To Hairy Gregory, Violet Smith, lilangel, Uncle Sam and TJ Rose, thanks for the kind words.
Allies and Rivals
Chapter 2
Arrival at Townsville
The City of Townsville, a wonderful place where four new residents would arrive soon. Let's first look at their preparations at Citiesville.
It is Tuesday, July 6, in the first year.
"Wake up, boys!" the doctor gently said at the three sleeping figures. "It's time for breakfast!"
Brick yawned and looked at the clock. It read 6:30 a.m.
"Five minutes, Dad, five minutes…" he said and fell back asleep.
"Now boys, we have to get up early. The drive to Townsville will take hours," the Doctor stated. "I would like us to get there before dark."
"Why don't we just fly (yawn) you and the (yawn) stuff to Townsville," Butch sleepily asked.
"Because then you would be discovered. I don't want those girls to know about you before you three are ready," their surrogate father stated. "Besides, the first one in the kitchen table would get the dessert."
"DESSERT!" the three shouted, and in a blink of an eye, were tastily eyeing the delicious breakfast Dr. Edwards' maid made earlier at the dining table.
'Worked like a charm,' the doctor thought. He went to the kitchen, where he saw the three boys, all sitting in attention waiting for him. The funny thing was, they haven't gotten out of their extremely oversized pyjamas.
"Now boys, before you could eat, you must change out of your PJ's and…" before he could finish, flashes of blue, red and green swooshed past him. One minute later, they were back on the table in their respective red, blue and green outfits in the table.
"Good," the Doctor said. "What are you waiting for?"
"Well," Boomer explained, "Brick said that since you are our Dad, we must wait for you before we could take a bite."
"That's nice Brick," William Edwards said. "But next time, you can start without me, though don't finish without me on the table."
Dr. Edwards noticed that Butch stuck out his tongue at Brick, but he ignored it as he and the boys began to eat their breakfast.
One hour later, they were in the Doctor's car, with Dr. Edwards himself driving, while Brick was in the front seat, feasting his eyes on the sights that he was seeing for the very first time ever. Butch and Boomer were on the back seat, and they were also busy looking at the sights. They soon were bombarding the Doctor with more questions than he could handle, but like a good father, he tried to adequately answer all of them.
Behind them are two movers' trucks carrying all their possessions.
At about 10 in the morning, they stopped at a country mall in the middle of nowhere.
"What's that?" Brick asked, astonished.
"That's a mall, Brick. Today, we're going to go shopping!"
"Shopping for what?" Butch asked.
"For your things, of course!"
"Yeah!" Boomer and Butch shouted at the same time, high-fiving each other. "That's cool. Can we go over there now?"
"Not yet. We have to look for a place to park the car and the trucks."
Considering that the parking lot was almost deserted, it didn't take long for the Edwards family to locate a spot for both the car and the two trucks. He parked the car, gave the two truck drivers money so they too can shop, and took the three boys to the mall.
He gave his three boys a tour of the mall, making explanations as to what they would buy and where they would get it.
"First of all, we've got to get you new clothes. Then we will buy furniture for your room, and finally toys and books."
"Where will we get them?" asked Boomer who stared at the innumerable stalls.
"At the appropriate shops," Dr Edwards said.
The three boys looked bored at the clothes and furnitures departments, always nodding when their father asked them if they liked this clothes or that furniture, and trying to get this over as soon as possible. But as soon as they got to the toy store, they ran in all directions, grabbed everything they want, and rushed outside. But the Doctor scolded them.
"Boys, just what do you think you're doing?"
"We're taking the stuff," Brick said.
"Do you have the money to pay for the stuff?"
"No, but why should we pay?" Boomer asked.
"Yeah, they can't arrest us, we'll just kick their butt," Butch reasoned.
Thus the Doctor faced another challenge of raising his new sons. 'This seems to be a problem. They seemed to have no moral compass, and have no conception of right and wrong, and only what is fun and not,' he thought. 'I'll try to correct them early on, or else they would be lost by society, and thus they cannot be what they can become. I wonder if that bastard Utonium had these sort of problems with his girls?'
"Now boys, it's wrong to take things in the store without paying for it."
"Why?" all three answered in unison.
"Because those things are not yours until you exchanged them for money. Taking it without paying is tantamount to stealing," Dr. Edwards lectured.
