Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi: Boomer's Story

Chapter 19: "A Glooming Peace"

"Boomer, wake up! Come on!" said Butch, trying to shake Boomer awake, but to no avail; he was out cold. Trying not to panic, Butch looked around. He knew Weasel might be able to help, but he didn't know how to get him out of the dome.

Guess what Butch was thinking, Brick spoke to him through the field.

"Butch! Blaine's belt! That can let us out!" he said.

Butch looked back over to Blaine's unconscious carcass and saw he did indeed have a white belt with buttons on it. Butch quickly dashed over to Blaine, unhooked it from him, and held it in front of him, looking at the many orbs and buttons lining it. Not having time to think, he quickly pushed one of the buttons.

The field around Brisbaine flickered, then faded. He looked around, surprised for a minute, before smirking.

"Whoops," said Butch, pushing the button again, which quickly brought the field up again before Brisbaine had a chance to exit. Brisbaine cursed loudly.

Knowing time was off the essence, Butch pushed all the other buttons at once. First, the field around Coop, Blossom, Brick, Dexter, Otto, the Professor and Weasel faded. Weasel and Brick ran over to Boomer, and the others quickly followed suit. The field around Buttercup faded as well, who flew over to Boomer, who everyone was gathering around. Finally, the field around Bubbles faded, and Bubbles immediately rushed over to Boomer, with tears in her eyes.

Butch threw the belt down on the ground and ran over to Boomer. Weasel was examining his pulse in his only remaining hand, with Brick looking over his shoulder. Everyone else stood around him, looking worried. Bubbles stood near his head, crying.

"This isn't good," said Weasel. "He's lost a lot of blood. He's growing weaker by the second…"

Butch pushed by Weasel and tried shaking him again.

"Come on, Boomer! Wake up! Talk to me!" shouted Butch. Butch had never been this worried, afraid, or upset in his entire life. He refused to cry, but he had no idea what to do with all his emotion.

"Stop shaking him," said Weasel, pushing Butch away. "Stimuli like that will only make his blood come out even more."

For the first time in his existence, Butch felt helpless. Butch put his face in his hand.

Bubbles continued to cry, reached out to stroke Boomer's hair as he lay unconscious.

Butch looked up from his hand at her and began to shake with anger.

"You!" he said, pointing his shaking hand at her. "You did this!"

Bubbles looked up, confused, still crying.

Butch, losing control of himself, got up and walked closer to this.

"This is your fault!"

Brick got up and held Butch back.

"Butch, shut up! You're freaking out! You don't know what you're saying!"

Butch tried to resist his grip and continued yelling. Butch couldn't help but do it. In the face of tragedy, some people find the only way to cope is to find something to blame.

"It's because of you all this happened! This is your fault!"

Buttercup chose to get involved.

"I swear, if you try anything…" she said, glaring at him angrily.

"Butch, shut up!" said Brick, forcefully.

Bubbles looked at Butch, then looked down sadly.

He's right, she thought. This is my fault.

Boomer's eyes were closed, and he did not have the strength to move. But he resisted completely slipping into unconscious.

The voices of his friends appeared distant to him, but he still heard them. He heard Butch's cries.

No…Butch…you've got it all wrong…

Far away, inside the depths of Boomer's own subconscious, Boomer heard another voice, whose origin he could not explain.

Ya will be forced ta stand up ta someone who intimidates ya. Ya must speak ya mind, said the voice.

Boomer could not explain the voice, but he could not deny it was right.

Using the last of his strength he opened his eyes, and prepared to speak.

"You…you…" stammered Butch, struggling against Brick. He continued to struggle until he heard a voice.

"Butch…"

Butch looked down and was amazed to see Boomer's eyes opened. Everyone looked down astonished.

"Boomer..." said Butch, no longer struggling. "You're…you're alright…"

"Not…really," admitted Boomer. "Listen…Butch…It's not her fault…"

Butch kneeled down by his brother. Now that his anger had ceased, he was able to see clearly, and listen to reason.

"I made…my own choices…" said Boomer. "I don't…regret any of them…getting mad at her will change nothing… they're alright, Butch…you know it's not her fault…"

Butch hung his head.

"I…I know," said Butch, quietly. "Boomer…" he struggled to find the words. "I…about…earlier today…about…what I did…I'm…" Butch continued to struggle with expressing his feelings. Then, quietly, he said, "I'm sorry."

