I am back! Sorry for the delay there everyone! I needed that one last weekend for me though. School started again (T.T) and I found I hate anesthesia as much as I thought I would. Yay. On a brighter note, that vacation was as amazing as I thought it would be. I am so much more refreshed! And so here I am with the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy.
As always, thanks for the likes, follows, and reviews!
Blossom looked out over the student bodies. All three schools were lined up in front of them. She stood on the stage with the other schools' student presidents as the senior president for Farmsville finished with their opening speech. She couldn't help but sigh at what she saw though.
"Are the greens fighting or something?" Blane asked quietly enough that only she could hear him.
"Or something I'm afraid. It looks like your troublemakers have noticed as well," Blossom whispered back just as softly. She could see Blane shrug out of the corner of her eyes.
"I've warned them about what'll happen if they do something stupid again. The only reason they're even being allowed here is because they were caught before they actually got a chance to pull their pranks."
"Hmmm, yes. Thankfully. I'd hate to see what they would have done otherwise."
Blossom couldn't help the small smile at Blane's wince. Berserk narrowed her eyes at that from where she was out with the other students.
"I wouldn't have let a repeat happen. Promise."
The students all applauded as the Farmsville president finished his speech.
"Don't worry Blane. I'm very good at learning from my mistakes. I won't fall for another prank like that again."
Berserk was glaring at her now and Blossom couldn't help but send an obviously fake smile her way. She heard Blane sigh as the applause died down.
"Just try not to rile her up too much please. She's been on edge since her sister got in trouble."
Blossom shot Blaine a look that he missed. Like she would do something to put this event at risk! If anyone should be getting a warning it was Berserk! She saw Brick raise an eyebrow at her for that and turned away with a huff. He'd completely ignored the tension between the greens and now was checking to see if she was alright? Honestly! Sometimes she was sure she was the only red left with any sense.
"I think it's a great idea. I've heard about this awesome place here in Farmsville. If we stay back, we can have dinner there and I'll drive us all home," Mike said as he threw an arm around Robin who let herself be tucked into his side with a smile.
"I agree. I've really been wanted to do this for a while and at the end of the competition weekend will be perfect! Especially since we all get Monday off to recover. Well, and unpack but at least we can sleep in!"
"I dunno. Brick'll kill me of I don't ace my math final this time around," Boomer said as he scratched at his neck with his left hand. His other hand was gently holding Bubbles's who frowned and squeezed hard. Boomer flinched slightly before seeing her face. "I'd love to though! Maybe if I throw a study session or two in as extra practice Brick won't mind."
Bubbles beamed at him. "I think that's a great idea. I'm sure that if Brick doesn't feel up to tutoring you that Blossom won't mind. She's mostly done studying by now."
"Trust her to be ready for finals literally more than a week before we actually have them," Robin said with a sigh. Bubbles giggled.
"Buttercup is definitely taking advantage of that. I think that might be why she always finishes preparing so early actually, so she can make sure we can ask for help if we need to."
"Ha! She would," Mike laughed out. "I could also see her covering your patrols, so you have more time to study."
"You know her so well. She does that a lot. She hasn't this time though, what with the ruffs now helping out."
"Oh, someone gag me please. This so can't be a thing. I legit think I'm about to barf."
Bubbles's face went blank and the other three couldn't help but wince as they watched her turn around.
"Brat. How wonderful. I so needed your input in our private conversation. You know, the one that doesn't involve you?"
Banger and Boomer exchanged looks. They might not be fans of one another, especially during football seasons, but they were equally not looking forward to this.
"Oh, is that what that was? I'm sorry, your voice is so loud that I thought you were trying to include everyone like you usually do. It's just the...sweet thing to do after all."
Bubbles smiled a not so nice smile that Brat quickly returned. Robin and Mike subtly moved behind their blues. Just in case.
"I didn't realize I was being so loud. I usually have excellent volume control. I'm sure that's something that's hard for you to imagine though. After all, brats aren't known for their control now are they?"
"Oh, that's it bitch. It's so-"
"What do you think you're doing?" All four blues felt their spines straighten on instinct at the tone in the voice. At once, they all turned to see Blossom standing there, arms crossed, foot tapping, and a look of thunder on her face. "Because it sounds suspiciously like arguing but that couldn't be it right? You four aren't really so...careless as to argue at this event now are you?"
"No ma'am," Boomer and Banger immediately replied. Brat clicked her tongue loudly before looking away. Bubbles pouted.
"Bloss, I was just-"
"Going to the art exhibit right?" Blossom asked. Bubbles straightened back up in a second at her sister's tone and quickly wiped the pout off her face. "You have some works to show off after all."
"Yes. On my way. Right away." Bubbles turned, gave Boomer a quick kiss on the cheek goodbye, and zoomed off for the art exhibit. Blossom turned to the remaining blues.
"Boomer, I believe you're on later tonight so maybe you should take this chance to go see Bubbles's art work."
"Great idea." He shot off after his girlfriend, face pale.
"Blane has personally given me the okay to discipline the rights if I see the need to and while Berserk hasn't done the same, the Citiesville leadership has asked me to keep a careful eye on things."
Brat and Banger both gulped loudly before nodding. They didn't need any more warning than that. Blossom nodded at them and they took that as a sign that they could zoom off, which they both quickly did. Blossom sighed as she watched them go before turning to Mike and Robin.
