What is Buttercup's Plan?
by Tonifranz
(A Sequel to "The Date")
This is a sequel to "The Date." It seems that a lot of the readers were disappointed that Buttercup wasn't able to carry out her plan because Brick was able to outwit her. Well, I decided to make a story where she was able to carry out her plan.
Short Summary: Buttercup decided to "punish" Brick and Blossom for supposedly interfering with their siblings lives by making them take a little of their own medicine. She was able to have Bubbles help her, but what of the boys?
Long Summary: This tale happens directly after The Date, where Blossom attempts again to arrange something for Boomer and Bubbles, with Brick, but Brick would not bite. It would be the last straw for Buttercup, who decided to implement her plan to teach the redheads a lesson! Would Buttercup this time succeed in getting the best out of the two brilliant redheads? What of Boomer and Butch? And will she escape revenge?
Disclaimer: I don't own the Powerpuff Girls or their characters. The Powerpuff Girls are owned by Craig McCracken and Cartoon Network. I only own my own characters, the most prominent of which is Dr Edwards.
Chapter 3
Target Brick
The City of Townsville, and Buttercup and Bubbles had just caught Blossom. The leader of the Ruff Puff Alliance was now squirming on the couch, a captive of her sisters.
Buttercup was beaming, but was a bit disappointed. Catching Blossom was supposed to be the easy part, but it proved more difficult than anticipated. In fact, they nearly bungled it and because of stupid mistakes, Blossom nearly got away. Fortunately, Blossom made an equally stupid mistake that got her caught.
Now, they had to catch Brick, which was more difficult because they also had Butch and Boomer to worry about.
"So how do you plan to get Brick?" asked Bubbles.
"Easy! We lure him here," Buttercup proposed.
"You think he'll be fooled?"
"I hope so!" Buttercup optimistically replied, as she dialled the phone.
"Yeah?" Brick replied.
"Brick, um could you go here, right now?"
"Why should I?" asked a sceptical Brick.
"Well, it's a surprise," Buttercup said.
"I hate surprises," Brick dryly replied. "Tell me what the surprise is or I won't go."
"Well, um, Blossom wanted a meeting with you on some important matters," Buttercup quickly said.
"So it isn't anymore a surprise?" the redheaded ruff said.
"Well, um, Blossom said that there is a surprise in the meeting," the green puff said.
"Okay. Boomer, Butch and I will go there now—"
"No, no, no," Buttercup said, "you must go alone!"
"Why?"
"Because it's a secret meeting between you and Blossom," Buttercup explained.
"If it's so secret then how do you know about it, and why did she tell you to call us? Wouldn't she rather call me instead of you?"
Blossom has been listening to the telephone conversation and couldn't help but giggle at Buttercup's difficulty explaining. 'Ha, Brick's tying Buttercup in ribbons. Now if only they'd remove they gag, I'll talk them out of this nonsense.'
"Well, um, because, I don't know about Blossom, but that's what she told me to tell you!"
"Well, tell her I won't go alone unless she herself tells me so!" the red ruff replied and hung-up the phone.
"Brick said Blossom must tell him herself to go here alone or he'll go with his brothers," Buttercup stated to Bubbles.
"I know! We'll ask Blossom if she'd cooperate!" Bubbles said. "Um Blossom, could you tell Brick to come over here alone?"
'What does she think I am, stupid?' Blossom thought. She shook her head to say no.
"Look at it this way, Blossom," Buttercup said. "If you lead Brick to our trap, then you won't be alone in your predicament. You'd have a companion. So are you going to call her?"
Blossom shook her head.
"Okay, if that's how you want it, then fine!" the toughest powerpuff declared. "We'll just have to force you to. Bubbles, prepare to tickle!"
Blossom's eyes widened as she began thrashing about, trying to get away from Buttercup and Bubbles' fingers. Her being tied-up got her nowhere, of course. Bubbles and Buttercup were able to tickle Blossom quite easily.
They tickled her in the armpits, in the stomach, and in the ribs, and Blossom thrashed and squirmed like there's no tomorrow, and laughed and laughed so loud even with the sock in her mouth.
II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II
After five minutes…
Blossom was still breathing heavily from all the tickling when they stopped.
"Okay Blossom, are you going to tell Brick to go here alone?"
Blossom nodded frantically.
"Glad you see it my way! But remember, no funny business!"
Blossom nodded, about the only thing she could do to reply.
"Good!" Buttercup said, patting her sister on the head. "Bubbles, remove her gag!"
