Allies and Rivals III


This fic happens after Allies and Rivals II: Commander and the Leader. But reading that fic and my other fics is not necessary for understanding or enjoying this fic. There are references to my other fics, notablyAllies and Rivalsand Allies and Rivals II. However, the only thing that needs to be understood in this was that a certain Dr William Edwards was the one who recreated the Rowdyruff Boys, not Him, after they were first destroyed by the girls by being kissed, and under his guidance, they were not evil anymore. And they were in alliance with the girls, called the Ruff Puff Alliance, with Blossom and Brick alternating as leader.


Summary:The Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys race against time to prevent an evil from escaping to this world. Who are your true friends, allies, and enemies?


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 VIII

Vae Victis


A. Negotiating Terms

The City of Townsville…

The Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls stared at each other as they braced themselves to fight. The Powerpuff Girls were in denial, not really believing that after four years, after all indications that they were evil were gone, they'd do something like this.

The girls were still hoping that this is some kind of sick joke, but as Boomer's action has shown, it was a very remote possibility.

"So it's a fight you want?" asked Blossom.

"Not if you surrender or at the very least, agree to turn a blind eye on events," said Brick.

"Well, if that's the case, then we'll fight. But I have one more question," said Blossom.

"Okay, what is it?" asked Brick.

"What if we lost? Are you going to kill us?" asked Blossom.

"No," said Brick.

"Then you'd leave us and let us fight again," said Blossom. "It would be a pretty useless win."

"No. We plan to take you prisoner," said Brick. "Don't worry, we won't tie you up forever, unless you misbehave. We'll just lock you up in our training room till you become more agreeable."

"And what if we don't become agreeable?" asked Blossom

"Well, I'm going to cross the bridge when I get to it," said Brick.

"If you really want to fight us, I suggest a different battleground," said Blossom.

"Where?" asked Brick.

"In the countryside," said Blossom. "There's almost no one there, and only grass, so there are no bystanders that could get hurt and no one's property would get damaged."

"Agreed," said Brick. "You go first."

"Okay, girls, follow me," said Blossom. Blossom then flew to the countryside followed by the girls and the boys.

They finally settled on a deserted piece of land. It was flat as a board, covered with grass, with no one for miles in either direction.

"Okay, how about we negotiate the terms of victory and defeat?" asked Brick.

"What do you mean?" asked Blossom.

"Well, first off, if we win, we would let you go if you promise not to interfere with our plans," said Brick. "If we lose, then we promise not to interfere with whatever you do unless you interfere with what Dad is trying to do and if Dad ordered us to do so."

"That's not acceptable. How about this, if we win, you stop cooperating with them and join with us to solve this terrible problem," said Blossom. "If we lose, then the you still join up, but with you, Brick, as leader. But with the condition that we never do anything evil or let evil win."

"I think we have hit a brick wall," said Brick. "Me and my brothers can't agree going against Dad even if he is evil, and you won't agree to not do anything to stop him if he does evil things. Let's keep the terms simple. Let's just do a Vae Victis."

"Vae Victis? Yes, let the terms be Vae Victis!" said Blossom. "Are you sure, because it would really suck for you if you lost!"

"Who's saying we're gonna lose?" said Brick. "We're not going to lose!"

"So shall we start? I'm getting impatient here you know," Buttercup complained.

"What's Vae Victis?" asked Bubbles.

"Oh, in Latin it means woe to the vanquished. Basically, the winner would have the right to do and demand anything and everything to and from the defeated," said Blossom, "and the loser has no right to complain about it."

"Oh! Then I guess we must win or all is lost," said Bubbles.

"Yes, and before we fight, I want to say a few more things," said Brick. "First, what we're doing here is nothing personal! It's only our duty, our job, and we don't have any choice. So please don't hold this battle as a personal grudge against us."

"We know," said Blossom. "But this still doesn't excuse your behavior! The Dr. Edwards who ordered this is not who you think he is! He will never order you to do such evil things!"

"Did you see him this morning, and do you know him as well as we do?" asked Brick.