"And your point is?" Butch asked.
'Damn it, now I know that appealing to their sense of right and wrong won't work, because they don't have one. I'll have to develop it in them, but for now, I'll have to appeal to their self-interest.'
"Because if you steal, you'd be much worst than those Powerpuff Girls in the eyes of the people, and I know you are much better than they are and would return the items. Besides, I won't be raising my sons as thieves," the doctor stated with a serious and stern tone.
The boys looked at each other, and seconds later, they had all properly returned all the items. They returned it because they don't want to be thought of as inferior to the girls, and because they not only love their foster father, but also greatly respected him. They don't want to disappoint him or to make him disapprove of them. After they returned the items to the mall, they looked at the doctor in shame.
"Now boys, as your reward, I want you to get all that you want and line up at the counter where I'll pay for your items," he said happy that the Rowdyruffs at least obeyed him.
The boys quickly yelled. "Thank you, Dad, we promise never to steal again," the three shouted almost in unison and they began to pick any toy and book they could get their hands on.
Brick mainly got one laptop, three sets of encyclopedias, Machiavelli's The Prince, The Art of War, several CD strategy games, a chess and checkers set, toy soldiers, remote control race cars, several copies of the Powerpuff Girls fights in tape and many more.
Boomer got toy cars, matchboxes, a toy telephone, a doctor kit set, a teddy bear, several remote control race cars, water guns, modelling clay, water color, coloring books, a Mario Brothers CD, play money, a baseball bat and many more.
Butch got punching bags, dumbbells and barbells, a baseball bat, a basketball, several footballs, a counterstrike CD, several health books, a remote control race car, a toy robot, a pack of cards, boxing gloves, and many more.
"And how will you pay for all this stuff?" asked the astounded cashier on seeing so many toys.
"Easy," Dr. Edwards said as handed his credit card. It says, Dr. William K. Edwards, CEO and President, Edwards Technology Corporation (Edtech Corp.). Upon seeing the card, the cashier man was in a state of shock. One does not see one of the richest men in Townsville and Citiesville shopping in this isolated mall everyday.
"Hold on a minute sir," he said, handing back the card to the Doctor and running towards the manager.
The reason the doctor had up to this point been inconspicuous was because in appearance, he is very average looking. Six feet two inches tall, brown hair, oversized glasses, ordinary clothes, age about the same as Utonium. His face was not yet widely known, and because of the ordinariness of his name, nobody would suspect that he is the William Edwards, because there are thousands of people named William Edwards out there.
The cashier clerk returned with the manager.
"You better not be fooling, or I'll…Dr. Edwards sir, how nice of you to come visit this mall…," he said as he saw the doctor.
The two engaged in business talk, with Edwards clearly the controlling partner. Brick listened while the rest were bored.
For eight hours, nothing of consequence happened. They just drove through the countryside with the trucks carrying their things and newly shopped items, stopping occasionally to eat, with the boys either sleeping or asking questions about something they had just seen outside.
They arrived at about seven p.m. at their new house at the very edge of the suburbs of Townsville. Since it was summer, it was still quite bright.
"This is Townsville, the city where I grew up and where I hope you will too. And that is our house," Dr. Edwards said, proudly pointing to the house on the west side of the street. It looked liked a typical suburban house, two stories tall, with an attic.
"Cool," all three said at the same time. Soon, the boys were exploring the house with the doctor supervising the movers in moving in all their things. Soon, the house was full of boxes.
"Boys," he shouted at the top of his voice, "before we can get settled in, let's first unpack the things and arrange them around the house."
Seconds after he uttered those words, all the things were neatly unpacked. A few more seconds, Dr. Edwards keep hearing questions from the boys on where to put this and that and those. Dr. Edwards smiled and carefully directed the operation. Soon, except for the boys' room, they were done.
"Brick, Boomer, Butch, let's go see your room, and don't forget to get your things," he directed.
The Rowdyruff Boys got all their things that they could carry and followed the good doctor to their rooms. They were excited as they anticipated what their room would be like.
They finally got to their room. It was vast, occupying one third of the second floor. As luck would have it, it was painted light blue, with three separate beds on it.
"Wow Dad, how'd you know, I mean, you couldn't simply furnish it because we were just created yesterday and…" Brick asked, excited but a little curious.
