Allies and Rivals
Since my review thanks is pretty long, I placed it at the bottom of the chapter instead.
Chapter 15
The Third Clash: Blossom's Plan Revealed
The City of Townsville, and its fate was being decided by the fight between one of the Rowdyruff Boys—Boomer—against the two remaining monsters, for the green ruff—Butch—was racing to rescue his brother, the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys.
Boomer surveyed the situation at hand. There were two remaining monsters ripping apart through the city, destroying any structure that gets in its way. 'Those monsters sure hate anything that stands on one another,' he thought. Luckily, the people were so used to monster attacks that they were able to make a perfect evacuation so that nobody had died. Yet five billion dollars worth of property had been destroyed, and a fourth of the city utterly demolished.
'At least there were only two monsters left,' he thought. 'Thank God Butch took care of the flying monster and Brick reminded me that acids can be neutralized by bases. But still, those two remaining will take extraordinary effort. That monster has an extremely tough hide. I don't know if I could crack it. Butch even made it stronger! The other one seemed to have the resilience of a cockroach. You stomp on it repeatedly but you never seem to get rid of it.'
Boomer then had an idea. 'That same tough hide that can't be cracked has got to weight tons! I know it isn't scientific but that's the best shot that I've got. I'll just throw it into the sea and it'll sink faster than the Titanic!'
Boomer watched the monster closely looking for openings. He noticed the tail that caused the destruction. 'If it just kept still for a second, just one second,' he thought. Suddenly, for some reason, the tail just stopped. 'That's my chance.'
He immediately grabbed the tail, and in a supreme effort, tried to carry it to the ocean. Yet it was so heavy that even with Boomer's powers, it was impossible to carry it. 'How heavy can you get? What's this, a thousand tons?'
Just as he had almost given up, the monster swung its tail and slammed it, with Boomer, into a dozen buildings. Boomer tried to let go, but he discovered, to his horror, that small tentacles had wrapped him around its tail, and now he was stuck.
The monster then slammed Boomer on the concrete repeatedly for five full minutes. Boomer's strength was fast diminishing, but he held on to consciousness. He tried every effort to escape, but the tentacles that wrapped him seem to be made of the same materials as that of the hide. Luckily, every thing that he collided was broken instead of it breaking him. It then resumed its destruction of the buildings to try to take out Boomer. When the monster discovered that Boomer was still alive, it switched strategies and began slamming him against its back.
This was the slamming that nearly killed Boomer. For unlike the buildings and the concrete, the hide of the monster was extremely tough. It took almost all of Boomer's strength to hold on, and it diminished at an even greater rate. Minute after minute, second after second, the monster slammed Boomer against its back, threatening to break all the bones in his body. At this moment, the blue ruff's body was in extreme pain, and he was shouting for all he was worth. Soon, the pain became so intense that he felt numb. Soon, he was reduced to tears as he watched as the monster helplessly crushed his body.
At this moment, he realized something. He was the most pathetic of all Rowdyruffs. 'What a Rowdyruff I am! I mean I'm not even able to take on a measly monster. I'm the only one to be knocked out in a fight. Butch is right. I have no pride as a Rowdyruff.' For a few seconds, he had given up all hope, and just bawled like a baby.
However, just at it seemed utterly hopeless, he remembered some comforting words from his brothers and his father.
"We wouldn't have won without you," he remembered Brick say.
"You should be proud of what you did. You only did what you thought was right, and what you did was certainly not wrong! You must never be ashamed about anything you do if you think you're right! So don't cry, because I am proud of you three, and especially you, Boomer. Even if you fail, if you did all that you can do, don't be ashamed. Be strong, and don't shed tears over spilled milk," he remembered his father say.
'But what can I do?' he thought.
"You must keep your pride in yourself, and only regard that failure as a stepping stone for your eventual success. Learn from your failure and from your mistakes…And always be proud that you're a Rowdyruff. Always be proud that you're an Edwards," he then remembered.
That thought ended his crying. He was still being pounded on the back of the monster, and his strength was still diminishing. Yet the memory his brother's and fathers' words built up his confidence. 'I am a Rowdyruff, and even if I'm the weakest of the three, I'm still better than that monster. No, I won't let it get to me. I am Boomer Edwards, and nothing could break me, or my pride. But how to break free?'
He suddenly had an idea. He closed his eyes and breathed as slowly as he can. He then lay perfectly still, even against the slamming. Soon, the monster assumed that Boomer was dead, so it threw him away.
Boomer then stood up among the rubble, unnoticed by either monster. He body was aching, but at least he was not in the monster's grasp anymore. 'Now how to kill that monster?' he thought. 'I could not attack it head on, as the hide is too much. I've got to find a way to attack it in such a way as to make its hide useless. Wait a minute, let's see how tough his underbelly is.'