"You really know how to instill fear in a person Blossom," Mike said, his voice a little wobbly. Even though it hadn't been directed at him, the look on Blossom's face when disciplining the blues had unnerved him. He wasn't used to seeing that side of her.
Blossom immediately let her face soften and smiled gently at them. "Sorry. I don't want to let anything spiral out of control. Please be careful though. If you see a situation like that again, get out of there and call me please."
"Will do Bloss. Do you think it'll happen a lot?" Robin asked. Blossom sighed as she looked behind the two at something. Robin and Mike turned only to jump a mile high as they saw Berserk sauntering over to them.
"Unfortunately, I can't say it won't. Now would be a good time for you two to head off."
They both nodded before quickly making their way out of the way. Berserk looked bored as she approached Blossom, but Blossom knew better. She was obviously not happy and Blossom had a feeling she knew why.
"Pink stuff. It seems I let my little sister bother you. Next time, feel free to just let me know. I take keeping my sisters in line oh so seriously after all. I'd hate to hear that one of them toed the line."
"Berserk. I wouldn't hesitate to tell you if I thought you would handle it correctly but we both know you won't. Even if you did, you aren't on any committees, so you have no disciplinary power here. I'll make sure to handle any potentially dangerous situations though."
Berserk narrowed her eyes at Blossom slightly. "Sounds like a promise I'm not sure you want to try keeping there pink stuff."
Blossom smiled at Berserk. "I never make a promise without the intention of keeping it."
They stared off for a moment longer before both turning away at the same time and walking away. It looked like Blossom wouldn't have much time with at the science exhibits this time around. She was going to end up to on edge from the punks this year it seemed. Wonderful.
"I completely forgot that we left the schedule up to Prinny. Why'd we do that again?" Butch asked as he stared, clearly bored, out at the line from where he was leaning over bar across the entrance.
"Cause we're lazy," Buttercup responded from next to him. She looked just as bored as she stood next to him, arms crossed, looking out at the crowd as well.
"Right. Next time kick my ass into gear or something."
Buttercup glared at him. "Why the hell should I do that? What you do has nothing to do with me."
"Right. My bad. I forgot for a second. You're too busy drooling over Ricky to be able to care about anything else."
"For fu-why the hell are you bringing him up?"
"Next group can come in. You two better be being pleasant up there. If I get any complaints about poor customer service it's my ass Blossom'll be coming for," Princess's voice said through their earpiece. Butch made a face but didn't move.
Rolling her eyes, Buttercup kicked his legs to prompt him. Butch stood with a sigh and stepped out of the way.
"Next group! Welcome to Marvelous Mysteries! Please be sure to listen careful at each station as instructions will be given only once. Good luck in solving the mystery of the century," Buttercup said dispassionately as she lifted the bar and let the next group of people in.
"Right. And next time? We're so not asking the blues for help with the script. That was the worst idea of them all."
Buttercup gave him a look as she put the bar back. Butch was quick to lean on it again.
"Right. Cause I'm gunna tell Princess that her idea sucked. Idiot," she muttered. Butch clicked his tongue but didn't respond for a bit.
"You know, when I said to find someone to be interested in, I didn't mean him. Like seriously, anyone else woulda been better. Hell! Coulda pretended to be into Howie. Now that woulda been interesting. Might have saved your dear older sister a headache or two even."
"For crying out loud Butch! I'm not into Merrick! I'm just...working on something."
"Sure look into him," Butch mumbled.
"Why do you even care?! It's not like it's got anything to do with you who I do and don't like."
"I mean, yeah, but he's such a dick. And a tool. And an idiot. Actually, Mitch is those three things too, so I guess he's just you're type then isn't he?"
"God Butch! I'm not into him! And not that it should matter but my 'type' is someone who gets me. I think Merrick's about as far away from that as it gets! The dude was concerned in class when I upped the weights!"
"Wait, you upped your weights? By how much? Shit Butters, I didn't know that! You gotta tell me when you do that! I gotta make sure to maintain the weight difference here!"
Buttercup sighed as she rubbed a hand across her face. "Are you still going on about that? Who cares if I catch up a little bit? Not like I'll ever even get close to your weight class."
"You're joking right?" Butch asked as he turned to raise an eyebrow at her. "You're about the only one who I'm worried about actually doing just that. I mean, hell, I doubt Brawdy can lift what you can. Brute sure as hell can't compete. I gotta make sure to maintain my title of strongest green here."
"I seriously can't tell if you're pissed at me or not. I mean, you flip flop like you're bi-polar or something and usually I can kinda keep up, but I feel like you're giving me whiplash here this time."
Butch made a face at that. "Damn. That's right. Why would you tell me shit when you have Ricky boy there to-"
"For crying out-" Buttercup pushed down on her earpiece. "Prinny, if you don't want me to flatten this meathead right now, you better find someone to relieve me right now cause I swear to God-"
"Yup. Stop. I'm sending someone now. Honestly, next time can you two like, tell me when you're about to flip like this? Just a month ago I could have sworn you two were besties but now? Ha! You two are as tense as you were back in middle school. And let me just say that those? Those were not fun times," Princess replied.
Butch glared out at the crowd at that. A few people nervously shuffled a bit in place at that and Buttercup whacked the back of his legs with her foot for it. He glared at her in response and she just glared back.