Blossom answered. "No, but—"

"Then you don't know what you're talking about," said Brick. "Enough! Let's begin."

"Okay, let's fight! But for your information, I know what I'm talking about!" said Blossom.

The boys then lunged toward the girls. The girls braced themselves for their onslaught. Brick attacked Blossom, Butch attacked Bubbles and Boomer attacked Buttercup.


B. Blossom v. Brick

Brick tried connecting his right fist to Blossom's cheek, but Blossom easily dodged it by tilting her head to the left. She retaliated by trying to punch him in the face with her right fist, but Brick's left hand blocked it. Brick flipped and positioned his foot to kick Blossom on back of the head. Blossom avoided it just in time and counter-attacked with her knee, burying it deep into his stomach.

Brick gasped for breathed, as Blossom again swung her other foot and kicked him in the head, sending him down toward the ground. He quickly recovered, looked up, and saw Blossom flying towards him as fast as she can go.

Brick waited until a few seconds before impact, then he brought his hand before him, extending it towards Blossom. Two powerful beams surged from his hands, hitting Blossom. Blossom was thrown back and fell a couple of yards away, but she quickly recovered and prepared for another attack.

Brick lunged towards her, and was fast enough to use his head to ram Blossom further backwards. Blossom had the wind taken out of her, but despite the pain, she halted, kneed Brick in the face, and threw him towards the ground. Brick quickly stood on the ground, and used his ice breathe to freeze Blossom when she came to pummel him further. He then kicked her hard in the stomach, throwing her towards the sky.

Blossom quickly broke the ice encasing her, and though she shivered, the sun and the weather quickly warmed her. She gritted her teeth, and shot some laser from her eyes towards Brick, who was standing below, looking at Blossom with clenched fists. He easily dodged the laser eye beams. He then shot his own eye beams towards Blossom. She dodged. They then stared angrily towards each other.

"Surrender?" asked Brick.

"Never!" said Blossom.

"Well, don't whine that I didn't ask you to surrender first when you're all beaten up," shouted Brick.

"On the contrary! You should be the one to surrender!" said Blossom. "I promise I'll be nice to you! You can get some crumbs if you become hungry."

"We'll see! I'll win!"

"In your dreams, jerk!" Blossom shouted back.

"That you'll win? Well, if I dreamt that you'll win, that's the only time that'll happen—in my dreams—since we all know you can't win a fight against me in real life!" Brick boasted.

Blossom smiled. "Still, I don't think it's right for us to be fighting and killing each other, you know."

Brick smirked. "Well, we're always fighting and trying to kill each other for the past four years, you know, even though we're allies, so I don't think this is any different."

"Yeah, but there is a crisis at hand!" said Blossom. "And we need to fight it, not each other."

"But we are on opposite sides!" Brick replied.

"But it doesn't have to be this way!"

"Yes. But unfortunately, it is."

"I guess so! So Brick, defend yourself!" said Blossom, and she attacked Brick.

She made a large block of ice, and threw it towards Brick. Brick easily swatted it away. Blossom, who came just behind the block of ice, gave him a hard right on his cheek. He fell to the ground, but before he can recover, Blossom kicked him hard in the stomach. She then laser eyed-him, and froze him. She then kicked him hard in the head, but before he could be thrown away by the kick, she quickly grabbed his foot, and spun him around before slamming him repeatedly on the ground, though she might as well be slamming him on mattresses. Before he could do anything about it, she kicked him hard in the head and buried her fist deep in his stomach, then repeatedly kicked his back. She then laser-eyed him repeatedly, melting the ice, then threw him towards the ground a few feet from her.

Brick staggered to his feet, hurt. He had bruises and scars all over his body. He was breathing heavily, was weaker, but still has enough strength to fight Blossom. In contrast, Blossom doesn't have any scratch on her yet.

"Give up, Brick?" asked Blossom.

"Never!" said Brick. He then raised his hand over his head, and began forming a red energy ball.

"Oh come on! You know you can never hit me! I could easily dodge it, you know!" said Blossom.

Brick smiled. The ball grew bigger. "If you have any sense at all, you'd surrender now."

