Allies and Rivals
Since my review thanks is pretty long, I placed it at the bottom of the chapter instead.
Chapter 13
Brick's Apology
The City of Townsville, and in Dr. Edwards' suburban house, the boys and their babysitter just ate thirty one boxes of family sized pizza. Butch and Boomer each ate twelve boxes apiece, while Brick, with a lesser appetite than his brothers, just ate six boxes. The babysitter just ate the remaining one.
"Wow," Miss Gates remarked. "I have never seen anybody eat that much!"
"It's because of our faster metabolism," Boomer explained. "We can eat as much as twelve pizzas because our stomach can digest it fast and turn it into energy. It's the result of chemical X and our unique ingredients, Dad said. Although much of it isn't needed and we can eat just the same amount as normal humans, it's still more fun to eat your maximum," he said, rubbing his stomach with satisfaction.
"Okay, what do we do now?" asked Butch.
"Well, we could play a game," Miss Gates suggested.
"Oh I know!" Brick suggested. "Let's play detective. Miss Gates here would be the nosy detective, and we're terrorists who plan to bomb, ah, one of the rooms in this house. Boomer is her partner. Now, both of you close your eyes while Butch and I hide. Now you have to find us in fifteen minutes or the whole house goes kaboom! Here are the rules. Each of us has toy guns that can shoot rubber darts, and those that get shot must pretend to be unconscious for five minutes."
"That sounds like fun!" the fifteen year old remarked, and she and Boomer closed their eyes.
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Two minutes later…
"Now, here's your gun, and here's mine. Let's go to that room first and find those terrorists," Boomer suggested.
Both of them entered the room and they caught Brick and Butch planting 'bombs'.
"Now, hands up!" she shouted.
"Okay, we surrender!" both of them shouted.
"Now, that was easy—hey, why you little!" Miss Gates complained after she was shot in the back by none other than Boomer.
"Sorry, but they paid me higher than those government guys we worked for!" Boomer said.
"You'll never get away with this," she shouted as she slumped to the ground pretending to be unconscious. 'At least they're going to get it after five minutes,' she thought.
"Now what'll we do with her?" Boomer asked his confederated.
"Let's tie her up and set up a time bomb!" Butch suggested.
"Good idea," Brick said. Soon, she was carried into another room with a post in the middle of it, and her hands tied tightly behind it. Her feet followed, followed lastly by a gag, which they put by inserting a clean handkerchief on her mouth then covering it with duct tape. They then wrapped more rope around her body and the post.
Soon, the five minutes was over and she pretended to wake up.
"So you're awake, Miss Gates," Brick said turning into terrorist mode. "Since you knew too much, we had no choice but to dispose of you. In ten minutes, you will be no more after this time bomb explodes. Ha, ha, ha!"
The boys then left the room. "Sucker," Butch said as soon as she was out of hearing range.
"Yeah, now we could enjoy the rest of the evening till Dad arrives without any babysitter bossing us around," Boomer remarked.
"So what do we do now?" asked Brick.
"Well, I don't know. Let's just watch TV. Hey, it's time for our favorite show!" Boomer replied.
Soon, the three are on the sofa watching TV, forgetting about Miss Gates.
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Meanwhile, two hours later…
"Mmmppphhhh!" she said, but it barely got past the room. 'What the heck is taking them so long?' Miss Gates complained. She was shouting, but the gag was so effective. 'Those boys do know how to tie a knot,' she said as she wriggled again in a futile effort to get free, but the ropes held firm. 'Oh, they are going to get it when I get free, superhero or not!'
Downstairs, the boys were watching TV when their father arrived.
"Boys, where's Miss Gates?" William Edwards demanded.
"Ah, she's upstairs. She's kinda tied up right now!" Brick explained.
"Well, tell her to come down here!"
"Right on it," the three said.
"Now we're going to get it," Boomer dejectedly said.
