Don't give a rat's ass about.'" Blossom's eyebrow rose. "You should leave the jokes to Butch; at least he's funny sometimes."

"Yeah!" Butch shouted, looking smug. Then, after he processed her words, he said, "Wait, only sometimes? But I strive to be funny all the time!"

Brick held his composure, but Boomer could tell that his leader wanted to laugh at Butch's expense. "I'm serious," Brick said, keeping his eyes on Blossom. "Just think. We can switch things up today. Make it so that it's really hard to win."

Boomer didn't know why, but he didn't like the sound of something like that. Brick's brain worked in the most wicked of ways. Whatever he was thinking, it was bound to cause internal destruction or a fire, and neither sounded like a good thing to deal with.

Blossom let out a hum of interest. "You know what? Fine. I'll humor you, but only for a bit."

"Humor him?" Buttercup held a pout on her face that just screamed 'baby,' not that Boomer had the balls to tease her about it. "Screw that! Can we just leave already? I don't know how long I can lower my urges to kick their butts," she said, keeping her focus on Butch.

Butch blew some air out of his nose. "Not if we kick yours first." He grew a cheeky smile. "Yours is a pretty big butt, Buttercup, so it'd be hard to miss."

Buttercup's cheeks turned a bright red. "You stupid bit—" she started.

"Quiet!" Brick snapped. Butch smacked his teeth and Buttercup let out a growl, but otherwise, they listened. "Now everyone, hear me out before we start thinking about ways to kill each other."

"Too late for that," Buttercup not-so-subtly stated in a not-so-quiet whisper.

Brick chose to ignore her. "Instead of resulting to petty violence, let's play a game, counterpart style."

Boomer didn't like the sound of that already. Maybe he heard wrong. "Counterpart style?" he asked.

"That's what I said, doofus. Keep up." Before Boomer could come up with a reply that would have surely resulted in the beat down of a lifetime, Brick continued speaking. "What're you thinking, Pinky? Good idea, right? I know. I'm known for my good ideas."

"So, instead of a three-on-three battle, it would be three pairs of two against each other overall based off of counterparts?" When Brick nodded in confirmation, Blossom's lip twisted. "And why would we ever agree to do something as potentially chaotic as that? That's like making Tweety Bird and Sylvester join hands and sing campfire songs."

It was scary how fast Brick's brain worked. He already had reasons when he just made up the overall idea. "Lots of reasons. There's less of a chance of an all-out war breaking out on the beach, which allows civilians to be safer. We can learn the power of friendship and teamwork, or whatever fairy bullshit sounds the prettiest. And most importantly, it's an actual challenge for all of us. Unless…" Brick's smirk grew. "You aren't up for a challenge? It's okay. I'll understand. These types of things can be harmful to the brain."

Hook, line, and sinker. Those last words seemed to have caught Blossom right where Brick wanted her. Boomer thought that out of the three Powerpuff Girls, Blossom was the most expressive. She wore any emotion she had clearly on her face, unafraid to show the world how she was always feeling. She was incredibly brave for doing something like that.

Buttercup took one look at Blossom's face and groaned. "Oh no. No, no, no. Please don't tell me you're considering."

"Yup, she's definitely considering," Bubbles spoke up, and Boomer would have forgotten she was here if she had just kept quiet. But that would have been too much of a blessing after the world decided to throw massive fuck-you-bombs at him.

Boomer couldn't help but look in her direction again. She wore her poofy hair in a low ponytail, a rare occurrence, but it fit her round face. Cute. The word zipped through his brain, and he tried desperately to shove it away. It did not work.

Bubbles looked at her oldest sister, her eyes bearing a hint of worry. Cute, cute, cute. "We don't have to do this, you know," she said in a low voice. "If you think it'll turn out bad, or if you're uncomfortable, then—"

"No. I think I like the idea actually. Change might do us some good." Blossom glanced over towards the boys, and Boomer could have sworn she stared directly into his eyes for a split second longer than with the others, a small smile on her face. But before he could think more about it, her attention was back on Brick. "Alright. We accept your challenge."

