Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi: Boomer's Story

Chapter Twelve: "This Day's Black Fate"

Weasel's statement shocked everyone. Both Bubbles and Boomer looked distraught; Bubbles was because she was afraid something would happen. Boomer, however, was afraid for a different reason.

Good lord…it's Brisbaine, thought Boomer, looking down, afraid. Even though Weasel had not said that the danger was from Brisbaine, Boomer could feel it. He remembered what Brisbaine had tried to do to him hours before. Then, a terrible thought occurred to him.

What if Brisbaine comes here and tries to do that to Brick? Or Dexter? Or…Bubbles? If they get in trouble, it's my fault. I came here…I endangered them.

It's my fault.

Boomer felt the eyes of his brother looking down up him. Brick was looking at him, concerned. Brick was about to say something, but Buttercup spoke out first.

"Whoa whoa whoa," said Buttercup, confused. "Would someone just tell me WHAT is going on here?"

Weasel sat down on a chair on the porch, exhausted and injured. He wiped away some of his blood.

"I was…getting to that," he said.

"Yeah, about that…just WHO are you?" asked Buttercup.

The Professor answered this question.

"This…um…mammal is Dr. I.M. Weasel. He is a scientist that is world renowned," he said.

Dexter's eyes lit up.

"I THOUGHT I recognized you!" he said. "You invented the Subatomic Protocore! I used your research when I was working on my own Neuroatomic Protocore. I basically rebuilt the quantum structure with a supercollider and-"

"Are you speaking English?" said Buttercup, eyebrow raised.

Weasel chuckled weakly, amused by this. He gathered his strength for the long, important speech he was about to make.

"Ok, so he invented a Submarine Sandwichcore, or whatever," said Buttercup, cynically. "What else makes him so great?"

The Professor looked at Buttercup and smiled.

"Among other things…" he said. "He was one of the first people to discover the true properties of Chemical X. His research enabled me to make a very small amount for myself. So, in a way, if he wasn't for him, you Girls wouldn't be here,"

Blossom and Buttercup all looked amazed for a moment. Bubbles didn't seem to hear this. She was still deep in thought.

"No way!" said Blossom.

"Way," said the Professor.

"Well, that's nice and all…but what exactly is he here for?" asked Buttercup. "And what's this so-called 'danger' that's coming? And while we're at it…"

Buttercup pointed over at Barrack's unconscious carcass.

"Why did Butch just go crazy and start trying to kill people?" said Buttercup.

Brick, momentarily drawing his attention away from Boomer's inner turmoil, spoke.

"That wasn't Butch."

"Why is everyone saying that? Am I the only one with eyesight or something?" said Buttercup.

"He may look like Butch," said Brick, calmly, "but he isn't. I left him back on a rock somewhere by Saturn"

Blossom, Buttercup, Dexter, Coop, Otto, and the Professor looked at Brick, curious.

"It's a long story," he said.

Boomer, upon hearing Butch did not choose to follow Brick back to earth, felt hurt.

If he didn't come back, thought Boomer, it must have been because he didn't want to help me. He didn't even want to see me. He hates me…Everything I do hurts and endangers everyone around me.

Bubbles saw that Boomer was hurt, which caused her to feel more dejected.

Meanwhile, Buttercup looked at Brick with a look of contempt, and scoffed.

"I don't think you have any right to hold anything from us," said Buttercup.

Brick, noticing this subject seemed to hurt Boomer more, began to resent Buttercup from bringing it up. He glared.

"Just drop it," said Brick.

"Don't talk to me like that."

"Well, stop bringing it up."

"You little-" Buttercup advanced on Brick, irrationally angry. "Why don't you give me one good reason why I shouldn't just come over there and tear you apart!"

The Professor was about to speak out and tell Buttercup to stop her childish squabbling, but Weasel spoke out before he got the chance.

"I'll give you a reason," said Weasel, finally regaining enough strength to tell them all the information they needed to hear. "Because if you try to kill eachother, you'll just make it all the more easier for him to destroy you all."