"I know, Butch…I know…"

Bubbles looked kneeled down by Boomer's head. She did not stop crying.

"No, Butch is right," she said. "This is my fault. If you never…had feelings…for me…" She sobbed. "This never would have happened."

Boomer breathed heavily.

"Bubbles…don't blame yourself…I'd do it all again…please…don't blame yourself…my feelings for you…was the best thing that's ever happened to you…it's not a bad thing…"

She looked down into his eyes. Boomer breathed deeply. He was clearly getting weaker.

"Don't worry…I'll be alright…it's…alright…it's not your faul…"

With that, Boomer's eyes closed, and he was silent.

Bubbles looked down, still crying.

"My God…is he...?"

Weasel bent down and checked his pulse.

"No…he's just unconscious…but we need to do something fast."

Butch, feeling ashamed of himself, looked up at Weasel.

"What can fix him?" said Butch.

Professor Utonium examined his nub on the other side of his body.

"He's lost a lot of blood," said Utonium. "We need to do a transfusion quick. I assume you brothers are the same blood type."

"They are," said Weasel, nodding in agreement.

"Thank God. One of you boys needs to give him blood."

"I'll do it," said Butch immediately.

Brick saw that Butch was upset, and spoke up.

"I can do it if-" said Brick.

"No." said Butch, looking up at him, clearly upset over what had transpired. "I'm doing it."

Brick saw that Butch was determined and did not press the issue further.

"Alright," said the Professor. "Lets get him inside the lab quickly. I've got all the equipment we need there."

Brick and Butch picked up Boomer carefully and carried him inside. Bubbles followed close by, looking over him. Buttercup and Blossom were close by Bubbles, seeing she was obviously upset. Dexter soon followed inside, biting his lip with worry; Otto and Coop followed with similar expressions.

Soon, the only ones outside were the unconscious Blaine and Brisbaine, still trapped. Brisbaine sat in the field, furious. He had no idea how his situation could get any worse.

Unfortunately for Brisbaine, it would get much worse very soon.

Within a few minutes, Boomer was put in a separate room of the lab, on a steel table that had been turned into a makeshift bed by Utonium, with blankets put under him to make it more comfortable. The lab was almost entirely made of metal, making it much less comforting than a hospital, but it would have to do; the hospital was all the way across town, and the personnel there most likely didn't know how to deal with a patient whose chemical makeup was much different than the average human. Boomer's nub now had a tourniquet tightly tied to it and new cloth on it. Weasel sat on a chair by him, to monitor his condition. The bleeding had almost completely stopped, but Weasel didn't know what would happen if they didn't get him more blood to him quickly.

In the other room, Utonium got a plastic blood bag and a needle. Butch sat on a chair next to him as Utonium tried to find a vein in his arm. Brick sat on a chair near him, telling Butch of the events that had transpired while he was away, upon Butch's request. Blossom and Buttercup sat on a small steel table, on either side of Bubbles, trying to comfort her as she became a nervous wreck. Dexter stood against the wall near Blossom. Otto and Coop stood against another wall close to Brick and Butch, watching the procedure Utonium was performing.

Utonium prepared to stick the needle in as Brick finished telling Butch his story.

"I see," said Butch as Brick finished. Although Butch was interested in these events, right now his mind was on more pressing matters.

The Professor prepared to stick the needle into Butch.

"Now, I must warn you," said the Professor to Butch. "Boomer has lost quite a bit of blood, so we will be drawing more than one pint of blood from you. Usually it's only recommended to take one pint of blood from someone a day. So, are you sure you want to do th-"

"Listen, doc," said Butch, narrowing his eyes. "My brother's getting all the blood he needs. I don't care how it makes me feel. The way I see it, either you stick the needle in, or I can get a knife and a bucket and get it myself. Either way, he's getting all the blood he needs."

The Professor stared blankly at him, then nodded. He stuck the needle in, and began to draw blood from Butch.

"Keep your arm still for about a minute. You may feel a little woozy after this," he said.

Butch glanced at the blood draining from the needle into a tube leading to the large blood bag the Professor had with him. After he became uninterested with watching his blood drain, Butch looked around the room. His eyes fell across everyone and stopped at Bubbles, with her head held down, in between her sisters.

She's out here? thought Butch. No…this isn't right.

Butch's gaze was on her for several moments before he spoke out.

"Hey!" he yelled, startling Bubbles. "What are you doing out here?"

