New chapter! Hope you all enjoy!
Thanks for the kudos and reading as always!
Buttercup glared at Butch as he floated not far away. The dick had been stuck inside recovering for the past week from Brick's little outburst and this was the first time she had seen him since. He glanced at her before doing a double take, clearly confused by the glare. He raised an eyebrow and she raised one back before tilting her head in Bubbles's direction. The lightbulb went off and the fucker had the gall to break out in a giant grin. Ass. She was never, never, doing that again. Her sisters had been hella pissed about it and she'd taken the entire fall all because he was off getting fried by his brother.
"Buttercup! Incoming!"
Buttercup turned at Blossom's yell and barely had time to brace before the monster's tail was coming down at her. Even with that though, the hit still sent her hurtling towards the ocean and she wasn't able to stop herself before hitting the water.
Ugh. Buttercup was definitely going to be getting another earful about this one. Maybe she should just stay down here for a bit. She could hold her breath for a decent amount of time. But that might make the others worry and Buttercup couldn't bring herself to do that to her sisters. Groaning internally, Buttercup righted herself in the water before quickly shooting up for the surface. She broke out in time to see Boomer sent flying over her.
Man, this one's tails were annoying as heck to deal with. And of course the monster couldn't just have one. Oh no. It had to have seven of them. At least it was a normal one and not one of the weird, mutated monsters so they were out over the ocean and not in the city. The damage something like this could cause city center...Buttercup didn't want to think about it.
"Get clear!" Brick yelled. Buttercup didn't even glance at him before turning and flying away a bit. She felt a blast of cold air hit her back and knew that Blossom had flown through to try and freeze the thing. Buttercup turned once she was sure it was fine and looked over the monster. It was incased in ice but she could still see the goat like eyes moving around.
"Still? Ugh, I had a date planned today you know! And you just threw said date halfway across the city!" Bubbles yelled, the tail ends of it going slightly sonic level.
"Must be immune to cold," Buttercup said with a shrug. And if she was thinking that then the reds were likely already on it.
Which they were. A cackling green ball of energy slammed into the giant monster ice sculpture shattering the ice. Butch kept going until he hit the monster itself and knocked it off balance. A second later and he was zooming out of the way as a raging ball of fire launched at the monster, Brick floating not far away. The monster screamed as it shrunk back from the blast.
"Come on. We gotta follow it out," Buttercup said as she blasted over to help. She heard Bubbles huff before she was zooming over too.
Buttercup stayed low and near the water while throwing energy beams at it and zooming back and forth to avoid the tails. Butch was flying in close to block some of the near hits before zooming off to throw some energy beams of his own at it. She kept feeling blasts of heat as Brick kept sending full blown fire breaths at the things face and there were flashes of blue and pink light up near the monster abdomen and bursts of energy coming from both as her sisters joined in. In no time at all, the monster was turning and screaming its frustration at them as it left the bay. Finally.
They all floated up and watched the thing leave silently.
"So, anyone wanna guess where baby boy blue ended up?" Buttercup drawled as she broke the silence. She turned to watch as Bubbles's face paled and her jaw dropped.
"Oh my gosh! Boomie!" And there she went in a flash of blue fast enough to almost set off a sonic boom. Buttercup turned to look at the remaining ruffs.
"What, you two not gunna go check?"
Brick shrugged. "I'm sure he's fine. He's taken worse hits."
"I'd rather not go see the mush fest sugar cube is about to drop on my bro," Butch said as he rolled out a shoulder.
Well, that was fair.
"Well then I'll leave this area to you both. I need to get back to take care of a few things," Blossom said before saying a quick goodbye and taking off. Buttercup watched her go with a frown. How the hell did her sister still have bags under her eyes? It was summer!
"What, exactly, is it that she needs to take care of a few things for again? I'm thinking I might have missed something here?" Brick asked. Buttercup turned to see him frowning in the direction Blossom went.
"There's a fundraiser tomorrow. She's been the one in charge of planning it."
Brick's eyes narrowed. "I thought that thing was last week."
"...one of them was."
Brick spun around to face her. "One of them?"
Buttercup shrugged. "Leader girl always makes the most of summer. This year it feels like she's even doing extra. We think she's trying to make up for not having the time to do the odd one during the semester for once."
Brick opened his mouth, stopped, then snapped it shut.
"Yup. Pretty much hat head."
Brick groaned as he took off said hat to run a hand through his hair before putting the hat back in. "Your sister is gunna drive me insane."
Butch snorted. "Too late for that. Pretty sure she drove you in- ouch! Okay! Did I not say no more burns for me this summer! You already burned the hair off bro!"
Buttercup snorted at that. Butch had gone near bald after the forest incident, not that Brick had given him much choice. Most of it had been straight burned off. An impressive feat considering even their hair was infused with X.
"Well maybe if you weren't such an idiot I wouldn't have needed to burn it off in the first place!"
Ha. Idiot. Both of them actually. Did Brick really not expect Butch to do stupid stuff? It was Butch.
"Just saying man," Butch mumbled. Buttercup sighed and shook her head at that.
"Whatever. Anyways, it shouldn't really be that surprising," Buttercup cut in. She didn't really want them to start fighting. Them fighting meant her having to break it up and that would likely mean she'd end up with burn marks. She'd pass on that one.
"I never said I was surprised just..." Brick trialed off to sigh in the direction Blossom had gone again. "Didn't you think to try and stop her?"
Buttercup raised an eyebrow. "Who? Me and Bubs? Stop leader girl? Ha! We've tried plenty of times over the years. Kinda given up at this point."
"Damn it. Of course you have."
"Oooo, you said a bad word. Imma tell-fuck man! That hurts!"
Brick didn't even bother glaring at Butch who was patting out a patch of flames on his shirt.
"Well, guess it's someone else's turn to try," Brick said. His mouth was set in a slight grimace though.
"I liked this shirt bro. Why you gotta be like that?"
"Don't sound too enthusiastic there hat head," Buttercup said. They both ignored the whine Butch let out as he got a better look at the new hole in his shirt.
