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 XII
Hide and Seek
A. Discussions on the Escape
The City of Townsville, and at the Mayor's Office, on July 29…
"What? The Powerpuff Girls escaped?" shouted Kaczinsci at the meeting. "You assured me that the Rowdyruffs would be able to guard them, in that they wouldn't escape?"
"I was wrong. Those boys are really incompetent at guarding people! I mean, they had them locked up, and bound, but they still managed to lose them!" said Dr. Edwards. "Look, I'm sorry!"
"Well, let's just hope that the girls won't muck up our operations," said Ms. Bellum.
"But we didn't really do anything illegal, so the girls can't stop us," said Dr. Edwards.
"Except kidnapping," said the Professor. "They'd surely go after you William, if only for that. God, it was stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"
"What do you mean, stupid? I mean, how are we suppose to get rid of the girls?" asked Dr. Edwards.
"Well, for one thing, we could have just left them alone. Then they wouldn't suspect a thing and they'd be none too wiser about our schemes until it's too late!" Professor Utonium argued.
"You forgot, John, that because of the fucked-up cover-up of the murder of Chief Grulp, they'd find us out even if we did nothing else. They were going to nail Kaczinsci, and that would have been worse for the mission," said Dr. Edwards.
"Then you should have had the boys kill the girls!" argued Kaczinsci.
"The boys wouldn't do it. And if I insisted, they might go over to the other side," said Edwards. "You don't want that to happen, because it will definitely be the end of us if it did."
"Heh! Yet you have no problem retaining their loyalty by caning them," the Professor exclaimed.
"Look, what I did was a very stupid thing. I was angry, and I lost my temper, and lashed out on them," said Dr. Edwards argued. "No, I think they deserve the caning, but it's still a very stupid thing to do. Don't worry. I'll watch my temper next time."
"You'd better. The boys, as you say, may be incompetent. But there's no denying their power," said the Mayor. "So, what do we do about the girls now?"
"For the moment, the boys should search for the girls," said the Professor. "In the meantime, we continue on as before."
"And if the girls try to stop us?" asked Kaczinsci.
"Then they would have exposed themselves, and the boys could take care of them," said the Professor. "Plus, if they actually disrupt our work, it would be the girls who would be breaking the law. We'd declare them criminals, offer a million dollar reward, and such."
B. The Powerpuff Girls
That night…
"Blossom, couldn't we just do this at day?" asked Bubbles as they turned the knob of their home.
"We already went through this. We can't go during the day because it's too much of a risk. That is what the boys would expect us to do," said Blossom.
"Yeah! But I don't want to hide! I want to fight them!" Buttercup explained.
"And get your butt kicked. You forgot about their armored clothes," said Blossom.
"Oh yeah! But I gotta fight them! How about we pick them off one by one?" Buttercup suggested.
"How? How are we going to find them one by one? The boys have to be incredibly stupid to let themselves be caught with their pants down," said Blossom.
"Yes, but they're not necessarily together all the time, are they?" Buttercup replied.
"Nevermind. Just take your things," said Blossom.
The girls took whatever things they would need. They all had large sacks to put their stuff. However, they didn't get all the things they wished since many of their possessions were in the training room of the Rowdyruffs. Nevertheless they took what they could and went back to Ms. Keane's house, all the while afraid that they might be caught by the three Rowdyruffs.
July 30…
"What now?" asked Buttercup that morning.
"Well, Buttercup, what do you think we should do?" asked Blossom.
"Well, I would like to attack the boys, but as you said, it isn't practical. Well, I for one suggest that we stalk them so we can catch them alone, and in the meantime we stop whatever the bad guys are doing," she proposed.
"Very good, Buttercup! Very good! But there are flaws in your plans. First, how will we avoid detection while we're shadowing them? So we won't shadow them. It's too risky. Second, right now, they aren't doing anything illegal. We can't do anything—yet. We have to obey the law!"
"But they kidnapped us! We can't let them get away with that!" Buttercup argued.