He then ran as fast and as discreetly as he could under the monster with the tough hide. As soon as he was under the monster, he prepared to pierce it. 'Hopes this works,' he thought. He then rammed himself against the underside of the monster. To his pleasant surprise, the underbelly was extremely soft, and he easily broke through. 'I'm so stupid. Why didn't I think it before? Now to finish off this sucker.'
He then went to where the heart was, and in a second, ripped it apart form the veins and arteries. A minute later, the monster was dead. He had lost three fifths (60%) of his strength in the fight against that monster, but at least he had won. 'Three down and one to go!'
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Meanwhile…
Brick, who was in Blossom's clutches, was being beaten up by Buttercup. By this time, the ice surrounding him caused by Blossom's ice breath had melted, but that was small comfort for the leader of the Rowdyruffs. Buttercup seemed to take particular relish inflicting blow after blow on the red haired ruff.
By any measure, he should either be unconscious or dead, but it was a testimony to his physical strength (and that of the rest of the Rodwyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls) that he was still fully conscious. The beatings were painful however, and he was quickly losing strength.
"So, you're ready to spill the beans"? Buttercup inquired.
"Why should I?" Brick spat. "I already told you we're not working with Mojo Jojo, and I already apologized for lying to you about it!"
"Liar!" Blossom shouted. "Bubbles heard you, and you confirmed it to us, and no amount of denial on your part will ever change our minds about you, Brick, and your brothers. Now, for the last time, will you or won't you confess your villainy?"
"If you already stubbornly believed it, what good shall a confession do?" asked Brick.
"If you haven't been listening, only us and a couple of people know the truth about you. The people of Townsville as well as Dr. Edwards still thinks of you as heroes. As it is, your confession will finally make them realize that your true nature is evil. Your reputation as superheroes, because it's based on a falsehood, will plummet as fast as it rose as soon as the people get wind of it."
Brick just shook his head.
"If that's the way you want it," Blossom replied, tightening her hold on the red ruff. "We have no other choice. Buttercup, carry on!"
"Take this!" Buttercup shouted as she again punched and kicked Brick. "And this, and that, and some of these, and one of those!"
"Let's make this a little more interesting," Blossom said. With that, she again froze Brick using her icebreathe, and Buttercup delivered her fastest and strongest punches yet on the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys.
After that particular beating, Brick has just lost two-thirds of his strength. As such, he was so weak that he couldn't stand a chance even one on one against any of the puffs. He's still strong enough to fly and deliver attacks, but not enough to tickle any of the Powerpuffs.
At that point, Buttercup resumed her assault on the helpless Rowdyruff. However, on the thirty second mark, it suddenly stopped. Blossom's grip around him suddenly disappeared and Buttercup ceased her assault.
"What the?" He then looked and saw Butch in front of him, and Blossom and Buttercup lying on the ground, looking angrily at them.
"What the hell are you doing here?" asked Brick with a mixture of relief and anger.
"I couldn't let you have all the fun, now could I?"
"The monsters are taken care of, right?"
"Not yet. Boomer's gonna deal with them."
"I told you a dozen times not to come here unless you have taken care of the monsters!" he said in a low tone.
"Yeah, but remember, you told us that we BOTH can't go here to help you. So we decided that one of us should help you and the other would remain to kill the monsters. Besides, I don't want to go home and tell Dad that you're dead!"
"You really didn't need to do this. As you can see, I have the situation perfectly under control!" Brick said. "You are very foolish coming here you know, but I'm for once I'm glad you acted foolishly. Still, I think you don't have a chance against three Powerpuffs."
"Well, do you have a plan?" asked Butch.
"I have, but we have to wait for Boomer to do it," Brick replied.
"In the meanwhile…what do we do?"
"What do you think we should do?" Brick replied.
"Well, for starters, you should surrender to us and comply with our conditions," Blossom suddenly said, slowly flying up to Butch and Brick's eye level.
"Yeah, give it up," Buttercup said, seconding her sister. She also recovered from Butch's unexpected blow, and hovering at their level.
"Oh sure, I'll give up to those whose butts I just easily kick just moments ago! That's rich!" the green ruff remarked, then began insanely laughing.
"As soon as you get over your laughing fit," Blossom coldly remarked, "and if you have the brains for it, it would be wise to consider your situation. You arrived seeing us trying to convince your brother to see the light. Obviously, we're so busy at it that we didn't notice your arrival and you took us by surprise. I don't know why Bubbles didn't do a thing to stop you, but nevertheless, you were able to grant Brick a temporary reprieve. But now, the surprise is gone, you're outnumbered three to one, and don't count Brick in, since he is too weak to put up much of a fight. You're alone, and you can't prevail against both of us, nor can you cut and run and leave your brother at our mercy. So surrender is the only option."