"Who? That Krisbame guy?" said Buttercup.

"Brisbaine," corrected Blossom.

"Whatever. He's just a scientist. He can't get the jump on us like he did Little Boy Blue."

Boomer stared at the ground, still lost in his own self-resenting thoughts. He did not acknowledge Buttercup's comment.

"No…I'm afraid you misunderstand," said Weasel. "Brisbaine isn't who we should be worried about."

"Then who?" said Buttercup, still maintaining her attitude.

Weasel didn't know exactly how he should explain this.

"Brick…Boomer…you two may want to listen to this."

Boomer glanced up, but then looked back down. Weasel knew Boomer well enough to know he was just doing this to get him to stop talking to him. But, Weasel also knew that once he started dispensing information, Boomer would listen. Brick, however, gave Weasel his undivided attention.

Weasel sighed.

"I'm afraid we…I haven't been entirely honest with you two," he said.

Boomer didn't look up. He already knew they were clones.

What other information could he tell? thought Boomer.

"What do you mean, sir?" said Brick, oblivious.

Weasel paused.

"Well…there is…more than one of you…" he said.

Brick looked shocked for a minute. Then he looked at Barrack's unconscious body, and seemed to understand.

"I see," said Brick, quietly. "Why do we have clones?"

Boomer began to feel pity for his brother. He obviously did not grasp the entire situation. He did not yet thought that they were clones them.

Or maybe he has realized it, but just doesn't want to believe it, thought Boomer.

"Well…" said Weasel, having a hard time. "Brick…it's…"

Boomer knew Weasel was having difficulty saying this. Even though he was still pained with the reality of their existence, Boomer felt it was his responsibility to inform his brother of this.

"We're clones too," said Boomer, softly, not looking up.

Weasel looked over at him, astonished.

"How did you-?" began Weasel.

"Brisbaine," said Boomer.

Weasel nodded, cursing Brisbaine under his breath.

Boomer looked over at Brick. Saying he looked upset was an understatement. He just stared ahead, not blinking, eyes as wide as possible. It reminded Boomer of how people look when they see a gruesome car crash or a murder. The look that signified that the collapse of their very existence. Boomer was no stranger to this look. He had probably had it on his face back in Brisbaine's van.

Brick didn't cry, he just nodded.

"I see," he said.

Boomer put his hand out, hesitated, but then put it on Brick's shoulder. Brick looked over at Boomer, amazed, and for good reason. Not six hours ago, Boomer avoided physical contact of almost all kind, and avoided social contact even more. This simple yet deep display of affection signified Boomer's growth. Brick could tell Boomer had been though a lot in the past few hours.

"What did he do to you?" asked Brick, trying to change the subject.

Boomer didn't speak. After a moment of silence, Dexter came forward, and quickly recounted the story of Boomer's encounter with Brisbaine. Boomer listened in turmoil. He looked over at Bubbles; she, too, seemed uncomfortable upon hearing this story.

After hearing the story, Weasel pounded on porch bench, angry.

"The audacity!" said Weasel. "I knew that despicable creature was telling half truths!"

Brick looked even more enraged than Weasel. It wasn't hard to understand why. Brick wasn't just angry at Brisbaine's treatment of Boomer; he was angry at himself. He was furious that he had taken orders from such a vile excuse for a human being. He had willingly called this man "sir," and he turns and tries to hurt Boomer.

"That dirty-" said Brick, before muttering a string of curses that Boomer didn't think was possible to fit in one sentence.

The Professor opened his mouth and looked as if he was about to say something about it being inappropriate for children to curse, but then he closed it. In this case, cursing was a healthy reaction.

Weasel regained his composure than resumed speaking.

"Anyway…as I was saying…yes…you're clones. Technically, you weren't alive before we released you from the lab. Your memories of the experiences of the original Rowdyruff Boys were computed into your brains upon your creation, in order to speed up the learning process."