Misinterpreting Butch's intentions, Buttercup shot a furious glare at Butch.

"Why don't you shut up?" said Buttercup. "You've done enough damage to her today. You don't have to blame more crap on her."

Butch glared back.

"That's not what I meant!" snapped Butch. He turned back to Bubbles. "I mean, why aren't you in there?" He tilted his head towards the other room, where Boomer was.

Bubbles looked over at Butch, then looked down sadly.

"I…can't…" she said. "I know what he said but…I still feel like it's…my fault he's…like this." Her eyes began to get teary.

At this, Butch began to get angry.

"You really are stupid!" said Butch.

"Butch!" said Brick, shooting an angry glance at him.

Buttercup looked like she was preparing to kill him. The Professor also looked up from draining his blood to glare at him. Everyone else's attention became drawn to the conversation at hand.

Butch, however, prattled on.

"She is!" said Butch, intending to make his point proven. "Look here, Blondie. I have no idea how or why, but that kid in there…my brother…he actually likes you!"

Bubbles looked at Butch confused.

"He's…he's in a bad way!" continued Butch. "The first thing he's gonna want to see when he gets up is you! And now you're telling me you won't give him that, just because you feel sorry for yourself!"

Bubbles looked up at Butch, beginning to see that Butch was actually making sense, in his own angry way.

Butch glared at her again, then looked away.

"If it makes you feel any better," said Butch, in a slightly calmer tone, "I was just mad before…I didn't mean all that crap earlier…I know it's not your fault…it was mine."

Brick looked at him confused.

"Butch, it wasn't-"

"Yes, it was," said Butch, asserting himself. "You and I both know it. If I hadn't been such a jerk in the first place, Boomer might still have his arm."

Butch turned back to Bubbles, whose crying had ceased.

"I yelled at him. I hit him. I practically threw him out. And now he doesn't have an arm. And YOU think you're terrible just because he liked you?"

Butch looked away, to hide the fact that, despite his horror, his eyes began to swell up.

"I'm the one who did something wrong," said Butch. "So stop acting so freaking sorry for yourself and get in there with my brother!" After a moment he added, "it's what way he would want it."

Butch wiped his hand over his face to hide the fact that he was on the verge of crying, despite his efforts not to.

Bubbles looked at Butch, then looked back down to the floor again. After a moment, she stood up from the table and walked towards the doorway to the other room. She stopped before the doorway, wiped the lingering tears from her reddened eyes and turned to Butch.

"Thank you," she said. With that she walked through the doorway, towards Boomer.

Butch looked up from his hand to see everyone staring at him in amazement.

"What are you all are staring at!" shouted Butch, not liking the idea of so many people staring at him while he was in an unusually vulnerable state. With this almost everyone turned their attention away.

Brick looked at his brother with utter shock and admiration.

The Professor took the needle out of Butch, and rolled up his needle and tubing.

"Yes, that'll do," said Utonium, before running into the other room with the large blood bag.

Butch looked down at the floor, then turned back to Brick, who he felt was staring at him.

"You did a good thing just now, Butch," said Brick.

Butch looked away from Brick.

"I…I was just a little dizzy from having my blood taken. I didn't know what I was talking about," lied Butch.

"Sure you didn't, Butch," said Brick, not believing the obvious lie. "Sure you didn't."

Butch looked down, trying not to appear nervous.

Brick put his hand on his shoulder.

"He'll be okay," said Brick, even though he wasn't entirely sure.

Butch didn't reply. Once again, Butch felt powerless. He had already done all he could do. All he could do now was wait.

Outside, Brisbaine paced around the space inside the static dome. Brisbaine was worried. There was no conceivable way to get out of the domes from the inside; the Cluster had designed them too well. Brisbaine tried to think of some design flaw that would allow him to escape, but there was none. After a few minutes of frantic pacing, Brisbaine had to come to the fact that he was doomed.

Brisbaine sat down in the dirt, and waited for the Girls, the Boys, and their cohorts to come out of the house, to do god-knows-what to him. However, as he was feeling the fear of his own demise crushing him, he looked out and saw new figures on the lawn.

A short figure, that Brisbaine could not see clearly in the night, walked over to the crater where Blaine was. It looked down, then called over to its unseen companions. From the shadows, several hulking, grotesque silhouettes emerged. One large figure picked up Blaine with only one hand, and swung it over his shoulder. Another figure walked over towards the Megas, climbed the mountain of metal towards the car at its peak, reached inside for something, before quickly crawling back down. Brisbaine looked in its hand and recognized the person it was carrying as Barrack, Butch's Emergency Backup.