"Yeah, but it's worth it!" Butch replied.
"Yeah, that was fun!" Brick added.
Soon, they entered the room, where they saw their babysitter just staring at the pictures at the wall of the room. As soon as she saw the boys, she began streaming curses from her mouth, but it only came out as mmmppphhhsss.
"Hello. We're the police and we've come to rescue you," Brick declared.
"Yeah, and we just caught the terrorist. But it took us hours to torture them so we can find out where they hid you," Boomer added.
"Good thing those terrorist only knew how to make dud bombs, or you'd be toast, literally," Butch said, holding the 'bomb.'
Soon, they untied her, and to their surprise, she didn't shout or cuss at them after her gag was removed. "That was fun! Though you didn't have to take two hours to find and untie me!" she said, nearly shouting.
'So she doesn't suspect a thing,' Brick thought.
"Anyway, Dad has arrived and he wants to see you," Boomer said.
She went downstairs where he saw Dr. Edwards waiting impatiently.
"Sorry for taking so long," Miss Gates apologized.
"No need for apologies. Now, here's a hundred dollars. Will that be enough?" he asked as he handed her a hundred dollar bill.
"More than enough," she said, doing her best not to scream for joy.
"And you'll be available whenever I need a babysitter?"
"Yes sir!"
"Are the boys any trouble?"
"No. At least nothing I couldn't handle!"
"Okay, thanks!"
"Your welcome," she said as she left the house.
"Now, Boys," Dr. Edwards said, his expression changing from forced pleasantness to a very serious and scary expression. His gray eyes showed through his thick glasses that he was enraged. He removed his hat, and in place of the usually nicely combed brown hair, it was dishevelled. His face was haggard, showing that he hadn't had a very good night.
"Why did you tell Mojo Jojo that you were in alliance with him and are planning to destroy the Powerpuff Girls, and admitted it to the girls before the second fight? Don't deny it, I know. And this time, tell me the truth!" he said in a grave, serious and threatening tone that made his sons quiver.
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Meanwhile…
"Now, John, you've got some explaining to do!" Ms. Keane said as she pointed an accusing finger at Professor Utonium.
"Well, the boys—"
"Not the boys, we already know that! What we want to know is why you and William acted the way you acted? I thought you were best friends!"
"Well, we we're not friends anymore," the Professor said. "Something happened in college that severed our friendship."
"What happened?" Ms. Bellum asked.
"I cannot discuss it without William because I would only be biased towards myself and against him if I do. Sorry, but I can't tell it without him here to give his side of the story," Professor Utonium explained. "It's only fair."
"I feel sorry for William," Ms. Keane remarked. "I mean he was so fond of those boys, and they turned out to be little devils. And he still couldn't accept the fact. Oh, I can't imagine how he would react when he finds out that he has been all wrong about his boys all this time."
"And," Blossom added, "that only proves how evil those boys were. If they had any decency in them, they would have considered how Dr. Edwards would feel once he found out. But no, they twisted his feelings to get what they want—his wealth and technology. I was even thinking that they could trick him into giving much more sophisticated machines to Mojo. Good thing we found out before they could do it. Who know how much damage Mojo and the boys could do if they got hold of his wealth, which I reckon runs into the hundreds of millions, and his technology, which is awesome?"
"Well, it would be harder now that we know it, and Dr. Edwards is at least suspicious," Ms. Bellum added. "Poor William!"
"Well, we better go home now," Professor Utonium said, glancing at his watch, showing it to be about ten in the evening. "It's late and the girls have got to go to bed."
"Ah, Professor, do we have to?" Buttercup whined.
"Yeah, we have to keep an eye for those boys and—" Blossom began but was interrupted by the Professor.
"Blossom, you can't save the day if you don't have a good night's rest," he firmly said.
"But—" Blossom began.
"No buts! Now let's go home," the Professor said as he headed for his car. "Goodbye, Sandy, Sandra, and Mayor."
