A/N: Hiya, everyone! I'm back, and I'm very sorry it took so long.
It's been a horribly busy semester, and now with a long winter break ahead I'm going to make it my life goal to finish it within that period, hopefully.
This chapter was exceptionally longer than the others, but I'm sorry to disappoint you that it isn't back to Brick and Blossom just yet.
There was just a lot of middle ground I had to resolve in order to get the story going. This chapter especially digs deeper into the consciousness of Boomer and Butch and their changing of thought process. So I hope you would enjoy it nonetheless as part of the main story. Thank you!
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Butch and Boomer watched with stunned expressions as Mojo whipped out an Asian style grill before their tables and situated to flaunt his impressive cooking skills. Dinner time was drawing near already, and after Mojo had finally woken up from his coma, he had hastened to the grocery store knowing all too well of his refrigerator's condition. He had been slightly disappointed, however, when his two boys refused to come with him for some reason.
Well enough, before leaving for the store, he had noticed large empty pizza boxes that were lying sloppily on the floor which he surmised had been their lunch. Perhaps they were not too happy with him leaving them with literally nothing to do nor anything to eat. And after a good rest, it dawned on him how unprepared he was for his little boys and how entirely negligent he was as a parent. With an odd hint of guilt crawling up on the villainous monkey, he had returned with his hands full of grocery bags. Oddly that day, he had received frequent death glares by customers while he was at the store, but that was not the matter.
He was determined to become a better father.
And now, standing in front of the pre-heated grill, with spatulas in each paw, and an apron fastened around him, he perked up a confident grin towards his sons before twirling the cooking tools dramatically, only to lay them down in front of him. He then juggled a bottle of cooking oil and squirted the liquid on the grill thoroughly, all the while with his other hand zipping out a raw chicken by its leg and handling it off the side. The master chef put down the cooking oil with a gruff "huy!" and drew out a knife to immaculately chop the chicken into pieces, coat it with seasoning, and flip it around with the two spatulas that were laid down before.
The marvelous sizzling of the chicken against the grill automatically caused the two eager waiting rascals to take a sniff of the air and lick their lips. Butch in particular, hung out his tongue and started panting like crazy, just when the chimp also began slicing a head of broccoli which made his face drop. Nonetheless, he hooted with his brother as Mojo afterwards slid the green vegetables off to the side in order to spray the chicken with cooking oil and immediately light it up with fire.
A massive ray of red and orange fire shot upwards and died down slowly, wooing the boys with a performance they have never laid eyes upon. With the end of the show nearing, the green chef gathered the chopped broccoli, grilled it, and slung the now ready pieces of chicken and vegetables on everybody's respective plates. As a last touch, he stropped the spatulas in his hands against each other and put them down once again, with a matching "huy!" to follow.
"And that's for you, for referring to cooking as an activity for the 'sissified.'" Mojo smiled smugly at his green son and wagged a finger in front of him.
Boomer applauded and clapped his hands, while Butch groaned at him mentioning his initial doubt right before the cooking.
"Alright fine," the Rowdyruff conceded. "Let's just siddown and eat already, I'm starving!"
Mojo did as his son pleased, as he took off his apron and grabbed a seat next to his two boys who had already dug into the food.
"Man!" Boomer exclaimed as he gnawed on a chicken leg. "This stuff is wicked!"
Hearing the compliment, the chef smiled almost up to his ears in delight as he wiggled his eyebrows. "Of course it is! I—master chef Mojo Jojo—am not only number one 'villain' of Townsville," he rose from his seat and posed pompously, "but also number one CHEF of Townsville! Muhahahahaha!"
Mojo chuckled out loud as he expected some sort of support. But once he looked back at his children, he found them all too busy with their plate. He frowned and attempted once again for appreciation, "unlike that ever so incompetent crayfish who calls himself a father!"
"Totally!" Boomer chirped, barely prying himself away at the remains on a chicken bone. "You're much cooler!"
Butch eyed his brother with dread and quickly looked around their surroundings. That idiot! What if HE was listening?!
Meanwhile, Mojo had beamed satisfiedly at Boomer's answer and sat back on his seat. He himself dug into some of his delicious cooking until he opened his mouth again.
"So," he prompted, "Anything of enjoyment happen, my boys? Amongst my sleep I couldn't help but overhear a commotion."
Pointing with the corner of his eye, Mojo alluded to the destroyed telescope, and then to an obvious hole on the observatory wall that was made when Butch was grappled into a fight with his counterpart. The collision had briefly woken the monkey up in his bedroom earlier, wrapping him with apprehension; but with his tiredness getting the better of him, he had drifted back to sleep hoping to deal with it later. But to the chimp's surprise when he woke up, the boys had actually managed to keep themselves from completely crumbling his place to pieces without his supervision.
But of course, there was no way the two tykes would have restrained themselves from evil activities, now would they?—surely they must have taken it outside.