Brick turned and gave her a look. "I just said I'm about to try and tell Blossom to stop being so helpful. You really think I should look thrilled about that?"
Buttercup had no reply. There really wasn't anything she could say, especially since she knew just how crazy hard it would be. And maybe it would also be just a bit dangerous. Pink puffs tended to get a bit chilly when upset. Just a bit...
Brick didn't stick around after realizing she wasn't going to reply. He was off for the city in a flash of red without so much as a goodbye. Not that she really expected one.
"Man. Butters, give it to me straight. How bad is it really?" Butch asked as he let his shirt go. He lifted an arm so she'd have a better look at the damage. She turned and saw the massive hole in his shirt...as well as a near full view of his abs through it.
"Yup. I'm out. Later."
Nope. She wasn't gunna do this. Nopity nope, nope, nope! Bubbles was pretty much screaming in her head at this point but she would not give in. She wouldn't lose this fight!
Buttercup turned to leave and was about to take off until a hand clamped down on her arm.
"Wait!" She turned and glared at a slightly wide-eyed Butch. "You were giving me angry looks. Do you need me to talk to sugar cube? Explain that it was all my idea?"
This...idiot. Why'd he have to be observant at the worst possible times?
"No. Its fine," she glared at the hand on her arm hoping he'd get the hint here too.
"Are you sure? Cause I know what she's like and I'm sure she's still pissed." She was. "And I know you don't like when she's like that." She didn't. "So seriously, I'll talk to her if you think it'll help."
Buttercup looked Butch straight in the eyes at that. He looked kinda like a lost puppy right then. He also looked...close. His face was very close. Too close!
Buttercup yanked her arm out of his hand. "Its fine. Don't worry about it. Later."
She didn't stick around after that and shot off straight for home, ignoring the hollering from both inside and outside of her head the whole way there.
Boomer groaned as they flew down into the basement. He was seriously not happy. Why, out of all of them, did he have to be the one that was thrown clear across the city?
"Alright now Boomer. Why don't you take a seat next to the X-ray machine. Bubbles, be a dear and go grab the extra strength pain pills please," the professor said from where he was looking over some paper work. Boomer couldn't see what was on it...but he was sure it was his records. Which, in the hands of the professor, was not so reassuring this year. Or any year for Boomer but he had a bias against anything and everything science and doctor like thanks to Mojo.
"Got it daddy," Bubbles said as she zipped up and out of the basement. Boomer watched her go before turning to make his way for his seat. He knew his arm was broken at least but he was hoping that would be all that was broken. Resetting bones hurt like a son of a gun, even with the pain meds.
"Wonderful. Now, how have you been lately in general Boomer?" The professor asked as he quickly made his way over. Boomer sighed. He'd known this wouldn't be a quick in and out but it still sucked all the same.
"Good. Nothing really out of the norm at least."
"Good, good. Any sudden surges lately?"
Boomer made a face. While Blossom and Brick couldn't handle extreme temperatures of their own kind, Boomer didn't need to avoid electricity in general. That didn't mean he didn't have his own issues though. If he had a sudden burst of emotion, usually surprise, then sometimes he might trigger an internal surge. Usually he could keep it contained to himself but sometimes it would hit his immediate surroundings too.
"Not really."
Which...was a little lie. He'd had a few. He always had them during a hardcore moment. He just...didn't want the professor to know. Usually a surge moment meant a whole bunch of tests to make sure he was still okay. Which he was. So it was fine.
The professor knew better though. He gave Boomer a look as Bubbles appeared again in a flash of blue.
"Here you go! What's next?" Bubbles asked as she handed Boomer the bottle of meds. The professor was still looking at Boomer.
"Why don't you go wait upstairs honey? This may take a bit."
Bubbles cocked her head at that and Boomer used the pill bottle as a convenient excuse to not look at her.
"It'd go faster if I reset the bone for him though, right? I don't mind."
"No, no, no. None of that now. You know that the machine is best for resetting the bones. We wouldn't want to accidentally set it incorrectly now would we? I promise I'll make it as fast as possible so you can go on your date right after. You might have to change your plans though. You know how long these pain pills stay even in your systems."
Bubbles puffed out her cheeks at that for a moment before letting them deflate and finally nodding. "Okay. I guess so." Boomer saw her turn to face him out of the corner of his eye. "Think about what you wanna do after, okay?"
Boomer nodded, still not looking at her. Bubbles beamed at him all the same before giving his cheek a quick peck and disappearing in another flash of blue.
"Alright Boomer. How about we try this again? Any surges lately?"
The professor was smiling but it didn't really feel like it. In fact, it was very similar to a certain scary smile Bubbles had. Huh. At least now he knew where she'd picked it up. He shrugged at the professor.
"May have had a hardcore episode but I'm fine. No tests...please?" Boomer asked, his voice trailing. He was glad Bubbles was upstairs. He knew she knew about his fears but that didn't mean he was okay talking about it in front of her still. He didn't like talking about it period after all.
The professor sighed. "You know I can't do that Boomer. The amount of electricity your body can handle is terrifyingly large but that doesn't mean you should be handling that amount of electricity. You know that each time it happens for a sustained period, like a hardcore episode, that your heart usually has damage. And the last thing we need is for you to end up needing a transplant or something. I need to do the usual exams."
Damn it. This is why he'd been avoiding coming here, choosing to meet Bubbles at the date spot or meet up at his house instead of meeting her here. The professor would never pass on doing these tests. Hell, Brick and Butch thought he'd already had them done even, not that Boomer corrected them. This was the one time his brothers would drag him to the puff home if they'd known the truth.
"I feel fine. No chest pain, no dizziness, no shortness of breath, not even any fatigue. I seriously think I'm good prof."
Boomer looked up at the professor finally only to see a gentle look on the man's face.
"I understand Boomer, I truly do, but I have to run these exams and tests. As your doctor, my job is to make sure you're healthy. While I'm sure you haven't told me everything Him and Mojo put you through, I know enough to know exactly what I'm asking from you. You know I've seen the surgery video Mojo filmed that…one time. It's important we do this, even more so after what was done to you. Losing one kidney was more organs than I'd want any of you to lose. We can't afford you to be walking around with sustained damage to your heart or anything else and risk having to remove or replace another one. Especially since, as it seems to be the core of your ability with electricity, your X has a hard time healing the damage."