"Me surrender? After you have just been beaten to a pulp! You are now weaker and hurting all over. Look, you have a bloodied lip and a black eye, have wounds and bruises all over your body, and are breathing heavily. In comparison, I am unscathed! And that energy ball won't hit me, since I could easily dodge it! Face it! You already lost!"

"It ain't over till the fat lady sings!" Brick said, smirking. "Oh you're good, Blossom, that I admit, even for an ugly girl like you! Your tactics have vastly improved since we fought as enemies four years ago! You have become much much stronger than before! But you forget one thing!"

"What's that?" asked Blossom.

"So have I, except that I'm much more proficient in fighting tactics than you are!" said Brick. "You see, you disapprove of us boys fighting each other. And I doubt you girls fight each other physically, or sparred among yourselves to settle disputes!"

"Of course not! Violence is not always the answer!" said Blossom. "We always settle our disputes by other means than fighting!"

"Well, for us, if me and my brothers really can't settle our disputes, we usually fight it out! Dad would usually approve of it. And if we don't fight because of quarrels, we just fight for fun! Barbaric, you might think, but it's still fun! Anyway, you might think, why am I saying this? Simple. It means that we have been fighting something that is equal to our strength, hence our fighting abilities get sharper, and it's showing now! Especially now that you're losing," Brick said, all the while, feeding energy to the ball just floating on top on his head.

"I'm losing, am I? How out of touch of reality you are. In case you realize, I'm not stupid not to know what you are doing, namely buying yourself time to make an even bigger energy ball!" said Blossom.

"So why aren't you stopping me?" asked Brick.

"Why bother? Just keep feeding energy into that ball, so when you throw it at me and miss, then you'd have wasted a lot of energy, and you'd be easy pickings afterwards. Really Brick, I'm surprise at the stupidity of your actions!" Blossom replied.

"Then you're not as smart as you think," said Brick.

"I don't think so," said Blossom. "Let me see, you have been thrashed, are weaker than me, have less energy, is feeding the energy into a ball that I can easily dodge once you throw it at me, and for that futile gesture you'd be weaker, and I'd be much stronger than you!"

"Very smart!" said Brick. "You really have learned something hearing me talk about tactics and strategy to my brothers! It really proves how smart I really am!"

"As oppose to someone with a thick skull like you!" Blossom replied, "Who can't even use those things you talk about to win?"

"Well, let's fight, shall we?" Brick said as he threw the very large energy ball towards Blossom. But Blossom easily dodged it. Brick, however, what not fazed by his failure but attacked Blossom. Blossom decided to just block his attacks, as those were weaker than his usual attacks. Blossom easily blocked his thrusts and kicks, as he was slower than before. He then backed off, and waved his hand towards his face.

Behind Blossom, the very large ball suddenly reversed its direction, and made a U-turn. It then accelerated towards Blossom's back. Blossom was totally unaware of it, since her eyes were focused on Brick, who prepared to attack Blossom again.

The huge energy ball collided directly with Blossom's back, and a huge explosion occurred. Curiously, her clothes were soiled but were otherwise undamaged, but her body was full of bruises, and her body shot up in pain in several places. She became temporarily distracted.

Brick took advantage of the situation by immediately attacking Blossom. He immediately punched her in the left cheek, then on the right cheek, then kicked her hard in the jaw, propelling her upwards. Brick grabbed her long red hair and slammed her against the ground. He then froze her in ice, then repeatedly kicked her all the while pulling her hair to keep her from getting far. He repeatedly laser-eyed her then kicked her again in the stomach. Blossom however was unable to recover until the next blow was struck, and so was further weakened. Finally, after a minute of continuous blows, he threw her to the ground.

Blossom stood up, though she was weakened considerably. Since Brick was also weakened, they were basically even in strength, even if both were weaker than when the fight began. Blossom had even more wounds and bruises than before, though not more than Brick. Amazingly, her clothing was intact.

"You were right about all those things, you know," said Brick. "Except one thing. You thought that that energy ball was like a stone. When you throw it and miss, it's basically useless. However, the reality is that that energy ball is like a remote control plane. You throw it, and I control it until it hits something and exploded. Now I'm stronger than you!"