Hoping to make up for the irresponsibility he portrayed earlier, the proud monkey parent was eager to hear all about what menacing acts they had taken upon that day. He put down his eating utensils and intertwined his fingers under his chin, viewing them with open ears.
Seeing his father's overzealous face of expectancy, Butch who had stayed quiet for a while looked up from his food and muttered, "Not really," and cut the conversation short.
Boomer on the other hand, seemed to have more to offer.
"We sure did! Dude, Mojo, we fought the Powderpuffs and Butch here…yow!" Boomer suddenly yelped as he felt Butch nudge him under the table with his fork, hissing silently to say no more than they had agreed to. The blond boy thought through then stammered a bit too awkwardly to finish his sentence. "Y-yeah, the Powderpuffs. We sure gave it to them!"
Pushing Mojo's confused face in view aside, Boomer munched on yet another chicken as he traced back on the not-so-belligerent events that had happened to him. He mulled on the unexpected conversation with his blue counterpart, which had surprisingly been pretty okay in the end.
?
…NO! What was he saying…!
One thing was for sure, though. It was the first time he had ever admitted a part of his hidden… um.. feelings to someone else.
Honestly for the blue boy, after all this time just messing around with his brothers, he was never given the chance to have a genuine talk with anybody. Nor did he feel the need to. The bad treatment and constant battering from his brothers, most of the times he thought he had to endure it—no matter how unfair it felt—and that he really was the problem for not being tough enough. Often times HIM was far worse than his brothers, admonishing him for being unable to "keep up" with them.
Boomer in reflex, cringed at the thought. Yes, he could be slow at times… Okay, maybe a lot of times. But there was no need for anyone to be a stupid jerk about it. Thinking about it made him inwardly pout.
But that blue puff… she was different, though.
Reverting his flashback to where it originally was, the blond ruff thought of the blue pig-tailed Powerpuff. Frankly, he still had all these complicated thoughts going on; and one of them was 'What in the world was he doing, keep thinking of a stupid Powderpuff?'
He never usually bothered with any deep thinking. It hurt his brain. But although he didn't get a lot of things in life, she was the most he couldn't get at all. Like, did she really mean it when she said she would tell him more of her stories? Why? Why was she suddenly being all nice and—icky again?
It didn't feel bad. Maybe it was because now he became—what was it? 'immune' to the cooties the girlies had.
Well whatever was going on, the blue puff was the first person who was willing to listen, he recalled. And when he refused to talk, she herself took initiative and opened up to him, which befuddled him to no end. The tone of her voice actually sounded like she meant it.
This was the part that wracked his brain.
Boomer had always thought that kind of act she performed was a sign of wimpiness, or was at least told so by HIM, that letting others know what you are thinking and feeling was giving them a chance to crush you. That it was something idiotic that only crybabies would do.
He blinked. He still hadn't fully let go of that thought; it was a bit unsettling to know that the Powerpuff had caught on to his weak point. Nonetheless, despite vigorously denying it, he had enjoyed her kindness in return. How she didn't give up and went on ahead to convince him to be strong—Come on, that dummy, didn't she know she was helping a villain? A big bad, strong… uh.. bad boy like him?
The edge of Boomer's lip curled up as he mused over what had happened after her advice.
"Where da heck are the burgers?!" Butch demanded, his eyes reflecting impatience from the built up anger he gathered from the preceding battle. Boomer who was descending the sky, was about ready to taunt his brother for being showed up by a girl, but as soon as he took in the vision of his nearing brother, he lowered his tail and backed off.
"I, uh, I don't have them!" Boomer mustered a response, a little poorly than he attempted.
"Well, then where are they?!" The green ruff narrowed his eyes, his tone even more annoyed. Boomer licked his lips and fiddled with his hands as he built up the courage for his next comeback.
"You see.. I was gonna, but then those stupid people there threw stuff and yelled at me and then the stupid Powderpuff arrived and…"
Not even waiting for him to finish, Butch viciously shoved and cornered his brother to a wall in an alley. Boomer just in time extended his arms behind and prevented himself from colliding too harshly with the masonry. But what was more disturbing to him than the slight ring in his head from the impact, was two glowing green eyes in front of him fixated to tear him down.
"You let… a bunch of looney townspeople and a POWERPUFF show you up?"
The source of the green orbs growled in a low voice and soon gnashed his teeth together as he noticed his brother hesitating to prove him wrong. He knew it! He knew the doofus couldn't do anything right! Once again, he failed in doing yet another simple job!
"WHAT KIND OF AN IDIOT ARE YOU?!"
Finding a perfect target to vent on, Butch got all up into his brother's face and continued his diatribe, while Boomer shrunk noticeably with the green ruff towering over him. The helpless boy squeezed his eyes closed and recoiled further. All this was too familiar. Why did this always have to happen to him..?
'…What you do is stand up for yourself…'
At that moment, Boomer was surprised to hear his counterpart's voice in his head. What the..?
'..Don't just stand there and let them eat you away!'