Boomer knew that. He did. He just also felt fine and so he hadn't thought he'd needed to worry. He knew what the signs and symptoms were. He'd been through it often enough at this point after all. So it was fine.
But the professor was also right, as much as Boomer didn't want to admit it, and so, with a sigh, he set the bottle of pills down.
"Okay. Arm first or last then?"
Bubbles frowned at her phone. Brat's most recent text was more than a good enough reason to fly right over to Citiesville but she still hadn't done it. And each time she got a picture or text Bubbles couldn't help but double check with Boomer that he wasn't actually in Citiesville. Not that he ever was. Heck, this time Brat had even texted while she was actually with Boomer.
Bubbles knew what Brat was doing. She wasn't an idiot and honestly, that was part of why Bubbles hadn't flown over to scream at her yet. The other part was...well...she kept actually checking with Boomer. Which was really ridiculous. Bubbles trusted him and he literally never did anything he thought would make her unhappy but still...
It made no sense. If Bubbles trusted him then why would she still keep checking? Boomer was way better than Mark. He would never cheat on her simply because he knew better. And that Buttercup would quiet possibly maim him at best if he did. But she was pretty sure he wouldn't simply because he actually did care about her. So why did she keep doubting him?
Bubbles
Get a life. And leave me out of it.
There. That would do. For now. Not that it would stop Brat, but still. It would do.
Bubbles heard a very high-pitched yelp from below her. Well, that was the arm straightened out. It was never fun having that happen. It was reason number one to avoid breaking bones. Still, not much you could do when a monster sends you flying across the whole city. They were just lucky Boomer hadn't caused any serious damage.
Though, there'd still been damage. Bubbles wondered if dear old Mr. Jones would be calling them in for another not so fun meeting. They might even have to bring the ruffs this time. They'd been avoiding it so far simply because of how stressful things had been but they wouldn't be able to for much longer. Blossom would need to talk to them before that though and prepare them. They might have heard Mayor Bellum complain occasionally about the council meetings but actually attending them was always a whole different story.
That was a problem for not today though. Boomer would be up shortly and she had a while new date planned already. A nice and relaxing day watching movies on the couch. Maybe she could even try and find a time to ask the professor if he could stay over for dinner which would be a first. Hmmm, she'd have to think of the best way to approach that one so that Boomer didn't end up glared at the entire time.
The door to the basement lab opened and Bubbles turned to see a half-asleep Boomer shuffle out. She gave him a small smile.
"All better?"
Boomer grumbled under his breath too softly for her to hear and honestly, that was answer enough.
"I was thinking of just staying in and watching movies. If daddy is okay with it too."
Boomer shrugged before shuffling over to the sofa. Although he was way too tall to do this, he climbed onto and curled up in a ball next to Bubbles, his head in her lap. She couldn't help but feel her cheeks heat up but in a few seconds she was calming back down. He was already snoring in a cute kind of puppy like whiney way. It was adorable. And he was clearly very sleepy from the meds.
The professor came up after that, took one look and the two of them, and then Bubbles had the wonderful joy off seeing about seven different emotions flash across his face. He eventually settled for a strained but tired looking smile.
"Would you like me to bring you something? I doubt he'll be moving anytime soon," the professor whispered.
Bubbles shook her head and held up the TV remote. The professor nodded.
"Let me know if you end up needing anything. I'll be in the lab reviewing a few things."
Bubbles nodded and watched as the professor turned and disappeared back into the lab, the door staying wide open for once.
Bubbles looked back down at Boomer. He looked younger like this. She ran her hand through his hair lightly and her heart nearly burst when he pressed into her palm slightly as if to encourage her to continue.
So she did. She stuck on a basic movie she'd seen a hundred and two times before carefully settling a little more comfortably and continued to comb her hand through his hair. It wasn't exactly what she'd had planned but that was okay. This would work just fine too.
Butch glared at Brick as he stood there, arms crossed, the most amused expression ever on his face. Smug bastard. Just cause he was out of the dog house while Butch was still slaving away.
"So how many more days of this did you have again?" Brick smirked out.
Butch felt his eyes narrow more but didn't stop running. Last time he did that Blossom somehow knew and she added three weeks onto this whole thing. Which meant he had three weeks more of this. Damn it.
"Uh-huh. So, learned that lesson yet?"
Butch already knew the lesson which was the annoying part. Why he broke the lesson was because idiots existed. Next time, Butch would not be pissing Blossom off this much. Better timing was key.
"Why do I feel like you're gunna end up with a repeat?"
Butch rolled his eyes at that. Brick wasn't wrong. Even Butch didn't think he'd be capable of the self-control needed to not have this repeat. Which sucked. It sucked big time. Cause Blossom was likely gunna make the lesson more and more painful until either he learned or she gave up. And reds didn't give up. Tenacious bastards that they were. Speaking of reds...
"Don't you have a pink puff to go woo out of overworking herself?" Butch huffed out.
Brick scowled at that. "I'm not going to-"
"Ha! How else do you expect to get miss Ice Queen herself to stop? Blossy Boo does what Blossy Boo wants and good luck to anyone trying to change that. You included."
Man, Brick really needed to go away. All this talking while running was making him annoyed. Of course, as was Butch's luck, Brick didn't take off in a huff.
"I have a plan. And no, it doesn't involve wooing. Why the hell are you and Boomer using that word anyway?"
"Cause what other fucking word are we gunna use? You plan to land the pink puff? Wooing seems like a kinda must."
"Fuck you. You're just being huffy cause Buttercup's still being all weird around you. Wasn't the fight supposed to fix all that? What'd you go and do to piss her off after that?"
Finally, that alarm that told Butch he was done went off. He didn't hesitate to get off the machine and go for some water.
"Screw you. I was supposed to take the fall with her sisters but you dragged me off and turned me into a pile of char so I couldn't. She's probably pissed at me cause of that."