"Bye," Ms. Keane said.
"Take care! Bye Girls," Ms. Bellum said.
"Bye Girls," the Mayor said, who was now awake and was again killing his own fairy in his video game. "Darn Fairy!"
"Bye!" all three said in unison, and they exited the building.
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Meanwhile…
The boys looked at their father in abject terror. They never have seen their father quite like this. And to make it worst, their father had discovered their secret.
"Well, we never did—" Brick began.
"LIKE HELL YOU DIDN'T!" Dr. Edwards shouted. "Bubbles saw you the day before your second fight, and Mojo Jojo proposed an alliance to you to join forces to take over Townsville, and you accepted. Now, explain yourselves."
"Dad, it wasn't true, honest!" Butch pleaded, looking at his sceptical father. "What we told you that day was what really happened!"
"LIAR!" Dr. Edwards shouted. "We all know Bubbles never lies. Now tell me what really happened!"
"Dad," Brick suddenly said, now so terrified that his knees were shaking. "I remember now. Here's the whole truth."
"It'd better be," Dr. Edwards declared. "I don't want anymore lies from you boys."
"Well, Mojo did propose to us that we join forces to take over the city and destroy the girls," admitted Brick. "And we kinda said yes, but not really."
"Explain," the angry doctor demanded of his son.
"Well, we were only being sarcastic. I basically said, 'Sure Mojo, we'll do it,' but after a few seconds, I said, 'not on your lifetime, you crazy simian.' Bubbles must have heard only the statement where I was sarcasticallyagreeing with Mojo, but left before I told Mojo to take a hike. She probably didn't notice my sarcasm. That's the truth, Dad, honest! Please believe me!" he desperately said.
"I believe you," Dr. Edwards said. "It makes much more sense than Blossom's explanation."
"What explanation of Blossom's?" asked Boomer, curious.
"I'll tell you that later," Dr. Edwards replied. "Now on another matter. What the hell were you damned thinking when you admitted to them that you were in alliance with that freakish monkey?" he basically shouted, again frightening his sons.
"Well, we were attacked by those girls while we were playing volleyball using an iron ball. At first, we had thought that they attacked us because they wanted to get back to us for because of what we did during the first fight," Brick began.
"Yeah, and so we thought that they attacked us for no good reason at all, because to us, that is no good reason at all to attack us from behind without any warning!" Boomer added.
"That's basically what they did," Brick continued. "We were furious at our game being interrupted by those impertinent girls, though we figured out they would want another fight because of the last one. We were surprised by their manner of attack, however. Boomer's right. They attacked us from behind, and we naturally complained to them. That is when they accused us of being in alliance with Mojo. We thought they were crazy, or delusional, or something. Now we know why they accused us of such."
"And you admitted it to them, even if it was clearly not true," Dr. Edwards said coldly.
"Yes, I was the one who admitted it," Brick said, looking at the floor, unable to look his father at the eye.
"And I'm assuming you did not know the consequences of such an action when you did it," Dr. Edwards asked.
"No Dad, I was fully aware of the consequences of my actions at the time of the second fight. I admitted it to the girls despite it," Brick replied. He knew that by admitting so, he was admitting that he was very stupid.
Dr. Edwards looked in amazement at his sons' stupidity. "How the HELL could you be so stupid, so careless, so irresponsible? I thought you had enough common sense in you Brick?"
Brick just looked at the ground, unable to reply. He knew every word of his father was right.
Butch looked guiltily at his brother. "No Dad, Brick was wrong. I was the one who admitted to the girls…"
Before he could finish, he was tackled on the ground and a hand clamped over his mouth. "Don't listen to him Dad," Brick frantically said. "He had nothing to do with it. It was all my fault, and you shouldn't blame Butch or Boomer," he said, making a fake smile at his Dad.