"Yes, but we can't do anything to them. We can't attack Dr. Edwards. Nor can we attack the boys," said Blossom.
"So what do we do?" asked Bubbles.
"Well, we'll have to wait for them to make a mistake. Maybe we can get lucky and catch them off guard," said Blossom. "However, we must never expose ourselves, or we, including Ms. Keane, will be doomed."
C. Phase One Complete
A few days later, on August 7…
After a few weeks, most of the residents of the Central District had received their cash compensation. With generous help from the City, under the extremely competent supervision of Dr. Edwards, almost all the residents of the Central District had moved out, and the place was nearly empty.
"What's the report, Johnson? Is the Central District clear?" asked Dr. Edwards to a young man submitting a report.
"Yes sir. The last of the residents had already left," said Johnson, handing the report to Dr. Edwards. Dr. Edwards skimmed over the report. "Get me Professor Utonium."
"Yes sir," said Johnson before he left. A few minutes later, the Professor arrived.
"John, the Central District is empty! Objective number one completed!" Dr. Edwards satisfyingly said.
"Finally. It did take you this long to do it," said the Professor.
"Don't complain. Do you think that you could have done much better than me? Remember, it's both our ideas to legally drive the people out," said the Doctor.
"William, yes, I remember. And I already have made the necessary contracts with the demolition team and the construction crew," said the Professor.
"Ah good. The sooner they level the city, the better," said Dr. Edwards. "And the sooner that object is unearthed, the better. Why the heck does it have to be buried under a city, instead of an open field in the middle of nowhere, where we don't have to do all this bureaucratic work? Damn it, I may be good at this stuff, but I ain't no bureaucrat!"
"Yeah, but at least it's half over, don't you think?" asked John Utonium.
"Thankfully, yes. Anyway, when can those demolition crews be available?" asked Dr. Edwards.
"As soon as I give them a call. I've been busy the past few days negotiating the contract with them, so right now, they're ready to flatten the city," said the Professor. "By the way, how is the search for the Powerpuff Girls? Did you have any luck finding them?"
"None. None at all. My boys have been scouring the city for the past week and have found no girls at all. None at all!" said Dr. Edwards. "But, so far, they haven't interfered."
"But they could," said Professor Utonium.
"I know. But even if they did, it would not be such a bad thing for us," said the Doctor.
"Huh? I don't get you. Why?" asked Professor Utonium.
"Because they are hiding right now. And they're doing a damned good job at it. Now, let's assume that they would want to stop us—"
"Why assume it? I mean, they're good guys, and of course they'd want to do that, but they haven't yet, so why assume they'd do it in the near future?" asked the Professor.
"Well, aside from taking them by force, we haven't done anything illegal that they could stop. I mean, they couldn't stop us from paying people for the price of their property, you know. Especially if it's a real bargain for the people. And they couldn't stop the people from voluntarily leaving. However, they could certainly stop the demolition of the buildings, the clearing of the rubble after that, and finally, the digging," said Dr. Edwards.
"I get you," said the Professor. "But what now? How would they stopping us help us?"
"Well, doing so would expose them, and doing so would give the boys the opportunity to catch them. Because the boys have armor, and the girls have none, then it would pretty much be a one-sided fight," said Dr. Edwards. "The beauty of the plan is, if they don't choose to interfere, then we wouldn't have to worry about them in the first place."
"Well, William, your brilliance never ceases to amaze me!" said the Professor.
"I know," said the Doctor. "I'm sure the others would be delighted of the good news."
"Yeah, pretty much so," said Dr. Edwards.
D. Chatting With Friends
In another part of Townsville, in a suburban middle class house a few miles from the Edwards properties, the Rowdyruff Boys were relaxing in the pool of the home of one of their close friends.
"Thanks, Jenkins," said Brick as he floated relaxingly on the pool."
Ten-year-old Peter Jenkins just smiled as he splashed water. "Hey, what are friends for?"
"So what happened in the past few days? Why did you just disappear?" asked Edward York, another of their classmates.