Buttercup did not look pleased. "Ah, c'mon!" she whined, voice higher than usual. "This isn't fair! You know I can't work with Butch; he's a complete piece of—"

"Buttercup." Blossom's voice was stern. "Stop."

Buttercup's face turned red and her body trembled, but she stopped talking. One more interruption and she might explode like a volcano.

The younger Rowdyruff brothers didn't even think to try and open their mouths. They had already tested Brick enough with their comments on his bowling skills (or, well, lack thereof). Brick would have slapped them into Hell if they uttered another word, and nobody wanted to see HIM during the summer. That was like asking for death itself, and Boomer had experienced that shit one time too many to want to go through that again.

Blossom's eyes flicked from her younger sisters to Brick. "What type of challenge were you thinking?"

"Glad you asked." Boomer knew that Brick was stalling by the way his red eyes darted around the area. But Brick was always good at bullshitting when he put his mind to it. He looked at the sand, and his eyes brightened slightly. "A simple sandcastle competition will suffice. Best sandcastle wins," he said smoothly as if he always had the idea in the first place.

If Blossom caught on to Brick's bullshitting skills—which, knowing Blossom, she had—she did not say it. "Judges? It can't be us; we have to avoid any bias."

Brick shrugged. "I don't know. We'll drag a random kid over here or something."

"We'll ask a kid."

"Same thing, different method. Mine would work faster, just saying."

Blossom did not look pleased, but she dropped the subject. "Time limits?" she asked instead.

"A generous forty-five minutes should be okay."

"And only items that are within the beach area can be used."

"I agree. Any objections so far?"

Both Buttercup and Boomer opened their mouths—Boomer himself didn't know what he would have said other than, "I object to this whole fucking competition."—but the combination of fire red and flaming pink energy made them shut up. Boomer was beginning to think that the war against the leaders was an amazing idea.

"Great." With a calm, innocent smile, Blossom nodded her head, then glanced at everybody else. "Do any of you have additional rules or ideas we can potentially add?"

Butch grew a sly grin, then opened his mouth to speak.

"Appropriate ones," Brick stressed, giving Butch a pointed glare. "'Before Pinky gets on my case, and I get on yours."

Butch thought, then closed his mouth and crossed his arms. "Guess not," he grumbled. Buttercup snickered at his expense.

"Alright. Everything's all set, then. We should start now before these rowdy beasts tear each other to shreds." Blossom looked at her sisters, and her smile widened a bit. "Play nice, girls. I know you're both going to do great."

Bubbles nodded. "Okay!"

Buttercup scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Whatever."

Blossom gestured Brick with a singular finger. "Come on, let's get to it," she said, walking towards the sand. "I know you're ecstatic to work with me; that's why you proposed the idea in the first place."

The water began to boil again, though it wasn't as hot as earlier. "Don't tell me what to do," Brick grumbled. Still, he followed her without another complaint nor denial to the "ecstatic" comment (which Boomer planned to bring up later, just to be the piece of shit he was meant to be).

Butch and Buttercup didn't say anything to each other. Buttercup glared while Butch smirked, lime and forest green eyes engaged in a battle no outsider would ever understand. It must have ended in some sort of tie because after a while, the two let out a huff and headed off to another section of the beach to begin working.

"Hey."

Boomer felt his entire body grow hot at her small greeting. As always, Bubbles sounded happy. Her voice settled at the perfect pitch and it made his stomach whirl.

"H-Hey," he said, and he debated if he should sink in the water for a bit, just to cool down his burning cheeks.

"So." Bubbles walked towards him. She was still a bit taller than him, though it was beginning to get more noticeable. He hated to think about it, but he was sure that by next summer, she would officially be taller than him, and there'd be no way he could bullshit a reason. Curse his toilet-created genes. "What do you think we should do?"

She fiddled with her swimsuit's skirt, which was a layer of white ruffles that lied just above her smooth tanned legs. Wow, now that he saw them, she had really nice legs. They were chubby and cute and—

Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Boomer's eyes looked up, just past her shoulder. His mouth felt like a desert. He knew it still would have been like that, even in the coldest temperatures.

"Um," he started. He swallowed and felt his sandy spit hit the pit of his stomach. "Anything."

