Man I can't believe how many different rumors there are about Bubbles. Feels like I've heard almost everything possible. One person said she got infected with dark magic. Another said Professor Utonium screwed her mind up during an experiment. Somebody claimed that she lost her touch with animals and became depressed. The school therapist thinks that fighting so many monsters for so long caused her to have a breakdown. Course that doesn't explain why her sisters are fine. One group of girls actually thinks that Bubbles got raped a few years ago. Yeah, that really makes sense.

But you know, there's something else that's been bugging me. Mom and Dad are building some kind of weapon. We only have a basic idea of what it is. Mom told us a little about it before we left. He explained, multiple times of course, that its main function is to cause paralysis. It needs to be extra powerful if it's going to work on the girls. I'm wondering if it's going to do other things. Mom said we needed to have back up methods just in case.

If I was going to get any information it would have to be from the makers themselves. It was Wednesday night, just two days after we had called them. Brick was at the library working on something, and Butch was taking a nap, so I decided to give Mom and Dad a call. I set up the computer-phone thingy and waited for them to pick up.

Dad's big red face appeared on the TV. "Boomie! How nice to hear from you."

"Uh, hi Dad. How are things back home?"

"Splendid! Mommy's out getting some Chinese food. What's wrong dearie, are you home sick?"

"Oh umm…yeah I guess I am, just uh, a little bit."

Dad's eyes got all big and sparkly. "Oh that's just so precious! I understand completely, after all you've always been much more sensitive and emotional than your brothers. Don't tell them, but that's why you're my favorite."

I looked away, embarrassed. The things I got to go through.

I heard Dad's voice from off-screen. "Him who are you talking to?" He came over and looked into the camera. "Oh Boomer! I wasn't expecting to hear from you boys so early. Has something happened? Some sort of event, an occurrence worthy of immediate mention? Has there been a battle, or a confrontation gone wrong? Have the girls attempted to-"

Dad clamped Mom's mouth shut with his claw. "For goodness sakes Mojo, let the poor boy talk."

"Well you see," I began, "nothing's really happened yet. The thing is, we're trying to figure out what to do, because the girls are acting really weird."

"Pheird?" Mom asked. He pushed Dad's claw off his lips. "How are they acting weird?"

"It's not what we expected. Blossom isn't the smarty pants we figured she'd be, and Buttercup doesn't do sports or fighting anymore."

"What!" Mom yelled out. "Buttercup not doing any athletics?" He stroked his chin while looking at up. "That is strange indeed."

"What about the ever so lovable Bubbles?" Dad asked.

"You'll never believe this." I said, my voice getting sadder. "She wears dark clothes, doesn't talk to anybody, and just spends all day alone."

"Bubbles…is acting like that?" Dad asked.

I nodded.

Dad let out an angry yell. The screen turned a dark red. Mom jumped back a bit. "All those years I spent doing everything I could to break that little girl! Then I leave for a little while and someone manages to actually succeed!"

I could feel my heart falling into a giant pit.

"That's just…that's…I think I need to lie down for a while." Dad dropped his head and walked away to the side. The colors returned to normal and Mom regained his composure.

"You've got twenty minutes before I eat your chow mein." Mom yelled after Dad. He turned back to me. "This is most unexpected. I assume Brick is looking into it though."

I nodded. "Oh yeah we've both been doing research on what's been going on since we left."

"Good, very good." Mom said as he brought his hands together. "Let us know once you've discovered the cause of the girl's vast personality changes."

I felt my blood run cold. For all I know, I may be one of the reasons. "Oh and Brick has something he wanted me to ask. He was worried that in case we don't break the girls mentally enough, is your weapon gonna be able to hurt them at all?"

Mom let out an evil chuckle. "Tell Brick he has no need for concern. My weapon is not designed to destroy the girls outright. It is designed to cripple them in various ways. Every way I can possibly think of, and trust me, I know plenty of ways."

"Oh um, alright." I said, feeling nervous.