Brick raised an eyebrow while Butch chugged some water. "She say that? Seems like Buttercup would know you better than that. Hell, she knows there was no way I wasn't going to char you so why would she be pissed about it?"
"Asshole. Why you gotta love to burn me to a crisp?"
"Cause you're an idiot and it's the only way to get you to listen."
"...whatever. And no, that ain't what she said but I dunno what else it could be bro. Has to be that. That's the only thing I've fucked up lately."
"Lately. You piss her off before summer started then?"
Butch scratched his neck. "I don't think so? I dunno. Maybe. I was pretty pissed with the whole Dicky thing. Might have done something."
"Well fix it then. Can't have this weird tension between you two continue. I know that was the reason she was sent swimming today. You two need to be back in order in case another monster hits the city."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You just focus on wooing your puff and I'll deal with Butters."
Brick raised an eyebrow at that but thankfully didn't push.
"I'm not wooing."
Butch threw his arms up. "Then go carry out your master plan or whatever. I smell like a pig though so imma take a shower. Peace bro. And good luck. You're gunna need a lot of it."
Brick grumbled under his breath and Butch just barely made out a 'don't I know it' before leaving the room. He rolled his eyes. At least Brick knew this was gunna be a disaster, whatever this plan was. Stopping Blossom was legit like trying to stop a plane. Not an easy task, even for one of them.
Still, Brick had a point. Butch really needed to figure out what was going on with Buttercup. Even though he'd told Brick that the fight was the reason, he wasn't dumb. He knew that wasn't why Buttercup was being weird. The problem was, he legit couldn't think of anything else he might have done. For once.
Whatever. He'd deal with it later. Maybe he'd hit the others up and go play some ball with them or something.
Boomer blinked slowly as he started to wake up. Shit. He was still at the prof's. He'd known those pain pills were strong, and he'd taken a little more than he should have to try and stay calm through the tests, but he hadn't expected to pass out in the middle of the puffs' home. Which...was a point. Where was he in said home right now?
The TV was right in front of him so living room and likely the sofa. Which explained why Boomer's legs were feeling not so nice right now. He turned his head to see that it wasn't just the sofa he was resting on. His face went beat red when he realized he had his head on Bubbles's lap. Turning slowly, he looked up at her only to sigh in relief.
Bubbles had slumped back on the sofa, her chin hitting her chest, as she'd fallen asleep herself. Probably not a deep sleep though. Although, she'd been up late the past few nights texting him and while Boomer knew how to handle a poor sleep schedule, the puffs generally didn't. Well, Buttercup maybe could but she didn't like to. If you liked living, you didn't get between Buttercup and her sleep. Butch and the guys had learned that lesson the hard way.
Still, Boomer decided he should get up from Bubbles's lap now but maybe let her sleep some more. Not too much though. The monster attack had been in the morning and if she slept most of the day away it would really screw with her sleep schedule. So step one, leave the lap. Step two, check the time.
Plan made, Boomer floated up slightly from the sofa and away from it all without waking Bubbles. Then again, she wasn't as sensitive to X use as the reds were so it wasn't surprising. If this had been a red...it would have just been weird. He wasn't going to even finish that thought. Ugh. No.
Boomer didn't bother touching down. He stretched out in the air before righting himself and sitting crisscross in the air in front of Bubbles. Right. Checking the time. Was his phone...?
Not in his pocket. He knew he put it in there before leaving the lab and he didn't remember pulling it out sooo...
There. It was wedged between some of the cushions. Floating over, Boomer plucked it out and checked the time. It had been maybe a few hours since they'd reached the house so maybe half of that since he fell asleep. Assuming Bubbles hadn't fallen asleep right away, she'd probably only just recently fell asleep. So he could let her sleep a bit more.
Propping a cheek on a fist, Boomer took a good look at Bubbles. Her hair was still a mess from the fight but she'd changed into new clothes. Something a bit more laid back than what she'd been wearing on their dates so she'd probably planned to not go out after he'd been treated. Not that he really would have been able to. Still, she had to be uncomfortable like that and she'd definitely have a kink in her neck. He could try to move her. Unlike him, she'd easily fit on the sofa. She looked so peaceful though that he was scared to try and move her in case he woke her.
While he was mulling over the best way to do that he heard a ring. He glanced at the source and saw Bubbles's phone on the sofa's armrest. Probably just a text. He ignored it to go back to mulling things over.
Only then it happened again. And again. And even again! Confused, and a little annoyed that they might wake up Bubbles, Boomer floated over and picked up the phone. He checked to see who the messages were from and frowned.
Brat? The hell was Brat texting Bubbles for?
The phone chimed again and before Boomer could do anything, a soft groan sounded from next to him. Boomer looked up to see Bubbles slowly coming awake. He put the phone back, glaring at it for waking her up, and turned to face her.
"Morning sunshine. I was about to try and mute your phone but looks like I was too late," Boomer said softly.
Bubbles groaned as she lifted a hand to rub at an eye. "Time is it?" She said groggily.
"Not long after noon."
"Hmmm, 'm hungry."
Boomer chuckled. "We missed lunch so I'm not surprised. Wanna go grab something?"
Bubbles rolled out her neck as she reached for her phone. She frowned at it before swiping the messages away. Whatever Brat was texting about mustn't have been important then.
"Sandwiches?"
Boomer shrugged. "Works for me."
Butch chocked on his laugh as he watched Mitch tumble into the water along with Mike and Elmer. Oh this was great. Thank god the twins had thought to film this. Even better, they both thought to film it so they had this awesomeness from two whole different angles.
"Yeah, yeah. Real funny guys. One of you wanna help us out here?" Mitch asked as he sat up. The water of wasn't deep but the mud walls were steep, and they kept sliding back into the water hole. Butch kept wheezing in laughter and even had to bring a hand to his side. Man, this was killer after all the exercising he'd done today but it was killer gold!
"I mean, kinda enjoying the show," Floyd said.
"Seriously. Hey, think I can get a better shot from in the tree?" Llyod asked his brother.