"A little phone call to the right people, and voila…I'm not the richest man in Townsville and Citisville for nothing, you know," the doctor stated. "Anyway, pick your bed and arrange your new things in whatever way you like, I'll order some pizza.
And so it was that the Rowdyruff Boys fixed their entire room then ate pizza for dinner.
The next morning, on July 7, Wednesday, saw the Edwards family eating breakfast. Since Edwards was probably one of the worst cooks in town, the breakfast consisted of bread with peanut butter or mayonnaise. Today was the first day the training of the boys.
"Now boys, today we'll all spend the time watching videotapes of the Powerpuff Girls' fights. Since the tapes I ordered haven't arrived yet, you'll start studying the tapes that Brick bought at the mall. Do you know how to operate a VCR?"
"Of course Dad, no sweat," Brick said.
"Okay, let's go."
They all went to the living room while Brick went to their room to get the tapes. Soon, all four of them were watching the Powerpuff Girls. They were scenes captured by the Townsville media of their fights against the monsters and villains of the city.
Dr. Edwards lectured on what scenes they should concentrate on to learn as much as possible of the girls' fighting techniques and personalities. Brick didn't need to be told twice, as he intently observed the strategies and tactics of the girls. Soon, he was talking to himself, scribbling notes on a piece of paper. He made them watch so many replays. In one case in watching the girls fight the monster in 'Three Girls and a Monster', he replayed it twelve times before he was satisfied.
'Hm, Blossom made a mistake with her formations. They should have retreated and lured the monster out of the city, Blossom and Buttercup are always fighting…they were distracted by those stupid people…now I know how stupid that mayor is…so they didn't like competition ha,' he thought as he watched the girls destroy Major Man's reputation. 'That Major Man has all the powers, and he couldn't possibly have faked all of them, too bad he had to fake some of them, that ruined him…Blossom is definitely a good leader, though she had trouble reining Buttercup, but Buttercup ultimately would come to her senses in any fight that matters. Blossom could handle her headstrong sister. However if she was a better leader, then she would be more subtle in her dealings with her sisters…still, most of their fights against stupid monsters were needlessly prolonged by inferior strategy and tactics…Mojo Jojo is smart, if kinda kooky, they're more competent at fighting villains, although they were certainly helped by the incompetence of their enemies…'
Butch observed the fights also, and focused on how strong they were and how aggressive they are in the fights. He also watched so many replays of various fights. 'That Bubbles is a sissy, Buttercup is much better, though she sometimes had her senses knocked out of her…They should have charged forward instead of making elaborate stratagems…I like the fighting style of Buttercup, at least she isn't a goody two shoes like her sisters…hm, they should've beaten up those kids (referring to Mojo Jonesin')…damn it, are they so scared as to beat up those losers (Fallen Arches)…they're not so good after all…'
Boomer also observed the fights, but concentrated on their personality. 'That Blossom is sometimes too bossy, Buttercup is a bully…that Him is evil, although, no one can match our evil…for good guys, they sure are unfair in their punishments…they're not so good (in the moral sense of the word) as they are made out to be…they should have left them, instead of beating them up.'
Meanwhile, at the Powerpuff Girls home…
Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup were looking at the old album filled with black and white pictures of the Professor during his high school days.
"Yup, that's the professor all right," Blossom exclaimed at seeing the tall boy with a mean face and a dark shirt standing straight and looking at the camera.
"Hey look," Bubbles exclaimed upon seeing a group picture.
The picture shows Professor John Utonium in the middle, somewhat stooped as one of his friends reaches over and ruffles Utonium's hair. Sandra Keane looks on disapprovingly, yet a trace of laughter can be observed. Sarah Bellum was so close to the camera that her head wasn't in the picture. A fat kid with a snobbish attitude looks on with amusement while another boy looks on the camera.
"Wow, there's the professor, Ms. Bellum, Ms. Keane, Mike Believe's Dad, hey who's that guy ruffling the professor's hair?" Bubbles asked.
"Let's look at the captions," Blossom suggested, and Blossom began to read aloud. "The Gang. That's me in the middle my hair being ruffled by the oh so smart William K. Edwards, Sandra Keane scolding us for being so naughty, but she is laughing so she isn't serious, Sarah Bellum got a little to close to the camera. Henry Believe is the only one I think who posed. And that fat kid looking at us is Spencer Morebucks," Blossom read.