"Yeah," added Mitch Mitchelson. "You haven't answered our phone calls, and you won't see us when we called on you. And we know you didn't leave town! Heck, the rest of the gang had been wondering what happened to you!"
"Well, York, Jenkins, Mitchelson," said Boomer, "we've been quite busy the past couple of days, so we haven't got time."
"What exactly were you doing?" asked York.
"Well, York, we've been looking for the Powerpuff Girls," said Butch. "They've been hiding from us for the past few days, and we need to catch them."
"Huh? What? I thought you said you would never ever be kissy wissy with girls," said Jenkins. "Ah I see! You three are madly in love and they are hiding away from you!"
"You idiot! Look, the city had an operation that's needs doing, and the girls want to disrupt it. In order to stop them, we imprisoned them in our training room," said Brick. "They escaped, and Dad ordered us to recapture them."
"But you six are friends!"
"York, I repeat, the girls are not our friends, not now, not before, not ever!' said Boomer. "We were just allies, you hear? And it's just for mutual benefits that we became allies! How many times do we have to drill that into your heads?"
"Okay, okay, we get it," said Mitchelson. "No need to get snippy about it!"
"Yeah. We were allies, but their actions meant that they are now our enemies," Butch declared.
"Oooh! So that meant that the gang's the girls enemies too?" asked Mitchelson.
"Pretty much so. So how'd you think the rest of the gang would take it?" asked Brick.
"Well, I certainly think it's about time," said Mitchelson. "It's not good for us guys to associate with those yucky girls! Especially those Powerpuff Girls! Oh I hate them!"
"Well, I think it's a waste," said York. "But oh well, you're our friends, and the girls ain't my friend, so it doesn't really matter to me either way."
"Jenkins?" asked Boomer.
"Well, I certainly think that's terrible. I wish we would still be friends with them, but I'd I'm still be your friend in spite of it," said Jenkins. "I'll even help you find the girls if you want."
"Well, how about the others?" asked Brick.
"Well, the others wouldn't be too upset. You're their leader, you know! Us boys will never abandon the Rowdyruff Boys for mere girls!" said York. "Don't worry. I'll inform the others and all would know by the end of the day. Except for Richard of course."
"Richard? As in Richard Hook?" asked Boomer.
"Yup! Richard is on vacation in the Rockies with his family, you know," said Jenkins.
"So when will Hook get back?" asked Brick eagerly.
"Oh in a few days, on the fifteenth of August, he said," said Mitchelson. "But what would you like from that bug-eyed midget and nerd?"
"Oh nothing. Just nothing," said Brick. "Just want to know when the rest of the gang could meet."
"So you've looked everywhere?" asked Jenkins. "For the Powerpuff Girls I mean."
"Yeah. We searched in the West Side, in the East Side, in the Central District, pretty much everywhere in the city and we haven't found them yet," said Butch.
"Dad insisted that we spend all our spare time looking for them. And that's the only thing we've been doing in the past few days. We can't go back before dinner unless we catch the girls. So we decided to go here to take a break and goof off for a while," said Boomer.
"It wouldn't make a difference, would it?" asked Brick.
"Nope!" said York. "So want to watch a movie my Dad bought. They say it's really scary! A real horror movie!"
E. Blossom's Plan
Four days later, August 11, the preparation for the mission was complete. The Central District, after being checked and rechecked for stragglers, was empty of people. Most of the equipment for the demolition, the clearing of debris, and the digging was on hand, and was ready. All the crew was waiting for was the go-ahead signal from the Townsville Government. Dr. Edwards, Professor Utonium and Eliot Kaczinsci were pleased that the Powerpuff Girls had not interfered—yet. But they would be even more pleased had they done so and got themselves captured in the process. By this time, Dr. Edwards halted the fruitless searches of the Rowdyruff Boys. The boys were disappointed at not having the chance to secretly goof off to spend more time with their friends, but they are good loyal sons who did as they're told. They spent the rest of the time hanging out with their father, guarding him from any attack.
