CHAPTER 3: RUFF BEGINNINGS

"That was complete ****!"

Butch curses as Boomer wraps his broken arm with plaster.

"How come they get the Hulk and we don't got nothin'?!"

Across the room, already patched up, Brick paces. The arrival of a new puff was certainly unexpected. He had thought that the girl on Blossoms back had been someone from the stupid 'Make a Wish' thing. Wouldn't be the first time.

"Don't whine Butch, we just gotta get Pops something else for his birthday, since the destruction of the Puffs is off the table…"

Boomer hums a bit, cleaning a gash on Butch's head.

"Well… If they have another Puff… why don't we make another one of us?"

Butch stares blankly at Boomer.

"Boomer, that's a really s-"

Brick cuts him off.

"A splendid idea. Fight fire with fire.. Now how did our old man make us?"

Butch snorts.

"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails. He mumbles about it in his sleep."

With a blink, Boomer tilts his head.

"What are snips- ow! What was that for?!"

Brick holds the tuft of stolen hair in front of Boomer.

"This. This is snips. Snips of hair. I think Mojo has some mutant snails in his lab. I can grab the X there too."

His signature red streak vanishes around the corner.

Butch groans.

"Great Boom, you got his brain goin'!"

-0-

A singsong voice fills the countryside.

"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails~ that's what I'm made of! Brick sent me on a mission a mission a mission! He sent me on a mission to find a bad*** dog!"

Far below him, a trembling bald and scarred dog anxiously barks at his blind mistress. Oh why was the loud master out? He could prevent her treacherous journey across the road.

"That one!"

A blue blur surrounds him, swiftly yanking off his tail while placing his mistress back onto her rocking chair.

"Bye bye Mister Courage! Sorry about your tail!"

-0-

Meanwhile, the Professor treated his girl's injuries with injections of chemical X. Bunny anxiously watches from the side, cheeks caked with dried tears.

"I'm so sorry this had to happen on your first day back with us Bunny. The boys haven't done this aggressive of an attack in over a year, I can't fathom why they'd do one now."

Bunny sniffles, looking down at her little feet.

"M' fault…"

The Professor frowns.

"Now Bunny, this is in no way your fault. Your sisters will be fine, I promise. See, Bubbles is waking up now."

With a twitch and a groan, Bubbles opens her baby blue eyes.

"Bunny… Is Bunny.."

Bunny climbs up into the bed, quickly grabbing onto her sisters not as bruised hand.

"Here, Bubbles. I here!"

Bubbles smiles weakly.

"Good… I was scared… That we failed you again… That you left again…"

"I no leave."

Bunny clings to her arm, cuddling to her side.

-0-

"Boom, did you raid a corpse? There's no way that thing was on a living dog."

Butch glares at Boomer with his arms crossed.

"It was! His name is Courage and-"

A hand taking the tail interrupts him.

"Great job Boom. You can fangirl over the dog this came from later."

Brick stands over a pot in Mojos poorly guarded lab, holding the ingredients.

"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails… Perfect. Stand back, I dunno what'll happen after I add the X."

Boomer zooms behind Butch, peering out at the stewing pot.

Snips, glowing snails, and a scarred pink tail from a dear old dog. Each is plopped into the base mix, a slight hesitation before Brick adds the X.

The mushroom cloud could be seen for miles outside of town.

-0-

"Did you hear that?"

Blossom looks up at the ceiling, frowning.

"No duh leader girl. Freaking woke me up. Where's Bubs and Bun-Bun?"

Butch coughs, ridding his throat of the dust and smoke that filled it. Mojos lab was ruined, covered in soot. The top of the observatory was blown clean off, jagged edges lining the smoky sky.

"Holy crap Boss… Did it work…?"

A disgruntled but otherwise unaffected Brick stands up, brushing dirt off of him.

"It better have, if not Pops is gonna kill us, surprise trip to the spa or not…"

Boomer pokes his head out from behind the scorched couch.

"We're sending him to the spa?"

Butch deadpans.

"No Boomer. He's already at the spa. How else would we keep him outta the way while we prep the Puffs?"

His mouth makes a little o, then frowns.

"But we don't have the girls…."

Something shifts in the pile of muck left over from the crude concoction. A tiny hand pokes out, feeling around for something.

"Er, worry about that later Boom. Boss, I think we made a muck monster."

Brick snorts and walks up to the pile, grabbing onto the hand and lifting the dirty form of a child from within. He wipes it's face, revealing two closed eyes and a scrunched up nose.