"You can shove your surrender up your ass!" Butch replied.
"And such foul mouth, totally unworthy of your brother Brick!" Blossom said, teasing him.
"And your actions is totally unworthy of your name and reputation," Brick acidly replied. "You're trying to destroy us, but who's to say that what you're doing right now won't destroy you instead?" That cut deep into Blossom.
"Don't start moralizing on me, Brick. For somebody like you and your brothers doing that is as ludicrous as Hitler moralizing on the evils of war!" Blossom replied.
"Who's saying we're moralizing?" Brick curtly answered. "We don't moralize! Moralizing is for fools who had nothing else to do than to try to impose their own infallible ideas on others who don't give a damn! And besides, by your own standards what you're doing is reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous."
"You are so wrong Brick. Moralizing is a good thing, because it enables society to make a social conscience to provide a standard by which to judge actions. You clearly must state what is right and what is wrong, for without it, people would just do what they think is right without regard to the person next to him, and the result would be chaos. You cannot have society without morality, and you cannot have morality without those who moralize to try to make everyone abide by a certain morality. So do the right thing by confessing your role. Maybe you could apologize to the people of Townsville for blatantly deceiving them."
"Blossom, could we stop all this yapping and continue on with the fights?" Buttercup demanded.
"Okay Buttercup, take care of Butch while I try to talk things over with his brother?"
"What, are you telling me that you're not going to help me?" Buttercup incredulously said.
"Are you telling me, my dear sister, that you're afraid to fight Butch? I always thought you are the toughest, the bravest of the girls! That's why you're going to fight him now!"
"Okay, okay, and thanks Blossom," Buttercup replied. "Come on Butch, show me what've you got, or are you afraid a girl will whoop your butt?"
"Let's see you put your money where your mouth is," Butch replied. "Bring it on!"
Soon, the two green ruffs slugged it out, while Blossom and Brick continued to talk.
"You're one hell of a leader," Brick said, "though it could hardly compare to my leadership of the Rowdyruff Boys."
Blossom for some reason blushed at the compliment of the red ruff. During the aftermath of the second defeat, she had and still had grievous doubts about her leadership abilities. Most of it stems from Brick's and Buttercup's indictment during her dream, but also of a sense of failure borne out of the lost of the second fight. She then fought it by belittling Brick and blindly accepting Buttercup's words of comfort. But deep down, she admired Brick's leadership abilities, even as she deplored him as a person.
She ignored the face saving remark of her adversary. "And you're not too bad either," Blossom replied.
"I know, I'm much better," Brick proudly replied. "Anyway, you should stop this crazy fight. You know that I wouldn't admit it, because it's not true."
"Liar!" Blossom shouted. "Bubbles heard you and Mojo conspiring, and you admitted it to us before the second fight. Your so-called apology means nothing because what you admitted to us it was backed by what Bubbles saw!"
"Then there's no more point in continuing this talk since it's useless. But I warn you, by your own standard you are destroying yourselves if you persist with your actions. You'll be destroying your reputations!"
"The only reputation that'll be destroyed is yours! The people of Townsville, one way or another, will finally realize before the sun rises your true characters. And yours will fall as fast as light, like the other phony, Major Man! Bubbles, if you don't want to fight, will you at least watch Brick and make sure he doesn't escape?"
"Okay Blossom," Bubbles said.
"Don't bother. I won't even attempt to escape," Brick declared. 'Without Butch that is,' he quickly added.
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In the meantime…
Butch and Buttercup slowly ascended high in the air, staring at each other. They got into their respective fighting positions, and in a flash, they lunged on to each other.
Basically, they were equal, and the fight had the potentials of a stalemate.
Buttercup punched Butch, hurting him much, but he then retaliated with a kick to her head. That sent Buttercup reeling, but she quickly laser-eyed Butch. Butch, annoyed, gave a series of devastating punches and kicks. It was not devastating enough, however, to gain a decisive advantage, as Buttercup took advantage of a temporary pause to counterattack. She gave a flurry of punches to Butch's stomach, causing Butch much pain, but he just ignored it as he swerved upwards and delivered a powerful kick at the back of Buttercup's head. Buttercup shouted in pain but otherwise ignored it as she turned, balled her fist, and hit Butch powerfully, sending him straight down.
Before he was a quarter way down, he stopped his decent and charged up to Buttercup ramming his head into his distaff counterpart, sending her straight up. She halted before she got too high however, and they stared at each other, bodies hurting, panting and sweating, yet clearly enjoying the fight.
'I haven't had this much fun, since…forever,' Butch thought. His fun, however, was short lived.
Buttercup too was having fun. 'Though it sucks that I haven't won yet.'