"Get off me!" Butch shouted at his brother. "And stop covering for me! Dad, I was the—"
He was again prevented from finishing his statement when Brick clamped his hand over his brother's mouth. Butch fought his brother's attempt at gagging, and soon, a full-blown brawl occurred at Dr. Edwards' feet. Boomer just stood there, watching with interest. And it might have gone worse if Dr. Edwards, whose anger has been building up each moment that his patience had slipped, had not stopped the pointless fight.
"WILL YOU PLEASE STOP IT AND SHUT UP!" he shouted, very angry. Both boys stopped fighting.
"He started it!" both pointed at each other, which was ironic, because they started the fight because each wanted to take the blame for admitting that they were in alliance with Mojo to the Girls.
"Now, Brick, stop trying to stop your brother from talking. Now Butch, what happened?"
"But Dad, Butch—"
"Brick, shut up and let your brother talk!"
Butch stuck his tongue out at Brick and began his narrative. "Actually Dad, it was I who first admitted that we were in an alliance with Mojo. Brick and Boomer just went along. And I didn't know the consequences of my action."
"Is that true Boomer?" his father asked his blond son to confirm which of the two is telling the truth.
"Yes Dad. Butch was the one who first admitted it and Brick and I just went along."
"And why Brick, did you not stop your brother from telling such a stupid lie?"
"Because I thought he knew what he was doing," said Brick. "I thought he had something up his sleeve."
"And why exactly did you did this, Butch?" asked Dr. Edwards.
"Because Dad, I don't want them to know the truth if they're too dumb to figure it out for themselves," Butch said. "At that time, and still, we didn't like them, and thought, why should I correct them if I they're so stupid as to make such a dumb assertion? I thought, they're unworthy to know the truth about us, and so I admitted it to them. And if they're so smart, they would have figured out that I was bluffing the whole time I said that!"
"And Brick, why didn't you correct your brother's mistake when you clearly know it wasn't such a hot idea?"
In five short words, Brick summarized the feelings of the boys about the matter that caused so much trouble.
"We were too proud to."
Dr. Edwards looked at his son in anger and at the same time sympathy. He was reminded of so much of himself when his son said those five words. He was also a proud person, and would rather die than humble himself before anybody. 'I would've done the same thing if I were them. But still, it was an incredibly stupid thing to do.'
"YOU WERE TOO PROUD TOO!" Dr. Edwards shouted. "Did you know the real consequences of such a stupid action? Did you know what I just went through a while ago? I was trying to convince the Mayor, his assistant, and Professor Utonium to accept you, but I was instead humiliated as I was made to look like a fool, a sucker! You say you're too proud to, did you consider the damage to my pride as I was listening to why I was wrong in thinking you're worth accepting because I didn't know you actually lied to keep your pride? What's much worse is that I knew them to be wrong, but because of your stupid mistake, I can't prove it to them! Didn't I say a while back that 'if you've made an honest mistake, or did something deliberately wrong and regretted it, always apologize. It's not good for somebody to be disliked or hated because of wrong reasons, and it's even worse for you to be disliked for some stupid mistake on your part. If you made an honest mistake, quickly correct it, even if it means apologizing!' Did you not consider these when you said what you said to the Powerpuff Girls? You should have swallowed your pride at that time because not doing so would result in an even greater wound to one's pride than if you temporarily swallowed it."
"Dad, what exactly did happen today?" Bricked asked, trembling.
"Shut up, boy! When I'm talking, don't speak unless asked. As for your question, those girls managed to convince everyone in the Mayor's office that you are in alliance with Mojo Jojo and are planning to take over Townsville! And that all you've been doing is just a big act to fool me into thinking you were good, so you can use my wealth and machines for your evil designs, and you were pretending to be superheroes to fool the rest of Townsville! Now what have you to say for yourself because you brought it upon yourselves by making that lie?"