Her stern voice again resonated clearly between his ears. Her assertive, but gentle expression from before imprinted its image vividly in his mind. And slowly, that was all what was worth for Boomer to fight back from his position.
"Well then what about you?!"
Swiftly, Boomer jumped up in his green brother's face and caused him to fall to the ground. Butch dumbfounded, nonetheless slowly raised himself from the ground.
"What about me?!" He shot back.
"What were YOU doing, huh?! While I was getting the stinkin' food you were totally getting pulverized by the green one!"
Boomer watched as he caught a slight glimpse of Butch's horrified expression before he adjusted to a nonchalant smirk.
"Says who?! You have no proof!" Butch bluffed as he held up his arms mid way to the side. Boomer, however, was already ready for this. He cocked one of his eyebrows and pointed out the one blatant evidence that the green ruff had no way of escaping.
"Well then, where'd ya get the bruise from?" The side of his mouth twisted up to an amused scoff.
Butch was taken aback. "What bruise?!"
"Your eye. What, did you hit yourself?"
Derisive sarcasm slipped from Boomer's tongue while Butch gasped and approached to a puddle made from yet sprouting water from fire hydrants. His shoulders dropped. It was undeniable. He brought his hand close up to the purple swelling wound that was planted evidently on his face. The spiked boy then recalled the moment his counterpart swung her steel weapon at him. Why that little….
"How much did you see?" He unwillingly asked in a grave voice.
"Every. Single. Moment." Boomer beamed. "Priceless."
With the advantage now on his side, Boomer sauntered over to Butch and put his hand on his shoulder almost comfortingly, as the green boy stared off to the puddle, speechless.
"So you see, you were the one who did 'nothing' this time. You were the one who was being 'useless'." He cheerfully sang into his sibling's ear, expressing the grudge he had on him through emphasized short syllables. He seemed to be enjoying himself as he continued, "So YOU get the food and YOU do what I say or else I'LL TELL EVERYONE HOW MUCH OF A LOSER YOU ARE."
That moment, Butch pulled himself off of Boomer. And Boomer, startled by his action, almost winced and lost control of his upperhand. But thankfully that didn't happen as Butch finally relented with a "fine," then he turned to look at Boomer.
"But you better not tell anybody. Especially Brick if ya see him." He warned, crossing his arms.
Boomer in turn, nodded with a smirk, inwardly hooting in triumph.
The blond boy smiled, remembering that awesome feeling of confidence that came from standing up for himself. He'd done it.
Well actually, fine, he had to admit it was the Powerpuff who had encouraged him to do so. He shrugged his shoulders. A Powerpuff can actually be of help—who would have known?
He looked at his plate for a moment. And then, instead of grabbing another piece of chicken yet again with his greasy hands, he stabbed into a broccoli head with his fork. The blond boy stared at the piece of vegetable for a while, but put it in his mouth without much hesitance. After chewing it for a few seconds and tasting it on his palate, he concluded, wow… not too bad.
Later that day, after Boomer had gotten Butch where he wanted, Butch had agreed to fetch pizza from the pizza parlor instead of their original plan for burgers. Strangely after that trip though, Butch seemed to have downgraded in playfulness and mischievousness. And after the two devoured and gulped down the pizza, the green ruff handed him a small gaming console that he had additionally stolen from a few kids. Then all he did next was lie down on the couch, turn his back from anything else, and play on it silently for hours.
He definitely seemed aloof. But Boomer let the thought slide as he assumed it being him just mad that he beat him for once. He stuck out his tongue at Butch's turned back, then decided to look out the window before delving into the gaming device. Even with the telescope destroyed, he could clearly see and hear pink, lime, and baby blue streaks of color battling the presence of a distant monster.
The blue ruff looked at them with twinkling interest. What they seemed to be doing actually seemed…fun. He too, had battled monsters down HIM's lair with his brothers before, but something—something about them doing it seemed different.
He then, observed the blue Powerpuff in particular. She was taking a few hurtful blows from the huge creature, but she never ceased to return something just as painful of her own. Even though they've battled multiple times, he had never bothered to notice how much of a tough fighter she could be. He shook his head. Despite being a 'girl' that is.
But watching her, he couldn't help but subconsciously think of her as, maybe, just maybe… pretty rad?
"Ahem."
Boomer broke away from his thoughts. How much silence or maybe a few additional conversations went on between Mojo and Butch, Boomer didn't know. All three of them were now almost finished with their dinner, but Mojo seemed to have more to say. It was a lingering uncomfortable question that all had evaded touching upon.
"Were there possibly, if not then so be it, any signs of Brick?"
It didn't take a second for the spike-haired boy to answer, "Nope, didn't bother lookin for him."
Unlike Boomer, Butch pushed away the broccolis with his fork to the far edge of his plate. Mojo gave him a stink eye. Whether it was because he was not eating his greens or because he offered an insincere answer was questionable.
"Well I suggest you look for him, then." The monkey offered flatly.
Butch dropped his fork. "Why?" He looked over at him, finally seeming willing to have an exchangeable conversation.