"Okay…" She sounded a bit confused, but she still began to take flight towards the sand. "Well, I was thinking we could use my pail and shovel to our advantage. I'm not the best at making stuff sturdy, but I think we can both do it if we try!"

"Yeah," Boomer said, nodding as he followed her and tried to shake his brain a little to let it get some ideas on how words should work. "Yeah. Cool. Let's, uh, do that."

She landed near cute pastel towels, sunscreen, and flip-flops. Definitely Powerpuff territory. She picked up her white shovel and pail, then landed a few ways off in the sand. "You scoop, and I mold?" she asked, handing him the supplies.

He nodded, gripping the items a bit tighter than needed to temporarily numb his quivering hands. "Sounds like a plan."

"And then we can use—"

"We don't have to talk to each other for this," Boomer interrupted. His voice sounded a bit harsh, and he didn't mean for it to sound like that. Then again, a Rowdyruff wasn't supposed to be nice. Bubbles couldn't be an exception to that. If it worked, then fuck it. "Just… Let's do whatever you wanna do. You're better at this shit anyway. I'll follow your lead," he said.

Slowly, the smile on her face faded. "Oh," she said quietly. Her eyes went from Boomer to the sand beneath them. "Okay. That's… That's cool."

That did not sound like it was cool to Bubbles at all. And even if it didn't sound like it was, it definitely didn't feel like it from the way her baby blue energy left a scorching burn on his skin. But she fell into silence and only used her hands to tell Boomer which area of sand looked best or when it was time to get a bit of water in the pail. So, it must have been cool enough.

This should have felt okay. Not overly nice or anything, but at the very least, it should have been comfortable. He had gotten rid of the problem before it started. He didn't have to subject himself to blushing cheeks and a flipping stomach. But all of this tense silence, the sizzle and pop of his skin, the stupid heat from the stupid sun did not make this okay at all.

(Boomer thought that this was excruciating in the worst way possible. He's died before, and yet, it feels like he's dying again.)

"Hey, you're cheating!" Boomer heard Butch shout, and to avoid whatever that hell he and Bubbles had going on, he turned to pay attention to their other siblings. Typically, their fights were stupid, but he could get a few laughs from them. Maybe the banter would prove to be just the thing he needed to get past this sandcastle contest.

Blossom was using her ice breath to create a few small ice structures. It was amazing how they didn't melt. Her ice powers seemed to grow stronger every summer. She held back a smile, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly. "How so?" she asked.

"You're using your powers!" Butch pointed at the ice structures.

"And my powers are within the beach area, are they not? Did we explicitly ban powers for this?" At the sound of no response, Blossom continued. "Exactly. Therefore, it's in my right. You should have proposed a no powers rule."

Butch blinked. His eye twitched. Suddenly, he stomped hard on the ground, and a bolt of green zoomed through the sand, landing right in the middle of Blossom's ice creations. They all cracked in half and fell on their sides.

Blossom turned to look at her destroyed creations. Turned back to Butch. Then to the destroyed creations again, then to Butch again. And then she just... froze.

For once, Brick looked the slightest bit concerned. Weird. "Uh, Pinky?"

"Give it a few." Buttercup's voice came from behind the sandcastle she and Butch had started, which seemed to look decent so far. It wasn't as detailed as Brick and Blossom's, even with the new lack of ice structures on the Reds' part, but the two toughest fighters were able to make it look better than whatever the hell Boomer was putting together with Bubbles. "Her brain's booting is all. She'll be back in, like, thirty seconds," Buttercup said.

Brick's eyebrows furrowed, but he didn't say a word. Actually, nobody spoke. Even with the combination of chatter and laughter in the background, the beach felt rather silent.

After a while, Blossom inhaled, then exhaled. "Why?" she hissed.

"Ah. There she is," Brick said. "Thirty seconds, just like you said."

"Told you," Buttercup said.

Butch's face was hilariously smug. "What? You said it best, Blossy. It was in my right," he said in a mocking tone.

Buttercup's face arose from behind the sandcastle. "Nice, dude." She gave Butch a nod of respect.