Not that the Powerpuff Girls were idle at that time. They were monitoring the movements of the possessed city officials, and were carefully evaluating the options available. They hid themselves to avoid exposure, and the only ones who knew where they were, were Ms. Keane, Ms. Lawrence, and occasional visitors to Ms. Keane.
"It's all very clear now," said Blossom as she stared at the TV absorbing the news of the delivery of the various equipment.
"What's clear?" asked Buttercup.
"Well, consider this. After emptying the city of people, what did they do next? They brought forth wrecking balls, bulldozers, tractors, and men with dynamites, shovels and pickaxes. Those things doesn't right a bell to you?"
"Well, I think they want to destroy all those buildings and then dig for something," said Bubbles.
"Yes. And I'm sure that whatever it is, it's not good. However, this is our opportunity to finally do something!" Blossom declared.
"So we're going to wreck all those bulldozers?" asked Buttercup.
"Yes, but that's not all!" said Blossom. "They'll expect us to do just that, so we'll do it all right. But it's just a diversion."
"A diversion? To what?" asked Bubbles.
"Well, Bubbles, you and I are going to go and wreak havoc on the wrecking equipment, while Buttercup is going to go kidnap Professor Utonium and Dr. Edwards," Blossom declared.
"Why? Don't you think that kidnapping is wrong?" asked Bubbles.
"And illegal?" added Buttercup.
"Yes. But the purpose of that is to remove them from the power of whoever or whatever is possessing them!" Blossom declared. "Don't you think that with them under our control, it would be easier to free them from whatever is possessing them?"
"Yeah, but still—what if we can't bring them back?" asked Buttercup.
"We have to! We can't fail! The faith of humanity depends on us succeeding," Blossom passionately reasoned. "We must get the Rowdyruff Boys on our side again, and the only way to do that is to bring Dr. Edwards back to normal. And while were at it, we can bring back the old Professor too. Oh how I miss him. Wouldn't you like to have him back? To rescue him from the vile forces that's holding him?"
"Yes, I would like that! Okay Blossom, I'm with you!" Bubbles replied.
"Thanks. Buttercup?"
"Yeah. Count me in!" Buttercup said.
"Now that we've agreed, here's what we're going to do. Most probably, the boys are guarding their father. That's what I'd do if I were Brick," said Blossom. "That is why we're going to attack the equipment. The boys of course will go after us, leaving Dr. Edwards undefended. When they do that, you, Buttercup will go and take Dr. Edwards, then go and take the Professor. Knock them both out, then take them here."
"What about you? With three Rowdyruffs with armor, I don't think you'd hold out in a fight," said Buttercup.
"Who said anything about fighting?" asked Blossom. "After we have damaged some equipment, and after we see the boys coming towards us, we simply run like heck and then hide."
"Okay, but be careful. The last thing we need is for you two to be recaptured!" Buttercup warned.
"I know. Don't worry. I'll take that into account," said Blossom. "I promise I won't get Bubbles and myself captured."
"Okay, here's the rest of my plan…"
A few minutes later, they heard a knock on the door.
"I'll get it," said Bubbles. She opened the door, and there was a boy who was holding a model volcano on a hard cardboard on his hands. The boy had brown hair and blue eyes, was about ten, and was one of the students at Pokey Oakes Elementary.
"Hi. I'm Harry, and I'm here to submit a project to Ms. Keane. You see, I flunked my science, so in order to get to the next grade, Ms. Keane agreed to pass me if I completed a science project," he said. "Um, aren't you Bubbles, of the Powerpuff Girls?"
"Yes I am," said Bubbles. "I'll go get Ms. Keane."
"And you're Blossom and Buttercup! I saw you at school, but I never saw you up real close until now!" said Harry. "This is neat. Wait till the other guys hears about this! You know, you three are my second most favorite superheroes in the world!"
"Oh! Second most favorite? And who is your first?" asked Buttercup.