"Dad, you know that's not true," Boomer pleaded, on the verge of tears. "And another purpose of us doing superhero stuff even though we don't want to is to convince those girls that we were just bluffing, that it was just a stupid lie. We thought that if we show that we're not really evil, they would realize it, because actions speak louder than words."
"You stupid brats! You irresponsible whelps! You foolish boys! You forgot to consider the narrow-mindedness of those girls," Dr. Edwards replied sharply, still with a loud voice and with an angry tone. "It might have worked for the rest of Townsville, but those girls didn't even consider it because they saw didn't see the sarcasm of your conversation with Mojo, and then you admitted it to them, so how can they see it your way? Yes, I know it's not true, that what the Powerpuff Girls accuse you of is pure nonsense, but tell that to those guys!"
Boomer this time couldn't stand it anymore, and he burst into tears, crying his heart out. Dr. Edwards, however, was unmoved.
"Dry your tears, Boomer, don't waste it on me. You brought this upon yourselves and you three deserved every word of reproach I gave you. Because of this we'll have to move out of Townsville in September 1. Now, go to your rooms and think about what you did."
At once, the three went to their rooms, Boomer crying all the way, while Brick and Butch kept keeping a straight face.
"Oh stop bawling and take it like a man!" Butch said in a low voice. "Dad's right. We deserve every harsh word he said to us. It's all our fault!"
"Yeah, I know. But I felt so bad because we have to leave Townsville, and it's all our fault!" Boomer said, sniffling. "And Dad never said such cruel words to us before!"
"Well, we deserve it," Brick bitterly said, angry, not at his father, but at himself. "If I hadn't let that damned pride of mine get in the way, then none of this would have happened! How foolish of me to depend on our actions to tell the truth to the girls. Dad's right. It just made the situation worst and wounded our pride even more. Apologizing earlier would scratch our pride, but what happened now tore it apart!"
"By the way, Brick," Butch asked. "Why did you try to take the entire blame for yourself?"
"Because I'm the leader," Brick asserted. "A leader should always take responsibility for the actions of his men, no matter how wrong-headed that might be. I'd be a pretty sorry leader if I didn't. A leader not only takes credit for victory, but blame, no matter how unfair, for defeat. Let's just say I did it not because I don't want you in trouble, but because I want to. Besides, it's really my fault. You didn't know what you're doing, and you hadn't had a clue on the effects. I knew, and I let you do it. I should've apologized to those girls."
"Don't give me that," Butch said, ashamed. "You wouldn't have to do all of that if I hadn't made that stupid bluff in the first place."
"And we're going to leave!" Boomer added. "I like Townsville!"
"I like it too, but what can we do?" Brick said to his blond brother. "Our reputation's forever ruined in Townsville, and we have no choice."
"Yeah, and Dad's pretty scary when he's angry!" Butch added.
"You got that right, I've never seen him like that, he's even scarier than all those monsters we fought this past week," Brick said as he shuddered as he remembered the wrath of his father when he was angry. This was the very first time they got a peek at Dr. Edwards' temper. "Remind me to never do anything that would make him angry!"
"And his voice is so loud," Boomer added, "that the entire City could probably hear him!"
"Don't remind me! Don't remind me!" shrieked Butch, trembling at the recent memory.
"Well, we sure learned something tonight," Boomer dejectedly said.
"Yeah, never make a lie when you know it could lead to something worst!" Brick said.
"You've got that right!" Butch agreed.
"Yup, Dad said it just after the second fight. Well, Dad's always right, and he just proved it awhile ago," Boomer said.
"So what do we do now?" asked Butch.
"I dunno. How about some crank calls?" Brick suggested.
"Yeah, that would be very cool!" Boomer said as he picked up the phone and dialled a random number.
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One hour later, at about ten in the evening…
Boomer, Butch and Brick were laughing at the reactions of their victims on the phone, when they heard Dr. Edwards approaching their room.
"Shut up, you two!" Brick ordered. "I don't want to get into more trouble tonight."