"Well maybe if someone weren't such a bi-polar and moody little bi-"
"Hey sweet stuff. Came to grab you. Jackie said she doesn't mind covering," Merrick said as he and another girl approached the two greens.
Buttercup bit down on a curse as she felt Butch's energy flare up at the sight of Merrick. It was then that she processed what he said.
"Wait, grab me? For what?"
Merrick shrugged. "Princess said that if you two couldn't get along that she was gunna flip the schedule around a bit. Because of that, you and I now have free time. Figured we could go explore the area a bit together."
Buttercup barely managed to get a smile on her face as she saw small green sparks go off around Butch out of the corner of her eye. Jackie was starting to look concerned, but Merrick looked cool as a cucumber. She knew it was probably just pissing Butch off more.
"Right. Thanks for taking my shift Jackie. If there's any trouble-"
"I've got Blossom's number, don't worry. I was told if I see any of the supers from Cititesville that I should text her right away" Jackie said as she pulled out her phone. Buttercup couldn't help the frown at that.
"Exactly Bitterbutt. We got this. Go enjoy your time with Romeo there," Butch quietly ground out as he turned back around to face the crowd. Buttercup glanced at him to see he'd pushed his X back down.
"Right. Guess...let's go," Buttercup said as she turned to Merrick who smiled in response. She thanked Jackie again and said bye to Butch only to get no response.
That concerned her the most to be honest. He usually never passed up a chance to snark at her when he was mad or itching for a fight. The fact that he was going quiet like this? Something was up and if she knew her counterpart even half as well as she thought she did? She knew that trouble was just around the corner. And he'd be at the center of it.
"Bubs, these are..." Boomer trailed off as he watched Bubbles take the tarps off her sculptures. She looked back at him, confused, before seeing his face.
"Ah, well... hehe, I did work hard I guess?" Bubbles said, going slightly pink in the face as she fidgeted nervously.
Boomer let out a half laugh of disbelief at that. The sculptures were amazing, and Boomer honestly didn't know how to tell Bubbles how amazing they were.
The first one seemed to be made of marble. It was a woman covered in a cloak, her face mostly in the shadow of the cloaks hood although a serene smile could be seen on the face. The woman was sculpted mid-twirl, the cloak twirling out and away from the woman's body to show a simple dress underneath hugging her body. The cloak then billowed out and began to turn slowly into feathers, almost giving the impression of wings flying out behind the woman. The sculpture left a feeling of awe and a serene calmness.
The other sculpture was vastly different. It was a sculpture that could almost have just been a 3D picture. Even though Boomer knew better, he still had a hard time seeing it as a sculpture. It looked like Bubbles had taken a bucket of black paint and splashed it across the face of a giant cat while it was in mid snarl then removes the body of the cat to leave just the impression of paint across its face, splashing outwards. The cat had its eyes open showing beautiful jade colored cat eyes with brilliant white teeth bared below it. Just looking at it left an overwhelming feeling of power, to the point Boomer almost didn't want to meet the pair of eyes.
"I got a little excited when I heard that Bloss had managed to arrange this extra space so I could do these, so they ended up being bigger than I planned. A few people in class did smaller items though so we all got together to reorganize things so I could show these two off."
"I'm glad they did," Boomer said, finding his voice. "These are easily going to be the highlights for the art gallery this year. I mean, jeez Bubs, they look more like pictures just...in 3D."
"I wouldn't go that far..." Bubbles said as she turned away, bright red face.
"Seriously Bubs. They're amazing. What's the inspiration?"
Bubbles peaked at him, an odd look on her face. "You can't guess? I thought it'd be pretty obvious."
Boomer frowned as he looked back at them. It didn't take him long before it clicked, and he smiled.
"Ha! I guess I should have figured you'd use those two. Can't believe I didn't see it from the get go. What do they think of them?"
Bubbles giggled. "Buttercup smirked and Blossom smiled and said they were really nice."
"Not surprised. Like I said, you did a really great job with these Bubs."
Bubbles just shrugged again, and they fell into silence as Boomer continued looking at the sculptures. He felt like the more he looked, the more he saw how skilled Bubbles really was. The detail on both sculptures was amazing.
"Did you see Butch's paintings?" Bubbles asked, pulling Boomer out of it. He looked around and saw that people were starting to show up and walk around.
"I saw the one. Turned out pretty good. Very ruff appropriate."
"The ruined one? It did. I'm surprised he was able to turn it around so well. What about the other one?"
Boomer shrugged. "He mentioned it but nah, haven't seen it yet. Where'd he set up?"
"I think it was in the back. I'll go with you. Hey Beckie, could you-"
"I've got you Bubs. Hurry back though. Shouldn't be long before you have a crowd, and you know that you're the one they'll all want to talk to."
Bubbles smiled. "Thank you! I'll be super quick. Come on!"
Bubbles grabbed Boomer's hand before dragging him further into the exhibit. Boomer chuckled as he let himself be dragged. It wasn't long before they were standing in front of two paintings. There was a sign stating that the artist was busy with another exhibit and the hours he would be here. The paintings were uncovered though.
The first one was a view over the top of Townsville that both blues were familiar with. It was the kind of few you only saw when flying over it. Parts of the painting had black spray paint that had been added to with other colors of spray paint to give the effect of a dark, street styled tie die. Although the black spray paint had been a cruel prank, the end result had turned out pretty good. It definitely had a Rowdyruff kind of vibe to it.