Butch and Buttercup renewed their duel. Butch laser-eyed Buttercup, then raced towards her. Buttercup recovered just in time to dodge some of the attacks, but Butch managed to get some through, before Buttercup grabbed his arm and threw him away. He then regrouped and attempted to attack Buttercup again, but before he could touch her, Blossom suddenly appeared out of nowhere and kicked him powerfully in the head, sending him downwards.
"Stay out of this, Blossom," Butch harshly said. "This is between you and her." He then pointed at Buttercup.
"This isn't a private fight between you two," Blossom said. "This is a fight between the people of Townsville, the Powerpuff Girls vs. the Rowdyruff Boys."
Butch spat on the ground, then charged up Blossom. Blossom just waited, and before Butch could reach her, Buttercup kicked him in his side. Butch angrily tried to hit back, but Blossom then laser-eyed her.
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"The fight was over before it even began," Brick said to no one in particular.
"Why is that so?" Bubbles, who was standing beside him, asked.
"If you're not blind," Brick began, "you would see that my brother is fighting two of your sisters. By the way, why exactly aren't you fighting side by side with your sisters, enforcing justice for the city?"
"Because it's not fair!" Bubbles said.
"And since when did you fight fair with villains?" Brick bitterly asked.
"We never did. But you're no villain like my sister paints you to be!"
"And how come you think of me as such?" Brick asked sceptically. "When you're the one who heard me utter that statement?"
"Because…I believe your explanation," Bubbles said. "And the real reason is you apologized. No villain we've ever encountered sincerely apologized to us. That was what convinced me."
"And what makes you think I'm sincere?" Brick asked, still unconvinced by Bubbles' sincerity.
"Well, you risked life and limb to come here alone and facing us to apologize. I mean you even didn't know if any of us would believe you. You're really brave Brick. If you weren't sincere, you wouldn't even try."
"You don't know the half of it," Brick replied. By this time, he was convinced of her sincerity, though his distrust remains as strong as ever.
"But why?" asked ruff leader. "Why the hell did you believe it? I mean you were beaten pretty savagely by Butch, Boomer and myself—twice, not to mention the time when Mojo first created us."
"It's all part of a fight. Besides, I've experienced worse things. And you apologized, so that's that!"
The rowdyruff leader just remained silent, staring in amazement at Bubbles for a few seconds then focused on the fights. "Damn it Butch, you can't win this thing!" he shouted. "Cut your losses and run!"
Butch, who stubbornly refused to give up, just kept on returning for more pounding. Blossom and Buttercup didn't even need to hold him to keep him from escaping. He just keeps coming back for more, even if it was clear that he doesn't stand a chance.
"No Brick. I ain't afraid of some sissie. I'll win this fight yet!" Butch said as he went back again at Buttercup and Blossom. But it was futile. His body was aching
Brick just shook his head. "He's brave, and stubborn, and tough, but absolutely out of his senses."
Bubbles just stared at Brick, her eyes full of curiosity, for a full minute. She agreed with him on the status of Butch, yet that wasn't her interest. She wanted to know more about the red ruff.
"Brick?" she asked.
The redhead ruff wasn't listening. He was busy watching the one-sided fight.
"Hello, Earth to Brick," Bubbles said very close to his ear.
"Huh, what is it now, Bubbles?"
"Brick, do you hate me and my sisters?" Bubbles asked.
Brick was surprised at the question. He pondered for a while whether or not to answer her, or to lie to her or tell her the truth if he decided to answer. He decided to be honest.
"To tell you the truth, we used to, but not anymore," he said.
"Why?" asked Bubbles, curious. She already knows that they're not evil. Now she wants to know if they can be friends.
"Well, we hated you because you destroyed us, we wanted revenge. But after we had it, we've got no reason to hate you anymore. Hell, even these attacks didn't cause us to re-hate you."
"So do you like us?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because you're girls!" Brick replied. "You have cooties, and your disgusting, and do gross things, and kiss," he said, shuddering at the last word, then making faces. "Second, even if we find that you're barely tolerable, it's unlikely your sisters will want to cozy up to us. Besides, do you really think Blossom and Buttercup want to be friends with us, those boys who suddenly broke them by proving the unbeatable beatable? Third, we don't really need friends. We already have each other and our Dad. We won't get along."
Bubbles stuck out her tongue at Brick. "Boys are even more gross, girls are more refined, and prettier, and things like that, so that makes us even, since miserly loves company," she said in a playful and joking way. "And once Blossom and Buttercup know the truth, they'll accept you. And they would too. They're one of the friendliest people in Townsville. And if not, I'm always here. And they'll probably forget about being beaten since it won't matter if you're the good guys. And everyone needs friends, even if they think they don't need them."
"Bah! You're just foolish. It's all a useless dream!" Brick said, dismissing every word Bubbles said.
