It was early in the afternoon, and the rowdyruffs were spending time at another part of Townsville. They were all relaxing on a rooftop. This was a more commercial part of the town, nestled in the eastern side where a lot of the malls resided. There were still signs of repairs being made to some buildings after that robot attack a long time back. Bubbles didn't know how to feel about that incident. She tried to chalk it up to a great thing since she became close with the rowdyruff boys, but she was beginning to miss her family, she felt like it was pointless to train with them anymore. Her new boyfriend had helped her find out and overcome the reason why she felt so weak.
"You gonna eat those or not?" Butch chimed. The view they had from the roof was pretty great. Bubbles snapped out of her train of thought, looking at the box of onion rings in her hands. Brick had stolen some from a vendor that got distracted by a boy "conveniently" passing out on the sidewalk. Boomer was an alright actor when it came down to it, but it was not like playing unconscious was that hard.
"Oh, sorry Butch. I'm just tired," Bubbles responded while putting one of the crunchy rings in her mouth, chewing it. Boomer was sitting next to her, happy at their new relationship, though they hadn't told the other ruffs yet. He was aware of what was on his girlfriend's mind.
"You almost looked like a zombie this morning," the red ruff added jokingly. Winter was going to begin soon. The clouds building in the sky only were ominous signs of the inevitable snow, though everyone seemed equally excited for it.
"Aw, yeah! We need to watch a monster movie later! I love zombies!" Boomer exclaimed, that comment being unintentionally fitting to his relationship. His girlfriend, shuddered imagining it.
"I don't know. I never was a fan of horror stuff," the blue girl admitted. It was not much of a surprise to know she was easily afraid of scary things. She would sometimes try her best to get through monster films whenever Buttercup wanted to watch one on movie night. It never ended well, usually resulting in nightmares for the blue puff.
"Wuss," Butch joked, digging around in his pocket before pulling out a quarter in front of the others.
"Wanna bet I can snipe someone's hat off with this?" he offered, looking for any bets from them all. Bubbles kept quiet. She didn't have much to offer that he would want.
"I'll take your External Clock CDs if ya miss," Brick grinned with a hand raised, getting an annoyed glare from Butch. External Clock was his favourite metal band, despite the unusual name, but he spent a lot of time stealing those CDs.
"Fine, but if I take off someone's hat, you gimme your hat!" Butch retorted. Bubbles giggled, Boomer staying out of it, letting his siblings bet. Brick looked irritated at the mere thought of being hatless. He sighed, nodding, motioning for the bet to begin. They watched the spiky black haired boy pull back, preparing to aim the coin. It wasn't what she expected, assuming he was just planning to drop it off the building they were on.
"Aaaand fire!" Butch tossed it at the first hat wearing person he could find. They watched the coin go flying with the momentum from the super strength toss. They saw it hit some poor businessman wearing a fedora in the head, sending him stumbling back and passing out on the ground.
"Oh gosh…" Bubbles gasped. She doubted the coin would kill the man. It looked like other civilians were already trying to make sure he was alright.
"Nice try, Butch. I'll get your CDs once we get home," Brick smirked, the man's hat remained on his head, much to Butch's dismay and anger.
"Darn it!" the green ruff kicked the ground. Bubbles felt something, seeing Boomer's hand on her hand and his smile on his face. He was trying to show some affection while his brothers weren't paying attention, even if it only lasted seconds. The blue girl appreciated it and his efforts to calm her worries.
"Hey! Something is in the sky!" Butch claimed, pointing up. The two blue super powered children took their hands away from each other and came over. They tried to get a better look at what he was pointing at.
"That is the strangest looking plane I have ever seen," Boomer said. From what it looked like, there was something flying in the air, looking metallic but kind of small. But it looked to be heading to the direction above them.
"That's not a plane…" Bubbles said upon getting a good look at it. She watched it descend and before long, they saw what it was up close floating before them. It was a robot, an all too familiar one to Butch and Bubbles. It had one red glowing eye on a small head, and its entire body had an odd build to it, looking well armoured, and a metal tail was attached to its rear.