Bubbles then carefully peeled the duct tape from Blossom's mouth and pulled the saliva-soaked-sock from her mouth.
"Here, Blossom, drink this," the sweet blond puff said, assisting Blossom in drinking a cup of orange juice.
"Thanks, Bubbles."
"You're welcome, Blossom."
"Untie me, Buttercup!" Blossom suddenly shouted. "Get me out of these ropes!"
"Oh shut up, Blossom! You won't be freed until Bubbles and I teach both you and Brick a lesson in being bossy!" Buttercup replied.
Blossom just stuck her tongue out at Buttercup.
Buttercup then dialled the phone again. "Okay, here's the deal! Tell Brick to come here alone or—"
"We'll tickle you forever!" Bubbles finished.
"I know I know," Blossom replied, though she had a sly grin in her face.
Buttercup then held the phone to Blossom's face.
"Hello," Boomer answered.
"Um, Boomer, could I talk to Brick?"
"Hey Brick, Blossom wants to talk to you!" shouted Boomer.
"What?" Brick asked.
"Well, could you come here alone? I'd like to meet you about something?"
"It better not be anything stupid," Brick warned.
"I assure it's not," Blossom said.
"Okay, I'm going there," Brick said. "Anything else you wanted to say?"
"Yeah. BRICK, IT'S A TRAP, DON'T GO HERE CAUSE BUTTERCUP ONLY WANT TO TIE YOU UP AND—" Blossom shouted at the phone, ruining Buttercup's plan in the process.
Buttercup immediately pulled the phone away from the redhead puff and put a hand on her screaming mouth.
"Um Brick, Blossom is just joking," Buttercup tried to explain on the phone in an effort to salvage her plan. "There really isn't any trap here for you if you come here alone!"
"Nice try, Buttercup, but tell it to somebody stupid like the mayor who might actually fall for it," the red ruff replied before hanging up.
Buttercup slammed the phone infuriated. She glared at her tied up captive.
Blossom sat smugly at the couch and stuck her tongue out at Buttercup. "Now you'll never catch Brick, and you can't do whatever it is your planning to do, so untie me like when you did when your plan failed the first time!"
"Nothing doing!" Buttercup replied. "Bubbles, get another pair of sock! This girl is due for some major tickling!"
"Oh come now! You two had your fun, now untie me!"
"Nope! Not until Bubbles and I teach you a lesson for ruining my plan!" Buttercup declared.
"Well, if you don't untie now, let me tell you something! If you untie me now, I'll mmpphhhhhh!"
While Blossom was talking, Bubbles snuck behind Blossom and unexpectedly shoved another roll of sock in her mouth while she was talking then quickly slapped a piece of duct tape over her mouth, preventing the pink puff from spitting the sock.
'Drats! I was going to talk her into untying me! Oh well! After they tickle me, they're going to tire out of this game and have to let me go!'
"Thanks for shutting her up, Bubbles," Buttercup said. She then began tickling the redhead. Bubbles also joined it.
Blossom was laughing hysterically, and soon, tears were streaming down town her eyes from laughing too much.
"I think she had enough," Buttercup said after fifteen minutes of tickling.
"So what do we do now?" asked Bubbles.
"We do plan B. We'll snag him in his home," Buttercup proposed.
"Are you nuts?" Bubbles protested. "We can't do that! Boomer and Butch will help him, and we might get tied-up ourselves!"
"Oh ye of little faith, Bubbles, I have thought long and hard for this, and I have a plan to catch Brick alone!" Buttercup assured, but in reality, she had no plan other than relying on luck. And despite her bluster, she was actually unsure of success, and lacked the confidence of a Brick, a Blossom, or even a deluded Mojo Jojo.
"Well, if you put it that way, okay. Maybe I can see Boomer too?" Bubbles said dreamily.
"Well, just make sure he doesn't see you," Buttercup warned. "If he does, then our whole operation will be blown."
"Okay," Bubbles said as she took her bag of ropes, cloth and duct tapes. Both she and Buttercup then opened the TV for Blossom so she can watch while the two carried out their snagging.
Blossom rolled her eyes at hearing Buttercup's plan 'Oh please! I heard better plans from the Townsville asylum!' she thought. 'It'll fail sooner than a pebble dropped in the sea lands on the floor.''
II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II
Meanwhile…
"What did she say?" asked Butch when Brick put down the phone. Butch had entered the living room where the phone called happened and listened to Brick as he spoke with Blossom and Buttercup.