"Yes, but I can dream, can I? And dreams can come true!"
Brick did not bother to reply. Instead, he just stared and looked at his brother getting beaten up. 'Hurry Boomer! Butch, if you don't want to cut and run, then hang on!'
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Meanwhile…
Boomer had just finished off the monster with the metallic hide.
'Where's the other monster?' he thought, as he finally saw his target. He then charged up the monster.
Aware of his diminished strength, he first decided to soften up the monster considerably by repeatedly laser-eyeing it, used laser beams from his arms, then repeatedly used his sonic boom. Two minutes into the attack, he stopped. He still didn't know how much, if at all, it had weakened the monster to his level, but he just hoped for the best. He charged, and he very surprised that the monster fell after his first punch.
The monster quickly for up on its feet and slammed him with his tail, but surprisingly for both, it didn't budge Boomer. The monster ignored the pain on its tail and decided to ram Boomer with its enormous head. He then charged at Boomer. The blond ruff decided to just stand there to test out a theory.
The monster charged and hit the rowydruff, only to hit something like a brick wall. Soon, its head was hurting, while he was unhurt. 'I get it now. That monster was not susceptible to physical attacks, but extremely vulnerable to laser attacks! What fools we have been! Now to test another one. "
He then punched hard on the monsters stomach. Surprisingly, the monster keeled. 'And this proves that the lasers have so weakened it that it's now easy to kick and punch him, even though my own was depleted.'
He grinned sadistically at the monster when he realized its implications. He then positioned himself to give the final and fatal blow to the monster. Just as he was about to move, a voice spoke to his head.
'Hey, I have something to tell you that you might want to know,' it said.
"Huh? Who are you?" Boomer suddenly said, curious.
'I'm Tom,' the voice said.
Boomer turned around to see if there was anybody talking to him. "Where are you?"
'I'm the monster you're about to kill,' Tom said.
"Ha? How are you able to talk?" asked a curios Boomer.
'I'm telepathic, stupid!' Tom's voice said in Boomer's head. 'I can't talk with my mouth, but you can talk to me in your mind. I suggest we talk that way.'
"I'm not telepathic!" Boomer responded.
'You're not, but anybody can talk to my mind if I let them to. Just reply to me in your mind and I can listen to it. It's better this way. At least those nosy camera men over there won't hear our conversation.'
'Okay, what there to talk about?' asked Boomer.
'First, promise that you won't kill me,' Tom said.
'It depends. First, it has to be important, and second, you must promise to leave this city forever and return from wherever you came from.'
'Oh it's important, kid, and I'll leave anyway. It's about the Powerpuff Girls. They sent us here to pretend to destroy the city to lure you out. Then we'll beat the stuffings out of you until you confessed your connection with Mojo. Then the girls will save you and the town, exposing who you really are. Only we decided not to pretend to destroy it, we decided to really do it!'
'Liar,' Boomer shouted in his mind. 'We know the Powerpuff Girls, and even though we dislike them very much, we know that they're not capable of doing that! You're just saying that to save your worthless hide!'
'Oh yeah? Listen kid, do you really know the girls that much? Did you know that this morning those three went to my island and pleaded to us to do this? Let me tell you a story. We monsters come from Monster Island. Now we live in Monster Island like you humans, eating, sleeping, marrying, and having kids. Now, that island was large enough to fulfil all our needs, yet some of us crave more than we need. So a few years ago, some of us started attacking the mainland, and the city nearest to the island, Townsville. However, these monsters first appearance coincided with the birth of the Powerpuff Girls, and the invasion was a miserable failure. The first monsters were killed, but the land hungry monsters continued their onslaughts.'
'Now, there came a point when we realized that we cannot win against those girls, so we decided to drop it. However, the stories of monsters who survived their encounter made them heroes to the island, and soon, monsters began going to Townsville with no other objective other than to get glory, since the Powerpuff Girls were by this time regarded as invincible, not being killed was a victory enough for us. And the Girls became something of an icon there.'
'For a time, the girls didn't know this,' Tom continued, 'but one time, one of the monsters, Steve, revealed it to them when he was disappointed that the girls acted like Super Zeroes. From that moment on, we became informal allies of the girls, though the city did not know it. One such time we cooperated was when Fred, another monster, invaded the city just to prove Major Man a phony, and it worked too.'
'That's a lie,' Boomer protested. 'We saw the tape of that incident, and there wasn't anything to prove that that is true.'
'You idiot,' the monster retorted, 'of course it wasn't caught on tape. The girls aren't stupid enough to blow their cover! If the town knew that the girls cooperated and were sometimes friends with monsters who keeps invading Townsville, think of what would happen to their reputations? Anyway, to convince you kid, let me give you a vision of what happened that wasn't on tape.'
