The rowdyruffs spent most of what was left of the day together. They had plundered pizza from some poor delivery boy. Thankfully, Bubbles was able to protect him from any real harm. The only other thing that occurred all day was them relaxing and playing together. Everyone had begun to bond to the newest member of the rowdyruffs, and Boomer couldn't be any happier himself. Every time he saw his counterpart smile, it brought a warm feeling to his heart and a tingly sensation to his hands like they were going numb, but he chalked that up to the cold weather setting in. Every one of the ruffs at the moment was asleep. All but one anyway.
"Another nightmare…" Bubbles muttered while walking around the mechanics workshop of a home. She was arriving to what used to be the main entrance which customers would come in. The counter was covered in a layer of dust and various objects. There was a dartboard on the wall that looked like it had been blasted by heat vision, and there was a table with a few chairs, and a small refrigerator resting near it. Bubbles saw the two doors that used to be an entrance which were worthless after being barricaded. She wondered if the rowdyruffs really had this much trouble with burglaries when they were away.
Bubbles took a seat in one of the chairs, feeling depressed. It was two in the morning. She had the constant nightmare hit her in the head. It was an odd change since usually her dreams were calm and nice, but occasionally that one bad dream pierced her. The blonde girl stared at her rowdyruff ring, which made her feel happy. She barely was in there a few minutes before she heard someone else's footsteps shortly after.
"Good night there bubbles" she heard. She turned around to see Boomer. He looked tired too, but he was used to the damaged sleep schedule.
"Oh! Good morning… I mean, good night, Boomer. Did I wake you up?" Bubbles greeted him, wondering if she had disturbed his slumber. His brothers had passed out on the couch when they ran out of energy.
"Yeah, but I was thirsty anyway," the blonde ruff reassured it was fine as he opened the refrigerator, grabbing a bottle of soda from within it, popping the cap off and beginning to drink from it. He sat down across from her. It wasn't hard to tell that something was bugging her.
"So… what's got you up so late?" Boomer tried to start the conversation. He hoped she trusted all the ruffs well enough that she would be more relaxed when it came to explaining her woes without any hesitation or reluctance.
"I had a nightmare," she answered truthfully while resting her arms on the table and resting her head on top of them, aware that he wanted to press further about it.
"I had a nightmare about you guys…" the blue girl added. Boomer quirked an eyebrow. He had to wonder what her nightmare was about. He didn't mind hearing that she dreamt of him, but he wished it was a lighter tone.
"What was it about?" Boomer requested her to continue. He reached out and put his hand on hers. Bubbles showed him a smile, gladly wrapping her fingers around his. He helped her feel calmer and the fear wearing off a little.
"It was just… the same as before. I saw you and your brothers badly hurt, and I was too weak to do anything. I don't know what did it in the dream either," Bubbles elaborated on the nightmare. Just now, instead of her sisters, it was the rowdyruffs. She was worried it would keep happening nightly. Her counterpart had to wonder about that.
"What makes you think it was because you were too weak? I've seen you in training. You seem to hurt just as bad as Butch when he's going all out," Boomer requested more information on this. The more she could remember about the dream and her feelings during it, then maybe there would be a clue in it for them to try and resolve it sooner and hopefully halt it from happening again. All he had to do was try and give her peace of mind with it. Though the blonde boy was not the best at comforting people, he vowed to try his best for his counterpart's sake.
"Because the thing in the dream smashed me aside. I couldn't move even after all this training. I still feel like it's all been pointless," Bubbles responded, adding in how her emotions had been running amok. The blue girl didn't want to come off as uncaring for all the rowdyruffs did for her as much as she was grateful. Boomer had to wonder about that.
"You feel like you still aren't stronger?" he needed a bit of clarity on that.
"Yes. It's been bothering me for a while, and I've had that nightmare before," she reiterated. The blonde ruff was beginning to get an idea. A nightmare like that didn't sound like a problem with physical strength. He had an angle to approach this. Blind or not, it was better than nothing.
"Maybe that dream is to remind you that you've never been weak," Boomer suggested. Bubbles was confused by his statement. It didn't make sense, as it contradicted what it seemed like.
"Being crushed, unable to do anything... how does that remind me I've never been weak?" the blue girl wanted him to go on, but pointed out the flaws in that suggestion already. That didn't detour him from this as he decided to keep pushing this blind point.