"Well, the Rowdruff Boys of course!" said Harry. "Hey, don't take it that bad! I'm a boy, so the Rowdyruffs will always be number one, but you, Powerpuff Girls, are also my heroes! Oh hi Ms. Keane! Look, I've completed my extra project. Um, are going to let me go to the next grade now? Or do I have to repeat the third?"
"Well, your performance in school is poor, but it is only a few points short of passing. Well, you certainly had made a good project, so I guess this would fill it up! So you'll pass!"
"Yipee! Yes! I won't be a repeater!" said Harry happily. "I get to pass! Um, Ms. Keane, what are the Powerpuffs doing here?"
"Oh they're just visiting," she said.
"Well, I'm going now! Thanks Ms. Keane. And hi Powerpuff Girls! I'll tell others that I saw you here," he innocently said before running off.
"Um, shouldn't we stop him?" asked Buttercup.
"You most certainly not. He's just a student, and an innocent kid. He won't betray you," said Ms. Keane.
"Are you sure?" asked Blossom.
"I'm sure. I know that student since he was in kindergarten," said Ms. Keane.
F. Blossom's Operation Executed
The next day, August 12…
The demolition crews began their work on the buildings in Central Townsville at eight. They were largely supervised by Mr. Kaczinsci, Ms. Bellum and the Mayor, as Professor Utonium took a well deserved break. Dr. Edwards, informed of his friend's decision, decided to take a break as well and invited him to his home to relax.
The two men were on the living room, sipping some soda, watching the TV as it showed the start of the demolition. There were five wrecking balls manned by construction crews. There were crates of dynamites, and there were bulldozers, and similar equipment. And there were at least five hundred members of construction crews who were to assist in the demolition, cleaning, and digging.
Ms. Lawrence was serving some food for the two men. The Rowdyruff Boys were upstairs on their room, playing with each other while keeping themselves in high alert.
"Well, there you have it! The first part of our mission is complete, and I doubt the second and third part will not be completed soon!" said the Professor as he watched a wrecking ball demolish some skyscraper on TV and another building was demolished by dynamite in the background.
"Yes, yes! Soon, we'll lay our hands on it and the true power and glory of the master will be realized! And the whole world will lay prostrate before us!" said Dr. Edwards.
Suddenly, before their very eyes, the Powerpuff Girls appeared on TV. Well, Blossom and Bubbles appeared.
"Citizens of Townsville!" Blossom proclaimed. "This is all a grand deception for evil purposes by the city officials! And the Mayor, Ms. Bellum and the Police Chief had been possessed by evil! So we, the Powerpuff Girls, are going to stop them!"
"That's a lie!" the Mayor shouted.
"Seize them!" the Police Chief ordered. Hundreds of police men tried to arrest them, but the girls easily beat them back.
"Behold! We will destroy their instruments of destruction!" Blossom grandiosely proclaimed. "Bubbles, if you please!"
"Aye, aye, Blossom!" said Bubbles, and in front of TV cameras, she began to slowly destroy one of the wrecking balls.
Dr. Edwards and Professor Utonium were stunned at what they saw on TV. "Boys! Come here quick!" the doctor shouted.
"Yes Dad?" asked Boomer when he and his brothers rushed downstairs to heed the summons of his father.
"Look at the TV. I want them stopped and captured, you hear?" demanded Dr. Edwards.
"Yes, Dad," Brick said with a smile on his face. "Boys, let's go!"
"Now what kind of idiots are those girls? I mean, couldn't they pick a less conspicuous time to wreck the equipment? Like when there are no TV cameras for example?" asked Butch.
"Well, smart people are capable of doing stupid things, you know," said Brick. "They've exposed themselves, and now we can catch them!"
"Ha, they took the bait hook, line, and sinker!" Buttercup, who was waiting just outside the house hiding on the canopy of one of the trees outside the house, said to herself as she saw the boys leave. She went into the house, and broke in.
Dr. Edwards and Professor Utonium and even Ms. Lawrence was totally surprised. Buttercup herself was surprised. She didn't expect to see the Professor with the Doctor. What she expected to do was to get the Doctor then proceed to Professor Utonium's house to get him. But she wasn't about to complain about her latest piece of good luck.