Soon, a mental image similar to a movie entered Boomer's mind.
It was the City of Townsville about a year before, and it begins where the tape of the Major Man incident ended.
"Powerpuff Girls," the Mayor said with the crowd by his side, "we want to apologize. We didn't realize how special you are to us. We didn't know how good we had it. We're all very sorry. Will you give us another chance?"
"Well...okay," the girls said.
"Come on, everybody!" the Mayor shouted, "Let's go reinstall the hotline!"
"Yeah!" the crowd shouted.
The Powerpuff Girls remained with the monster watching the crowd clear out.
"Coast is clear, Fred," Blossom said to the monster who then opened its eyes. "Sorry we had to rough you up so much."
"That's okay. I was good, wasn't I? Wasn't I?" Fred asked.
"You were perfect," Blossom complemented. "No one suspected we set the whole thing up. Thanks."
"Aw...anytime, girls," Fred said. "Oh, but next time, girls...not so rough?"
The monster ended the mental image in Boomer's mind. 'It wasn't in the tape, was it?'
Boomer shook his head. This was something he would expect from Brick, but not form the Powerpuff Girls. He still staring wide eyed in disbelief.
'Yes, for some reason, the Powerpuff Girls became heroes in Monster Island, and Fred became a celebrity. There wasn't anything we wouldn't do for the girls, though we continued with the bogus monster attacks. It worked both ways. We'll get our glory, and the girls will get theirs. Of course, as a condition, we had to not kill anybody, or it's over for us. And even when the Girls did kill some of the monsters, they remained revered in our island. Anyway, just this morning, the Powerpuff Girls approached us with a request. Here, I'll give you a mental image of what happened this morning at Monster island.'
Tom was in his island, lounging about, with three of his friends, Dick, the monster with the ridiculously strong hide and an equally ridiculous soft underbelly, Harry, the winged monster, and George, the acid monster. Soon, the Powerpuff Girls arrived.
"Hi Tom, Dick, Harry and George," Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup greeted.
"Hi girls," the four monsters greeted. "What can we do for you?"
"Well, we have a little problem," Blossom began.
"A big problem," Buttercup corrected.
"Yes a big problem," Blossom said while glaring at Buttercup. "You see, there are three phonies posing as superheroes that we want exposed—"
"Like Major Man?" Dick asked.
"Yep, but there's a difference, you see, they're the Rowdyruff Boys, and they are much, much more powerful than Major Man," Blossom said. "In fact, even if I hate to admit it, they're as strong as we are."
"So it's that bad," George said.
"Yup! And they've completely fooled the people!" Buttercup said. "But that's not the worst. We know that they are secretly in alliance with Mojo, and are planning to take over Townsville. They're just doing heroic stuff to fool the people, and they did."
"And we can't fight them in public, because number one, it would ruin our reputation if we're seen by the public as starting a fight with the so-called superheroes, and two, even if the boys started the fight, we're not sure we could win it," Blossom admitted. "So what we're saying is, pretend to invade Townsville like Fred did before. Don't make any damage, but make enough noise to attract the Rowdyruff Boys. Now immediately turn on them when you see them. You four are the strongest of the monsters here in Monster Island, and could even give us the run of our money, so you probably won't have any problem with them. Now, when they're at your mercy, we would suddenly show up, and in return for saving them, they would have to confess to the people of Townsville their true nature."
"Yeah, and make sure you beat them to a bloody pulp while your at it!" Buttercup said. "We don't want them to be as strong as they are now after they've been exposed."
Bubbles was silent throughout the entire period, but her body language indicates she approves of it.
'Whatever you say girls,' Tom said to their minds. 'Anything for you. By the way, when do you want us to attack?'
"Tonight," Blossom said. "Well, we've got to go! Thanks!"
"You're welcome!" George said. "And tomorrow, the boys won't be a problem anymore."
"Okay. Girls, let's go to Dr. Edwards' office," Blossom said as they zoomed out towards Townsville.
Tom ended the mental image of the meeting.
Boomer was shocked by the mental image. 'Brick would be proud of Blossom if they weren't enemies. It's so sneaky, so damned good.'
'Yes they are,' the monster replied.
'Hey, don't read my mind!' Boomer protested.
'Sorry!'
'You're still lying,' Boomer replied. 'If you were such buddies with the Girls, then why did you betray them?'