"What is there to question? It is to our upmost priority to destroy the Powerpuff girls." The father figure stated. "That is to say, by simple calculation, three is better than two, because three is in fact, a bigger numeric number than two, which means by deduction, three forces combined is stronger than two forces combined, which gives us far more strategic advantage over—"
"SO?! For crying out loud! Why does EVERYBODY always whine about how we need him?!" Butch slammed his fist on the table and propped himself up, his features showing extreme displeasure. The dinner table somehow turned more still and quieter than it was before. "We're better off without that coward!" The green ruff sunk his fist harder and glared at both witnesses. "He betrayed us!"
Mojo in response, irately frowned at his son's petulant behavior, but dismissed it and kept his cool. He could probably imagine where Butch's anger was coming from. "Yes, but-" he sighed for a second to give out his more truthful statement. "He is in an undeniable sense your brother, your leader, your partner in crime. Are you putting forward that you do not care about him?"
Butch almost broke the table when he gaped his mouth at what he just heard. "Out of everyone else out there, I can't believe you would say that! HECK NO!" Immediately, unable to handle his temper, the boy flung himself off from the seat he was sitting and turned on his heel. "And for the last time, he is NOT my leader!" he spat furiously behind his back.
No one was going to boss him anymore! No one was going to take away the position he rightfully had in his palms. Not when it was now obvious that he was the more competent and deserving as a leader. He didn't care about anybody, he was a vicious villain! Unlike Brick that pathetic moron, he doesn't get his feelings hurt! But still, somehow, even when it comes to this, someone steps up and defends that namby-pamby! That he should care about him!
No, it didn't matter how lousy and boring the day was without him. It didn't matter that they got creamed by the darned Powerpuffs! As if it would have been better with him here. He wouldn't have done any better after screwing up that badly! They didn't need him! It was just this once. Today just was a bad day, that's all!
Mojo and Boomer just watched as Butch strode away in angry steps. Out of the two, the chimpanzee sighed and rubbed his temples. He had already faced short luck with his red son, he was not willing to slip off on another one. Despite the brute father he was, the father monkey was beginning to realize that he needed to amend his ways of communicating if he were to persuade his boys. He sucked in a deep breath and called decisively, "Stop where you are."
Butch turned his head slightly to scoff. "You're gonna make me?"
"Yes," Mojo started off strong, but for his next words he eased up, "if you may please."
The green ruff scrunched his complexion at Mojo's compliance, then rolled his eyes and grudgingly positioned himself to face him. "What."
The brain-capped chimpanzee also pushed himself off of his chair and straightened himself up to talk on equal ground.
"It is not that I do not understand your current resentment towards your brother," he started off, "By no means am I, a treacherous villain, going to put up with that impudent behavior of his in the future. However-" he paused for dramatic effect. He hoped to monkey heavens this would work as he pushed forward. "There are times when we too, the forces of evil, have to team up, collaborate, take care of each other's butts for the sake of sweet but rotten victory over justice. No matter how conflicting it is conceived as a villain." Mojo's expression turned more serious. "Because my child, if we are to lose that brotherhood and teamwork amongst each other—we lose to them, to the snooty little heroes that they are. They will gang up on us in the sickening name of righteousness, and unleash their powers for the pure purpose of peace. Do you really wish for that to happen?"
Butch who was initially about to protest to whatever remark, noticed his genuine take of approach, and took time to process through his well laid out sentences what he was getting at.
Ugh... Quite honestly, Mojo had a point. In reality, despite the girls being weak and wimpy and in no match for him in their own nature, Butch wasn't confident in taking them on when outnumbered. Especially after how his last battle turned out to be, which by the way, he was going to make sure to avenge next time.
He had to hand it to him. Brick by far, was the one who always knew what to do, even in difficult situations—which was rare for Butch, the 'Baron of Berserk' himself, but still. It was also rare, no, the first time Brick had ever lost his mojo—no pun intended. He was in no doubt the most 'brainy' out of the three in the sickest sense and knew how to make things fun and evil. They needed him. Because although he could be a bossy loser at times, things were okay before he decided to act out.
Butch slowly looked down at the floor with a frown, then eventually shook his head to the monkey's previous question. Mojo took the opportunity to step closer into his zone, making the ruff face up and view him again.
"So that is exactly why we need him. Don't get me wrong son, because it goes the same for you two as well." He emphasized, "No one is better than the other. You all are irreplaceable members in the team in your unique ways. Brick, he is the sharp and cynical who is the mastermind behind tactics. But Butch, you are the underlying brute force and cruelty that powers the team to ultimate victory. And Boomer…" The monkey glanced at his blue son off at the side and scratched his cap. "You uh, brighten up and energize the team as a jokester, but a tough fighter nonetheless." Boomer, comprehending intently, nodded and punched his fist excitedly in the air at the mention of him. "Without him, or any one of you for that matter, the pernicious name of the Rowdyruff Boys will eventually come to an end. Do you understand?"