Before Brisbaine had time to think and make sense of all this, the short figure walked closer to him. In its hand was the belt that Butch had dropped. The figure pushed a button on it and the static field over Brisbaine flickered and faded. Brisbaine looked around, in disbelief. He could not believe he was saved after all.

The short figure edged closer to him, finally coming into Brisbane's view. Once he saw the figure's identity, he knew he was not saved. He knew that when this person was dispatched, it never means salvation. The sight of this figure only led to pain.

The white haired figure walked closer to Brisbaine. Brisbaine tried to back away, but the figure grabbed his jacket and held him down with great strength.

The white haired girl looked up with her matching colored eyes, and smiled innocently, like a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"Father would like a word with you," said Bell.

Unwillingly, Brisbaine had been dragged out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Bubbles sat in a chair by the right side of Boomer's bed. The chair had previously been occupied by Weasel, but after the Professor hooked up the blood bag to an IV he had, and connected it to Boomer, Weasel decided to leave them alone.

Bubbles was still terrified; even Weasel said he didn't know if it would be effective or not. For the moment, Boomer was alive, but he was very weak, and couldn't wake up. Without more proper medical equipment, he had no way of telling when or if Boomer would regain consciousness.

Bubbles sat at his side, then finally had the nerve to speak to his unconscious body.

"Hey…Boomer," she said, trying not to cry. "Weasel said it…might help if I talked to you while you were…like this."

Bubbles tried to keep the sobs in her throat from coming to the surface. Despite how much she tried, the sight of Boomer like that made tears surface to her eyes.

"I…I don't think I ever said this, but I'm glad I was able meet you again," she said. "Years ago…when I saw the first you…the bad one…all my memories of you were bad. I'm glad I know that you're…you're a good person. That you and your brothers are…different from them. You…you're a good person. A great person…And…I'm glad for all that you've done for me…"

Bubbles put her hand on her mouth and let a sob slip.

"Please, Boomer…please get better. If something happened to you…it just wouldn't be fair," she said, crying. "Please…please wake up."

Bubbles reached out and grabbed Boomer's right hand. It remained motionless in her grasp.

"Please wake up…" she said. "Please…I...I need to see you alright again."

She waited, hoping that as she finished, he would miraculously jump up from the bed. However, he did not.

She lost control of her emotions and began to sob more. She put her face in the blankets on Boomer's bed, all the while still holding on to his hand.

She continued to cry, soaking the sheets with her tears.

However, as she held Boomer's hand, she felt a twinge in her hand. Shocked at this, she pulled her face from the sheets and looked at Boomer's hand, to insure that she was not just imagining. As she stared, it remained lifeless for a moment, but then the fingers began to curl inward, in their own power.

He's moving, she thought, hardly believing it.

She gripped his arm and shook it, trying to bring him into full conscious.

As she did this, she heard a weak, whimpering voice.

"You don't…have to do that…"

Bubbles looked over at Boomer's face and saw that his eyes were halfway open. They were looking into her eyes. Bubbles looked into his eyes and tears ran quicker down her face, except now they were tears of joy. She reached over and embraced him, in a mix of crying and laughing.

"Boomer!" she yelled, joyfully. "You're alright."

"I've…felt better…" he said, putting his hand on her back. "I'm…glad you're here…"

"I am too," said Bubbles, laughing and crying at the same time. "I am too." She tightened her embrace.

Thank God, she thought. He's okay...he's okay!

Although Boomer was weak and the embrace put him in some pain, but did not say so, because he enjoyed the embrace as much as she, despite the discomfort.

From the doorway, Brick leaned in, to investigate the yelling. He saw that Boomer was awake and yelled back into the room.

"He's alright!" he yelled. With this, everyone rushed into the room. They surrounded Boomer and Bubbles, with much relief and jubilation. Everyone was either smiling or crying with joy. Even Butch couldn't help but be jubilant upon seeing his brother was alive. He smiled at his brother, something he could never remember doing before. Butch had never felt such relief in his life as he did in that single moment he saw his brother was alive.

For those moments, all the worry these characters had faded away at the sight of this small miracle. For those moments, there was no fear, sadness, or anger. All their problems were irrelevant for that short time.

All that mattered was that he was alright.