"Very clever!" Blossom said. "Totally fooled me there. That was a risky gamble you know. That ball could've hit something else before it hit me, I could have noticed and ducked it or threw a stone in it and make it explode, or I could have simply attacked you while you were making that energy ball! And the gamble paid off."

"Yes it did, and now you're weaker than me, and I am superior to you in every aspect! Surrender now!" Brick demanded.

Blossom, still hurting from the beating she got, gritted her teeth to prepare for Brick's expected onslaught. "I will never surrender until I am either dead or unconscious!"

Both were now roughly equal in strength, and in power. Both have lost great amounts of energy and were tiring all over and clearly wanted to end the fight. Yet both leaders would not give up until the other was defeated.


C. Boomer v. Buttercup

Meanwhile…

Boomer quickly began his assault on Buttercup by putting his hands forward, and bombarding Buttercup with laser. Buttercup simply charged Boomer without regard to being hit. She quickly reached him with a speed that surprised Boomer, and kicked him in the jaw, throwing him high in the air. Boomer quickly stopped himself mid-air and fired another volley at Buttercup, the distance between them accentuating the effect of the volleys. Boomer fired and fired and fired volleys of laser fire from his hands.

Buttercup was irritated of all the laser hitting her, but she pressed on, confident that when she reached Boomer, she would promptly whoop his butt. Which she did. Boomer tried falling back, but Buttercup blasted him with her own laser attack, then swung around him, and smashed his back. Boomer fell to the ground. Buttercup then put her hands forwards, and hit him with a barrage of laser. Boomer, at the last second avoided it, sent a powerful laser beam, then quickly flew to another position and sent another powerful laser beam. Buttercup batted off the first, but didn't notice the second one and was hit in the head. She then felt a throbbing pain as a result, but before it could go away, Boomer struck.

Boomer in quick succession, fired five powerful laser beams, and it hit Buttercup badly. There were powerful explosions all around her, and when the smoke cleared, Buttercup was wounded and hurt. She was mad and keen for revenge. But she was greatly weakened by it.

Buttercup made a small energy ball, and tossed it to Boomer. Boomer dodged it, while Buttercup, jumping nearer, shot him with laser from her eyes, which Boomer avoided. Buttercup made a disc, the diameter of which was as tall as her, and threw it at Boomer. Boomer swatted it away but was surprised to see Buttercup just behind him. She made a very powerful kick on his back, nearly breaking his spine and making his back excruciatingly painful. She turned around and kicked him in the head, sending him to the ground.

He landed face down on the ground, but before Boomer could do anything, Buttercup sat on him, grabbed his right foot, bent it backwards, and began twisting his ankle. "Give it up, Boomer! I saw this on wrestling, and basically, you can't get out!"

Boomer began thrashing wildly as the pain became excruciating. But he couldn't shake Buttercup off, as the position of his body plus the vulnerable state of his ankle made it impossible. He tried using his hands to hit her with laser, but since he cannot see Buttercup, he didn't hit her. And he couldn't turn his head enough to use his laser eyes.

After one minute, the pain was still unbearable. He began tapping on the ground with his hand. Buttercup didn't let up. "Let go of me!" Boomer suddenly demanded, trying his best to ignore the pain.

"Give up?" asked Buttercup.

"No, I won't," replied Boomer.

"Well, it's your ankle," said Buttercup, as she began to twist it again.

For five more minutes, Boomer endured the most painful experience of his life, as he became weaker and weaker. However, when all hope seems lost, an idea struck Boomer.

Using laser from both his eyes and hands, he quickly destroyed the earth and grass that he was lying on, quickly making it a crater below him. Finding themselves on the middle of the air, Boomer swung downwards, then upwards, putting his upper body behind Buttercup. He quickly balled together both his fists and in slamming it against her back, forced her to let go of Boomer's ankle. The pain somehow subsided, but it was still excruciating. He then, using his hands, shot powerful laser assaults on her back, causing her to scream in pain and sending her to the bottom of the crater. He then sent more laser once she was at the bottom. Soon, dust rose from it and enveloped them both.