"Nah, leaves look like they'll get in the way. Just have Butch float over the thing. That'll work much better."
"Assholes," Mike mumbled as he glared up at them. Elmer started on another attempt to climb the wall only to slide back down in seconds.
"Holy shit! You guys are covered in mud now! Man, can't wait to show this all to everyone when we get back to town," Butch managed to get out between laughs. Llyod waved him over and so Butch went and took his phone and floated over the thing.
Mitch flipped him off. "You know, you could get us out of here in, like, legit two seconds."
"Yeah. But where's the fun in that?"
"Should have brought Buttercup along after all," Elmer mumbled, too softly for the twins to hear but Butch saw Mike nod in agreement.
"She'd help."
Butch wasn't gunna comment. Cause they were right. She would help. But he was really glad to just have a guy's day so when Mitch had replied asking if he wanted to join them on a hike instead of playing ball he'd of course said hell yes. Time away from the bros? Check. Time away from the puffs? Check. Time away from the city while Brick commits his suicidal plan that could also backfire to all the ruffs? Check. Time away from Buttercup in particular?... Check.
"I'll help you in a second you babies. Just needed to get this awesome shot."
Having finished a fly over, Butch made his way back to the twins and handed Llyod his phone back.
"You know my car only seats two right? That means you two'll have to take one of us in your car. I'm really looking forward to it," Mitch ground out at the twins who paled at the thought. Butch just cracked up laughing again. That said, maybe he'd fly back just to avoid being made to sit next to one of these mud buddies of his.
"Alright, coming to get you know. If you ruin these pants though I'll drop you back in and leave ya. So watch it," Butch warned as he floated down. A good thing he did too. He saw a handful of mud drop out of Mitch's and Mike's hands. Bastards. And when he was gunna be so kind as to air lift them out. The things he did for these jerks.
"Okay, that should be everything," Blossom said softly to herself as she re-reviewed the checklist again. Buttercup just rolled her eyes.
"Sure you don't want to check for the, what, sixth time would it be? Is checking only five times really enough for you?"
Blossom frowned at that. "I haven't checked it that many times."
At least, she didn't think she had. In fact, she'd only checked three times if she remembered correctly.
...Maybe one more check-
"Nope. I can legit read the thought going through that red head of yours and no. We are not doing another check!"
Blossom huffed at her sister before turning away. Whatever. She'd do the check on her own then.
"Oh my gosh-! Bloss! Enough! For Pete's sake, three checks is more than enough for most people you know!"
Blossom chose to ignore her. They couldn't risk anything going wrong after all. This fundraiser could help so many people! Everything had to be perfect.
"How many checks?"
Blossom spun around to see Brick float down next to Buttercup. To say she was surprised would be an understatement. She was usually really attentive to when people used their X around her and she didn't even notice Brick floating down until he spoke!
"Three. She's checked the stupid checklist three times now! Give me the thing!" Buttercup nearly growled out as she launched at Blossom.
Startled, Blossom zipped away in a flash of pink and glared at her sister. "Excuse you but you know how I feel about people touching my checklists so kindly, no touching."
Buttercup glared at the thing as if she was about to blast it in half and Blossom clutched it to her chest offended. Honestly. Buttercup knew better!
Brick rolled his eyes at the whole thing. "Let me take a quick look and I'll do a quick check. I'm sure you have things you need to be doing instead anyways."
Blossom frowned at that. Brick was right, she did have other things she needed to do but...
Well, it was Brick though. He'd notice any issues for sure and if he didn't see any then maybe she wouldn't need to do another check. Although, if she had time to do one after doing her other things then maybe...
Slowly, Blossom lowered the clipboard with the list, keeping a close eye on Buttercup, and angled it so Brick could take a look. Buttercup narrowed her eyes at that.
"Seriously? You don't trust me or Bubs when we check but hat head shows up and it's a whole different story?! Really?!"
"I've seen your bedrooms. After you've cleaned them. I know exactly how attentive to details the two of you are so yes, it is a whole different story!"
"Oh get over yourself! That's my space. I make it as clean as I want it!"
"You've lost five pairs of headphones in the past year alone! And don't even get me started on how many times you've come to me looking for a pen or pencil because you can't find yours!"
"Maybe I just like yours more!"
"Then don't lose them too!"
"Right, so I'm gunna go start checking things. Maybe have the sisterly fight when you don't have a fundraiser to coordinate though?" Brick said as he floated up slightly. Blossom gave Buttercup one last glare before turning to look at Brick.
"Thank you for the check. Please find me and let me know how it all looks when you're done."
She didn't wait for a reply before spinning and turning away. Brick was right. She had more important things to do than argue with her sister right now. And Buttercup should have known better than to start the argument. Ugh! Sisters!
"One of these days I swear I'll burn one of those damned checklists," Buttercup ground out as she glared after Blossom. Brick sighed at that.
"Good luck." Even he knew better than to touch one of those. One year he'd accidentally burned a pencil of his when he was sitting at a desk near Blossom's and she'd had a checklist out. She nearly froze him solid on the spot she was so angry about it. There were hard fights with Blossom, then there were impossible ones. The checklists would stay sacred, he wasn't even going to question that.
"Why are you really here? I know it ain't to help. You and your bros hate these things. Hell, I remember you crashed one or two of them before the signing," Buttercup questioned as she finally turned away from where Blossom had disappeared.
Brick winced at that. "In my defense, I think you all had ruined our plans to get money for food for the week like right before that. And the events had free food. So yeah..."
Buttercup scoffed. "Makes sense. Think the thing was actually for hungry kids anyways so guess it actually served its purpose in the end."
Brick...wasn't sure how he felt about that actually. On one hand, great that it wasn't technically as bad of a crime as it was. On the other hand...now he kind of felt like the puffs had one upped him somehow. He quickly pushed all that away. It was so long ago there wasn't much point in dwelling on it.
"Didn't answer the question though," Buttercup added.
Brick sighed. "I'm here cause your sister needs to chill and apparently I'm dumb enough to try and make her."
