"Yo, bro!" Boomer called out.
A pair of crimson eyes flipped in his direction.
"I'm heading out! I won't be too long," said the blonde, "Don't wonder where. I'm just getting us and our empty fridge some groceries."
Brick rolled his eyes at the subtle nudge and grunted.
"'Kay," he huffed, "But if you want to point fingers Butch is to blame for the scarcity of food."
Boomer snorted. "As if you don't snack on food like your life depends on it," he taunted.
Brick scowled.
"My life does depend on it idiot," he stated obviously, "And again, that's Butch's job!" Though the tips of his ears were bright red nevertheless.
Boomer rolled his eyes.
"Whatever you say, big bro," he muttered as he headed out.
Once he was out, Boomer inhaled the air around him.
"Ahhh," he breathed, "Fresh air."
It was certainly much better outside than being stuffed up at home.
"It feels so nice right now," Boomer murmured as he soared through the sky.
Boy, he'd missed this. Flying freely to his heart's content without anybody planning to kill him. The last six years had been hard.
He hadn't realized it back then but his home and heart would forever be Townsville, the land of unexpectable adventures, which made it all the more thrilling for a superhuman to live.
...Though maybe the residents of the town found it less exciting considering that their lives were at stake nearly at every moment, but talking about super beings here...
Townsville was perfect.
Kick monster butt with the flick of your finger...okay so maybe not with the flick of your finger but you get the point...and get the glory of the entire populace.
Yeah, that was the life.
Boomer though back to his younger days and memories of three little girls flooded his mind. Superheroes, they were. The opposite to their villainous selves.
He thought about the last time he'd seen those so-called sissies.
Sissies, my ass, the Ruff thought. Ha, how amusing! Butch may call them whatever puny names he wants, but he'd seen his brother's ass get handed over to him plenty by those same aforementioned sissies.
That green one sure got a kick out of putting him in his place.
Oh, I'm so tough. I'm so strong! No one can beat "The Butch!"
And then she comes along and BOOM.
Ten feet underground.
Boomer snorted at one particular memory.
It had been any other ordinary day and the Ruffs had been ganging up on a poor shop owner as usual. When suddenly (and normally), the Puffs had arrived to put them in their place.
Only this time, they'd looked so much more superior.
More powerful, too, and the boys had learned that the hard way. The raven-haired girl had cackled maniacally when Butch had gone and punched her but it hardly pushed her back five inches.
"That all you got?" she'd sneered, "That tickled. This is how you punch," and with one swift movement, the Ruff was sailing across the sky.
The blue Ruff remembered Brick's mouth fall open as he had openly gasped at the raw burst of pure energy that shot from the Puff's hands.
Now Boomer chuckled. That had been years ago.
How were a couple of inexperienced 11-year-olds supposed to know that puberty hit girls faster?
Man, they'd suffered that one year, having to endure their counterpart's more-stronger-than-usual attacks during battles.
Until Brick had hoisted them all out of there. And there they had been for all this time...before finally coming back.
A little bird tweeted as Boomer flew by. "Oh, hey, little birdie!" he smiled, "It sure is a nice day today huh?"
The bird flew around the Ruff and chirped.
"I know, right?" Boomer grinned, "Well, I ought to be going now. See ya around!"
The bird tweeted once more before flying off.
"Bye!" Boomer waved, and in the distant he thought he might've heard the birdie chirp back.
A smile bloomed on his face as he touched down for his landing in front of a huge grocery store.
Malph's.
It was good to be home.
As the Ruff walked into the store, he couldn't help but grin at the feeling of nostalgia this place had. Growing up in Townsville where even MOJO had come to Malph's for all his groceries, coming here was like a walk down memory lane, especially since him and his bro's used to pick this store out of all the others to steal from, since it was the only store they were most familiar with.
Boomer hummed and flitted through all the aisles as he scanned all the items while taking care to touch down when anybody was around. He didn't want to let the news of the Rowdyruff Boy's sudden return out just now.
...Brick would have a fit, if his reaction to Butch coming home last night meant anything.
If he took caution with his powers, people might just pass hm for an ordinary blond-haired blue-eyed boy. He just hoped no one recognized him from his trouble-making, banana-stealing-for-Mojo-on-the-days-he-felt-lazy-to-go-do-it himself days...
That would really blow things up.
As he studied a box of energy drinks to stock up on for Butch since he chugged them continuously like no tomorrow, his sensitive hearing picked up on a sweet little hum, far more melodious than his own.
Boomer stood alert, his ears perked.
The humming got closer and he lost all interest in the drinks, instead straining to hear more of the jolly little tune.
Whoever was singing that had a beautiful voice.
Judging by the pitch, he guesses it was probably a girl. Boomer whipped his head to the left where the humming was coming more strongly now and smiled.
It was a girl, wearing a cute blue dress with her blond hair tied up on either side of her head in cute little pigtails. Her back faced him and he wondered how she looked like.
The girl suddenly turned around, eyes still closed and oblivious to the Rowdyruff's presence, when she opened her eyes and gasped.
Boomer gaped.
Her eyes.
It finally clicked.
The girl matched his expression as the jar she'd been holding dropped from her hands and she staggered a couple steps back, her baby blue irises glimmering in bewilderment.
Boomer blinked his own dark blue eyes as well to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
"You- You're, You're, You guys are, you- Boomer?!" the girl squeaked, continuing to back away slowly, seeming to trip over her own feet.
Boomer opened his mouth to say something and then closed it, no words being able to leave his tongue.
"I-I, I, I need t-to, to go uh...my uh, my shopping is err- Igottago," she quickly burbled before zooming it out of there in a quick flash of light blue...
A most effective way of confirming she had superpowers just like him and was the exact girl he thought she was.
"W-Wait!" Boomer finally called, having regained his voice back as he reached out his arm pointlessly, as if to touch the fading streak of light.
"Wait," he repeated in a whisper.
"Bubbles..."
Boomer staggered back to the apartment in a daze. He fumbled around feebly until he noted Brick's frowning face in his direction, analyzing him.
"What's wrong with you?" the red Ruff asked evenly with a hint of suspicion in his voice.
Boomer looked up, startled by his sudden question.
"H-Huh?" he asked.
"You're acting weird," Brick answered as he eyed the blonde suspiciously, "Where's the groceries?"
Boomer instantly threw over threw bags on to the kitchen table like a robot on autopilot. "Groceries," he muttered simply, before beelining for his room.
"Hn," Brick grunted, wary of his little brother's odd behaviour.
Meanwhile, Butch had been watching the blonde intently and was now sporting a suspicious stare at Boomer's bedroom door.
Something is definitely up, he thought as his eyes narrowed.
"You got nothing to do with Boom's weird behaviour, have you?" Brick suddenly demanded.
Butch pretended to be shocked. "Me? Of course not! What do you even think of me?" he mock-cried.
Brick rolled his eyes.
"Get to the point."
Butch dropped the façade and shrugged. "How would I know, man? Maybe something's gone up his pants. This is Boomer, bro. Who knows?"
Brick studied him carefully, before finally laying off and sighed.
"You two just better not be messing around before it's time," he warned tiredly, "Come on, guys. Just cooperate with me on this one. It's for the best. Please."
Butch stared at him. His older brother rarely ever showed his tired self, but when he finally did, they knew it was genuine and he couldn't keep it in anymore. Butch was a little happy in the inside that Brick chose to open to him first, even if it was just a few words.
With Brick, even a few letters was too much to expect.
"I'll be in my room," Brick muttered, standing up.
As soon as the red Ruff left, Butch immediately headed for the Little Boy in Blue. They needed to have a talk.