'Not all monsters like the Powerpuff Girls. Some of us hated them intensely. We hated them for killing some of us. We hated them for thwarting our plans. We wanted to defeat them, to kill them and to destroy the city. We wanted revenge, yet we have to hide it, because most of the inhabitants of monster island worship the girls. So we pretended to like them just like everyone else, and we fooled everyone, including the girls. A group of us, including me and the three you just killed, secretly vowed to get stronger than the Powerpuff Girls! So we did everything we can to get stronger. Now, with the request of the girls, we decided it's the time to destroy Townsville. We figured that if we could defeat you three, who are just as strong as those girls, we could just as easily defeat the Powerpuffs. So instead of pretending to destroy the city, we really attempted to destroy it. And burden them with the knowledge that they were unwitting accomplices to its destruction. Now you might ask, why did I tell you? Because I wanted to save my own skin, and secondly, to at least ruin the reputation of the girls now that our plan was ruined by you two. Oh I wish I got to see their faces when they realized they've been betrayed! Now, can I go back to Monster Island?'
'Yes, but don't ever come back,' Boomer said.
'Oh yes, I won't,' Tom said as he headed out to sea to Monster Island.
Boomer turned around to see the devastation of Townsville. 'Well, the monster did a pretty good job at devastating the city,' Boomer thought. Indeed they had. Two fifths of the city was completely destroyed by the monsters and the fight. Luckily, no one died.
The people of Townsville then went back and cheered Boomer, but he ignored the cheers and went straight for his brothers.
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Blossom and Buttercup were still fighting Butch, who was so stubborn that he kept coming back for more. Brick was watching intently, while Bubbles was unsuccessful in trying to get him to talk to her.
Butch by this time has lost half of his strength, and is in danger of losing his other half because of his insistence on attacking Blossom and Buttercup even though he had no chance. He was down in the ground, ready to make another futile attempt and further diminish his strength, when Boomer arrived.
"Give it up girls, the monster spilled the beans on your plans," Boomer coldly said in a manner so uncharacteristic of him.
"Boomer, what happened?" Brick suddenly shouted. Soon, the rest of them turned to look at Boomer, and all (except Butch) were shocked. He was almost unrecognizable.
Boomer was half-naked, his shirt and sweater destroyed by acid, and parts of his skin had acid burns. He was barefoot, and his pants were torn from the knees down. He was covered with blood from the tough plated monster, his hair still dripping with it. All in all, he looked very threatening.
"Never mind that Brick," Boomer replied. "I've just taken care of the monsters and one of them just told me that the Powerpuff Girls set the whole thing up, with the monster attacks and all."
"That's not true," Buttercup shouted. "Your accusations are groundless, and you cannot make such an accusation unless you give proof!"
"You want proof?" Boomer asked. "Then come with us to monster island and we'll have a little talk with Tom. I'm sure he'll tell us how we defeated Harry, George and Dick, won't he? I let him go in exchange for him telling me what you really did. And it would have worked too, except that those monsters aren't such good friends after all, and betrayed you, and destroyed much of Townsville, and Butch and I defeated them. It seems not all monsters like you."
At that point, Blossom knew that their secret was out. She felt betrayed, angry and guilty. She counted on those monsters, and they sold her out. 'Why did you betray us? You seem so friendly that I thought I could trust you in not destroying Townsville? Oh, after this is over, that Tom will get it good! Nobody double crosses the Powerpuff Girls and get away from it. And Townsville, I'm very, very, very sorry. I really am. I shouldn't have used those monsters.' She looked down to the ground, realizing all her plans were wrecked, ruined. But she blamed it on the Rowdyruff Boys.
'It's those boys' fault!' she thought. 'None of this would have happened if it wasn't for them! Now our reputations will be ruined, wait a minute, what if?'
"Hey Boomer," Blossom suddenly asked. "Are you the only one who knows this?"
"Yes, I'm the one who knows, why?" he replied.
'Yes, they're the only ones to know,' Blossom thought as the wheels started turning in her head. Her failure only made her more determined to succeed. 'My first plan might have failed, but this should work. All we have to do is beat them up more until they confess their allegiance. They have to crack sometime. Then we'll prove to Townsville that they're liars, so even if they squeal, nobody would believe them. They're so much weaker than us, that even without Bubbles we can easily pound them. Townsville should then know how evil those boys are, and we can finally win. I'm very sorry Townsville, but we didn't know those monsters were evil.'
"I admit it was our plan, and the only mistake we did is to trust the wrong monsters to help us. I repeat my offer to you, Boomer," Blossom declared. "Avoid the fate of your two brothers and save yourself a beating. Surrender yourself to the police, then publicly admit your connections with Mojo Jojo."
"Go to hell!" Boomer shouted back.
"Blossom, are you crazy? Why did you admit it to them?" Buttercup said.
"Trust me Buttercup, I have a plan," Blossom said.
"But our reputations are ruined! They know!" her sister retorted.
"Yes, but you need to trust me on this one. We are in a desperate fight to save Townsville from Mojo and the boys! Brick, Butch, Boomer, surrender now to the police, and admit to the public your true motives, and maybe the town and your surrogate father will forgive you."