"Heh, I guess." Butch responded in a much calmer voice than he augmented before, appreciating the recognition he received.
"Yeah, dude." Boomer joined from aside, refusing to be left out.
"Good." The chimp nodded approvingly with eyes closed. "I'm glad that we have all come to terms that it is in our best interest to get Brick back. Besides, we have to cut the boy some immense slack, seeming so that we did push his buttons a little too much than necessary."
Yeah.. they did kind of dump on him a lot when he was in the worst of moods.
Not denying the fact, the green boy simply pulled up his shoulders and looked the other way.
"Uh-huh! And nobody wants to be treated in a mean way, no matter who it is!"
Instantly, both Butch and Mojo perplexedly faced towards Boomer at his interception. The blond boy, acknowledging a bit too late how he mimicked what the blue Powerpuff had taught him earlier, tied his hands behind his back and smiled sheepishly. Thankfully, the brief attention towards him dissipated as Mojo returned to his spiel.
"So yes. And if I do say so myself, I can safely assume you two probably have missed his company this whole time." He lifted an eyelid to process his sons' reaction.
His blue son eagerly agreed, while the green son snorted, but with less cynicism. "As if!" He crossed his arms again, as to put out a last barrier to hide his underlying truthful feelings. Mojo, however, was a keen monkey.
As Mojo stood there gazing over at the green ruff to encourage a follow-up, Butch uncomfortably shifted a while from one foot to the other, then finally let out, "Okay fine, DA-DA! You win this round! We'll look for him tomorrow, ya happy?!"
Mojo's content yet proud grin ignited instead. He was delighted. It was he—Mojo Jojo's first success as a parent to appease a child. Now sure, he might have started out with a rough beginning, but at this rate, he was bound to also resolve the mess that he had made before.
Besides, he had to credit his last remaining son. However ill-behaved he was back then, Brick was right about some things he had said to him. The chimp parent had indeed not been very attentive of their arrival, and to an extent left an opening to think of themselves as nothing but accessories to be used.
A dim sadness showed up on Mojo's face as he himself recollected his past feelings of being used and abandoned by a father figure. He was all that he had, until he decided to turn his attention to… more important matters, that is.
So despite still being an amateur parent, the monkey promised to himself after the incident with Brick, that he would never treat his children as insignificant little dusts, value one child more than the other, or leave any one of them alone to sink in their own grievance. He—Mojo Jojo will become the BEST reigning father in Townsville, that not only his once father nor HIM could ever follow!
With that bold pledge in mind, Mojo called upon his two sons to a side space, claiming he had something to give them.
"Ah, here they are." The mutant chimp approached what seemed to be his work panel, and handed each son a communication device which was in a form of a watch. The two scrutinized the gadget.
"Hah! Lame!" Butch disapproved, merely holding the device on his palm. "Who needs this junk? We've got our powers to communicate!"
"Nono but think about it!" Boomer suggested, "It could be like that spy movie we saw from HIM's crib, you know? What was it, Mission Unstoppable?" The more excited boy of the two put his device on his wrist and started punching in buttons randomly. Then he soon had to jump back as a blue visor appeared in front of his left eye as an augmented reality projection popped up. It was a miniature Townsville. Butch who was watching dully, could not help but also enlarge his eyes.
"Whoa-" he remarked.
"Did I just shrink Townsville?!" Boomer squawked in amazement, earning a few stares.
"No, dum-dum-head. It's just a miniature." Butch explained as he punched buttons on his own, causing a green visor to appear with its own projection. "See?"
The blue ruff's face fell in disappointment. "Oh…"
"Boys, keep in mind, this is not a toy." Mojo asserted, as he stopped the curious hand of Boomer who madly pushed more buttons which could be enough to dismantle the device. "I repeat, it is not a toy. As you can see, this is not just an ordinary 'communication device.' It comes with numerous other features I myself have added for your convenience." He smiled obsequiously, noticing that he had partly earned the boys' hearts. "But if it is to your liking, I'll be sure to add more spy-like features as well."
"Aww, yeah!"
"Cool!"
The two ruffs high-fived each other, ridding the awkward tension they had earlier.
"Don't be bouncing off the walls just yet, because there is more to come." Mojo announced, ushering them downstairs through an opening that mechanically appeared by his command.
The two Rowdyruffs traded glances, then followed suit, only to be greeted by the most amazing sight they could ask for. Various sorts of sporting equipment were arranged neatly all in one place, specifically designed just for them. On the far front, they also noticed coolers and massage chairs for their leisure.
"It is still a work in progress, but I thought I might as well show it to you."
"Holy-"
"Man, you're like the best!"
"Even more than that insolent claw-head?" Mojo put his hands to his sides and looked at his children expectantly.
"You bet." Butch gave Mojo a fist pump and scurried over to try out one of the equipments.
Boomer hovered over and thanked him in a similar manner, then leant over his ear to whisper, "Hey dude, by the way, can you teach me how to cook like you someday?"