The other one...was hard to look at. Partly because of what was on the canvas and partly because what Butch had said previously about it.
'I dunno. Kinda just put my mind on paper and that was what I got.'
Butch's mind on paper. Boomer couldn't help but think this was probably a pretty good snapshot of his brother's mind. The first two words that came to mind were dark and chaotic. The entire painting was dark blues, blood reds, deep greens, and black. There weren't any bright colors. Boomer could see things on the painting that he knew Butch associated with him and Brick. Dark blue notes, wobbly and dangerous looking, streaks of lightning. Dark, almost black flames, images that gave off a steadfast and dominating image. The rest, and most of the painting, was all Butch. Trees bare of leaves, rivers that looked to be made of sludge, violent sparks of green. It was the side of Butch that people knew of but didn't see much anymore. It was still there though. For all three of them.
'I went back to my roots. Dunno, felt like the right thing to do. Especially with all these changes we're going through. Didn't want to forget about who I was at the start of it all, ya know?' was what he'd said.
Boomer could see that.
"I think he did a good job with it," Bubbles said. Boomer made a noise that was probably an agreement.
"He tell you what it was?"
"He said it was a mess that he'd had to sort through. I wasn't able to get anything else out of him about it."
A mess to sort through. Well, it wasn't wrong.
"Seems bout right."
"This ain't bad for Butchie boy," a voice chimed in. The blues both turned to see Buttercup standing there looking at the paintings. Bubbles frowned.
"I thought that you and Butch were covering the sports exhibit in the mornings. What are you doing here?"
Buttercup shrugged. "Princess kicked me out. I wanted to swing by here and take a look at things before I went to see leader girl's stuff. Oh, won't be able to see your performance later baby boy blue. Sorry bout that. Got anyone recording it? Cause if so, I'll watch that."
"It's all good. Yeah, Bellum can't make it either so I've got it set up to be recorded for her. Not like it'll be anything special. I'm just playing a few covers. No new stuff this time around."
"Still, sorry I have to miss it."
"Hey! Butters! Looks like the lines at the food stalls are shortening. Let's go," Merrick said from a little bit away. Bubbles ignored him while Boomer raised an eyebrow before looking at Buttercup.
Her face was scrunched up and she had to take second to un-scrunch it before she turned to face Merrick with a smile. "Sounds good. Later you two."
Boomer watched the two walk off before turning to Bubbles. "Uh, is that actually a thing?"
Bubbles sighed through her nose before turning and smiling at Boomer. "Don't worry about it Boomie. She's not into him. She's just...trying to get something."
"Is this about the painting again? Cause I can tell you straight up that Butch doesn't really care anymore."
Bubbles sighed again. "Try telling that to Buttercup. Anyways, don't worry about it too much. I'm helping out so it should be okay."
That...didn't make Boomer worry less. If anything, it made him more concerned. Maybe he'd find Blossom. He hated to bug the busy pink puff but...
Last thing they needed was for the fuse that led to the bomb named Butch to go off.
"Where's Buttercup?" Blossom asked as she looked up from her clipboard at Butch. The green ruff grunted back, and Blossom narrowed her eyes. "Butch. Where is Buttercup?"
Butch felt a shiver go down his spine and his head spun to look at Blossom. Her eyes were bright with the threat of a potential eye beam building up and Butch gulped at the look. He remembered then what Brick had said the night before the competition.
'Behave Butch. I mean it. Blossom won't take any screw ups tomorrow. Not one.'
Butch had brushed it off at the time, Blossom was always a hard ass after all, but now he understood. Blossom the student wasn't here today. This was a version of Blossom very similar to when she was leading the puffs. This was a Blossom that he couldn't risk playing around with. He stood straight at that thought.
"Things got weird so Princess had Jackie switch with her to make sure nothing happened. She's working the later shift now."
Blossom watched him for a few more seconds before looking back down at her clipboard.
"Okay. Let me know if anything comes up. I think the rights and punks are all either watching the drama clubs' plays or at the science exhibits. Don't get them riled up if they show up here."
"Yes ma'am."
He could see Jackie giving him a weird look out of the corner of his eye and understood. At school, the ruffs would still push the limits with the puffs so none of the students had sent the shift in the way they'd treat the pink puff. After a few training sessions with her though...
Butch paled at the thought of it.
Blossom gave him a weird look as well before sighing through her nose. "Just stay out of trouble Butch."
He nodded as she turned and left. Once she was out of sight he relaxed again.
"You looked absolutely terrified. It was just Blossom," Jackie said. Butch looked at her blankly for a few seconds before turning away with a sigh.
"That there? That wasn't Blossom. It was all leader and commander. My condolences go to anyone dumb enough to stir up trouble at this thing."
Butch would behave during this event. He liked breathing after all.
Brick scanned the area with his X-ray vision but really couldn't see anything out of the norm. For all intents and purposes, the science area for their school looked just like a giant science fair. Which this part of it pretty much was. They'd split the science area into three 'zones' so to speak. Brick was taking a look around the math and computer science section right now. In other words, what Howie's group had been working on.
Most of the students had gotten into small groups to work on projects together that they were interested in. They had stalls or areas set up for their things with the center being devoted to the main event that the entire group had helped on. Brick was sort of impressed he supposed. Though he wasn't expecting anything less than impressive from Howie, even if he'd never admit that out loud. Hell, even just thinking it was painful. He was one of the class's top three though so it was to be expected.