The other two stopped laughing. Seconds later, their father entered the room, his face no longer the scary expression earlier that night. And his face was much more calm.
"Boys, I'm sorry if I said any harsh words a while ago," Dr. Edwards said. "It's just that I usually act this way when I get extremely angry. I realize now that I shouldn't have said or used those words to you after I have had time to cool down and think things through."
"You have every right to say those words to us," Brick conceded. "It's all our fault."
"Anyway, I'd like to talk to you. The reason you said is that you were too proud to. Well, there's nothing wrong with having pride—in fact you should have it. But you must weigh the consequences of your actions against it, and if you must swallow it, then do it. You do realize now the consequences of your actions, right?"
"Yes Dad. And we're sorry." All three said in unison.
"I forgive you, but you made a very big blunder. I'll have to punish you or you won't learn. Do you understand?"
"Yes Dad," Brick replied, speaking for all his brothers.
"Now, for your punishment, as soon as we move back to Citiesville, you are grounded for one month. Brick, for trying to lie to me about Butch's involvement, you are grounded for an extra two weeks. And I won't hire a housekeeper like I used to. You will have to clean the house yourselves for the entire period you're grounded, and for every day that I go home from work and find the house a mess, a day will be added to your punishment, am I clear?"
"Yes Dad," the boys said in unison. They breathe a sigh of relief. They had expected worse punishment. 'It wasn't too bad,' Brick told himself.
"And, you have to apologize to those girls tonight. Tell them that you lied about you allying with Mojo Jojo, and that you regret it and its effects," the doctor said.
"But what if they don't believe us?"
"Well, then, the ball's in their court," Dr. Edwards replied. "If they don't believe you, that's their problem, not yours. If they do something stupid even after you explained it clearly to them, then it's their fault for not believing in you. At least you have a clear conscience after that. And remember what I told you about apologizing?"
"Yes Dad, we remember," Boomer said. "Only apologize once for the same offense, and never twice because the first time tells you you're sorry, and the second one is just to please the ego of the one you're apologizing to."
"But Dad, we can't apo…" Brick began.
"I wasn't asking you to apologize, I was telling you to do it. Now am I clear?'
"Yes Dad," Brick replied. 'I was wrong. It is that bad.'
"Good," Dr. Edwards said, when his watch beeped.
"Doctor, there's a monster attack upon Townsville, this is Alpha Questor, over!"
"Another one? Thanks, Herbert. Now boys there's a monster attack in Towsville, and you need to take care of it. Butch, Boomer, can you handle the monster by yourselves?"
"No sweat Dad!" Boomer said, though Butch looked none too pleased.
"Brick, while your brothers deal with the monster, you go to the home of the Powerpuff Girls and apologize personally to those girls. And I want a true apology."
"Yes Dad," Brick answered.
"Good. Now go!"
Before they flew to their respective assignments, Boomer asked his father a question.
"Dad, do you still love us and still proud of us?"
"Yes son, I still love you three, and I'm very proud of you. I'm just not proud of what you've done, now scat!"
"Thanks Dad!" Boomer said as he dashed off to meet the monster.
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When Boomer and Butch arrived at Townsville, it was a blazing inferno. The entire section of the city facing the beach was on fire, while the rest of the city was packed with fleeing people. Luckily, the people were able to evacuate the buildings at the first sign of a monster attack, and nobody died. There were, however, tons of property damage.
To the boys' horror, they discovered that there were not one, but four incredibly powerful monsters attacking Townsville. One looked like a Tyrannosaurus Rex but with longer forearms and five claws. It was as tall as a skyscraper. The second one was a flying lizard, the same size as the first monster. It had a very broad winspan, but also powerful claws. It also breaths fire, and it was what caused Townsville to be caught on fire. The third one was made of some green acidic goo. Anything in contact with its skin dissolved. The fourth one was one giant monster with a body of a bull, and a head of a hammerhead. It was slow but was compensated by a massive weight and a hide nearly as though as diamonds. It destroys mainly by its tail, which was light enough for it to be easily moved.