"Thanks. I'm pretty good at putting others in their place when needed."

"Don't push it, dipshit. Now come help me with this."

"You've got it, Butterbabe!" Butch gave a small salute, then headed back to work on his and Buttercup's sandcastle. Boomer was not surprised when Buttercup punched his brother's arm for the shitty nickname.

Boomer turned his attention to Blossom, whose face was redder than a tomato. The last time Boomer saw Blossom's face get that red was when Princess Toomanyfuckingbucks (or whatever the hell that girl's last name was) called her a garden gnome. That was a fair reaction then, and it was a fair reaction now. Butch was a master at pissing people off to the highest degree, even the one who was supposed to be the nicest of all.

"How infuriating," Blossom said. Boomer had the strange suspicion that there was way more Blossom wanted to say, most containing vulgar profanities that would be extreme, even to someone like him, but she was holding back. Being morally right seemed like such a fucking chore.

"Chill." Brick bumped his shoulder onto Blossom's. Gently. Boomer didn't know Brick could be gentle. "Butch was doing all of that on purpose to rile you up and distract you. Being a piece of shit is part of his blood. He came from a toilet, for fuck's sake."

"You also came from that toilet."

"I came from the cleanest part! Anyway, that's not important. Stop trying to shit on me."

"Seems like the aforementioned toilet already did that to you, but alright."

"Oh, har fucking har," Brick laughed sarcastically, choosing to ignore Blossom's terribly hidden giggles. "Now c'mon, let's get back to work. Besides, we can at least beat them."

Brick's eyes squinted a bit as he smiled with all his teeth in Boomer's direction. Boomer felt the sudden urge to punch each tooth out. His brother was doing this on purpose, presenting a challenge, but for what? For a stupid sandcastle competition? Brick didn't give a fuck about things like this, not really anyway. If he won, cool, and if he didn't, he'd say the whole thing was ridiculous.

So why the teeth?

(Boomer was probably overthinking. He always seemed to do that in the moments where he shouldn't. He should be more like Brick and think only when it was necessary. Or maybe he should be like Butch, who never seemed to think at all.)

With a quick huff, Boomer turned his attention to Bubbles, who was now glaring at the base she was creating. Surprisingly, it still didn't look good at all. It refused to stand straight, leaning more towards the left than it should have, and the little designs she tried to add to it did not look right.

Bubbles was one hell of an artist. Boomer knew that because he would see her artwork near Brick's during their school's art shows. He even heard her speak about one of her pieces, an abstract work of art that used scraps of clothing to create shapes of animals. He didn't really understand her reasoning for that piece, but he could understand that art was a passion of hers and she loved to do it. So, to see her failing at it was… Well, it didn't sit well with him.

(When Bubbles was upset, it didn't seem like anything in the world could sit well with him.)

The heat combined with the energy Bubbles let out did not mix. It made Boomer feel like he would explode. "Don't listen to Brick," he said to her, deciding to speak up just to calm her down. She was on edge. Understandable. He'd been there many times; there was no reason for him to ignore her now. "He's just an asshole who—"

"You're a hypocrite," Bubbles said.

Boomer blinked. Digested her words. Blinked again. "I. W-What?"

Bubbles didn't hesitate to repeat herself. "You're a hypocrite." Her hands still worked on their somewhat-sandcastle and she refused to meet his eye, though he could tell that she did not look happy.

Things started to make a bit more sense. Bubbles wasn't upset about what Brick said. She was upset at Boomer.

(Why did that fact make him want to punch himself in the face?)

"I promised to stop holding back, and I did this whole time," Bubbles continued. "Even when it was hard. Especially when it was hard. But then we come here, and you hold back on me instead. Why?" Her voice did not waiver and she did not shrink down like she would at other times.

Why? Boomer knew why deep down, somewhere he did not want to explore. Captain Spaceman himself avoided certain things in deep space. Boomer could do the same right here on Earth.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Boomer grumbled.

"Yes," Bubbles said, "you do."