In the confusion of the dust, Buttercup sneaked towards Boomer and kicked him in the stomach. However, she was too weak to follow it up with another powerful attack, so she just grabbed him and threw him towards the ground. She then remained in the air, tired and weakened, breathing heavily, resting and trying to regain her strength. She was even more wounded and hurt than before, and her entire body was covered with bruises. She was sweating profusely, and breathing heavily.

Boomer was just as damaged as Buttercup, but a little weaker. But both of them didn't know that. His ankle was hurting badly, and it took all his willpower for him not to curl up and cry, like he'd normally do, in pain, as the sensation of agony crawled up his legs and through his body. His back was also hurting, but he had enough strength to fight. He hovered just a few inches from the ground since standing on his feet would be too painful for his twisted ankle.

"Give up?" asked Boomer in a tone that leaves no doubt of his physical condition.

"If you sing London Bridge is Falling Down up-side-down while wearing a tutu dress first," Buttercup replied. "If you do that, I'd probably give up."

"Oh that is disgusting!" Boomer replied.

"I know!" Buttercup replied.

Boomer again attacked Buttercup. He punched her in the face. Buttercup retaliated by again kicking him in the gut. He then used his feet with no twisted ankle to kick her in the chin, but Buttercup quickly recovered by laser-eyeing him. Both then fell back to the ground, with Boomer's foot raised upward, utterly exhausted to fight, to rest so that they can regain their lost energy and to allow the pain to wear off.

They stared suspiciously at each other.


D. Bubbles v. Butch

Meanwhile…

Butch immediately attacked Bubbles. Bubbles, for her part, simply flew away from Butch, sending him lobs of laser as he tried to chase her. Butch, like Buttercup, was annoyed at being hit, but did nothing to avoid it. Instead, he just charged at her to try and catch her.

Bubbles, when she felt that she had put enough distance between herself and her pursuer, attacked him using her sonic scream.

The pitch and loudness of her voice, and its vibrations, stopped his chase and forced him to cover his ears. The force of her voice also threw him back. Angrily, he took his handkerchief from his pocket, tore it into two, and stuffed it in his ears. He then charged back. Bubbles again used her sonic scream, but it only slowed him down this time.

He quickly punched her hard in the cheek once he reached her, sending her down towards the ground. Not one to waste time, he quickly follower her, but she saw him and hit him with laser from her hands. He barely dodged it, and used his head to ram her in the stomach. Bubbles fell to the ground and coughed.

Butch lost no time in chasing her down. He quickly buried her knees on her back, causing the blue puff much pain. He then began kicking her. Bubbles, rolled out of the way, however, jumped and kicked him hard in the head, causing him to fall. Before he could jump back, she closed in and punched his cheeks again and again with her fists, causing him to be a bit nauseous.

Butch shook it off and quickly backed off, then attacked again. He again tried to punch her in the face, but Bubbles blocked it with difficulty. She then punched him in the stomach in turn. Bubbles followed up by using laser-eyes on him, then kicked him in the face again, resulting in a bloody lip for Butch. Bubbles then grabbed his hand, and spun it around fast, then slammed him against the ground. A small crater was created by this action, resulting in covering the vicinity with dust.

She quickly pulled him out of the dust, then flung him high in the sky. Bubbles then began a barrage of laser from both her eyes and her hands, hitting him every second. She then went charged at his form at top speed, and slammed her head against his back so hard that it nearly broke his spine. She then punched him in the head, sending him falling down again. While falling, Bubbles sent wave after wave of powerful laser beams after him, each not that powerful but cumulatively devastating to Butch.

Bubbles expected either to knock him out unconscious, or to at least weaken him considerably so he isn't any threat at all.

As soon as he hit the ground, Butch immediately blew the ground so that dust covered him and the immediate area. Foolishly, Bubbles went to the cloud of dust, and inside it.

She couldn't see anything, so she decided to go back to the clear sky. Suddenly, Butch grabbed her from behind, his arms then locked in front of him, trapping Bubbles hands besides her.