As for the main project, they'd all gotten together and tried to make an adaptive, small robot. There were still a bunch of bugs and kinks in things from what Brick could understand but the thing moved and did actually adjust its behavior based on its environment and how you interacted with it. Apparently the idea had come up cause one of the kids in the computer programming class had a really young sibling and they'd been looking at toys for them and thought that it would be cool to have a toy that adjusted its behavior a little for each kid. It was a pretty cool idea and Brick was actually a little bummed that he'd let Howie take point for that department because it really would have been a fun project. Still, Brick had a hard time accepting that Howie had actually listened and hadn't gone off to do his own thing.
Looking around again though, Brick had to begrudgingly accept that he hadn't. There wasn't a single thing that Brick could see that had him wondering what it was. Usually, the reds had pretty good instincts, second only to the greens, but this time, maybe Blossom had been wrong. It really looked like Howie hadn't been up to anything.
With a sigh, Brick turned to head back to his section. On his way there he saw a familiar head of red hair.
He groaned when Blane started walking over to him. Not for the first time he wished he could catch a break and not have a headache to deal with but looked like he didn't have that much luck.
"Brick, have you seen Berserk?" Blaine asked as he reached Brick who raised an eyebrow at the question.
"You keeping tabs on her or something? Can't imagine she'd be too thrilled about that."
Blane sighed as he scanned the area. "I am and she's not. After that prank she pulled last year though I've been trying to keep a close eye on her. It's why my brothers ended up pulling that stupid stunt of theirs with Brute."
"Well, I haven't seen her and I can't imagine she'd be in a hurry to see any of the Townsville stuff. If she's hiding it'll probably be around the Farmsville events. Only place she won't likely have to deal with any of us for the first day at least."
"Hmmm, that's true. Still, that's a lot of ground to cover." Blane sighed as he rubbed a temple. Brick frowned at the action. It was to creepy similar to what Blossom did when she was stressed. "Maybe I'll just find Blossom and keep an eye on her instead."
"Whoa, hold up. The hell'd you just say?" Brick snarled out as he glared at the rights' leader. Blaine blinked a few times at Brick's response.
"Well, she's easy to keep an eye on and she's not going to try and run any time she sees me. Best way to stop Berserk from causing trouble at this point is to keep an eye on what would be her target."
"And you think Blossom's gunna be okay with that?"
Blane raised an eyebrow when Brick said Blossom's name and Brick mentally cursed. He hadn't realized that the Citiesville supers hadn't seen them in a while. Blaine gave him a look over as he seemed to be re-evaluating things.
"No, she won't be but like I said, she's not going to run away. She'll understand too."
"You sure you want to have both the red Power Ps pissed at you? Seems like a bad idea."
Blane was still giving him that look, and Brick wiped the glare off his face to settle for a blank look instead. He'd already let Blane pick up on too much. If he wasn't careful then Blane would key in on what pretty much everyone else had. That would be a nightmare.
"Well, I'm pretty sure it'll help stop trouble so one of them will get over it at least. I'll deal with the other one later."
Brick was careful to keep his face blank as he heard that, although his mind definitely wasn't the same. He was cursing the fact that he hadn't wanted anything to do with the Student Government so he could tell Blane to fuck off cause he'd take care of it. Instead, he was stuck looking over the science stuff while Blossom was overseeing all their school's events and keeping an eye out for the Citiesville supers.
"Whatever you say Blane. Watch that you don't make it worse though. Can't imagine Berserk being happy at all with this."
Blane watched a few more seconds before turning away with a frown. He seemed to have moved on which Brick was thankful for.
"Berserk usually isn't happy but I doubt she'll really care unless it gets in her way of causing trouble and if that ends up being the case? Then she'll just have to get over it I'm afraid."
Brick gave Blane a weird look at that. He thought back to the look he'd seen cross Berserk's face when Blane and Blossom had been whispering up on stage to each other and his conversation at the dance with the red punk. That hadn't been a look of someone who didn't care about the two 'nicer' red leaders being close.
Wasn't his problem though.
"Whatever you say Blane. I'll buzz one of you if I see her."
Blane nodded. "Thanks. Also, good job with this stuff. Turned out really good."
Brick scoffed at Blaine before turning and walking away. "No thanks needed. It was the expected result anyways. Good luck. You guys need it after all."
He heard Blane make a noise but didn't turn around to see his face before the red right walked away. Brick was pretty confident that Townsville'd win the competition. Already it seemed that people were gravitating away from their own school events to check out the Townsville ones. The tally counts at the end of day one were clearly going to be in their favor.
Brick did another scan before seeing another familiar face. He raised an eyebrow at Boomer as he approached him.
"Not with the girlfriend? I'm honestly surprised."
Boomer turned to give his brother a small smile before shrugging.
"She's drowning in a sea of people interested in her sculptures right now. I barely managed to say I was going to take a look around. Not like I could help much. Was kinda in the way too."
Brick laughed lightly at the look on Boomer's face. The blue ruff was beaming, pride clear on his face. He was over the moon that Bubbles's art was getting so much attention.
"I'll have to go take a look. Stuck here for a bit though."
"Eh, we got a few days. Cool project though. I already took a whirl, and it was a blast."