Buttercup blinked up at him for a few seconds before busting out laughing. "Hell yes! I'm so gunna have call Bubs over for this one! Oh this is gunna be such a good shit show."
Brick glared at her before taking off in a flash of red to check the things on the checklist. Great. Now he was gunna have an audience. Just what he wanted. This was going to be awful.
"Done!" Buttercup near yelled as she plopped down into a nearby chair. Blossom glared at her while Bubbles giggled.
"Yup. Done. It was amazing as always Bloss," Bubbles said. Blossom smiled at her.
"Thank you Bubbles, but we aren't done yet. Now its clean-up time and then it'll be time to start thinking about the next one."
Buttercup whimpered at that as she buried her face in her hands. "Oh my god someone save me."
Blossom rolled her eyes at that but honestly, Brick was siding more with Buttercup on this one. There was a specific clean-up crew, so they had no reason to be involved with that and it was their vacation. A break between events was okay. Hell, he was sure some of the people who helped with this event would even appreciate it. He knew firsthand what a slave driver a perfectionist like Blossom could be.
Which meant he was really left with no choice. Blossom seemed hell bent on not taking the break that she very clearly needed. Time for him to do something very, very stupid.
Brick seriously hoped this worked and she didn't kill him for this.
"You're impossible. Its summer you know! We should be having beach days, not charity weeks," Buttercup complained. Blossom rolled her eyes.
"If we can help someone in need by doing this then it's only right that we-"
"Oh get off your high horse already. Were allowed to take breaks you know! That won't kill anybody! In fact, not taking a break might kill me!"
Brick slowly walked around the puffs who were too busy arguing to notice until he was standing behind Blossom.
"It's not like you plan all this. You can take your break while I'm planning the next event."
"But you'll expect me to still help out with that next event. And the one after that, and the one after that! Seriously! Just a week between these things ain't asking for much leader girl!"
"Girls, maybe we should have this discussion elsewhere? Or better yet, not at all? I mean, I'm kinda with Buttercup on this one Bloss."
Blossom's jaw dropped as she looked at Bubbles. "Wha- oh come on, not you too! I thought you'd be on my side at least!"
Bubbles fiddled with a pigtail and Buttercup smirked triumphantly.
"It's just, it is a lot and I'd like some more time to go on dates with Boomie and stuff. Half of our planned dates keep ending up ruined by monsters."
Brick was surprised. All three puffs were pretty much ignoring him. Hell, nobody, not even the cleaning crew, seemed to be paying attention to him. At this rate what he was about to do would be as easy as taking candy from a baby. Something that...he totally didn't know how easy it was. Totally.
"For dates? You didn't ask for that last summer with Mark!"
"Okay but we all know I wasn't really all that into Mark."
Buttercup snorted at that. "No kidding. You're maybe a bit too into baby blue boy though."
Bubbles's jaw dropped this time. "Wha- am not! Take that back."
Wow. At this point not only were they ignoring him it was quickly dissolving into a puff fight. As entertaining as that might be...he really had something stupid to do.
"Nah. But we do need more time leader girl. You know how exhausted we get after the semester. And no, you aren't resting cause someone who's resting doesn't end up with bags under their eyes," Buttercup said, cutting Blossom off.
Perfect segue. Thank you Buttercup, for the unintentional assist.
"I am so resting! This is just- they aren't that bad!"
"Kinda with your sisters on this one Blossom. In fact," Brick cut in. While Blossom was turning to face him he zipped over in a flash of red, grabbed his target, and zipped a bit away. "Normally there's no way you'd let me get away with this."
Brick held up the bright red ribbon and watched as Blossom's hair fell around her. Bubbles and Buttercup both blinked at him for a second before one gasped and the other burst out laughing. Blossom glared at him before holding out her hand.
"Not funny Brick. Give it back. That one's a special one."
Oh, he knew. This was one of her first red ones. Blossom always wore a special big red ribbon in her hair on days like this. That's why he knew this would be the perfect time to strike.
"Ya see, I don't think I can do that. Your sisters kinda have a point but I know you're gunna be too stubborn to listen so I'm thinking of showing you just how right they are. Up for a game of keep away?"
Blossom's eyes narrowed some more as Bubbles started joining Buttercup's laughter. Brick didn't wait for an answer. In a flash of red he was out the door and booking it away as fast as he could. Now came the fun part.
Blossom stood there for a few seconds as she tried to process what, exactly, had just happened. Her sisters were still laughing when she finally finished and she couldn't help but glare.
"You both can stay and watch over the clean up now. Thanks for all the help."
Blossom didn't stay to watch their reactions although she definitely heard them as she zoomed for the door in a flash of pink. Activating her X-ray vision, it didn't take her long to figure out where Brick was. She shot off in his direction. He was as sensitive to X usage as she was though and he always seemed to know when she was watching so she wasn't surprised when he kicked it up a notch. Glaring, Blossom quickly followed suit.
She was surprised to find that she wasn't catching up quickly though. In terms of speed alone she was faster than Brick but he'd definitely improved his speed and control over his X in the past few months since he started helping with the hero work. And it showed. Also, while he still might have been slower, he knew the city much better now and he kept taking turns and twisting around buildings in ways that made her have to slow down to match. The end result? She was making no progress at all.
Blossom huffed. Fine. If he wanted to play keep away then she'd play alright. Brick made a tight turn around another building and Blossom immediately turned in the same direction two buildings sooner. He might know the city better now but she knew it like the back of her hand. Making sure not to track his movement directly as he'd sense that, she made sure he followed the path he had started on. If she was right, which of course she was, it would let out right...about...here!
Brick burst out through the buildings only to see Blossom charging right at him. His eyes widened but he quickly recovered and had plenty of time to zip off to continue the game. She was much closer know though. Even with the annoying twists and turns she'd catch up quickly at this point.
Or so she though. Brick continued straight until, suddenly, he shot straight down. Confused, it took Blossom a second to follow but she quickly pulled up short as she watched Brick dive straight into the streets.