"Oi, quit squirming. We ain't gonna hurt ya, you're one of us now. What's your name?"

One eye slowly opens, then the other. A blank stare seems to gaze beyond Brick.

"Boss… He don't got no pupils."

Brick scowls at Butch.

"I can see that, dumb***."

-0-

One bath later, the small child sat on the floor, unfocused eyes half closed. He wore a bandana on his head, keeping his scruffy brown hair out of his face.

"We got one thing right boss, he's the Hulks counter. No other reason for 'im to be purple."

Brick sighs, running a hand through his hair.

"Butch, just put his clothes on him. He can't see to do it himself."

"What?! Why can't Boomer?! Or better yet, you?!"

"I put his boxers on. Booms fixing the ceiling and cleaning up the soot. He lost Rock Paper Scissors remember?"

Butch grumbles under his breath, kicking the dryer.

"Stupid cleaning machine… Stupid Boomer… Stupid Brick…"

"Would you rather be the one to figure out how to tell Pops we wrecked his lab again? I'll gladly pass the torch to you."

Butch tenses up.

"Fine fine you win! Just let his stupid clothes finish drying first."

The near naked child smiles, head turned towards the poor beaten dryer. The rough one was over there, grumbling under his breath. The soft one was zooming around in the next room, the gentle sound of rushing air soothing on his ears. As for the warm one…

He wobbles on his feet, trying to copy the footsteps he had heard pacing nearby. He frowns, irritated that he couldn't mimic their ferocity.

Brick blinks and turns to the stumbling boy, holding up his hands.

"Whoa there, no need to try walkin' just yet. Gotta get your clothes first. And your name… Ya still haven't said anything."

The boy continues his stumbles, quickly ending up in Brick's arms.

"Easy no-name, easy. Man, if ya don't tell us your name soon we're gonna hafta make one for you…"

Butch snorts.

"Maybe he's mute too. Probably end up a freaking weakness."

A blonde head pokes into the room.

"Did I miss his first steps…? Dang it! Finished a bit too late.."

"Boom, did you patch the ceiling up with cardboard again?"

"Um, maybe…?"

Brick groans.

"Remember last time you did that? With the stupid storm?"

"But I painted it this time! It looks just like the ceiling!"

"Boom, go steal the proper materials and actually fix the roof."

Boomer sighs, zipping off again.

The dryer finishes with a beep, the door slammed open and the clothes quickly shoved on the poor blind boys head. Brick sighs yet again, kneeling down to help the boy adjust his clothes.

"You know Butch, that's not how you dress someone."

"An' how would you know that?"

He looks at his green brother with a smirk.
"Remember that one incident, where you-"

Butch turns red.

"Don't you freaking dare. How was I supposed to know Mojo was crazy enough to make an age reduction potion?!"

His elder brother chuckles, picking up the new purple Ruff.

"That was an amusing, but nasty week. You were adorable as a baby, but gross. Even more so than now."

-0-

Bunny moans, holding her stomach. She didn't feel so good, her belly ached, her head hurt, her feet felt like… feet but still.

Humming, Bubbles continued her drawing, unaware of her sister's pain. Her injuries were nearly healed, the largest bruises slowly fading courtesy of Chemical X.

"There you are!"

Buttercup hobbles up the stairs to the living room, Blossom supporting her from behind.

"We were worried for a bit- er, Bunny, you feeling alright..?"

She shakes her head, gripping her stomach tighter. The eldest pushes past Buttercup, rushing towards Bunny and feeling her forehead.

"You have a fever… Bubbles didn't you notice?!"

Bubbles continues her humming, seeming to ignore the world around her.

"Bloss, she has those stupid earbuds in. You know how she deals with the pain.."

Buttercup folds her arms, glaring at the offending object. With a flash of red the cord was vaporized, catching Bubbles attention.

"Buttercup! I just got those…"

"Who gives a crap? Something's wrong with Bunny!"

Bubbles eyes widen, her head whipping towards the whimpering Bunny held in Blossoms lap.

"PROFESSOR!"

-0-

First authors note! I'm glad that the few who are following this story are enjoying it. I kinda wish I had it in me currently to make enormous chapters like my favorite fics have, but sadly I'm too impatient for that. This is the shortest chapter so far, and I mean actual chapter. The prologue doesn't really count. I hope you continue to enjoy it! However, we're nearly caught up to where the end of my current writing is, so updates will be a bit slower.

I have bigger plans than you would think.

See you soon! I do enjoy commentation on my work. Any kind of comment you have, give!