Brick chuckled before looking at the project his group had worked on. It was a short, one way track with a small, one-person hovercar on it. The car only moved in one direction and barely at that. They hadn't wanted it to go crazy fast in one direction, so it ended up being really slow instead. There were a few stalls set up around it with information and other stuff on it. They'd also tried to make a biofuel without too much success with the help of the chemistry group. There was also a lot of information from the other groups about various parts of the craft and how it could be expanded on or improved on. Brick was content with everything all said and done.
"You check out the other sections yet?" Brick asked.
Boomer turned to look at the biology and chemistry side as he shook his head.
"Nah, Bubs wants to walk through Blossom's section so we're going to do that tomorrow during our free time."
Brick hummed at that as he looked over to said section. It looked nothing like a science fair. In fact, what it looked like was a gorgeous flower garden. They had information propped up on different colored signs around the area and students were walking around with tags that matched one of the colors. The matching colors let people coming in know who to ask if they had any questions. Blossom had the biology kids working with the flower arrangement kids to create a giant, arranged garden. It had been tricky since they knew they were going to have to transport it all, but Blossom had figured everything out. Most of the plants had been arranged in large potters that had been transported over carefully. Around the garden were also arrangements done by the flower arranging club and even some attempts from other students who had tried their hands at it and had their attempts turn out well. The chemistry group had also helped with making a compost fertilizer blend. There were other stands throughout the area as well from individual or smaller group projects. Brick could see Blossom's arrangement near the entrance from where he stood. It was a simple piece with a few soft pink flowers standing tall with a climbing strand of green leaves twining between them. The center stands which stood out the most had been given to the seniors.
"Makes sense."
"Yup," Boomer said, popping the p. He turned a bit and raised an eyebrow at a slightly disgruntled looking Buttercup being trailed by a very chipper looking Merrick. "Thoughts on that?"
Brick sighed. Blossom had told him what was happening and his thoughts on it were complicated. As long as Butch didn't go off the rails though, it was fine. Buttercup could do whatever she wanted; he didn't care. Butch shouldn't care either but...well, his brother was protective of his friends and didn't like when new people moved into the friend group but that wasn't his place. He'd just have to deal until Buttercup finished trying to be a blue.
"Don't worry about it," was all he said to Boomer though. Brick and Blossom were keeping an eye on things, so it'd probably be fine. Plus, Buttercup was good at reading Butch. She'd know when things got real bad.
Boomer watched him for a few moments before shrugging. "Whatever you say bro. Anyways, I'm gunna head out and maybe grab Bubbles a snack from one of the booths. I'm sure she could do with an excuse to take a break at this point."
Brick made a noise of agreement and waved his brother off. He watched as Buttercup put a pretty convincing smile on her face for Merrick and couldn't help but sigh. Maybe he'd keep Butch away from Buttercup for a while. Though, summer was just around the corner. It would be a good break, for all of them.
"Thank you Blossom!" The student yelled before heading off through the crowd back to their stall. Blossom smiled and waved goodbye before looking back down at her clipboard. That was the last of the set-up issues worked through. Next, she needed to do a sweep through and make sure that there weren't any other issues. After that it would be around lunch time and then she'd have her free time. She was looking forward to meeting up with Bubbles to go see Boomer play.
"Blossom."
Frowning, Blossom looked up to see Blane approaching her.
"Hi. Did something happen?" She asked. He was quick to shake his head, confusing her.
"Not really. I lost sight of Berserk and can't seem to find her again. I'm worried she might pull something though so I thought I'd stick close to what her would be target is likely to be." Blane smiled at her and Blossom felt the frown on her face grow.
"Why?" The smile slipped off Blane's face slightly. "If she causes trouble with me, then that's fine. I'm more concerned that she'll mess with someone else. I can handle Berserk."
Blane swallowed loudly at the certainty in her voice. She didn't understand why though. It should be obvious that she could handle Berserk. The Citiesville supers weren't allowed to use their powers while the Townsville supers used theirs daily. Blossom had no doubt that she'd be able to outmaneuver Berserk.
"Well, it'd be best if nobody has to handle her, don't you think? If I'm there I should be able to diffuse her."
Blossom thought on that before shrugging. "I suppose. I can't imagine her pushing her luck though. She was quiet at the dance and she didn't try pulling any pranks this year."
"Thankfully. I just wish she'd actually feel bad about...well, you know."
Blossom gave him a look. "It's hard not to when everyone seems set on reminding me about it. Neither her nor I have brought it up but for some reason, everyone else feels the need to."
Blane shrugged. "Because I don't doubt she'd try it again if she could. She'll never pass up a chance to make a Powerpuff look bad."
Blossom wasn't so sure. If that was the case it wouldn't have been just her that was pranked. She wasn't going to get into it with Blane about that though. It would be more trouble than it would be worth.
"Well, if you think it's worth the trouble then I won't stop you. I have to do a sweep through everything and I'm sure you do too. We can just sweep through both schools for efficiency."
"Sounds good. Where'd you want to start?"
"Back at beginning with the arts exhibits. We'll just sweep through from beginning to end."
"Lead the way."
Blossom sighed lightly through her nose before turning to head for the beginning of the competition area. This was going to be irritating.
"Any idea where sis is?" Brat asked her sister. Brute glared down at the two retreating red heads.
"Why the hell should I know? I'm just hoping she's not here."