"Whoa!" Butch said, his fighting instinct thoroughly aroused as he looked forward to a good fight.
"This sucks," Boomer said as he saw the monsters.
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Meanwhile…
"Do you think we should have snuck out?" asked Bubbles. "I mean won't the professor get mad?"
They had just snuck out of their house after the Professor tucked them in bed.
"Well, we have to sneak out in order to implement phase 2 of our plan to rid Townsville of the Rowdyruff Boys," Blossom explained.
"Yeah, and the whole town will see them as the phonies they really are!" Buttercup said. "Hey, who's that?" she asked as she saw a red beam of light approaching them.
"Well, if it isn't Brick, leader of the Rowdyruff Boys," Blossom said, recognizing her male counterpart, "and he's coming without his brothers!" She then smiled sadistically at the thought.
"What does he want?" asked Buttercup.
"We'll soon find out!" Bubbles said as Brick arrived and stopped when he saw that the girls were in hearing range.
Brick Edwards proudly looked at the Girls. "Isn't it a little late for little girls like you to be out this late at night!"
"And isn't it a little late for little boys like you to be out this late at night?" Blossom retorted.
"I'm not going to waste much of my time here," Brick declared. "I am Brick Edwards, and I came here to say that what you heard, Bubbles, when I told Mojo Jojo that we should ally and take over Townsville is just sarcasm, and if you stuck around much longer, you would have heard the entire conversation and you would know that it was just sarcasm. Now, Butch admitting that we were in alliance with Mojo Jojo is a purely stupid lie. And I supported it by agreeing to it. No, we were not in any alliance with Mojo, and I apologize for lying to you, for deceiving you for so long. Yes, it was stupid, dishonest, and downright wrong. What you heard us say that day was pure bluff, or a lie, or a deception. We are not, I repeat, we are not in alliance with Mojo, and we are not planning to take over Townsville. And we certainly had no intention of deceiving our father and Townsville. What my dad, Dr. Edwards, said to you tonight was the entire truth."
He said it with his head high, his tone not showing the remotest sign of sincerity or humility, thought inside he was very sincere. To him, apologizing alone would be enough proof of sincerity, and he felt no compunction to act like a penitent when his words would just say as much. He can't stand apologizing to anyone other than his Dad and brothers if he could help it, and he wouldn't even think about acting it. Saying it was enough.
"Why should we believe you?" asked an unbelieving Blossom.
"Because what I told you undermines the entire foundation of your ridiculous theory, and therefore, you have no proof of us being in alliance with Mojo Jojo. Therefore, we are not evil, as you insist, and that makes us more trustworthy, don't you think?"
"You may have fooled Townsville, and you may have fooled Dr. Edwards," Blossom began, but you're not fooling us! For by your own words, you admitted you are liars, and since you are liars, how can I believe your words now?"
"Yes, we were liars when we admitted our non-existent alliance with Mojo," Brick admitted, "but the evidence itself overwhelmingly support our contention that your theory is absurd. If it was true, why would we admit it to you if we want to keep the entire operation concealed?!"
"Common criminals always carelessly boast about their plans before its execution," Buttercup replied. "Don't tell it isn't so, we foiled so many crimes when the criminals unintentionally babbled their plans."
"You do me a great injustice Buttercup. Not only are you implying that I am a criminal, which I am certainly not, you are putting me in a league with pathetic losers who had not a shred of intellect. If I have such a plan, I would certainly not permit Butch to carelessly boast about it, nor would he be that stupid."
"Ha! You're a good liar, Brick Edwards," Blossom retorted, "but not good enough. Your entire apology is a lie, with the intent on deceiving us. But we know what you're really up to. No, no, no. Bubbles saw you with Mojo, and we're not stupid enough to buy your explanation about you being sarcastic. I might have bought your explanation had not Bubbles saw you in Mojo's lab making an alliance with him, and your boasting in front of us confirmed that. No Brick. You and your brothers won't get away that easy. Unless you do what we tell you to do, you would pay dearly for what you've done."