"Don't fret if you have trouble breaking the girls. If Bubbles has already had her spirit broken then our plan will proceed very smoothly. Don't be afraid to call if you have any problems. We'll see you again next week."

And Mom was gone.

So far I hadn't talked with Blossom or Buttercup. They'd looked over a few times at me the other day. They knew it was me, or at least they assumed it was me. I hadn't talked to Bubbles again. First I had to find out what happened to her, and there were only two other people who really knew. On my way out of History class I dropped a note onto Blossom's desk. I wrote on it that I needed to see her and Buttercup, alone, on the roof of the gym during lunch.

The gym roof was the perfect spot. I think the only way to get up on it is with a latter. If you're a human, that is. I just had to hope that my brothers weren't going to decide to fly around at all during lunch. I paced back and forth. How much did Blossom and Buttercup know? Did they know about the secret friendship that I had with Bubbles? Did they know about the plan we had seven years ago? Would they trust me at all?

I had decided I wasn't going to bring up Mojo and Him. Trust me, I want to tell them so badly. Thing is, they might not believe me. I know that Bubbles will believe me. Hell, she already knows exactly what's going on. Best bet is to wait for now. Got to take this one step at a time.

I turned around when I heard two sets of feet land behind me. Oh man, I was so nerve wrecked! Buttercup had her arms crossed and looked at me with indifference. Even though she's kind of short I still feel intimidated, just like when we were kids.

Memories were starting to flood back into my mind. So many battles. It was the only interactions we ever had with each other. No wonder I was feeling so tense. It's like my body remembered and was ready to get punched, or kicked, or thrown across the sky. I looked over at Blossom and started to feel better. There's just something…I don't know…friendly about her. She used to scare me too. Although that was probably more because I was scared of Brick and I assumed that Blossom was like a female version of him. Thankfully I could just sort of feel that this wasn't the case. Like she was giving off a vibe that felt comfortable. She was smiling and walking over to me. "Boomer, it is you, isn't it?" She asked.

"Yeah it's um…it's me." I said, feeling better.

Buttercup slowly walked over to me. "Sure is weird seeing you guys again." She eyed me up suspiciously. "Not to mention this little meeting right here."

I took a moment to clear my throat. "Look…I, um…"

"You're wondering about Bubbles, aren't you?" Blossom said.

I didn't say anything. I knew my face would answer.

"Yeah everyone always wants to know about Bubbles." Buttercup said after a minute.

Blossom put a hand on her hip. "From what we-"

"Hold on a minute Red." Buttercup interrupted. "We're not talking to you until you talk first."

"Buttercup come on, we should-"

"We're not at one of your therapy sessions Blossom. I know your system about trust and not asking personal questions is working so far, but we're talking about the Rowdyruff Boys here!" Buttercup said, pointing at me. "They were the craziest, most dangerous, psychotic, and just…overall unpleasant villains we ever faced! If there's ever a time to make an exception it's-"

"Buttercup." Blossom said softly as she leaned in close to her sister and put a hand on her shoulder. "Please…please believe in me."

Buttercup bit her lower lip while staring back at Blossom. Eventually she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Ok. I'll let you handle it." She said slowly.

Blossom looked over at me. "Listen, it's going to take a while to explain…" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a little card, which she handed to me. The card said 'Better Understanding' on it. "…so come meet us at the address on this card. Come around seven when the sun is setting."

I put the card in my pocket. "…thanks." I said, smiling.

Blossom smiled back. "We'll see you tonight." She said as the two Puffs left.

Why does Butch have to be so damn annoying! I was going to find out, finally find out, but he just ruined it! This is so horrible! Now Blossom and Buttercup are going to think that I set them up for a trap. They'll never tell me what happened to Bubbles. They're the only two who really know.

Wait…no. They aren't the only two.

I immediately fly off towards the Puff's house. The tall buildings soon disappear and are replaced with smaller ones. All of them white, same sizes, same driveways, same green yards. I stop once I reach the house with three round windows. I don't even know if they live here anymore. Well, I got to check. I hover over to the front door and knock.