Yes, he did. There was no way he could forget about their fight in that weird chamber, how even though he lost, he still felt pretty good. The pinky promise they made back in March was stuck in his head like glue, and even if he wanted to force it to go away, he knew that he wouldn't have been able to. But he couldn't tell her that.

"I'm not holding back!" Boomer argued. "I'm just…"

Bubbles stopped working, then turned and narrowed her eyes at him. If he looked carefully, he could see a fire hidden within the baby blue. "You're what, Boomer?"

Boomer would have loved more than anything to know. But nothing made sense when he was around her, not his blushing cheeks, not his numb hands, and definitely not the thoughts he had deep down. "It's nothing," he said instead. "Can we just build this stupid sandcastle now? We're wasting time by talking."

Her lip settled to a stubborn frown. "You know what? No, we can't. If we can't talk, then we can't do this."

Oh, great. Now she was really mad at him, and not in the way she was mad at him when he said he was stupid or when they fought in that simulation thingy. No, this was actual anger, the one that burned his skin and made his stomach churn from her tone of voice alone.

(It hurt a lot, to know she was mad at him. Even if he tried to hide that, he couldn't deny it.)

"That's fucking dumb and you know it. We're gonna lose if you don't help, idiot," Boomer said.

Bubbles inhaled, visibly held her breath, then let it all go. He could hear tiny traces of a sonic scream just waiting to come out, but it never did. (She was holding back, too, the hypocrite.) "I don't care," she said, her voice airy. "Guess I'll be an idiot."

Something about the way Bubbles was so calm and collected made him want to punch something. (Not her. Don't punch her. Maybe a random person. He'd feel better if he could punch somebody he didn't know, somebody who felt like nothing.) She sounded like she really did not give a singular fuck about this. He knew she did. It was so obvious.

Still, if she was going to be a liar, then he would be one too. It was only fair, even if he was the liar who had started all of this.

"Well then I don't care either," he said, and he realized that it was strangely easy to say those words when he didn't mean them at all.

Bubbles only replied with a simple, "Fine." She turned toward the water, arms crossed and face held high as if she had won their little argument.

There was something so ironic about the word 'fine.' The more Boomer heard it circle his brain, the more he felt anything but fine. Still, it was the only word he could say. "Fine."

His blood screamed at him to run, to scream, to destroy, but he held back because he was supposed to be fine. He didn't tell her that he felt bad, that his heart stung a little doing this whole thing, because he was supposed to be fine. Fine, fine, fine. Everything was just…

"Fucking fine!" he yelled, throwing the shovel with as much force as he could. Sparks of yellow circled it, and when it landed on the opposite side of the beach, he could feel the energy explode on the ground. There were a few screams, but he didn't care. Everybody would be fine.

Bubbles would be fine.

Boomer would be fine.

Boomer was fine.

…Fine, Boomer was pissed off.

Sometimes, when Boomer got mad, his brain automatically shaped itself into something similar to an elevator. It always started at the fiftieth floor and moved down in a slow, steady pace. By the time it would reach the first floor, he'd be calm again. But now, it seemed to be stuck in the middle. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't push it down past the twenty-fifth floor.

That was fine. It didn't need to move. Fuck the elevator. Fuck the stupid beach. Fuck everything.

(He was not fine. But he would be soon. He just had to give it some time in silence, away from all thoughts, away from everyone, away from her.)

There were children laughing and friends shouting, but it all sounded like complete background noise to Boomer. He hugged his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs like a stubborn child who just got told no for the first time. His heart calmed a little but he could still feel his pulse strongly in the palms of his hands. Everything felt hot. Weird.

"Wrong," he muttered to himself. Yeah. Everything felt wrong.

"It's okay if it's something wrong, you know." Bubbles didn't raise her voice louder than a whisper, but her words entered Boomer's ears with strength. "And it's okay if you don't tell me. Just don't lie to me. I can feel it when you do it. You're just as bad at it as I am." She let out a quiet, bitter laugh. "Maybe even worse."

A part of him wanted to snap at her. He wasn't bad at lying. He was a fucking Rowdyruff Boy. They were supposed to be pros at lying. And she wasn't supposed to understand him. That just made things harder than they needed to be.