Brick yawned and stretched, then looked at Butch. "She wanted me to go alone there, and I said no. Damn I'm sleepy. That's the last time I'll read a book all night and sleep at five and wake at six thirty in the morning!"
"Well, at least you found out you're not invincible and you're not perfect," Butch joked.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm not perfect, only nearly perfect!" Brick replied, but only laughed weakly. "Maybe Dad can give me some caffeine."
"Why don't you sleep instead?" asked Butch.
Brick yawned again. "Dad will be suspicious if I slept all morning, and he'd find out. He'll kill me if he found out I stayed up all night reading a World War II book Blossom lent me!"
"Well, it's your fault," Butch answered.
"But being barely able to stay awake on a morning is sure worth knowing Hitler is an idiot for invading Russia and Patton is a brilliant son-of-a-b!tch!" Brick said as he went and sat on the sofa.
Boomer then went down flying fast toward the two.
"Boy Brick, you look like, well, you're looked worse than a sick dog," Boomer commented as he saw the half closed eyelids of Brick. "Hey, I know! Why don't we take a swim in the lake? I'm sure the cold November water would be enough to get your spirits up!"
"More like your spirits would get frozen," Butch remarked. "The water's freezing this time of year."
"Aw, come on. Prove you're men by bathing in freezing water, just like Polar bears. Or are you too yellow to do it! Oh I can't imagine that my brothers being bested by a bunch of flea-ridden snow-colored bears!"
"Oh yeah? You're on!" Butch spat. "How about you Brick?"
Brick had sat in the couch and fell asleep while the two were talking.
"BRICK, WAKE UP!" Butch shouted in Brick's ear.
"Huh what? BUTCH, THAT'S THE (yawn) LAST TIME YOU'LL SCREAM (yawn) IN MY EAR TO WAKE ME UP!" Brick shouted at Butch. But the effect of his shouting was mitigated by his yawning.
"Anyway, how about we take a swim in the cold water of the lake?" Boomer proposed.
"You're nuts!" Brick replied. "But it sounds like fun! Okay! Boomer, ask Dad if we could go."
"Are you crazy? Dad won't allow us to swim in this temperature! Better go there without asking. At least we can say he didn't forbid us to go," Butch reasoned.
"I said, go and (yawn) ask him!" Brick sternly said. "We (yawn) won't go without his (yawn) permission!"
"Okay, you win!" Butch said, grumbling. Reluctantly, he asked his father, who was reading a newspaper in the kitchen. To his surprise, Dr. Edwards agreed, on the condition that they'd only go after eating breakfast. The three brothers happily agreed.
During breakfast, Brick managed to stay awake enough and controlled his yawing to avoid his father's scrutiny. After eating, they put their swimming shorts on, then put their trousers, shirts and sweatshirts over their swimming clothes.
They soon flew out of the house flying across the forest to Dr. Edwards' private lake. It was early November. The cold autumn winds were blowing hard, and the temperature itself was cold compared to other first week of Novembers. The forest below was red and yellow, and the floor was full of fallen leaves. However, the sky was clear, and the sun was shining.
While they were flying towards the lake, Brick's sleepiness struck him again, and where before he always was first in flying, he was now trailing his brothers. They reached the end of the lake and stripped to their swimming outfits.
Brick, however, sat on a rock, and again fell asleep.
Boomer became concerned. "Brick, I think you better go back home and sleep. You might fall asleep while swimming and might drown."
Brick was too sleepy to resist. "You're right. I need a nap. But I won't sleep at home or Dad might find out I didn't sleep at curfew last night. Tell you what. I'll sleep under a tree in the forest and you wake me up when you finish your swim."
"Suit yourself!" Butch replied, as he jumped in the lake. The water was cold, and it's as if there was ice on it. It was nearing freezing point.
He shouted as the cold got into him and he was shivering. However, he ignored the cold as Boomer looked at his reaction.
"Hey Boomer, think you're man enough to jump into the cold! I can! Now we'll see if you're yellow!" Butch shouted.
"Well, if you can do it, so can I!" Boomer boasted. He then jumped. Cold soon got into him, but he squelched his shout.
"What's the matter? Can't stand the cold?" asked Butch.
"Not on your life!" Boomer answered.
Brick just watched the two. "You're both out of your senses!" he shouted at both of them as he dressed back into his clothes. "See ya later!"