"Well I don't know about you guys, but I know who the rest is, but who is William K. Edwards?" Buttercup asked.
"Let's look at other pictures," Blossom suggested, and soon they discovered that Edwards' picture was all over the album, sometimes by himself, mostly with the Professor, and sometimes as a group picture with the 'Gang'. Always the captions read as 'My friend, my best friend, or simply 'William'.
"I wonder what happened to him?" Bubbles wondered. "The Professor and William looked like best friends in these pictures."
"Let's ask the professor," Buttercup suggested, and soon, all three agreed.
"Professor!" Bubbles shouted.
"What is it girls?" asked the professor, emerging from the laboratory.
"Well professor, we were looking at your old photo albums and we saw a group picture with you on it, and we saw all your friends that are all grown up, and we noticed someone, who judging by the pictures, was your friend. And why is he the only one who we don't see today?" Blossom asked.
"Where's the picture?" the Professor asked.
"Here," Buttercup pointed to the one ruffling the Professor's hair in the picture. "The one you labelled as Will Edwards."
"Yeah Professor, how come Ms. Bellum, Mr. Morebucks, Mike's Dad, and Ms. Keane are here, but Mr. Edwards isn't anywhere near here or close to you?" Bubbles continued.
"And by the looks on the other pictures, you two were the best of friends," Buttercup added, quickly skimming his album to point to the fact. "Professor?"
Luckily for the professor, the girls were too busy looking at the picture to see John Utonium's face change into white, filled with a mixture of terror, guilt, shock and disorientation. But the situation only lasted a short time. The girls looked at their father and discovered the deathly white face of the professor.
"Professor? Professor? Earth to Professor?" Blossom called. "Gee Professor, you seemed like you saw a ghost."
"Professor, hello?" Buttercup called. "Snap out of it!"
John Utonium soon snapped out of it. "Girls, where on earth did you get this?" he asked, referring to the album.
"We were playing in the attic, and we decided to see some stuff, and we came across this," Bubbles explained.
"Anyway Professor, could we ask, why is that Mr. Edwards is the only one not here in Townsville among those in the picture, and especially since he was your best friend?" Blossom asked.
"We parted ways in college. I went back to Townsville and he uh…went some other place, yeah that's it, he went somewhere because he…uh, would do something important which is about…uh, um secret, yeah that's it, and I never saw him since then," the professor 'explained', nervous and sweating and obviously wishing to avoid the subject.
The girls, especially Blossom, noticed this, and a tiny part of her brain was telling her that the Professor was hiding something. But their trust in their professor was complete and absolute, so she brushed it aside.
"If you say so, Professor, if you say so. Professor, what if you wanted—" Blossom was going to ask, but fortunately for the Professor, the hotline rang.
"What is it Mayor?…It's Fuzzy?…What is he doing?…causing trouble again…we're on it Mayor!" Blossom said as he spoke to the Mayor. "Girls, it's…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know. Let's go!" Buttercup said. She, followed closely by Bubbles, flew to the City. Blossom, though annoyed, just sighed and went after them.
The Professor watched them and sighed. 'Damn it William, I thought I buried you far into my memory. I should have removed those pictures from my album, but now that the girls saw them, it is too late. I wonder where you are, you bastard. Last time I heard, you're now President and CEO of Edtech Corporation, a post you occupied since your father died. You're richer than Morebucks. Yet you so often disappeared that it is so hard to find you even though you are the richest man here in Townsville and Citiesville. And you're so obscure that many people don't even know who you are. Clever, clever, William. I just wonder, when will you show you face to me. Ha, ha, ha, I wonder if you are still as you were before, gullible, and too trusting,' he thought. 'I just hope the girls will forget about you.'
It is Thursday, July 8, in the first year.
Dr. Edwards and the Rowdyruff boys were walking down a long corridor of stairs.
They had just finished watching all the tapes. Since the rest of the tapes that he had ordered had arrived the day before at one in the afternoon, they spent the entire Wednesday afternoon and night reviewing the tapes (they spent the morning watching the tapes Brick bought on the mall). They also spent the entire Thursday morning and afternoon up to three o'clock watching the tapes they didn't have time for on Wednesday. They especially enjoyed watching their fight with the Powerpuff Girls, but winced when the Powerpuff Girls suddenly acted in a flirty manner just before they kissed them, then became very angry when they exploded.