Mojo looked at the boy in disbelief. "Do you really wish for me to do that?"
Boomer bobbed his head in the most positive way he could. "It was really cool."
Blanketed in glee, Mojo gave his blue son an assuring smile and agreed, "I do not see why not."
Boomer of course, pulled his arms in and cried "yes!" as he too retreated to the equipments waiting for him.
With that, the green chimp almost teared up in joy as he gradually left the boys to their entertainment and retreated from the personal realm that he had made for them. If only he had the consciousness to do this earlier, he regretted. Then he would have made them all happy from the start. He looked out the window with a worried expression. The day was growing dark, with the descending sun illuminating a red hue of sunset. The parent monkey wondered what Brick was doing by now. Maybe by tomorrow he could have a talk with him. He wanted to be a good father, especially a better one than the red-clawed villain. Though they have shared a fatherly moment once before, he was the rightful creator of the boys, and though they may have made a pact for now, he had full intention of gaining back complete custody—one day.
Back to Butch and Boomer, the ruffs were taking time to ogle and lay their hands on every instrument there was. What they were particularly interested in were the giant speakers they found that stood on the background of the entire personalized gymnasium. Without hesitation, they turned it on and loud motivational music blasted out from the amplifiers, blowing them back. The two cheered and head-banged to the beat of the music, and along the moment, Boomer looked over at Butch slyly and yelled into his ear.
"WOW, looks like Mojo really worked up on his 'MOJO' this time, huh?!" he sucked in short snorty breaths and laughed goofily at his own pun.
Butch who would have usually insulted him for saying something stupid, could not help but snicker together this time. Boomer was on a row, which wasn't always too unusual. He felt a little sheepish even, for pushing him around at the beginning of the day. He had to admit, there were times when he underestimated him when he really shouldn't. Today he even built up the nerve to challenge him.
The spike-haired jock walked over to some weights that had extra gravity pull installed onto them to make them much heavier for the boys' taste. Boomer went over to a super-endurance punching bag to beat the living wind out of it.
While Butch lifted his weights, exchanging from one arm after the other, he quickly took a double take at a giant mirror in proximity. Fortunately, due to his super-healing, the black eye on his complexion was long gone before anyone else could take notice. If only Boomer could keep his mouth shut, that is.
Naturally, as Boomer had done before, Butch began to brood on the events that had caused his injury a while ago.
The day had been particularly 'rough' for the Rowdyruff today. The grip on the weight he was holding up tightened with recurring thoughts of his battle against the raging green Powerpuff. What was the deal with sissy-pants today, anyway? It was amusing at first, but then she actually started putting up a fight and—
Butch bit his bottom lip and twitched one of his eyes as he flexed his biceps. This was easily the third time that he was reminded of this!
Arghh. Alright, so the puff got lucky this time and actually beat him to some moves! But it wasn't over! She ran away in her little girly dress before he could properly end the fight! Yeah, that's it!
He put his muscles back at ease and exhaled. Heh, what a lame girl she was! Lamer than lame! Complaining and whining about him hurting his boyfriend—Mitch or Mitten or whatever his name was.
Strange enough, the blasting background music of the gym droned out, and in its place, the green ruff heard his shriek earlier from that day.
"I care about NOBODY!"
"Well I do. And if you EVER try to hurt anyone around me again, then this will not be the end of it! You hear?!"
The echoing bellow of his past aggressor phased out of his mind. Really. How pathetic.
But in actuality, Butch too had conflicting reflections on how to think of her strange demeanor that day. The real reason that their fight actually led to leave an unforgettable impression on the green ruff, was because despite the green girl projecting her feelings and hurt today, she had managed to beat him. I mean, how was that even possible? The power, the determination, the driving force for vengeance was unlike anything he had ever dealt from her before. Wasn't she supposed to cry hopelessly in despair if he had hurt her feelings? How did she become much stronger? But more importantly, why? Why did she care? And why did it give her so much power?
He just couldn't understand. It was so different from what HIM always nagged about. Don't show your weakness. Expressing feelings is just plain pathetic. It will only break you down.
And Brick had just done that. So that's why for a moment, Butch was less than hesitant to shun him and take his place as a leader. It was finally an opportunity to prove that he was in fact, the tougher and heartless one, contrary to how HIM would always debase him as far less cunning and menacing as Brick was.
But now… Now he just wanted him to return. As much as he didn't want to lose his reputation as the tough one, he himself was beginning to question things. He still couldn't agree that there was no point in reeming those sissy girls, but Brick seemed to be catching up to something. He was, after all, always the more savvy one. And a lot of the things HIM postulated and forced on them seemed questionable these days.
Butch recalled yet another preceding event that had happened to him. The very reason that had temporarily constrained him to be not like himself. The reason he had acted aloof while playing his video game like Boomer noticed before—the visit to the pizza parlor.
While waiting for the pizzas to be handed in, Butch backed away as a sizable group of customers surreptitiously gathered around him.