He flew into the forest, finding a spot where he could sleep. Finally finding a patch of grass on a sloping hill with a tree to provide a shade, he lay on it, covered his face with his cap, and fell asleep.
II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II
Meanwhile…
The girls reached Dr. Edwards' house. Before they could do anything however, Dr. Edwards spotted them from his window. "Hi girls! What are you doing here?"
"Oh, we're here to kidnap Brick," Bubbles innocently replied.
Buttercup slapped her head in frustration, shaking her head. 'Way to go Bubbles! You just ruined our plans!'
But Buttercup's luck held.
"Aw, isn't that cute? They're swimming in the lake if you want to find them," Dr. Edwards said, waving at the girls. "Well, have fun playing! Just make sure they're dressed-up properly when you catch them! And make sure they're home for dinner by six in the afternoon!"
Buttercup couldn't believe her luck. "Thanks Doctor! And we'll make sure that your son will be home by dinner too!"
"Well, have fun, y'all!" William Edwards waved as the girls flew to find the boys.
They reached the edge of the lake, hid behind bushes, and spied on the boys as they swam.
"How could those boys swim in this weather?" Buttercup wondered allowed.
"Well, aren't they so tough?" asked Bubbles as he stared at the boys, especially at Boomer.
"Quit gawking at Boomer! Where's Brick? I can only see two of them."
"Maybe he's at home?"
"Well, go back to his house and see if Brick is at home. I'll stay here just in case our quarry turns up here. We'll contact each other by watch," Buttercup instructed.
Bubbles nodded, and she flew back toward the house. She stayed close to the ground to avoid being conspicuous. Halfway towards the house, she spotted Brick, asleep by a tree on a patch of grass, with his cap covering his face.
Bubbles hurriedly went back to Buttercup, forgetting in her excitement to use her communicator watch. "Buttercup, I saw him, I saw him!" she whispered loudly to Buttercup. "Follow me!"
Buttercup was pleasantly surprised to hear Bubbles, but nonetheless followed her. Then she saw her prize. A sleeping Brick, alone and away from his brothers, and within their grasp—ready to be taken.
"Easy as taking candy from a baby!" she said to Bubbles as both stealthily approached Brick. But they didn't need the caution, for he was so deep in sleep by that time that a bugle blown close by him would not wake him.
Unless all odds, against all the blunders of Buttercup, a run of good luck brought her into the verge of success. She totally didn't expect Brick to be asleep in the forest alone. She was indeed lucky, for if it was any other day, what she did wouldn't have worked.
Author Notes
This fic, along with The Date, happens between Chapter 21 (The Triumph of the Ruff Puff Alliance), and Chapter 22 (Brick's Challenge) of this story, Allies and Rivals II: Commander and the Leader. The kids already had rescued Prof Utonium and Dr Edwards from Ckracknow's first island. Ckracknow himself escaped, got some financing from Mr Morebucks, and unknown to the kids, was creating the five clones that will attack Citiesville. Blossom's still the undisputed leader of the Ruff Puff Alliance, but Brick was plotting to grab it from the pink puff leader.
To D.H. Tiger, well, it looks like Brick was caught, and he doesn't even know about it because he's fast asleep!
To Hairy Gregory, well, Buttercup wasn't responsible for separating Brick from his brothers. But luck was on her side, and it enabled her to be on the verge of taking Brick.
As for the lameness, well, some plans can be so stupid it might actually work, and sometimes, even geniuses can do pretty stupid things. Besides, the girls aren't risking anything (or so they thought) and they could afford to do stupid things. Besides, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup think they are just playing an innocent game, even if some (like Blossom) did so unwillingly, and they'd sometimes deliberately do something stupid just for kicks and having fun.
To Kats02980416, well, they didn't do anything to lure both brothers away from Brick. They were just lucky.
To Lil Fang, I hope this one's fast enough.
To Ud the Imp, for the moment there, I actually thought you flamed me! Well silly me!
To BrYtt BRatt, well, I'll repeat what I've said to Greg. "As for the lameness, well, some plans can be so stupid it might actually work, and sometimes, even geniuses can do pretty stupid things. Besides, the girls aren't risking anything (or so they thought) and they could afford to do stupid things. Besides, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup think they are just playing an innocent game, even if some (like Blossom) did so unwillingly, and they'd sometimes deliberately do something stupid just for kicks and having fun."
Well, she did a lot of screw-ups and blunders, but at least luck's on her side.
To becky, thanks!
To Akum, she went for it, and seemed to be succeeding.