He then added. "At least, that's what I thought before today."

Brick, still gripping with the reality that he wasn't truly who he thought he was, tried to get his mind on something else.

"What about the fake Butch?" said Brick.

"Yes…" said Weasel. "That is yet another clone. When you Boys were first begin created, we also began creating duplicates of you, in case something went wrong in the creation process. However…there were some…irregularities. The one you call 'fake Butch,', and your duplicate, Brick, matured too rapidly, and as a result, their brain development was more than a little impaired."

Brick nodded absently.

Boomer noticed a minor detail in Weasel's speech.

"But…what about my duplicate?" asked Boomer.

Weasel sighed.

"His growth was normal…but…he had many mental anomalies."

"Anomalies?" said Boomer, curious.

"He had mental patterns consistent with many sociopaths…"

"What's a sociopath?" asked Buttercup.

"It's another word for psychopath," said Blossom. "Which is another term for 'crazy person who kills things'"

"Well, not exactly," said Weasel.

"Actually, the definition of a sociopath is that he can't tell right from wrong," said the Professor.

"Indeed. He was a very unstable child…which brings me back to one of the reasons why I'm here."

Weasel got up and walked over to Boomer. He put his hand on his shoulder and knelt down.

"You duplicate…Blaine…is coming to kill you. In fact, he is probably on his way now."

Boomer looked shocked. Bubbles snapped up, angry and upset.

"What! Why?" demanded Bubbles.

"Brisbaine…" said Weasel, with contempt. "You see…from your creation, Brisbaine has been saying Boomer was a mistake…he always said that Blaine would be more useful. Knowing that Blaine could put everyone at the facility at risk, I refused to comply and I made a security system to ensure he could not release him without my agreement.

"From what you've described about what Brisbaine was trying to do, he was probably trying to manually configure your brain to be like Blaine's. He wanted you to become a psychopath."

"That son of a bitch!" exclaimed Butch.

"Indeed," continued Weasel, turning back towards Boomer. "Earlier today, he called me and said you had went insane and attacked him. I didn't know he was trying to perform malpractice on you, so…I had no choice…"

"You had to agree to let Blaine go," said Boomer, understanding.

Weasel turned away, ashamed.

"I know. I felt ashamed. After that, I went on to investigate Brisbaine. I was able to hack into his server, and what I found…was disturbing."

Weasel stood up and waved his hand over everyone.

"Brisbaine has been playing us all for fools."

Buttercup, seeing that she was included in Weasel's statement, spoke up.

"Hey, back up," she said, regaining her spicy temperament after a period of silent. Then she waved her hand mockingly over everyone except the Rowdyruff Boys. "How could WE be made fools by Ol' Dr. Frankenstein? We've never even heard of him before today?"

Weasel looked grave. He reached for his laptop. He opened it up.

"The video will explain all that," he said, finding the file. "I discovered this file on Brisbaine's computer, along with mysterious emails detailing Project: ROWDY."

Everyone gathered around the computer.

"Once you see this, you will see the seriousness of this situation," said Weasel.

He opened up Windows Media Player and played the file.

The film was very grainy and dark at first. The camera panned back and forth to show a long table. Many large figures were sitting in the chairs around it. The film was too bad to make out their details, but their silhouettes were large and grotesque.

"Why are we recording this?" asked one of the largest figures, who had a voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

"So that future generations may look upon this and see our empire built from its beginnings," said someone off-screen. Unlike Chalkboard Voice, his voice seemed normal and distinguished. The authoritative manner in which he spoke gave the impression that he was the Leader of the meeting.

"Pfft," said Chalkboard Voice. "I don't buy that."

"Besides," said the Leader, "It gives the boy something to do."

The camera panned down the floor. The person behind the camera, whom Leader had called "the boy," spoke in a loud, prideful, and immature voice.

"BOY! You speak madness!" he said. "I am no BOY! I am-"

Chalkboard Voice slumped in his chair and appeared to put his hand in his face.