"I'm afraid," he mockingly said. "And what should I do?"
"First, surrender yourselves to the police and confess your crimes," Blossom began. "Then make a public address confessing your deception of the citizens of Townsville and tell them about your plans with Mojo. Third, call Dr. Edwards and tell him that you've been deceiving him all this time, and tell him your true intentions. If you do this, I promise you a fair trial, although the chances of acquittal are pretty slim, given that you just confessed everything and everybody would be a witness against you."
"Sure, I'd love to do what you are forcing me to do. When do we start," Brick sarcastically replied. "Of course I'd rather pay the price—whatever it is—than do what you want me and my brothers to do. I would not humiliate myself by admitting such an outrageous lie. No, I have my pride, and I won't lower myself to you on my knees to beg for your forgiveness. No, you're not worth it. No, I had made my apology, and it's up to you to accept it or not and to tell you the truth, I don't give a damn if you accept it or not! I'll warn you though, that anything that you do from now on due to this would be entirely your fault, as I tried to enlighten you to the truth. And if you want a fight, I must warn you that you would have to strike the first blow, and have the responsibility for any consequence of it."
"Enough of this talk!" Buttercup shouted. "It's clear that you won't budge, so now, we'll have to force it from you by kicking your butt!"
'This detracts from phase two of my plan,' Blossom thought, 'but it makes it much easier.' She then smiled at Brick.
Then the Powerpuff Girls attacked the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys.
The third clash between the Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls had begun, and Brick was all alone in fighting the three Powerpuffs, his brothers busy fighting the four monsters.
Author Thanks
To Ud the Imp, thanks for reading and reviewing the last chapter. Well, the situation did get worst in this chapter. As for Mojo and Him getting involved, just read the next chapters to find out. To Hairy Gregory, yup, the PPG's name would be soiled if the point was made of them starting both fights, but they could escape blame if they made the argument of intention as opposed to action. Besides, if they were really evil, the girls starting the fight won't matter at all. Good thing Dr. Edwards manage to check his temper until he at least got home, or it would really get worst. Thanks for reviewing, Hairy Gregory! To sum-jackass, thanks for liking the babysitter bit. Yup, Blossom's great on arguments. And your question I inserted on this chapter. Anyway, thanks, I really enjoyed your Freedom Fighters story. To TJ Rose, well, I agree with you on Dr. Edwards still believing in his boys and the girls convincing the others, but you really guessed the content of this chapter. Yup, it wasn't really that hard to convince the boys to apologize when you look and sound totally terrifying when your angry, when the boys already know the consequences of their action, when the boys worship their father, and when they dare not make their father angry again. To Uncle Sam, thanks for reviewing. And they should talk to Mojo or this entire thing even get worst than it already is. To Dooly,yup, that was one reason Blossom didn't believe Brick. No villain changes, and even Mr. Mime, when he did changed to good, was beaten up and thrown to jail. And he was good in the first place and just became evil because of bleach! And talk of Big Billy, as he was beaten up still even after saving the PPG the second time (even though Big Billy was partially responsible for nearly getting the girls killed, still, it was crues.) The girls, I noticed several times in the show, have shown unnecessary cruelty to villains, and its not surprising that they should do so to the Rowdyruff Boys. As for the Spencer bit, I'm glad you liked it. To nightglider_star, well if I don't like a story, I wouldn't bother reading updated chapters let alone leave long reviews. Yours story is great, and very original! Anyway, well, see in the following chapters. I'll give you a clue. Things will get worst, but then it'll get better. Thanks for reading mine. To DL23400,(runs out of breath trying to say cooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooool), thanks for the compliment! I hope you like this chapter.