"W-wha?! What's wrong with you morons! Back off!"
"You dare show your nasty presence in this territory? Be gone! The girls will soon show you justice for what you have done!"
"You've gotta be kidding me, right? Why do you nut-brains have your undies in a knot for something that didn't happen to you?! Have you all been hit over your head?!"
"No, but that doesn't matter. Because we CARE about the people around us. Even if it has nothing to do with us!"
Yes, it was obvious to say, Butch had faced a similar situation at the pizza place as Boomer did. And although he could have easily blown them away through his use of powers, he was highly discomforted by the disposition they unanimously put out. The looks on their faces, their unwavering stance, they were very much like that from the mob from the park and the brown freckled boy and… the green Powerpuff.
'You hurt my people and friends, so I POUND you! It's as simple as that!' A past illusion of Buttercup hollered in his mind.
An entirely foreign and overwhelming feeling crept upon him that instant as he stood bewildered in front of the customers. Fear? Regret? He jumped out of his skin and accelerated to leave with pizza boxes as the infuriated crowd pounced towards him. Nonononono, he couldn't be becoming a wuss like Brick! He didn't CARE! He was a Rowdyruff! Cruel, brutal, menacing…
Butch came back to reality. This sucked.
The talk with Mojo had opened his eyes to the undeniable truth, though. Whatever this conflicting sick and stupid feeling was, he needed to find Brick. Not only did he need him for beating the girls, but he needed to face him and figure out what the heck was going on. There was an obvious change coursing through him too, and he did not like it at all. The Rowdyruffs had to come back together. And if Brick were to say something stupid, and refuse to join again, he was gonna have to punch some sense into him.
Butch looked over at Boomer who was currently jovially pounding the punching bag but then accidentally took a blow on the face from the rebounding equipment. The blond boy yelped and rubbed the bridge of his nose to ease the pain. The raven-haired bystander sighed. His blue brother did not seem to have taken any notice of strange transformation just yet. At least not from what he was seeing.
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On the opposite side of Townsville, three completely fatigued figures of the heroines were meekly hovering over their town towards the direction of their house after they had finally hurled the abominable monster back to Monster Island. Compared to other days, the three had performed rather poorly on their teamwork, dragging on with the fight—and they knew that for themselves, too. All three were incapable of giving their all to the previous battle with other matters going on.
The silence among them was uncomfortable to say the least, until Buttercup parted her lips and snarled, "That was such a stupid long fight! It could have ended so much earlier! If only…" she glared over at Bubbles.
Bubbles in turn, mirrored her and challenged her to continue, "if only WHAT."
"If only you stopped being a fraidy-cat and could have actually put up a fight!"
The blond puff clenched her teeth and snapped back, "I WAS NOT a fraidy-cat and I DID put up a fight!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Would you two please STOP?!" The leader's voice screeched between their tantrums to halt them from their childish display of actions. "The battle is over! No matter how long it took to get to it, we all defeated the monster together!"
"Oh yeah?" Buttercup sneered over at her mockingly. "What about the Rowdyruffs huh? And your complete FAILURE to track down Brick?! You couldn't even keep your head in the battle just now! Who's the perfect leader now?!"
"You seriously think you can put the whole blame on me?!" Blossom retorted sharply. "You for one, didn't even cooperate while fighting that monster!"
"Yeah well I don't take orders from those who side with the villain!"
"It was out of complete logical reasoning that I stood for the Rowdyruff Boys back then! You're just too stubborn to admit that there are times when even villains can be innocent!"
"Villains and innocent never go together smart-brain!"
"Well how would you know?!" Having enough of this, Bubbles impatiently cut in to the fight and scowled at Buttercup. "You're just jealous that Blossom is way smarter than you!"
"What did you say, you crybaby?!"
In an instant, the three siblings raised their voices simultaneously and continued arguing the entire route home. The sun fell under the horizon and sunk behind the darkness in duration by the time the girls reached the front door of their house. Not even bothering to ring the doorbell, the three barged into the entrance and consecutively filled the house space with unpleasant quarreling.
The professor, hearing the turbulence, stuck his head out of the kitchen. "Girls, you're home! What's wrong—why are you so late?"
All three heads steered towards him concurrently, but before anyone could lament their side of the story, Blossom settled the melee by assuring their father, "Nothing, professor. It was just a slight disagreement."
And succeeding their leader, the two other Powerpuffs huffed at each other, but restrained from any further disputes in front of the professor. Slight concern resided on the scientist, but nonetheless he guided them in for dinner, knowing they had gone through quite a troublesome day.
The menu that had neatly been set on the table was meatloaf, one of the girl's favorites on list. However, in spite of their hunger from skipping lunch and engaging in difficult combat, no one was quite enthusiastic to dig in to the food. But noticing the professor's look of worrisome questioning, Blossom and Bubbles picked up their utensils and began nibbling on their supper.
Buttercup on the other hand, remained static in her seat as she jut out her mouth in a pout and looked down at her plate. The red-headed leader, annoyed by her sister's impudence, purposefully brought up a conversation to aggravate the green puff.