"What? I thought you were supposed to be on the city, wrecking my equipment?" asked a dumbfounded Dr. Edwards.
"They're only a diversion. You two are our real targets," said Buttercup. She then knocked them out by hits on the head, and carried them out of the house. Ms. Lawrence was simply too shocked and surprised to do or say anything.
The Rowdyruff Boys arrived and saw Bubbles and Blossom. "Stop!" Butch shouted. "Surrender or we'll kick your ass!"
G. The Unravelling of the Plan
"Blossom! Bubbles! Great news! Professor Utonium was with Dr. Edwards, so I was able to nab him with the Doctor rather quickly! And I got no trouble kidnapping them!" Buttercup proclaimed over her sister's communicator watches.
"Buttercup, you idiot! Now they know!" Blossom angrily shouted over the phone. "They heard the entire thing!"
"Oops!" Buttercup merely said before hanging up.
"Oh God! This is just a diversion!" Brick realized upon hearing Buttercup's call. "Boomer, stay here and try to defend the rest of the equipment. Your armor will protect you, but run if you must. Butch and I will rescue Dad!"
"Yes Brick," said Boomer, shaking at the news. He then turned to the girls. "Why you despicable little girls! You tried to kidnap Dad! Why you! I was never really angry at you before, but this takes the cake!"
"You kidnapped us before, and you are outraged that we did it to your father instead of to you?" Blossom replied. "As Shakespeare put it, 'If we are wronged, do we not want revenge?' Don't place a higher standard on us, Boomer. Besides, we are totally justified in doing so because we are fighting for good, and you are fighting for evil! Second, we aren't kidnapping your Dad. We are kidnapping the evil one who took over your Dad's body so we can free him and get him back to normal."
"Sometimes Blossom, I don't get you! You sound very moralistic in many ways, but you are very unscrupulous in your means," Boomer said. "Okay, let's get on with it!"
"Come and get us!" Blossom shouted as she and Bubbles ran away.
"Why are we running away?" asked Bubbles.
"Because we want to lure him farther away from his brothers," said Blossom. "Then, we can easily overwhelm him, armored clothes or not."
However, Boomer didn't bite and stayed put.
"Men, the Powerpuff Girls have run away like cowards," Ms. Bellum proclaimed to the construction crew and in front of the TV.
"Go back to work," said the Mayor. "And use the rest of the equipment to continue on with the demolition!"
Buttercup decided to join her sisters whom she thought was in Townsville in view of her previous blunder. However, halfway through, she met Brick and Butch.
"Drop Dad," said Butch. "And surrender."
"Never!" said Buttercup. "You'll have to fight me first!"
"Very well then," said Brick, who suddenly appeared besides Buttercup and delivered a powerful punch to her gut and another to her cheek. As a result, Buttercup was forced to drop both men to the ground. Brick quickly went after them, and picked them up. "Butch, go to Townsville to help Boomer. Remember, our objective would be to capture the girls, and I can't think of no better opportunity than now!"
"Okay," said Butch as he flew to Townsville. "Take care of her!"
Brick then hid both men on the bushes below. By this time, Buttercup had fully recovered, and was standing in the air trying to spot Brick and the two men. She found Brick, but she couldn't find the two scientists on the two bushes below.
"Where's the Professor?" asked Buttercup, scanning the ground.
"You mean the one, who, with Dad, you intend to kidnap?" replied Brick.
"Look, we only want to have them so we can easily dispossess them!" said Buttercup. "We only want to bring them back to normal!"
"Yeah! Really! By kidnapping them? Give me a break!"
"You don't have the right to complain! You kidnapped us, remember? Besides, you won't let us dispossess them!" Buttercup replied.
"So what! Prepare to be captured," Brick replied, charging her directly, intending to beat her up in order to take her.