"Yes, we know who you are," he said, annoyed. "Just shut up."

"Hmph," said the Boy.

The camera came back up and panned to the other side of the long table. At the end, there was a blank, white screen. Near it was a laptop computer, with a projector attached to it. The light of the projector illuminated the white screen.

"Enough," said the unseen Leader. "Let's just get on with this. Get on with your presentation, John. I do hope this doesn't turn out to be a waste of my time, like your previous work."

The Boy snickered behind the camera.

"This movie sucks," said Buttercup. "I can't see anything. It's too dark. Can't even see who's talking."

"Ssh," said Weasel. "You'll see plenty in a minute."

A figure walked up to the projector. He seemed smaller and less grotesque than the other silhouettes.

When he came up to the projector, the light illuminated his figure. He had small glasses and wore a white lab coat.

Boomer instantly recognized him.

"Brisbaine…" muttered Boomer.

Boomer looked over at Brick, who glared in anger at the image on the computer.

"Hey," said Buttercup to Weasel. "Is that Whats-his-name?"

"Yes, now quiet," said Weasel.

"I kinda imagined him shorter…" said Buttercup.

"Ssh," said Coop, who had gone back in the kitchen to get a bag of potato chips to eat while watching the video. He ate some potato chips and offered some to Otto and Dexter.

"Do you really think that's appropriate?" said Dexter.

Coop shrugged.

Dexter thought for a minute than turned back to Coop

"Hey, why don't you go put that faker's body in Megas, so he doesn't get out?" suggested Dexter.

"But, I'll miss the good part."

"It's a video, not a movie. You won't miss anything."

Coop grudgingly agreed and went over to get Barrack.

Dexter seemed relieved and was finally able to focus now that Coop wasn't crunching potato chips next to him.

On the video, Brisbaine typed into the laptop computer.

"Well, Brisbaine," said Chalkboard Voice, mockingly. "What is this? I assume this is another one of your overly complex plans that will accomplish nothing, asides from wasting our resources?"

Brisbaine didn't look up and his emotion did not change.

"You know why they say you shouldn't assume?" said Brisbaine.

Chalkboard Voice didn't reply.

"Because when you do, it makes an ass out of 'u' and me. Get it?"

Chalkboard Voice didn't laugh.

On the projector, a Powerpoint Presentation came up. On the white screen, the words "PROJECT: ROWDY" were projected.

"The Powerpuff Girls are the single greatest threat to our…organization," said Brisbaine. "All of our plans are in jeopardy because of these three girls."

"Are you just gonna state the obvious all day, or is this going somewhere?" said Chalkboard Voice.

"Quiet, Montray," said the Leader, offscreen. "Go on, John."

Chalkboard Voice/Montray slumped his massive body into his chair.

"As I was saying," said Brisbaine. "Because of the Powerpuff Girls, it is easy to forget the other threats to our organization."

"Psh," said Montray. "What other 'threats?'"

"The other so-called superheroes besides the Girls. The Justice League, the Teen Titans, Danny Phantom, XJ9…the list goes on and on."

Montray pounded hard on the table and there was an audible crack.

"Amateurs! They pose no threat compared the power those Girls could have as they age."

"Maybe they're little threat individually," said Brisbaine. "But what if they united against us? Or worse, what if they united with the Powerpuff Girls?"

Montray didn't respond.

"We wouldn't stand a chance," said Brisbaine.

There was some angry chatter from the other grotesque figures at the table.

"Quiet, all of you," said the Leader. "Continue."

"Not only that," continued Brisbaine. "But there are also other people that wish the same goal we do. And many of these people refuse to unite with us, not wishing to share power. The Legion of Doom, Slade, the Hive, and the Monarch, just to name a few."

"They're nothing compared to us! Especially that pitiful Monarch!" said Montray.

There were murmurs of agreement.

"Perhaps, but just like the heroes, if they united, we wouldn't be able to hold our own."