And yet, deep down, he knew that she did understand him, almost as much as he understood her. It was their destiny to be two sides of the same coin the moment he and his brothers emerged from that prison toilet years ago, and it would remain that way as long as Chemical X remained in their bodies.

(She was not him, and he was not her. But they completed one another.)

"And don't hold back on me. Please," Bubbles said, and her voice finally cracked. Still, she sounded so powerful, like she could move the entire universe with her words alone. "We made a promise. I don't break promises. I know you don't either."

Please. It was something about her saying that word that really got to him, so much that it made the pinky he used for their promise twitch. Maybe it was the way she said it without restraint, or maybe it was the way she looked at him with pleading eyes. Either way, Boomer knew that he didn't want to disappoint her.

(He never wanted to disappoint her.)

Boomer took in a deep and let his brain calm itself. His eyes traveled around the beach, searching for anything that could prove to be useful. Then, suddenly, an idea clicked. "I think we should use twigs, you know, for, like, stability," he said. "Little pebbles can help, too. And… And we should make a moat."

"A moat?" Bubbles asked.

Boomer nodded, and for the first time today, he met her eye and didn't back down. If he was going to do this, push the weird feelings pulsing through him aside to the corners of his mind, he'd at least do it while facing her like she faced him: with courage. He would not back down in front of her.

"The biggest moat to ever moat," Boomer said. He hoped she could see in between his words. He hoped she knew that somewhere hidden within his ideas, he was saying "sorry" using his own stupidly complex method.

Bubbles stared at him in a way that reminded him of Blossom: analytical, but with a tiny hint of care. Before he could think too much about it, her eyes brightened. For a moment, he could have sworn that she was a literal flower, the way her face bloomed into a brilliant smile. "We can add seashells, too!" she suggested. "You know. For decoration."

Boomer felt his brain land at the bottom floor of the elevator, and he could feel himself grinning. "Yeah. I like that." His eyes focused on Townsville's Tower Clock from afar. They only had seven minutes left. "Let's just fly around, throw shit together, and hope for the best?" he asked with a slight laugh.

Bubbles didn't seem phased by the whole thing. She only looked at him, only smiled at him, as if she still didn't give a fuck about the contest. (Maybe she never did. He wouldn't blame her. He didn't either.) "Deal," she said, giving him a firm nod.

The two zoomed around the beach, collecting any twig, seashell, or interesting item they could come across. Boomer rushed to grab the shovel from the other side of the beach, muttering a quiet apology to the poor woman who got scared shitless by the shovel's collision with the sand. He dug and she molded with the speed of fifty factory workers combined.

"You lost already!" Butch exclaimed, his face covered in that same cocky grin from earlier. "Just give it up; there's no point!"

It was true. There were only a few minutes left of the competition, and everything did not look like it was coming together, even though they were working their hardest as fast as they could. It seemed impossible that they'd be able to finish or make a good enough sandcastle to even be considered competition.

(Still.)

"No!" Boomer shouted back. "We're not giving up. Right Bubbs?"

Bubbles beamed, and her smile reminded him of sunshine. Bright, too bright to stare at directly for too long. But despite that, Boomer looked anyway. "Right. Not until we're done," she said.

They molded the sand into various shapes together, using the random items they found around them to add additional details. In the last two minutes, they quickly dug a circle in the sand, then threw water into it to create the moat surrounding the castle.

When they finished, there was no surprise that the finished product was mediocre. The castle was still lopsided and messy, even with the twigs. The pebbles provided absolutely nothing worthwhile and the moat was slowly starting to dry up since they didn't dig far enough. The seashells could only do so much, which, by the looks of it, was not enough at all. And the fucking candy wrapper Boomer randomly threw on top of the sandcastle could not be any more pathetic.

"It's shit," Boomer blurted out because, in his defense, it looked really bad. A baby could've done a better job. Blindfolded.

"I don't know. I think it has some charm," Bubbles said, crouching down to gently lead a crab away from their collaborated sandcastle-gone-terribly-wrong.

Boomer stared at her. "You're kidding."

"The messiness is what makes it perfect. It's what makes it ours." She grew a small smirk. "Plus, we have a moat. The others didn't even bother to do that. So, we automatically win in my heart."