That was so- how could he- ugh! That was an accident waiting to happen. Glaring down at him, Blossom followed from above but found it was much harder to keep track of him now. Even with the trailing red streak, he kept having to turn and angle himself to avoid the oncoming traffic and the result was she was having to focus a lot more on not losing him because she knew the second she did he'd take advantage.
So, of course, Brick had to throw another curve ball at her. Blossom tracked his movements carefully until, suddenly, there was no red streak below her. Pulling to an abrupt halt, Blossom scanned the below street but saw no sign of him. Growling under her breath, she looked up at the surrounding areas to try and find him. He couldn't have, and wouldn't have, gone far. After all, the point of the game was the chase and if he lost her completely the chase would be over. So he had to be...
Blossom spotted Brick floating laissez faire style around the tops of some nearby buildings. When he noticed her glaring at him he gave a little wave, her ribbon wrapped tight around the hand.
"I'm really not finding this very funny Brick," Blossom said from where she was still floating around the street. He might have looked laid back but she knew the second she moved Brick would instantly react to it. The problem was, she wasn't sure how. What was his point in this game? He hadn't done something like this since before the signing!
"Glad to hear it. Wasn't doing this for kicks and giggles after all."
Her eyes narrowed more at him. "So why are you doing this?"
Brick shrugged. "Figured it'd be the best way to make my point. How many years has it been now since I last pulled this off? Hell, I can't even remember the last time I got the drop on you. Has to be well before the signing."
It was. And Blossom was very not happy at breaking the streak she had going.
"Making a point? What point could stealing my ribbon possibly have other than proving you're just as annoying as you used to be?"
Brick winced dramatically, bringing a hand up to his heart. "Oof, ouch Blossom. That was harsh. I'd say I'm a lot more laid back than I used to be. Not breaking into banks anymore at least."
Blossom raised an eyebrow. "Or stealing from charity events."
Brick's eyebrow twitched a little at that. "It was one time."
"Still happened."
"Okay! Fine. It did. Really not the point right now."
"Then what is the point Brick? Because I'm really not seeing why you would steal my ribbon. Especially since it's one of the old ones and I know you know that."
Brick didn't even twitch which told her she was right. When Blossom got her hands on him...
"The point...is that I could actually take it. Seriously Blossom. I legit haven't been able to get the drop on you in years. Nobody has. And yet, not only did I get the drop on you but both the punks did from what I heard. You're slipping and it's pretty damn clear why too."
Blossom narrowed her eyes at him. "I am not slipping. My grades-"
"Oh don't even get me started on that. How the hell you still managed to beat Howie and me is a serious sore spot right now and I honestly don't get it. I know I studied more and I was hella better rested."
Blossom flipped some of her annoyingly loose hair over her shoulder. "I'm just better than both of you."
Brick glared at that and Blossom decided that now was as good a time as any. In a flash of pink she shot straight for Brick. He reacted a second too late and so she was able to luckily get really close this time. She reached for the ribbon but Brick spun and shot straight down. Blossom ground her teeth before following after. He didn't go as low as before but he wasn't far from it, skimming over the tops of the trees lining the streets.
"Brick! Give it back!"
"Not until you realize!"
Blossom took a deep breath in before stopping. She was too close to the street to try and blast him and with the speed they were going it was probably just going to all hit her in the face anyways. Gritting her teeth, she pumped her X into overdrive to try and fly that little bit faster. In a straight line, there was no way for Brick to out fly her.
Seeming to realize this, Brick shot straight up suddenly and Blossom huffed at that before following. He kept climbing higher and higher and she got closer and closer. Finally, Blossom got close enough to grab at his ankle which she made to do. He brought his knees to his chest before shooting off to the side this time. Unlike other times though, he let out a short blast of flames. Blossom pulled up short and blew out a burst of ice to lessen the blast of flames before it hit her, the flames turning quickly to black wisps of smoke instead. She coughed as it hit her in the face and waved a hand to try and clear it as she looked around for where Brick had shot off to.
It didn't take long. They were up above all the buildings at this point and with it being a clear day there weren't any clouds to hide behind. He was floating not too far away, one hand in a pocket while the other held the ribbon out towards her between two fingers.
"Just gotta admit it and I'll hand the ribbon back Blossom."
"Admit what? That I'm slipping? But I'm not."
Brick rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever. Cause of the damned grades I'll concede on that one. But ya gotta admit you're not as sharp as you usually are. Every year you take on more and more and you never hit a limit but you're hitting it now. How the hell else can you explain how you let three supers get the drop on you?"
"I'm fine."
"You're not. That's the problem. I can see the bags from here. How the hell do you have bags under your eyes during summer vacation? I mean, if it were Buttercup I'd maybe say too many late nights with the guys and Bubbles it would be maybe too many late nights texting Boom, which I should really talk to him about, but you? You're a stickler for routines and I'm sure you're not pulling late nights with friends so why the hell the bags huh?"
"There's a lot of events I was helping host and there were some last second issues."
Brick rolled his eyes. "And? Is that your job? You're helping them, not doing it for them Blossom. Stop overworking yourself."
"I'm not."
And with that, Blossom shot straight towards the ribbon. Again, Brick spun around to stop her from grabbing it but didn't shoot off somewhere. Instead, he brought his other arm up, an elbow going straight towards her head. Blossom ducked below it and then had to pull back as a leg sweep followed.
"Brick! I'm not sparing out above the city with you!"
"Fine. I'm not sparing."
Blossom grit her teeth. It was pretty darn similar to it! She shot back towards him eyeing the ribbon in his hand that he was keeping slightly behind him. Brick brought his other hand around again, this time aiming to push her. She dodged it and continued to go for the ribbon only to have him shoot up above her and then back down behind her.
"I know I'm not faster than you so explain to me how you haven't got this yet. Well?"
Blossom grit her teeth and ignored him as she turned and went for the ribbon again only for him to spin out of the way again.
"Brick! This isn't funny!"
"Not supposed to be."
Blossom was beyond done at this point. Taking a deep breath she turned to face Brick and then let loose, ice rapidly rolling from her lungs towards him. Brick barely flinched as he let loose a similar breath of pure flames. Both continued until they ran out of breath and were left floating there waiting for the resulting steam to dissipate.