"Well, what do you suggest we do?" said Montary, irritated that Brisbaine was making him look ignorant.

"I'm glad you asked, Montary," said Brisbaine. He clicked a button on the laptop. On the projector, a photograph of the Rowdyruff Boys battling the Powerpuff Girls was pulled up.

"These are the Rowdyruff Boys. They are doppelgangers of the Girls, created by Mojo Jojo, in an effort to finally destroy them. Years ago, they fought the Powerpuff Girls, and-"

"Let me guess," said Montray. "The Girls pummeled them and saved the day, right?"

"No."

"No?" Montray wasn't expecting that response.

"The Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys were evenly matched. When the Powerpuffs tried to destroy them by conventional means, they failed miserably and were submitted."

Montray was silent.

"However, the Girls eventually found and exploited their one weakness," said Brisbaine.

"What weakness?" asked Montray.

"Kisses."

There was silence.

"…what?" said Montray.

Brisbaine smiled.

"Strange, I know. But, the instant the Rowdyruff Boys were kissed on the cheek, they imploded."

Montray was irritated.

"And what does this have to do with anything?" said Montray.

Brisbaine was beginning to look very pleased with himself.

"I was lucky enough to happen up on DNA samples of the Rowdyruffs very recently. You see, when they imploded, they left trace amounts of their DNA all over Townsville. It was actually quite simple to get samples of each of them."

"Hmm," said the Leader. "Go on."

Brisbaine pushed a button. It showed a picture of a highly advanced laboratory.

"As you may recall, my last project was an attempt to clone a creature with the powers of the Girls. I called it PROJECT: BUNNY…"

The Girls looked at each other, unsettled.

Weasel noticed their expressions and paused the video.

"Does…that name mean anything to you?" asked Weasel.

The Girls looked down, not willing to talk about it. Finally, Blossom spoke up.

"She…was…our sister."

Brick looked over at them, confused.

"What? I don't remember a fourth one of you," he said.

"She…" began Blossom, but didn't finish.

However, Brick understood and nodded.

"Oh."

Buttercup looked up and glared at the screen.

"That bastard. He messed with Bunny's DNA…"

"That is terrible," said Weasel, looking down. "But…I'm afraid you will see Brisbaine has done worse."

Weasel continued the video.

"However," continued Brisbaine. "The Project didn't go as planned. A week before the clone of this Girl was supposed to be fully matured, the lab where it was conducted was mysteriously destroyed. There were no survivors, or trace of the Girl. PROJECT: BUNNY was a total failure."

"Not to mention a waste of valuable Chemical X," said the Leader.

"Exactly," agreed Montray.

"Yes. That is another problem we have. Chemical X is very difficult to manufacture even small amounts of X. We lack enough knowledge of its properties to manufacture large amounts of it. And PROJECT: BUNNY used quite a lot of X."

"Alright, all I'm hearing you say is stuff we already know," said Montray. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Brisbaine hit a button the computer which showed a different lab.

"I propose we clone the Rowdyruff Boys."

There was an outburst of angry chatter.

"Insane," said one large figure.

"We'd just be wasting more X," said another.

"The Girls would just kiss them again."

"What does this have to do with the other threats?"

"Please, please," said Brisbaine. "You didn't let me finish."

The chatter quieted.

"You see, this time I will not allow the mistakes of PROJECT: BUNNY to repeat themselves," said Brisbaine. "I will assemble a team of world renowned scientists to oversee the Project."

"Treason!" said a small figure that sounded like a girl. "We can't let anyone know of our existence!"

"I thought you would react that way," said Brisbaine. "But do not worry. The scientists will never know about us. As far as they will know, they will be working on a secret project for the government. I have acquired fake papers from the Black Market that will make the lab seem like a genuine government facility. No one working on the Project will know anything."

The Girl fell silent.

"It will take an estimated two months for the first two sets of Rowdyruffs to be cloned."

"Wait…first two sets? You mean you want more?" said the Girl.