Boomer and Butch just stared incredulously while Brick did most of the talking.
"So you're not Miss goody two-shoes after all," Brick said. "So that's the reason why you didn't bother to help my brothers. And why you chose to beat me up while my brothers are in the city. You divided us so you can deal with us one by one. The monsters would keep us busy, while you yourselves deal with me. I must admit, I was impressed by your plan, yet you botched it up big time! And don't be a parrot and keep repeating your damned conditions. We won't surrender to the police and give any bogus confession!"
"You're not entirely wrong Brick," Blossom said. "Our plan was for the Tom and the others to soften you up so that you would scream for us to help you from the monsters. You being thrown into our clutches was entirely unexpected, but convenient. We decided to keep you here so that your brothers will have less chance winning against the monsters. We used the oldest rule in the book, that is divide and conquer. Those monsters failed and turned out to be evil, but it was remedied because you did our job for us by defeating them. But it did divide you long enough so that we can weaken you one by one. Give up now, boys! Even if you are together, you're so much weaker now you don't have any choice but to surrender. And don't try to run away. We're much faster than you."
"We need a few minutes to think it over," Brick said.
"Okay, but just one minute," Blossom replied. She turned to Bubbles. "Bubbles, now that they're together again, could you join us again? If you don't want to fight, just make sure they don't escape okay?"
Bubbles was unsure, but she finally nodded to her sister, since she was also present at the meeting with the monster. Buttercup was afraid of what will happen, but she decided to fully trust her sister since she had no other idea what to do.
The brothers meanwhile had a talk.
"Boomer, Butch, don't tell anybody else what you heard," Brick said, thinking of Bubbles. 'You're lucky Blossom and Buttercup, to have such a sister. Bubbles, now we're even. "Not even our Dad. The people must not know of this."
"But Brick, that's our only trump card at the moment!" Boomer protested.
"No it isn't. You've got to trust me on this," Brick said. "We know that we'll tell no one else about the girls being responsible for the monster attack. But they don't know that. So we can use this as a trump card. But anyway, my plan is…" he then told his plan.
"What Brick, are you crazy?" Butch protested after hearing their brother's plan.
"Just as crazy as Blossom, but trust me on this," Brick said. "It's the only thing that'll work."
"Okay, but only because I can't think of anything better," Butch said.
"Boomer?" asked Brick.
"I guess," Boomer replied.
"So did you decide to surrender?"
"No," the red ruff replied.
"Then you leave us no choice," Blossom said as she and Buttercup went into fighting position. "Your days of deception would be over tonight, and the Townsville shall again be safe." Bubbles went beside her sisters.
The boys also readied themselves. They don't have much chance against the girls. Brick lost three fourths of his strength when he was being beaten by Blossom and Buttercup, Butch lost half of his strength being beaten by the same girls, and Boomer three fifths of his strength being slammed against the back of Dick, the heavy plated monster with a ridiculously soft underbelly. The girls themselves were at or nearly at full strength.
But there are some bad news and good news for the Powerpuff Girls.
The bad news was, there was a hidden camera crew in the forest unnoticed by the combatants who taped the entire fight so that everyone knows what was going on. And they had no idea of the extent of devastation caused by the monsters and the fights.
The good news is, they were so far away that they didn't get any of the conversations, so the media and the public had no idea of the girls' use of the monsters.
And so, the final phase of the third clash, with the boys being at a severe disadvantage, began.
Author thanks
To Ud the Imp, as for Mojo Jojo, he'll be seen in the next few chapters. To nightglider-star,sorry for the mistake. Anyway, thanks for reading. To Hairy Gregory,Mojo Jojo telling everything will come in the next few chapters. As for Boomer, well, he did pretty damn good. About Brick and Bubbles, well, at least they were able to talk properly to each other. To TJ Rose,well, this chapter answer your questions about Boomer making it. And don't worry. No ruff or puff is going to die. That, I can at least assure you. To sum-jackass, well, I'm not saying what's going to happen to their reputation. You have to wait for either chapter 16, or 17. To Uncle Sam, well, Boomer did arrive and saved Butch from further beating. And thanks for reviewing chapter 14. To Dooly, well, they can and they know it, but they know that the air high above in the atmosphere is poisonous, especially ozone. On the scenes involving the girls fighting in outer space, I presumed they just held their breathe as they passed through the poisonous part of the atmosphere. And the monsters acid is so much more powerful than that of Brikowski. And I agree. Good for Bubbles. To DL23400,well I'm glad you didn't fall off the cliff. Keep reading! To Somewei,thanks. Well, Blossom is so sure of what she knows that she just can't believe it.To FireStarter10388,well, Bubbles is Bubbles. And thanks for liking the fight scenes. To Akum,well, she's thinking that Brick and the boys are evil that must be exposed.