"Because muscles aren't everything of a battle. You have to be strong emotionally, too. I know for sure that you've got a very strong heart," Boomer explained his reasoning. It didn't matter if it was the puffs fighting a giant monster, or an evil villain, or the rowdyruffs trying to defeat whatever threatened them. Everyone required the ability to be in control of their emotions, but not entirely shut them out in each situation. It was a metaphorical strength, but still a strength nonetheless.
"Wow… Boomer…" Bubbles could only say. It was a stunning revelation, for a theory that he seemed to get out of the moment it appeared to work. She never considered it before, but that explained why she felt like all she had done was pointless. Because she already was as strong as everyone else was. Boomer watched her get out of her seat and go around toward him.
"Err… what are you- oof!" Boomer felt her wrap her arms around him in a tight hug. He swore she could break someone's neck doing this, but it still felt nice. He tried his best to relax into it.
"Thank you so much, Boomer! I never thought of my problem like that before," Bubbles exclaimed. She looked so happy, despite the late night hour. It looked like all her energy had been refilled as well. His neck was sore, but he was happy to see her happy.
"N-no problem… my neck is starting to hurt," Boomer coughed. The blonde girl let go of her counterpart, feeling a little bad for the strong hug. He rubber his neck, relieved, stretching after the painful but welcomed hug. She seemed to have gotten rid of a lot of her doubts about herself.
"Sorry… I owe you a lot. You've always been so supportive, Boomer, even before I became a ruff," Bubbles stated. She never understood why she felt so close to an enemy, but the blue children always had been like this. The more light hearted of both sides who would prefer to not fight if they had a choice in the matter.
"I'm just a nice guy," Boomer awkwardly spoke the first thing on mind, feeling embarrassed for even saying that. Bubbles smirked, beginning to be aware of what was on his mind now.
"Tell me, why did you want me to become a rowdyruff?" Bubbles asked, wanting him to go into more detail about what gave him the idea, but she had a good hunch on what was on his mind, seeing him beginning to gain a blush on his cheeks.
"I… wanted to spend more time with you, without the punching and kicking," Boomer answered truthfully, aware that she was able to see right through him at this point. He was a glorified mess when it came to lying. This was why he hated gambling with his brothers.
"Aw…! Don't tell me you like me, Boomy," Bubbles cut to the point. This seemed to surprise him how straightforward she was being, but now they both were gaining light blushes on their cheeks, the room feeling a little tenser in atmosphere. The young girl was going out of her comfort zone about this, but judging by his flushed face, she was right.
"Bo-Boomy?" Boomer gulped, seeing her get closer to him before she began to lean into him.
"S-so what if I do?" he retorted to her inquiry. His tough act wasn't going to get far right now though.
"So this," Bubbles pressed her lips against his. Boomer's eyes widened as the two kissed. It took a moment, but he felt at peace. They enjoyed the moment for the next minute. When the two's kiss finished, they both found themselves trying to regain their breath.
"Th-that was amazing," Boomer exclaimed, Bubbles giggling in reply. He appeared full of energy once again. There was an awkward feeling between the two, but they enjoyed it.
"Good, because I want us to stay happy. I'm heading back to bed," Bubbles bid him goodnight, hoping this would be a good start to their new relationship.
"Okay. I'll see you in the morning," Boomer nodded, though now he was wondering how they would tell Brick and Butch. He was too wide awake to go back to sleep, having not expected to gain a girlfriend, let alone it being Bubbles. He couldn't deny that he had a crush on her for the longest time, but he assumed it was going to be an endless brawl between puff and ruff. Either way, he was happy. Boomer decided to go watch some television. It was going to be a couple of hours before dawn and hopefully the first of many good days to come.
"Those boys have officially become a thorn on my side," Mojo Jojo was ranting to himself. Still in his lair, he was working away the sounds of tools, loudly causing a racket from hammer to drill to the sound of welding the parts together.
"If they want to actively go out of their way to harm me… then I'll give them something to be harmed by," Mojo grinned. He had begun working on a new robot after that explosion occurred. He presumed his three sons to have come to hurt him to get revenge for throwing them out of his home.
"With you, however, my beautiful… I believe I have outdone myself," Mojo laughed as he took off his welding mask, looking at his newest creation.
"It is time for you to begin your hunt," Mojo pulled out a remote, hitting a button on it, activating the robot, the creation that he had put all his time, effort and fury into. There was an eerie red light that begin to emerge. Mojo held up a photo of the rowdyruff boys. The robot was created to just hunt those super powered boys down, and it was ready to go.