Brick was in deep thought figuring out strategies on how to defeat them. Of course, all this strategizing would be useless if they were still vulnerable to kissing. If they were not, Brick was sure they will win next time because he had several strategies and tactics in his head to make sure that the Powerpuff Girls would be decisively defeated. They would regret they had ever crossed paths with the Rowdyruff Boys.
Butch was just looking forward to the fight that will happen and how he was going to enjoy every minute of kicking their butts.
Boomer was thinking how unfair the girls sometimes fought, and how they were not nice all the time. He was also thinking how to end the fight as quickly as possible, with the Rowdyruff Boys as winners of course.
They soon reached the bottom of the stairs, and Dr Edwards opened a door to a very short corridor. At the end of the corridor was a door to an elevator with a set of keypad numbers besides it. He quickly punched some numbers and a second later, the doors slid open.
The four entered the room, which was pitch black. The doctor flicked a switched, and soon, the eyes of the boys were treated to a sight of a very large laboratory. Inside the laboratory was a large training module. The entrance was by another door, and from the lab, you could see the progress through an overhead glass screen. An operator could adjust the training conditions.
"Wow Dad, when and how did you build this?" asked an amazed Brick.
"Well, three years ago, the government contracted me to build a training facility for their soldiers. It seems to me that the recent monster invasions in Townsville had prodded the federal government, heck even the President asked me, to train new soldiers to combat the new menace. So I went and made a laboratory with a training facility, combined with lifelike monster simulations. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on one's point of view, the Powerpuff Girls appeared, and the need for such a training facility disappeared. Luckily, I used my own money to build it so the building, if not the project, continued. It took one and a half years to dig out all the dirt without those nosey neighbors knowing, and another year to finish the entire lab."
"Gee Dad, if the government discontinued the lab, then why'd you continue the training facility?"
"Well, I thought it was cool to have my own underground lab. I guess I have been watching too much Dexter's Lab episodes. Besides, I have already planned it all, I couldn't leave it at that just because the government pulled the plug. And I need someplace to dump my money," Dr. Edwards explained.
"Anyway," Dr. Edwards continued, "you can train here if you want. I have made simulations of the Powerpuff Girls and I have programmed them to act like the real ones. Now, I'm not sure if I got all of it correctly working, since I only finished with their simulations this morning, but they should do fine. Also, if you want, I still have the monsters I programmed when I first finished it so you can train with the monsters instead."
"COOL!" the three boys simultaneously cooed.
"Anyway, when do you want to begin," the doctor asked.
"Now!" all three shouted.
"Okay, now first, we will see how you do against my simulated Powerpuff Girls. Now I must warn you that my simulated Powerpuff Girls are much more powerful than the ones you battled last time."
"Will we get hurt?" asked Boomer.
"It depends. I have ten levels, ranging from one as the easiest, to twenty as the toughest. Now, you will start from level 1 then progress to level 10. Level 1 is the total sum of power of the Powerpuff Girls when you first fought them. Now, each level, I will add to their power, so that by the time you finished, they will be five times as strong as before. That means that if you are able to beat them at level 10, you will be five times as strong as you are now."
"So that means that when we complete level 10, we'll be wiping the floor with their faces?" asked Butch.
"Not necessarily. You see boys, the Powerpuff Girls had a lot more adventures and fights since the last fight, as you very well observed in the tapes. They had gotten much stronger, as I said before, than they were when you last fought them. So to take them on now will be tantamount to a suicide mission," Dr. Edwards explained.
"Now, to your question, yes you can get hurt. The simulations are not real of course, but their simulated punches that are relayed to your body by the computer room will have the same effect to your body as if a real punch or hit was registered. You could also destroy or kill the simulations, but be forewarned, don't kill the Powerpuff Girls simulation. You could knock those unconscious, but repeat, do not kill them. I will be very disappointed if you kill those simulations, for you might accidentally do so in the real world if you did it in the simulation room. Don't worry, you can beat them all you want to, but I don't want my sons to be murderers, got it?"
"Yes Dad," all three said simultaneously.