"Knowing her it won't matter. She'll still hear about it. I thought it wasn't a big deal though. Didn't that...incident fall through? I know for a fact that I still need to have words with my dear other self about that all though."
Brute shrugged. "I mean, it still happened. Even if we haven't heard anything else who knows what's actually up. The reds are all too good at keeping things to themselves."
Brat made a face at that. "I guess. I think blues are better. Well, our blues are. Their blues are disgustingly obvious."
"Don't be jealous, green is so not your color sis."
Brat flipped Brute off. "I could so pull it off it I wanted to. All I need to do is grunt like a caveman. I'd fit right in."
Brute rolled her eyes. "And all I'd need to do to pull off blue is giggle like a maniac."
"Excuse you. I do not giggle."
"You do actually. It's gross," a third voice chimed in, making both punks jump. They spun to saw Berserk floating there, staring off to the entrance of the competition area. Brute and Brat exchanged looks.
"Yo sis. Where you been?" Brute asked cautiously. Berserk stayed silent for a few seconds before pulling her eyes away to look at her sisters.
"Around. Blane was being annoying, so I decided to lose him. Looks like I managed to pull it off."
Despite the fact that she said that was what she'd been doing, Berserk didn't sound too happy about having succeeded.
"Well, with the rights all busy and the goodie-two shoes somewhere else, how about we start some trouble?" Brat asked twirling a pigtail. Berserk gave her a look.
"Don't even. Brute's still on probation and we've all been given very careful warnings. Don't kick up a fuss while the competitions going on. I'll have to step in if you do."
Brat and Brute swallowed at that. Their sister liked to let them do whatever they wanted usually. If she was saying she'd step in though that meant she was deadly serious about not causing trouble.
"Got it. We'll behave if that's what you want."
Berserk rolled her eyes before zipping off in a flash of dark pink. Brute and Brat exchanged another look.
"Well, she's in a great mood. I'm sooo looking forward to the fly home tonight," Brat said. Brute grunted in response. "See? All it takes to be a green. Just grunt at everything."
Brute flipped her off before dropping down into the students. Brat giggled at that before looking off where her oldest sister had gone. She was worried. It wasn't like Berserk to pass up a good chance at causing trouble. She'd give it a few days and see if things improved. If they didn't?
Well, they weren't called punks for nothing. None of them really were ever any good at following orders.
"Oh my gosh Boomie! That was amazing!" Bubbles exclaimed as she rushed her boyfriend. Boomer laughed as he picked her up and twirled her around.
"I'm glad you think so, I was pretty much singing them for you."
"Grodie. I think I just threw up," Butch said as he slowly made his way over. Boomer ignored him and Blossom couldn't help but chuckle. At least Butch was acting himself when Buttercup wasn't around. Maybe that would be the trick like Brick had suggested, keep the two apart. At least until summer and then they could see about fixing things.
"Be nice Butch. It was an excellent performance Boomer. Everyone enjoyed it from what I could tell."
"Of course they did! Boomie is amazing!" Bubbles gushed. Brick rolled his eyes as he joined them.
"Sure Bubs. Anyways, Mitch got dragged off by Princess so it's just us. Apparently, there was something the Farmsville group did that he had wanted to see and Princess demanded they go see it now."
"That's because Princess won't have any free time tomorrow. She's covering the morning council shift and in the afternoon she'll be overseeing the sports group. I'm sure she wants to make sure to see the important things with Mitch today while everyone still has energy. The last day everything tends to slow down a lot," Blossom said. She was happy for the two of them. They were making things work. Not that Princess was going to let it go any other way but still, it was working between the two of them.
"It sucks that we can't get everyone together to go around. It would have been so much fun," Bubbles said with a pout. Blossom smiled and shook her head at her sister. There was no way she could have arranged that sadly.
"That's the way the dice just roll sugar cube. Now let's find some grub cause I be starved," Butch said as he walked over to the blues, wormed his way in between the two, and threw his arms around their shoulders. "We worked hard today so let's party hard."
"No partying. Food yes, partying no," Blossom said as she narrowed her eyes at Butch only to get a wide smile in response.
"Come on Blossy boo, a little party could be killer. I'll even ask Princess how to make that one-"
"Definitely not."
Butch cackled as the blues rolled their eyes. Boomer got fed up with getting shaken around by it pretty quickly and shook off his brother before pulling Bubbles away from him as well.
"Still, food would be nice. I am a little on the hungry side," Bubbles said as she snuggled into Boomer's side. Boomer smiled down at her before wrapping his arms around her.
"There was a booth that Citiesville did that seemed good. I kept wanting to grab something from there when I went passed it, but I didn't have the time," Blossom said. Brick gave her a weird look at that before looking away.
"With Blane? He mentioned something about a good stall that we should check out," Boomer said. He was glancing at Brick who ignored them. Bubbles gave Blossom a sheepish look.
"I'm sure that wasn't the most fun. I'm really sorry about before with you two."
That got the attention of all three ruffs. Blossom felt all three looking at her and for once, was nervous about it.
"It was nothing Bubbles. It's not like you did anything," Blossom said with a strained smile. Bubbles caught on quickly and glanced with a wince at the ruffs.
"That's true. Silly me. Now let's go, I'm hungry," Bubbles whined in an attempt to get me ruffs to ignore what was just said. It worked with Boomer but Butch and Brick were still watching her.