Buttercup knew she couldn't beat him because of the armor, so she decided to do the prudent thing and run away. Brick, of course, chased after her. Being equal in speed, he never was able to catch her, nor did she shake him off. Finally, Buttercup took her shades from her pocket, put in on, took a tiny ball with a button on it. She halted her flight. Brick was surprised but continued on towards her. She then pressed the button, and a bright flash of light appeared, forcing Brick to halt his flight and to close his eyes. He reached for his pocket, when he realized to his horror he neglected to bring along shades. He decided to fly as fast as he could away from where he was just so he could get away from the ball. When he opened his eyes after a few seconds, Buttercup was gone.
"Damn it! Damn it! She escaped! But at least Dad and the Professor were saved," said Brick.
"Where are Bubbles and Blossom?" asked Butch when he reached Townsville Central District and found Boomer alone watching the demolition.
"They ran away like chickens," Boomer dryly said.
"What? You let them escape?" asked Butch. "Why the hell didn't you chase after them?"
"Because my orders are to guard the equipment, and to make sure that the crew work is unimpeded. Brick said so, or are you going to defy our leader?"
"No, no! Of course not! I ain't going to defy him!" said Butch defensively. "But he said he wanted them captured!"
"Yes, but his last orders to me were not to capture them, but to protect the equipment," said Boomer.
"Boomer, Butch, did you capture them?" asked Brick on the communicator watch.
"No. They got away," Boomer replied.
"Damn it! Buttercup got away too!" said Brick. "I have Dad and the Professor with me. Both were unconscious. Both of you go and stay home to protect Dad."
"How about you?" asked Boomer.
"I'll be with you," Brick said.
"But what about protecting the equipment?" asked Boomer.
"Damn the equipment! They can go to hell for all I care! That is not our concern. If the girls wreck all the equipment, Dad has enough money to replace them in a whisker. But if they successfully kidnap Dad again, then we might never see them again for a long time!" Brick shouted on the watch. "Now get your assess, home, you hear? Our new mission is to protect Dad, and anything else is subordinate to it!"
"But wouldn't that purpose be also served by just looking for and catching them? After all, they can't take Dad if they're our prisoners," Boomer reasoned.
"Look, if we dally around the city, in a fruitless search for them, they will go and take Dad while he is undefended. And forget about splitting up unless they split up too. We'd be too vulnerable to them if that happened."
"Then why did you order Boomer to be alone with Blossom and Bubbles?" asked Butch.
"Look, I was stupid!" Brick replied. "Anyway, there are other ways of capturing them other than finding them. It would be like a needle in a haystack. No, we will capture them while we are simultaneously guarding Dad."
"Well, okay, if you say so!" said Butch. "Come on, Boomer, let's go home."
H. The Mayor's Speech
Later…
"This is bad. Really bad!" said Bubbles as they pondered on their failure to capture Dr. Edwards and their beloved Professor.
"Yes, really bad. But at least we're still free. And we damaged a lot of their bulldozers and wrecking balls, you know," said Buttercup.
"Yeah, but we would have been a lot more successful had we taken both men. If you hadn't called me at that particular time, then they wouldn't have known of your attempt to capture the Professor!" Blossom accused.
"Well, you hadn't ordered me not to call you at all!" Buttercup defended.
"What? Do I have to order you to do everything? Do you expect to wait for me to order you to brush your teeth and change your underwear before doing so?" Blossom asked.
"Knowing you, Blossom, you certainly would like that!" Buttercup replied.
"Girls, come here! Something's on the TV! I think it's about your earlier attack!" Ms. Keane shouted.
"Okay, okay, we're coming," Buttercup grimly said. She and her sisters went to the living room in the kitchen.
They were watching the news.
"A few hours ago, our former heroes, the Powerpuff Girls, shockingly went and destroyed government property," the anchor announced while showing clips of Blossom and Bubbles wrecking some of the equipment. "At the same time, Buttercup Utonium attempted to kidnap not only her father Professor Utonium, but also Dr. William Edwards, the Rowdyruff Boys' father. How this had come to pass I do not know, but we all are disappointed that the Powerpuff Girls could commit such crimes. Now here's the address of the Mayor on this topic."