Boomer let out another laugh. He had caught a quick glimpse of the others. Brick and Blossom's looked like an actual castle you could walk in, completed with little designs on each step towards the main entrance, four stories, an ice rink, a pit of fire in the dungeon, and a fucking sushi bar with actual sushi. Meanwhile, Butch and Buttercup's was smaller in comparison. It was your basic everyday sandcastle, and simplicity must have worked in their favor since they apparently won, according to the random snot-nosed child they chose to look over their work.

The kid didn't even bother to look at Bubbles and Boomer's sandcastle for more than a second.

Boomer looked at their creation again and concluded that the child was a complete dumbass. The little shit clearly couldn't see the complex layers hidden within their abstract piece of art. It was a winner, through and through.

(Anything Bubbles made was winning material, truthfully.)

Bubbles let out a tiny hum. "We should name her," she said. "Something good so she can be remembered."

That seemed to be a great idea. "She looks like a… Fort Aquatis," Boomer decided.

Bubbles didn't hesitate to shake her head. "Nah, I was thinking Temple of the Bright Blue Domain."

"What is this, a cliché Barbie movie? Why's the name so damn long? That's practically a sentence for an essay."

"Because it's fancy! Yours is too dull. Where's the prestige? The title? The honor?"

"Pfft, says you. Fort Aquatis has a sophisticated charm to it. Only real nobles would understand."

Bubbles rolled her eyes and scoffed. She plopped down on the sand. "Okay. Then how about we name it… Temple of Aquatis? A little bit of both."

"A little bit of both," he repeated, nodding and sitting next to her. "Yeah. Guess that works."

Bubbles smiled, and her look of content was a beautiful sight to behold. "To Temple of Aquatis," she announced in a regal tone, raising up a stick.

Boomer let out a small laugh through his nose, raising his stick so that it met hers in a fake toast. "To Temple of Aquatis," he said in his best British accent. "The most spectacular sandcastle to be made in the city of Townsville."

"…Even though she is a little bit shitty," Bubbles slowly admitted.

Boomer's lip twisted. "'A little bit' is a stretch. She's shitty as hell."

"Stop, I'm trying to be sentimental!" She gave him a tiny shove, giggling. "Let me be nice to her!"

Traces of her energy still stuck on his skin, and for once, he paid attention to it. It was soft like flowers and made his heart race. He could practically smell the sweet scent coming from her. And it felt good. He felt good.

"Okay, okay, I quit!" he laughed, shaking out of it. "I'll do another toast for Temple of Aquatis. May she always be remembered."

Bubbles nodded in agreement before dropping her own stick. Instead, she placed her hand on top of Boomer's, wrapping her fingers around his stick and, ultimately, around his own fingers. She could have stuck with her own stick or even grabbed one of the other sticks lying around, but somehow, this felt better.

"May she always be remembered," she said, smiling.

Together, they tapped the stick onto the top of Temple of Aquatis, and a combination of baby and navy-blue energy circled around the structure. It wobbled a bit, but somehow, it refused to fall.

(Huh. Maybe Temple of Aquatis wasn't that shitty after all.)

They sat there in comfortable silence, staring at their fragile-looking yet strong sandcastle for a good couple of minutes. Meanwhile, their older siblings argued in the background about who the "true" winner was. It sounded like Blossom was very close to freezing the whole beach, and Butch and Buttercup's combined laughter sounded familiar to those hyenas from The Lion King.

Any other day, Boomer would have been embarrassed to be even associated with their older siblings. However, as Bubbles rested her head on her knees, her eyes crinkling at the corners when she smiled at Temple of Aquatis, he couldn't find it in himself to really give a shit.

A/N Happy June, everyone! We're at about the halfway point of this fanfic. Can you believe it? Six chapters down, seven more to go!

I'm super excited to share the next chapter on or around July 3rd! It's something I really challenged myself with character-wise and I hope I do it some justice! As always, thanks so much for reading, and I hope to see you all next month! :)

Next Chapter: July

Getting called out by a Powerpuff during summer school is something that should NOT be legal.