"It's just one of dad's hunks of junk," Brick looked more irritated. Bubbles was being a bit more cautious on this, having an unsettling feeling why the machine had specifically looked for them. It seemed to have an easy time finding them as well.
"That's the one that Butch and I blew up…" Bubbles claimed. It made her nervous. They saw their orange haired leader approach it, that one red eye following him every step. It didn't move, however, when he got close.
"So what? A hunk of junk is a hunk of junk, even if it's a rebuilt hunk of junk," Brick restated his previous point. Mojo Jojo may heavily recycle, but that was more helpful to the environment instead of threatening. The red capped boy tapped his hand on the torso of the machine, looking to the others.
"See? Nothin'," Brick continued, "The things too stupid to even move fast-"
"Look out!" Bubbles screamed. Brick looked back. The robot had raised its fist and tightened its metal fingers. A fire erupted from its elbow like a booster. Its fist flew right down on Brick's head, sending him breaking through the floor of the roof and crashing into whatever was below. The mechanical menace had taken their leader by surprise as the flames stopped.
"Brick!" Butch and Boomer shouted simultaneously, Bubbles getting ready, just hoping their leader would be fine. The three charged at the robot, seeing its feet light ablaze as it flew above them, dodging one of Butch's wild swings. Boomer darted up and kicked it in the back with a loud clank, sending it flying the opposite direction, Bubbles firing a ray of heat vision and hitting it in the chest, seeing that leave a burn on its material.
"Be careful, it's different!" Bubbles tried to warn them, though she could tell the siblings wanted nothing more than to gouge out every last wire from it. This robot was a lot more intelligent and advanced compared to all the other ones.
"Yeah, it's just tiny!" Butch retorted. Any excuse he could make to attack. He flew at it with a dark green trail of light behind him, landing a hard punch in its chest. He had a cocky smirk, having caused a dent. The robot however grabbed his arm, its tail wrapping around one of his legs before he saw its chest sparking.
"Ahhhhhh!" the green ruff howled in agony, feeling a sudden strong current of electricity racing through his body. It felt like someone had attached car batteries to each individual finger. His heart raced and his eyes widened.
"Get off him!" Boomer jumped up, creating a dark blue energy projected barrier around his arms. He bashed the machine downward partially, but then it caught itself mid-fall. Bubbles helped Butch keep steady in the air.
"Try and catch your breath," Bubbles told him. The raven haired boy took in a deep breath, nodding. They then saw a window in one of the buildings shatter, seeing an angry Brick standing there, cracking his neck. That rage induced fire in his eyes looked hot enough to melt steel.
"Surround it! Now!" Brick ordered. Being the leader, Bubbles knew to listen to him. The four super powered children quickly surrounded the robot in the air, seeing it looking around, attempting to analyse the situation fast. Every one of the rowdyruffs appeared to be in sync on what to do.
"Go!" Brick spun around, kicking the robot hard, sending it backwards. Butch pulled back, punching their enemy in the back, sending it toward Boomer. Boomer, in turn, kicked it toward his blue counterpart, everyone aware to be careful and not hold back in this fight. Bubbles took in a breath, before letting out a loud supersonic scream almost close to the robot. It hurt the others' ears, but it sent the robot careening to the ground. They heard a loud crash, indicating it had hit the ground like a fallen plane.
"Whew… nice work," Boomer gave a thumbs up.
"Thanks. Sorry about the scream," Bubbles apologized, embarrassed to use that super screech, but she would get over it very soon. The boys didn't seem to mind either.
"Don't worry about that. Come on, we need to go dismantle it," Brick groaned. They had to go take apart the robot before Mojo Jojo could get ahold of the parts and reanimate the metal menace. Knowing the evil monkey, he would probably upgrade it further, and this machine was quite strong enough for them to handle, that they didn't need an even stronger version on top of it. The four of them landed on the road where their opponent had landed. The civilians around had cleared out upon seeing a huge fight erupt.
"I never thought I'd have to blow the same thing up multiple times," Butch sighed, trying to regather himself after that electric attack. Bubbles knew it was exhausting, the four of them slowly descending to get to the crater that the robot had made upon landing.
"Oh no…" Bubbles gasped, seeing the dust clearing a bit. They all saw for themselves that the machine had climbed out, and it looked quite angry. They saw it sparking again before it emitted a burst of energy around itself. It didn't hurt any of them though.