"A few hours ago," said the Mayor on TV, "we all thought that the Powerpuff Girls were heroes, and there's good reason for it. Time and time again, they had saved the city from certain destruction, and I'm sure all of us are thankful for it. That is why we do not want to believe the events earlier this day. But, shocking as it may be, it did happen, and there is no way around it."
"This morning, as you can see from clips, the Powerpuff Girls tried to disrupt a legal contract made by the government of this city to Corville Construction Incorporation. In doing so, they violated the law by deliberately destroying the equipment for no good reason. And we consider their accusations about the government being possessed by an evil spirit no reason at all."
"Had that all been what they've done, then I might, regarding their past actions, pardon them, for this is not the first time they destroyed public property in the course of doing their jobs. But they committed another crime so despicable that no amount of good that they did before could compensate for it. They tried to abduct Doctor William Edwards against his will. Yes, testimony from Dr. Edwards and Ms. Lawrence reveals that Buttercup broke into the house, knocked Dr. Edwards out as well as Professor Utonium, and kidnapped them. Luckily, their sons, the Rowdyruff Boys, rescued them."
"It grieves my heart to do this, but I have no choice. No one is above the law, not even our esteemed heroes, the Powerpuff Girls. What they did was not only despicable, evil, and morally repugnant, it was also illegal. I therefore charge the Powerpuff Girls of destruction of public property, illegal entry of a house, and attempted kidnapping. I, the Mayor, had already issued an arrest warrant for the girls. They are now fugitives from the law. And anybody who can turn them over to the police, or give information which can lead to their capture, will be give $10,000,000.00 as reward. I appeal to the girls to surrender themselves to the proper authorities so justice can prevail," the Mayor concluded.
The Powerpuff Girls froze. Things had just gotten much much worse.
Author Thanks
This story was deleted along with all the reviews, but I decided to include my replies to the author notes as they could give some information about this story.
To Lynx Sarnage, well, recapturing them won't be easy, as was demonstrated.
Well, they were too busy trying to catch to really figure out how they escaped.
They had no idea Ms. Keane was involved at all.
To Kezzer, well, things got a lot worst in this chapter, obviously. Well, the girls did try something, and it wasn't totally a success, obviously.
To Firespirit, well, they could do that, but the Boys had lots of clothes, and Dr. Edwards could easily make more. Besides, they couldn't really wear the boys clothes. Bubbles hated wearing anything resembling boys' clothes. And even if they did, the boys at this point are physically smaller than the girls, and it wouldn't fit the girls at all.
To Tones, I agree with you that Ms. Lawrence was cool. Anyway, yeah, it was terrible. What happened to the boys that is. But at least the girls escaped!
To Hairy Gregory, well, I do remember an episode when a disgruntled Police officer used gas on the girls to catch them. My guess is that if they could be knocked out by gas, then they could be knocked out by drugs.
Well, they already think that the old Dr. Edwards was gone. The problem is that they think that Dr. Edwards willingly became that evil.
To Dooly, I don't think that Ms. Lawrence wanted the boys captured anymore than she likes the girls being captured.
To Akum, well, okay.
To BrYtt Bratt, well, sometimes, that happens to me as well, though not often. Example, I simply make up their words when I type the chapter.
Well, the boys are simply blind. And they chose to be blind. It's as simple as that.
To PinkPuff, by the way, I noticed you dropped the 514 from your name. Anyway, in real life, people can really be blind and can't accept the truth. So I guess it can happen to the Rowdyruffs in this fic.
Yes, they came up with a plan. Too bad that it didn't lead to anything.
To Scott Boy, well, Dr. Edwards quickly realized it was a stupid thing to do.
Well, the Powerpuffs could be knocked out by gas, so why couldn't the Rowdyruffs be knocked out by drugs?
Well, they think that the girls somehow managed to untie themselves then hotwired the door.
So Ms. Lawrence clearly isn't suspected.