Blossom relaxed a little though. She was ready if they asked. She might be a horrible liar straight up, but she was pretty good with half-truths. She'd be fine.
"Let's go then," Blossom said before turning to lead the way. Thankfully, no one asked on the way to the stall and they all just kept up some light conversations. Blossom was thankful but couldn't help but feel she wasn't out of the woods yet.
"Smells good at least. Guess Citiesville isn't completely useless," Butch said as they reached the place. Both Blossom and Bubbles rolled their eyes.
"Nah, I still think they're useless," Boomer chimed in. The ruffs all shared grins at that.
Not wanting them to start trashing the rights, which she knew was where this was heading, Blossom was quick to make her way into the small restaurant like stall. She quickly found a table and led the group over to it.
"I'm pretty sure we have to put our orders in at the desk and then they'll bring our food over. If everyone tells me what they want I can take it over," Blossom said. No one complained and in no time at all Blossom as making her way over to the order desk.
She recited everyone's orders and was waiting for her change when she felt someone come up behind her.
"Have fun today pink stuff?"
Blossom closed her eyes for a moment. To think she'd nearly made it through the whole day. Opening her eyes, Blossom turned to face Berserk.
"I've enjoyed my free time today, yes. The morning wasn't too bad either. Only a few minor issues popped up."
Berserk's face was carefully blank, and Blossom couldn't help but feel she was looking for something. She had a suspicion as to what but unless she was directly asked, Blossom wasn't about to make it easy for Berserk.
"Shame. That, you know, there were issues. Would have been great if the whole day had been flawless."
"Yes well, that wouldn't be realistic now would it? I'll take a half perfect day though."
"Hmmm...half perfect huh."
"Yup. How was your day? I didn't see you at all so I'm assuming you stayed out of trouble."
Berserk shrugged before looking around the restaurant. Her eyes landed on the table with the Townsville supers. Brick was glaring at her which made Berserk smirk in response.
"Yeah. Found a good spot to take a nap. Don't worry too much about us. I warned my girls to stay out of trouble this year. Didn't want to cross any lines. You'll have a competition free from punk trouble."
Blossom narrowed her eyes slightly at Berserk. That wasn't like her. She tended to just let her sister do as they pleased and then made sure to clean up the mess left behind to the point that Blossom almost couldn't complain about it. It was why they were allowed to still attend the competition even after last year.
"But only the competition is what I'm hearing."
Berserk turned back to her with a feral grin. "Come on pink stuff, cut me some slack. Not all of us like to live on the good side of things. Gotta get messy sometimes."
Blossom cocked her head. It seemed that her mirror counterpart wasn't playing nearly as good as she was making it out to be.
"I have to warn you Berserk, if you cause trouble, I'll be the one to step in. All three city councils have given me the okay to use force if necessary, they even encouraged it. And as you know, I have a very good memory. I'm not about to forget what they asked of me."
Berserk's smile grew slightly. "Noted. Maybe if you're lucky you won't have to worry. After today though? I wouldn't hold your breath."
With that, Berserk turned and walked away. Blossom watched her go with a frown. Looks like Berserk was determined to make things difficult but then, she wasn't too surprised. Blossom sighed at that as she finally took her change and turned back to the table. Bubbles was standing between the table and the door with all three ruffs glaring past her. Blossom sighed at that.
"Alright, time to calm some rapid puppies I suppose," she mumbled as she made her way back. Really, they knew she could handle herself. She didn't get why they were being so protective like this. Oh well, she was used to putting fires out.
Bam! So I thought I should just mention that Brick doesn't think Butch likes Buttercup. He just knows Butch is super protective of his friends and didn't think much more of it. Brick doesn't really care either way though. So, any guesses as to who I'm gunna have start trouble this time?
Artemis Raven Courtney! So glad you enjoyed the moments with the other couples. I've been neglecting them so I had to throw that in. I'll try and give them more time but...there's so many characters I tend to forget some of them when I'm writing the first drafts and then just can't find a way to work them in. Oops.
Emily! So glad you love it! That was kinda bad timing but better that it was in the middle of my vacay and not right at the beginning! Hope you enjoyed the new chapter.
SakiaN! Nope. I will probably only ever write Reds, Blues, Greens. No cross color pairings from me. Doesn't mean I don't like them, I just have no interest in writing them. Butch just finds Blossom as a kinda calmer older sibling. Like, the one he can go to for help as opposed to the one who would prank him sort of a deal. I can see what you're saying with the reds and that's a little on me. This is kinda like a playground fic for me? I have an idea, I throw it in and I'm a reds fan first and foremost so I keep throwing things at them. It's taken me a while to get the others to where I planned to start throwing things at them but the struggle for the blues and greens is coming. I also wanted Blossom to actually come off a bit careless so I'm glad that got across. She's still in high school and doesn't know her limits yet so she just...ignores them thinking she's fine. I knew a couple kids in the AP classes that were like that when I was in high school and tried to write her more with that in mind. Probably haven't done a super good job at it so my bad! As a result, the others kinda do take advantage and just throw their problems at the reds to have them fix it. Knew a few kids back in high school that were like that too sadly.
Hope you enjoyed it! I have two more stock chapter for this one before I am all caught up on my buffer so for the next month I'll have my usually every other week post on this story. After that it will be another break. With that said, I'll be back with more for you all in two weeks time. Ciao!