"Alright, that's it! Time to get real serious! Go all out!" Brick ordered. All four of them had the same idea, unleashing a ray of heat vision from afar. Bubbles noticed that all of their beams just stopped partway. They were hitting some hexagonal part of a barrier which the robot had created around itself. It was blocking their attacks with it.
"A shield? What else does it have?" Bubbles whimpered, a little fearful. This robot kept getting more offensive or more defensive every time they touched it. The robot began running at them. Bubbles tried to punch it, her fist bouncing off another part of the barrier, the machine throwing her aside like it wasn't interested in her.
"Knock it off!" Boomer stomped the ground, throwing a hard kick. He wound up hitting another barrier, too. Succeeding in only making his limb hurt. It really was beginning to get annoying. Butch jumped up over it and tried to attack the head, but the barrier kept blocking them. The robot turned around, grabbing Butch's leg with its hand and slamming him on the ground back first, before it stomped on his chest, pinning the green ruff down. He coughed in pain.
"No! Get off him!" Brick delivered a flurry of punches. They just kept being stopped. Butch was trapped in the barrier. He didn't get a chance to do anything, seeing the robot aim the palm of its hand at him before its wrist detached, revealing a blaster cannon.
"I hate robots…" that was the last thing Butch said before being blasted in the head, being knocked unconscious instantly by the strong attack. Bubbles found it horrifying to watch. They saw it spin around its jet arm, firing as it bashed Brick in the side, knocking him away.
"Wh-what do we do?!" Boomer was beginning to panic. His girlfriend was trying to think of some way to get an advantage on this battle. Brick wasn't in the mindset to come up with any battle strategies now that his blood was boiling. But then in a matter of seconds, an idea came to her.
"You know energy projection, can you create a big ball around yourself?" Bubbles asked, her boyfriend not entirely sure if the ruffs had any real defensive mindset.
"Yeah, of course," Boomer nodded. He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate while Brick bought them time. He began to create a dark blue sphere around himself.
"Mind letting me in on the pla-ahhhh!" Boomer screamed, being kicked like a soccer ball, crashing into the machine and bouncing off. That actually seemed to reach the robot through the barrier somehow.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Bubbles apologized as she jumped up, kicking him again, sending him spinning back at the machine. He smashed into it, bouncing off and rolling on the ground. Boomer looked very dizzy. This combo attack between the two of them was not well thought out remotely. The blue girl kicked him one more time, sending him right back. The machine dug its feet into the road, catching the big energy projected ball. Boomer was too dizzy to retaliate.
"Nice work!" Brick said, taking the opportunity to lunge at the robot, hoping the barrier to be down. He tackled the machine, making it let go of his blue brother. Boomer groaned as his energy projection ended, and he landed on the ground.
"I got you now!" Brick slammed a fist right into the robots head. The mechanical menace retorted by bashing his cheek with its cranium, leaving a bruise. It didn't stop the red ruff's assault. One punch after another was exchanged. Bubbles was trying to help her boyfriend. Brick didn't see the next attack coming as the robot's elbows got their boosters flaming. It smashed both fists on the sides of the ruff leader's head, practically ringing his skull. It knocked him unconscious instantly.
"Brick!" Boomer shouted, wanting to charge in there after seeing his two brothers now unconscious. Bubbles grabbed his arm, stopping him seeing the robot standing before them, its tail sliding on the ground.
"Wait a minute! Blindly rushing it the first few times didn't work. We need to leave and think up a plan," Bubbles insisted this was one fight they couldn't win. The machine kept taking hit after hit, punishment after damage, and it seemed to just keep standing. Boomer hated to admit it, but she was right. The robot had no intentions of letting either of the young couple near the other ruff's unconscious bodies either.
"Fine! Fine!" Boomer reluctantly agreed. They couldn't help his brothers without running the risk of being defeated themselves. So the two of them flew off, leaving their trails of light blue and dark blue streaks of light behind them, the robot going over and grabbing Butch by his leg and Brick by his arm. It began to fly away toward another direction, having completed a percentage of its mission objective.