It's been an hour so I knock again. Ok maybe it hasn't been an hour. The door opens up. In front of me is a man in a white lab coat, with a pipe in his mouth.

"Hello there stranger. What brings you here at this unreasonable hour?" He asks me in a very pleasant voice.

I fly up, grab onto his coat, and put my face right up to his. "Please! Please tell me what happened to Bubbles! I have to know! I just…have to know…" I slowly fall down and end up on my knees. I'll beg. I'm perfectly ok with that.

"Whoa, slow down there." The Professor says. "Why don't you come inside and we can talk."

I follow him inside. He leads me into a room with a sofa and some chairs. We sit down, but before he can speak I let it all out. "Look I'm not going to lie to you. I'm Boomer, one of the Rowdyruff Boys. We left seven years ago and just came back."

The Professor takes the pipe out of his mouth and looks at me with wide eyes. "You're one of the Rowdyruff Boys?"

"Yes but listen, I was friends with Bubbles. We were secret friends. We used to go meet each other at Cityville all the time. You got to believe me! Did Bubbles ever tell you? Cause before I left we were planning to ask you to help cause I wanted to stay here and I-"

I stop when I notice Buttercup has come into the room.

"Oh hello Buttercup." The Professor says happily. "One of your old mortal enemies is here for a visit. He's concerned about Bubbles, isn't that nice of him?"

"What, you're here?" Buttercup says while raising her voice. "Mind tellin' me what that scumbag Butch was doing over at the BU building?"

I'm trying to say something but no words are coming out.

Buttercup flies up and now she's right in my face. "I get it! You send Butch to keep me and Blossom distracted while you break into our house and kidnap the Professor! Well you Rowdyruff jerks have another thing coming if you think-"

"Will all of you please be quiet." I hear a voice say from the next room. It's Bubbles. She's in the kitchen getting a glass of water.

Buttercup grabs me before I can say anything. "Sorry Bubbles, but one of these rotten Ruffs broke into the house. We've got to lock him up downstairs before his brothers come looking for 'em."

"Wait, Bubbles!" I yell. I finally found my voice. "We were friends once, weren't we? Tell her, tell her that we were friends a long time ago and that I was going to break off from my brothers to start a new life!"

Buttercup tightens her grip on me. "Quiet down!" She orders. "You can start making up all the crazy stories you want once we-"

"Yes, that's true." Bubbles softly says as she heads upstairs.

"Huh?" Buttercup says, dropping me. "What, what do you mean that's true?"

"Boomer was just telling me about it before you came in." The Professor says. "Seems these two had a secret friendship going on behind our backs. Isn't that just delightful?"

"Delightful?" Buttercup says absentmindedly. She looks over at where Bubbles was standing in the kitchen. "I don't believe it. But if she says it's true…"

I get up off the couch. "Please just tell me why she's so…distant. What happened to her?"

Buttercup makes a scowl and puts a fist up near my face. I back up a little bit. "You want to know what happened to her, huh? Well maybe YOU should tell US!"

My legs hit the couch and I fall back onto it. "But, but I…I didn't…I, I…"

"Hold on there Buttercup." The Professor says as he puts a hand on her shoulder. "This is something that's between him and Bubbles, not us."

Buttercup lets out a defeated sigh and puts her fist down. The Professor puts his hand out to me. I take it and he pulls me up. "Listen Boomer, I'm glad that you're concerned about Bubbles, but I think a personal question like this should be for her to answer."

He walks me over to the door. "Tomorrow is Saturday, so why don't you come over around noon and you can talk to Bubbles if you'd like."

"Um…thanks." I say. "I will."

"Wonderful." The Professor smiles and he opens the door. "It's pretty late, so you should head on home for now."

"Alright." I say as I head outside.

"We'll see you tomorrow." The Professor says cheerfully as he closes the door.

Well at least I learned one thing tonight, where Blossom gets that joyful attitude of hers.