Butch then laser-eyed her at the back of the head. Bubbles couldn't really do anything about it, as she found out that she couldn't break free from Butch's grip. The pain that gripped her in the back of the head was terrible, and it soon gave her a big headache.

He kept up the laser attack to the back of her head for three full minutes. After that, he threw her to the ground and repeatedly kicked her while she was down. Bubbles had splitting headache, and wasn't able to retaliate as a result.

Bubbles suddenly screamed at the pain, and the scream was the sonic scream, and she accidentally aimed it at Butch who was very close. Despite the torn cloth in his ears, it was ineffective at very close range, and it threw him back some yards.

By this time, her throbbing headache lessened to a bearable degree, as Butch stood up to counter-attack. Bubbles ignored the now mild headache, and side-stepped his counterattack. Going to his back, she removed both handkerchiefs from his ears, grabbed him by the stomach, and again used her sonic scream. Butch ears nearly burst, and it was a miracle he didn't become even temporarily deaf by it. Butch managed to wiggle out of her grip, and give her a powerful kick in the jaw that managed to throw her a few feet back, but was too weak to follow on his attack. Like both his brothers, he simple went on and sat on the ground, to recoup his strength. Bubbles also stood up after receiving the blow, but like her sisters and Butch, was too exhausted to fight.


E. Victory

Meanwhile…

"That was exhausting! And my head still hurts!" Bubbles exclaimed.

"You're telling me! At least those boys are at least as tired and hurt as we are!" Buttercup exclaimed.

"Well, we have to rethink our strategy," Blossom added as she stared at the boys at the other end of the grassy and the now not-so-flat plain.

"Brick, you look like shit!" Boomer commented to his leader.

"Well, it's better than your ankle!" Brick replied.

"And I thought it would be an easy fight," said Butch. "Guess we underestimated them."

1111111111111111111111111111 111111111

Ten minutes later, both the Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls readied themselves for another round.

"Okay girls, fighting them one-on-one will get us nowhere. We need to coordinate our attacks! Okay, do plan 548!" Blossom said.

"But it's too complicated!" whined Buttercup.

"It's better than just slugging it out, you know," said Blossom. "Okay, let's go!"

All three girls stood three feet from each other in a triangle, and began spinning in circles.

"Okay men, let's finish this fight," Brick ordered. "Let's do the Merging Attack."

"The Merging Attack? Oh I like it! They won't know what hit them!" Boomer replied.

The boys went as high in the air as possible. Brick began to glow red, while Butch glowed dark green and Boomer glowed blue. Soon, the glow turned into flames, though it isn't like fire at all. It was pure energy.

The girls looked at the boys. They too glowed in pink, green and blue as they spun. Soon, their bodies became streaks of light made up of pure energy, and they began to spin even faster. Soon, it lunged towards the boys, and spun around each other, though the distinctive colors of the three puffs remain.

The shape and form of the boys was still visible. Seeing the three spinning energy streaks coming their way, they prepared themselves for an attack. "Attack!" Brick finally ordered.

The boys attack, and soon their bodies up to their necks disappeared as it was engulfed in energy. Their heads, though, remained visible, though only as a rough outline. It attacked the girls in a straight line, unlike the spinning ones used by the girls.

The two sets of energy were heading for a horrific collision course.

When they were perhaps only three yards apart from each other, Brick suddenly shouted, "Merge!"

The three beams of the boys merged into a single powerful black beam and attacked the green spinning beam. Then there was a collision, and an explosion. Three seconds later, Buttercup and the boys fell to the ground, while the pink and blue streaks continued towards the sky.

Buttercup was unconscious. Being hit by the energy of the three boys was too much even for her. She just can't fight three boys at once on her own. The boys were even more exhausted than before, having expended a tremendous amount of energy knocking out Buttercup. But they were still conscious and strong enough to fight the remaining girls. But at least they now had numerical superiority.

The three boys waited on the ground for the girls' counter-attack.

Blossom and Bubbles soon emerged from their spinning energy streaks, and they assessed the damage.