"Okay, now, we'll start at level 1. Brick, Butch, Boomer, you go through that door and it will lead you to the room below," he said, pointing to the large room that can be seen through the glass screen. "I'll keep to the controls here."
"Come on, let's kick some butt!" Brick said, rallying his men, err boys.
Seconds later, they were in the room fighting simulated versions of their female counterparts. Dr. Edwards from his station monitored everything from the type of damage the city sustained during the fight to the type of moves the Powerpuff Girls would do and what level the boys were in.
Since the simulated girls in that level pretty have the same strengths and strategies as the girls during their first fight with the Rowdyruff Boys, the boys pretty much took care of them using their old strategy. Then the doctor let loose a couple of huge simulated monsters on them, nearly overwhelming them, but five minutes later, ten monsters were in a pileup in the middle of the room.
The second level was much different than the first. The simulated Powerpuff Girls were much stronger and better tacticians than in the first one. They were repeatedly beaten, and Dr. Edwards terminated the training at six o'clock.
"But Dad, we were about to beat them," Butch complained as he was being pummelled to the ground by the simulated Buttercup.
"Yeah Dad," Brick complained as he wiped out the blood from his face, "we were wiping the floor with their—"
"Brick, of all people, I though you would know that you are in no way winning the fight. Boys, you used the same power and strategy to fight level 2 that you used to beat the simulated Powerpuff Girls in level 1. Maybe if you changed your strategy you might win. But that's enough for now. I'm taking you all out for dinner at McDonald's," Dr. Edwards stated.
"Yeah!" the three cheered, momentarily forgetting the beating.
"Now you three wash up and change your clothes," Dr. Edwards ordered.
No sooner had he finished the sentence than all three were racing towards the shower, even Butch.
Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles have just finished saving the day from one of the monsters that Townsville seemed to have on a regular basis. They were quietly and slowly flying back to their suburban home, each lost in her own thoughts.
"You know Blossom," Bubbles said, interrupting the silence, "have you noticed the Professor's face when we showed the high school picture of what's his name? Edward Williams? Well it seemed to me that professor got really nervous when he saw that picture."
"It's William Edwards, you knucklehead. Will Edwards," Buttercup shouted.
"Stop it Buttercup, Bubbles has a point there," Blossom replied. She too got lost in her thoughts and was silent for a minute. "Hey I got it!"
"Okay, let's here it, leader girl," Buttercup said, faking enthusiasm.
Blossom just ignored her sister and began the explanation. "You see girls, it is obvious that the professor, in seeing the picture, suddenly remembered his best friend when he was young. He was so shocked when he remembered him because he forgot all about him all these years. Us showing him the pictures reminded Professor Utonium of Mr. Edwards, his best friend! He was overwhelmed by the fact! Obviously, the way the professor acted yesterday and this morning could only signify the fact that he wanted to see his childhood best friend as soon as possible."
"You mean to say that him seeing the picture caused him to remember his best friend?" asked Bubbles.
"Yup!" Blossom explained.
"And what does it mean for us?" asked Buttercup.
"What it means, my dear sister, is we must find where this William Knox Edwards is and try to bring him to the Professor. It'd be perfect. Professor would be overjoyed to see him and we would get all the credit."
"Well, if the Professor misses this Bill Edwards so much, why don't the professor just find him by himself?" asked an exasperated Buttercup, not quite believing her sister's words.
"First of all, its William, not Bill Edwards, and secondly, the Professor is too busy to find his best friend, so it's up to us," Blossom replied, as a matter-of-factly.
"Well Blossom, you should know anyone who is named William is called Bill by his friends, and I guess there's no dissuading you from doing this crazy mission right?"
"You got that right, Buttercup. So are you two in?" Blossom asked in a tone that would give the impression of giving an order rather than asking.
"Well, I'll do anything to make the professor happy. I'm in," Bubbles replied.
"Well I think you're leading us in a wild goose-chase, but I'm in," Buttercup replied.
"Good," Blossom firmly said. "We begin our search for Mr. William Edwards tomorrow. And you two don't tell a single soul of what we're doing. We want this to be a surprise for the professor."
"Are you sure about this Blossom?" Buttercup asked one last time.
"Of course Buttercup. My plans never fail!" the Powerpuff leader replied.
With that, they flew at top speed to their home.