2. The Piccalo Roll

With his back pressed up against the rear of one of Townsville's many warehouses, Butch grumpily hurled a ball against a wall. It bounced back in a predictable manor, allowing him to catch it with out adjusting his position. Boomer watched, bored.

"Give me a go Butch!" he whined. "You've had it for hours!"

This was of course a gross over estimate, but Butch couldn't be bothered to argue this time. "Fine," he said handing it over. "Its not exactly stimulating me."

"Better then standing here doing nothing," Boomer hurled it against the wall unnecessarily hard, "which we wouldn't have to do if you weren't so scared…"

Butch whirled around and grabbed Boomer by the neck, leaving the ball to roll gently away. "I am not scared!" he hissed.

"Then why don't we go and take them on," replied Boomer, who was not particularly bothered by Butch's aggression – it was a regular occurrence. "I mean you're much stronger then Buttercup and I'm more powerful then Bubbles…"

"True," replied Butch, loosening his grip slightly, "but if you remember, you always loose to Bubbles before I have time to pound Buttercup and then they double team me!"

"Its not my fault that Buttercup is skilled enough to negate your extra strength," Boomer mumbled, pointed out the detail that Butch had carefully omitted. "But I only loose to Bubbles because she's faster then me, and I've been working really hard on that! She won't stand a chance! Then we can gang up on Buttercup!"

"NO!" Butch replied firmly. "We're not ready yet." He lowered Boomer to the ground. "We need more time to train, and we can't do that properly in jail! All we have to do today is pick up those parts Mojo wants, while avoiding any trouble with those girls! Then we can train as much as we want." He looked at the ground and tightened his fist. "When we defeat them Boomer, it shall be crushing. So much so, we will make them beg for mercy before we choke the life out of them!"

Boomer chuckled. "I'll look forward to that."

"But," Butch added, "until them, we avoid them and do as Mojo says. We need him, for now."

"Yes sir," Boomer replied, snapping to attention. Butch laughed.

"Alright solider," Butch barked, in his best army tone, "Give me an update on the Powerpuff Girls' current position."

Boomer focused, furrowing his brow. Presently, he was able to lock on to Buttercup's and Bubbles' power signals, an ability he had developed recently that Butch was in awe of. Not that he'd admit it.

"There still around the town hall," Boomer said eventually. "Been there all morning, must be waiting for something. Maybe they've got a tip off."

"That or they're skipping school," Butch chuckled. "Still, we can't move until they… Boomer, what is it?"

The colour had drained from his brother's face, and he was staring at a distant point in the sky, his lip wobbling. "I've picked something else up," he squeaked.

"What?"

"A huge power, heading straight for us!"

Butch swung round to look where his brother was staring. In the distance he could make out a stream of Pink energy surging towards them. It did not remain distant for long.

"Okay Boomer," he muttered to his petrified brother, "I'll handle this. I mean it can't be that strong!" Boomer did not appear to agree, as he slipped in behind his brother just before the source of the power arrived.

Blossom landed, looking at them intently. Butch decided to take the lead. "Can I help you stranger," he said calmly.

Blossom blinked slowly and smiled in a relaxed manor, too relaxed for Butch's liking. "I'm sorry, you are not the people I am looking for," she said, "but allow me to introduce myself. My name is Blossom, and I'm looking for two creatures that I believe you refer to as the Powderpuff girls?"

"Powerpuff," Butch corrected before he could stop himself.

"Whatever," Blossom shrugged. "Can you help me with this quest?"

She's nuts, Butch thought. Who talks like that? He was also rather concerned as to why Boomer was still shaking. "What do you want them for?" he demanded.

"Oh, I just want to destroy the two of them," Blossom replied. "They could stand in the way of my mission to eradicate all life on the planet."

"What!" Boomer squeaked, still from behind his brother, who merely gritted his teeth.

Blossom paused, and tightened up slightly. "Then again, since I mistook your power reading for theirs', you two might be a slight obstacle as well."