"Oh no! Buttercup!" shouted Bubbles.

"This is not good," Blossom said. "There's three of them, and only two of us!"

Bubbles soon put her arms together, and gathered her remaining energy to form another laser-beam in it. Butch noticed, and made his own laser beam.

Bubbles, hoping to knock one of them out to even the odds, then threw her beam at Boomer. But before it could hit him, Butch flew in front of him, and threw his own laser beam at her. The laser beams met, and Butch and Bubbles found themselves in a reverse tug-of-war, as both sides poured more energy into their laser beams in an effort to push it towards each other.

Brick sensed an opportunity, and prepared his own attack. He, like his brother, gathered as much energy as he could to attack Blossom with another laser beam. Blossom saw what he was doing, and did the same. Brick attacked first, but Blossom countered. Soon, like Bubbles and Butch, both were engaged in a laser-beam pushing contest.

Boomer wasn't idle, and he prepared his own laser-beam. When he gathered all his energy, his problem was who to hit. Bubbles or Blossom? He decided to hit Bubbles first.

He came to a position a few yards to her side. Butch and Bubbles were still struggling to push the other's beam away. "I'm very sorry Bubbles," he said, as he made his most powerful attack beam yet, and hit Bubbles in the side.

Bubbles screamed, and it weakened her beam that opposed that of Butch considerably. Butch's beam then overcame Bubbles, and five seconds after being hit by Boomer's beam, was hit by Butch's beam in turn. Both boys pressed their attacks. Soon, she screamed, and went limp, and fell. She was still conscious, but was unable to fight at all because she was utterly weak. Ten seconds later, Butch then attacked Bubbles, kicking her again hard in the head. She was knocked out and became unconscious as a result.

And now Blossom was alone. Both Brick and Blossom were still evenly matched as both saw no progress in their laser duel. Butch and Boomer then looked at each other, nodded, and formed powerful laser-beams in their hands. Simultaneously, they struck, and hit Blossom from the side and at the back. Blossom screamed as she was hit, and her effort against Brick's laser faltered. Soon, Brick's laser also hit her. Three seconds later, Blossom fell to the ground. She was unconscious.


F. After Victory

The boys landed on the ground, though Boomer, his ankle still twisted, hovered just over the ground. All three of them were utterly exhausted and drained, with barely enough energy to stand. They were weak, bloodied, wounded, hurt and dirty. Their victory, such that it was, had been a close run thing. It was a slug-fest, the result uncertain until Buttercup was knocked out. Most of their remaining energy were used in the lasers that knocked out the girls.

But they were still standing, and they had won.

Basically, they were evenly matched in every respect. They simply won this battle of attrition because of better fighting tactics. And they can heal in a few hours in their Dad's mediroom.

"Well, we won," said Butch lifelessly.

"What do we do now?" asked Boomer.

"We bring the girls to Dad," said Brick.

"But he'll have a fit when he finds out they're still alive. Couldn't we just hide them somewhere, so Dad can't know they're not dead? We can tie them up so they can't get escape. It's for their own safety, you know, to protect them from Dad, and to make sure they won't make trouble for us," Boomer suggested.

"Look, Dad said to eliminate them as a threat, not to eliminate their persons. Now, they're not threats. Look at them. We aren't much better, but at least we're awake. Dad didn't order us to kill them, only to make sure that they won't get in the way," Brick replied. "We can lock them up in the training room. At least we can keep an eye on them twenty-four-seven."

"But won't Dad object?" asked Butch.

"Obviously, he must be persuaded that keeping them prisoner is much more beneficial to him than killing them. Don't worry, I'll take care of it. The girls won't die. I'll make sure of that. Take my word for it!" Brick reassured. "The girls won't like it, but they agreed to Vae Victis, and they lost, so it wouldn't be a problem."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Boomer said.

"I know. Don't worry. Anyway, pick up your female counterparts. We need to go home to secure the girls. Besides, my body is aching and I'm looking forward at spending a few hours at the medi-room," Brick said, and he picked up Blossom.

Boomer picked up Bubbles, while Butch picked up Buttercup, and they all went home.