"Come on Blossom, I can keep this up all day. Can you though?"
Blossom grit her teeth. She should have been able to get the ribbon back by now. Normally she had no problem keeping up with Brick. But admitting that meant...
"I am seriously not happy about this," Blossom huffed out with a glare. Brick shrugged.
"Didn't think you would be. Someone had to do this though and there wasn't any way your sisters could pull it off. Butch is still in the doghouse and just too slow and Boomer would never agree so here I am."
"I am not slipping."
"But you are tired."
Blossom grit her teeth but didn't respond. She was maybe, just possibly, a little tired. But it wasn't that bad! She could handle it! It wasn't like she'd messed up on anything!
"No reply means I'm right."
Blossom huffed but couldn't argue. "Okay. So maybe I'm just a little tired. But it's-"
"Not fine. Just cause you haven't screwed up on something cause of it yet doesn't mean you won't."
"...I'll be able to handle it."
Brick rolled his eyes. "Maybe. Probably actually yeah, but you don't have to. Like you said, you're helping with the events. Let the people actually in charge of planning them do their jobs. Enjoy your vacation, relax, let other people do things. You do it all the time at school with Princess and Robin. People generally can handle the basics on their own ya know. And stop helping with so many events, or at least just make them appearances or something. It's ridiculous. Even Bellum has been surprised at how many events you've been involved with. Hell, you weren't even upset that you didn't have a lead role in the dance at the end of the year. I can remember at least one time where something similar drove you to legit tears."
"That...was more complicated than just not getting the role."
Brick rolled his eyes. Blossom found herself wishing he'd stop doing that. "Doesn't matter. Admit it. You need to chill and relax."
Blossom bit her lip. She really didn't want to admit it. Admitting that at this point was admitting she'd lost. And she hates losing. Especially against Brick.
"Just a few simple words and you can have the ribbon back."
Blossom glared for a few more seconds before sighing.
"...Fine. Maybe a break would be good."
"Thank fuck. I was seriously worried I was gunna have to do something crazier than this."
Blossom glared as she held out her hand. "This was plenty thank you."
"Good." He still hadn't given her the ribbon and she narrowed her eyes some more. "Do you swear to actually relax if I give this back?"
"...yes. I'll relax. I have some prior agreements this week but after I'll take on less."
Brick let out a sigh before finally handing the ribbon over. Blossom didn't hesitate to snatch it out of his hand.
"See? Was that so hard?"
Blossom didn't even bother to respond before sending one last glare and shooting off for home. Stealing her ribbon. How rude! He knew better.
Still...maybe she had gone a little crazy this past year. They hadn't even been able to get to the beach yet and she'd promised her sisters the year before to go on an overnight vacation nearby if the monster attacks weren't too crazy. With the boys helping out now, that wouldn't be a problem. Not that she was going to admit all that to Brick. She'd admitted she was tired. That was more than enough.
Stealing her ribbon...honestly. He knew better!
Brick groaned as he fell onto the sofa face first.
"Well, ya lived," Boomer said without looking up from his game. Brick just grunted back.
"Somehow. Fuck. I'm never doing that again. Forgot how cold she can get."
"That was your problem? Thought that be the last thing you'd be complaining about."
Brick held up his hand which had slight frost burns from where Blossom had snatched her ribbon.
"Shit. That's a nasty one. You'll be feeling it for a few days," Boomer said after pausing the game.
"Yeah. I know."
"But it worked right."
Brick grunted back. They'd just have to wait and see. He wasn't really sure it would but it was the best he had.
"Still...probably wasn't a good idea if you really do wanna ask her out. I doubt she'll forget this anytime soon."
Brick knew that. He did. He remembered how long she was angry about the last time he'd done something stupid like this and it was a long ass time. It wasn't like he had a ton of options though.
"Yo. Anyone got any tips for cleaning out mud from shit?" Butch asked as he floated down the stairs.
"The hell do you need tips on that for?" Brick asked as he lifted his head to glare. If Butch had gone and messed up something he shouldn't have again Brick was really going to have to make him regret it.
Instead of cringing away from the glare, Butch broke out laughing. "Oh, you're gunna fucking love this!"
So I mentioned on my other story but...I was late I think. Sorry about that. I'm going to post once a month going forward but I'm not sure what I'll post so it might not be this. I may also post more often. It all depends. Things have been surprisingly busy and I've had less writing time so I think this'll help me out more.
Anyways, explaining Boomer's little bit there, I imagine that Mojo is a horrible father, but he is also a mad genius scientist. With the puffs being his ultimate enemies who his sons literally have the same (or opposite) powers as, he definitely would have tried to find a weakness through the ruffs. One attempt at that was finding out just how far their healing abilities went...and wanting to know if a lost limb could be re-grown. Thanks to Boomer, sadly, they now know that body parts will not re-grow. Something Boomer has to live his whole life with now. The puffs know this, but they don't know about Boomer having only one kidney. They just figured that the prof did some other experiment and that's how he knew. The ruffs and Bellum do know though.
EverestGhost13! Glad you enjoyed the green moment. Hope you enjoyed the one in this chapter too! It's finally time for the greens to start realizing a few things. Hope you look forward to the moments to come!
Its just adi! Haha I'm sorry for my timing on that last chapter! Hopefully the rest of the work day didn't drag. So glad you enjoyed the green parallels! They're really pretty similar in a lot of things, more so maybe than the other ruff puff pairs. Hope you enjoyed their moment in this chapter too!
Alice1420! Thanks for using the translator! I didn't mind the Spanish comment, I just wanted to let you know I had to use it so if my reply was a little off, that was probably why. And the tension is still growing. It's going to be crazy when it all explodes haha. Happy New Year to you too! Hope Hope you enjoyed the new chapter!
Mythiclezbee! I'm glad you enjoy my character descriptions and the little details I try to keep in mind with Butch and his jitterness. I feel like it's a key thing for him, much to his annoyance. Happy to hear you've been enjoying this enough to dream about it haha. Hope you enjoyed this chapter too!
And with that, see you all soon. Ciao!