Brisbaine smiled.

"The first sets cloned will only be the Prototypes and their Emergency Backups in case something goes wrong. Their genetic code will be altered so their weakness is removed. These two sets will have sentience and fully developed brains, implanted with the memories of experiences of the original Boys.

"But, this is only the beginning of my plan."

Montray was confused.

"I assumed you wanted to use the Boys to destroy the Powerpuff Girls."

Brisbaine smiled.

"Remember what I said about assuming?" he said, cocky. "The Prototypes are only one part of my plan. You see, once they are fully trained, we will let them loose. Their implanted memories will instill in them a rage against the Powerpuff Girls, making them want to destroy the Girls."

"But…isn't that what I said?" said Montray.

"No no…the Boys are not ment to destroy the Girls. They will not be able to."

"Say what?"

"If the Rowdyruff Boys did not have that weakness, they would have fought the Girls for eternity. With the weakness removed, they will be evenly matched with them. The Prototypes will attack the Girls time and again, but neither side will be able to completely destroy the other. It's simple mathematics. They're both completely equal."

Now, Montray was really angry.

"So, what's the damn point of all this!"

"The Project will not end there," said Brisbaine. "You see, the Prototypes are a distraction. While the Prototypes occupy the Girls time, I will clone more of the Rowdys. But these Rowdys will not have the developed brains of the Prototypes, meaning they will be much faster to create. They will just have their immense power.

"We will create an army of Rowdyruffs. An army that will go out and destroy all other threats to us. All the heroes. All the competition. Nothing will be able to stop the army. And once they destroy everyone else, we will set them all on the Girls. The Girls will be too exhausted from fighting the superior Prototypes to stand against the army. The Girls and the obsolete Prototypes will be destroyed. And then nothing will be able to stand against us."

"Wait…" said Montray, who sounded pleased that he had finally found a flaw in Brisbaine's plan. "An army that size would require an…astronomical amount of Chemical X. And you said yourself that we cannot create a large amount."

Brisbaine smiled.

"That is why I will construct a machine that will mass produce Chemical X."

The figures around the table yelled angrily.

"Impossible!" said some of them.

"Haha…let me explain. One of the scientists I will have on the Project will be on of the greatest minds on the planet. The scientist who first discovered the true properties of Chemical X. When he joins, I will spy into his research on Chemical X.

"With I.M. Weasel's research in my grasp, constructed a machine to mass produce it will be simple. And I shall call this machine 'Final X.'"

There was silence. Everyone turned towards the Leader.

The camera panned to finally reveal the figure of the Leader. He sat at in a large chair at the other end of the table. He was large, but not quiet as large as some of the other grotesque silhouettes at the table. The film was grainy, so a clear picture of him was not show. However, it did show that he had three sets of yellow, glowing eyes; One on his head and two sets in his chest area.

The Leader leaned forward, revealing his skin was volcanic red.

"Good job, Brisbaine," he said. "I applaud your efforts. Get started on this right away. Report your progress whenever new developments arise. I believe this plan is your best yet."

"Thank you, Dr. X," said Brisbaine.

"With this army of Rowdyruffs," said Dr. X, "No one will be able to stop the Darkstar Council!"

The Boy behind the camera laughed a disturbing, young maniacal laugh.

"ZIM!" said Dr. X to the Boy. "Stop laughing. And put away that camera. You need to go clean the toilets."

The Boy/Zim mumbled angrily behind the camera.

"Yes, sir," said Zim, grudgingly.

The screen went black and the video ended.

Everyone stared at the blank screen in silence. They were not able to say anything. Weasel expected them to feel this way. After all, they had all just learned they had been deceived. The Boys, the Girls, and the Girls allies…they had all been pawns in Brisbaine's plan.

Coop came running back to the porch.

"Ok, I put the Green-Eyed kid in Megas, and-"

Coop saw their expressions and groaned.

"Crap, I missed the good part, didn't I?"