"Slight obstacle?" Butch sniffed, his confidence undiminished. "Do you have any idea who you are talking too?"

"Oh, how rude of me," Blossom smirked. "I haven't allowed you to introduce your selves. Please go ahead. I mean I do need to know what to put on your tombstones."

Butch scowled. "I'm Butch and this is my brother Boomer. He is the most powerful being on this planet, and I am the strongest. Together we are the RowdyRuff Boys, and no one threatens us!"

"Yeah!" added Boomer, suddenly leaping out from behind his brother, confidence apparently restored. "If you think you can beat us, you're in for a big surprise!"

Blossom sighed a heavy, resigned sigh. "Do you know how many times I've heard that?" she said. "Still, I'll check your power levels, it's not as if I have anything better to do." She pressed the button on the side of her scouter and the numbers began to flash once more on the visor. Butch watched. He was nervous, yet curious. Boomer had taken a step back.

Eventually the numbers settled and the scouter beeped to show its work was done. Blossom raised an eyebrow. "Well, it appears I've underestimated you," she said, "those power levels are quite impressive. Two hundred and fifty each, that's more then one hundred times stronger then the average inhabitant of this planet."

"Ha!" Butch cried. "I knew we'd be fine Boomer!" His brother didn't share his celebration though, as Blossom hadn't finished.

"However," she continued, an evil smile spreading across her face, "There would need to be forty of you "Rowdyruffs" to defeat me."

"Don't make me laugh!" Butch scoffed. "I'll beat you in one punch!" He leapt forward into the air toward Blossom, pulling his arm right back, before at the last moment diving down low and sinking his fist deep into Blossom's stomach. The pink puff didn't even blink, she just gave Butch a look of contempt.

"Was that an attack?" she asked. Butch growled, and jerked him self up right, swinging an upper cut at Blossom's chin. This time she simply leant backwards out the way, allowing Butch to thrash at fresh air. Gritting his teeth, the Ruff was about to strike again when he got a shout from behind.

"Butch, duck!" bellowed Boomer. Butch obeyed automatically, allowing his brother to lob the energy ball that he'd been painstakingly building up during the previous few minutes. It was a fairly big one, and he scored a direct hit. "Got her!" he bellowed delightedly, as the explosion engulfed Blossom in a cloud of smoke.

Butch scrabbled back across into position beside him. "Good work bro," he declared, confidence returned. "Of course I would have taken her eventually," he added, "but this way is quicker."

Boomer's enthusiasm had already vanished. "No… it wasn't enough!"

"What!" Butch choked, but the smoke was peeling away to show that Boomer was right. Blossom way still stood there, uninjured and unfazed, with her hands resting gently behind her back.

"Now do you understand?" she replied softly, "or shall I give a further demonstration?" The boys had no response: they were not used to this. Blossom waited for a moment, before chuckling slowly. "Very well then," she continued, raising her right hand into the sky beside her head, "watch the birdie…"

Almost immediately pink energy began to surge around her hand, building up around it faster then the Ruffs had ever seen. They could do nothing but brace themselves for impact.

"Ready?" asked Blossom, as lightening blots crackled off the energy around her hand, causing not unnoticeable damage to the nearby warehouses and the ground.

Butch glanced at his brother. "When she fires, we split, got it." He hissed. "She can't hit us both." Boomer nodded.

"Not very talkative are you!" Blossom was now laughing aloud. She flexed her arm back slightly. "If you want to change your last words, now's the…"

She was interrupted by her scouter, which suddenly started beeping again. Blossom let the energy she'd built up die away in an instant. "That's them!" she declared. "You've got a lucky break guys," she continued, returning her attention to her former targets. "But let me give you a word of advice: Run. Flee this planet now. There will be no second chance." With that and a blast of pink energy, she was gone.

Boomer and Butch watched them go, with gritted teeth. Eventually, Butch spoke.

"This could be trouble," he said.