"Professor, do you think it's possible for anyone to be born bad?" She asked her father in an innocent tone. Buttercup immediately grasped at what she was getting at and fired a murdersome look that could kill.
The professor however, unaware of the tension, was delighted to answer Blossom's question that tore away the silence.
"Why no, Blossom. I don't believe so." He massaged his chin and delved briefly in thought. "There does exist a lot of heinous villains out there but usually most of them have a reason that has driven them to become evil, or…" The professor himself stopped, then with a flashing memory, he hung his head morosely, "had… no one to properly guide them."
Buttercup abruptly pushed her seat back and stood up. "I'm not hungry," she declared coarsely, and flew up the stairs to hit the showers before anyone could stop her. Blossom watched her leave, and slightly questioned if she had been too mean. It was immature, for sure, but she could not figure out any other way to convince her further.
Bubbles too, stayed reticent when her green sister left. She was angry at her for insulting her earlier, but also because she was unwilling to give any of the Rowdyruffs a chance. It was understandable of course, but she could at least hear Blossom out instead of being so bullheaded. In the blue puff's opinion, everyone deserved a chance, seeing how one of the ruffs turned out to be pretty nice…. Then again, neither of her sisters knew of course. She glanced at Blossom. The blond girl decided to now side with her for a while.
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It was suffice to say, dinner had inevitably ended in awkwardness, but nonetheless it came to an end. As the professor wrapped up Buttercup's untouched plate and placed it in the refrigerator, he called over his two girls.
"Now girls, I've noticed you three had run into an internal argument." Blossom and Bubbles faced down at the floor at the mention of the elephant in the room. Their father smiled endearingly to relieve them they were not in trouble, and crouched down to meet their eye level. "I trust you to solve it out and make up some day, but just remember that you three are sisters. Before you are a team, you are family. And family always sticks together no matter what."
"Yes, we understand, professor." The two puffs answered half-heartedly at his advice together.
Receiving their reply, the professor gave them each a light hug and dismissed them to get ready for bed, hoping they would learn to find a way to work out on their problems by their own.
The two tired heroines did what they were told by getting cleaned up and changing into their night clothes to prepare for bed. Eventually when they entered their room, they noticed Buttercup had already found her place down on the three-striped bed, her back turned away from the middle, edging as far away towards the end as possible. The two pursed their lips at the sight of her and flew over to lie down on their respective spots. Buttercup, sensing their presence, scooched farther away from Blossom, in danger of falling off. Bubbles in contrast, stayed close to her pink sister, and before placing her head on her pillow, she looked over at Buttercup and blew a raspberry at her.
Blossom exhaled a sigh and reached over to turn off the lamp lights.
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Night had fallen to its darkest as Blossom peeped open her eye and directed it to the clock. It was close to midnight.
In a brilliant second of thought association, she decided that she would go check on the red Rowdyruff if he was still there. There was still a lot to hear from and say to him. And although the pink puff knew it was wrong to assume.. he definitely seemed to need help. If he was still there alone and distressed, she didn't know how, but she wanted to comfort him before she could, if any, figure out what to do with him. With a responsible nature of a leader inside of her, she felt a certain obligation as a hero, and a fellow empathizer of his position.
The redheaded leader shuffled up quietly as possible and changed back into her outdoor clothes. She looked one last time at her sleeping sisters with a heavy heart, surprised that she was willing to even lie to them to help the Rowdyruff. She then creaked open their bedroom door and closed it silently, tiptoeing down the stairs, the living room, and towards the front door.
But before she could head out the door, she paused in her steps, glimpsing at the open kitchen door with her eyes. She visualized in her head the leftover meatloaf that Buttercup hadn't touched from dinner. With that, she bit her lip and hesitated, but changed her destination towards the refrigerator to pack the leftover meatloaf in a ziplock and paper bag, and whisked out of the main door before she could risk waking anyone up.
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Buttercup couldn't stand the sound and feeling of her stomach repeatedly growling, and was forcefully woken up from her sleep. She muttered incomprehensible words and kicked herself out of bed, and later noticed Blossom was not on her side of the bed. The exhausted green puff just assumed that she was in the bathroom and dragged her way downstairs to the kitchen. She opened the fridge door, wincing a little from the emanated light, and searched for her meal, only to find it not there. Buttercup let out a puzzled yawn, scratching her tangled hair and wondering where it might have gone. Did somebody finish off an extra plate?
Then it hit her. The green puff expanded her eyes as a creeping speculation of doubt crawled on her back. Did she? No she couldn't have! Buttercup in desperation, rummaged all the rooms of the house in search of her leader.
In the middle of her surveillance, Buttercup recalled how Blossom hesitated to answer whether she had found Brick, and how she incessantly tried to convince her not all villains turn out to be guilty all the time. Slowly the green girl was able to put two and two together.
She found him, didn't she?! And she was covering for him!
Buttercup grinded her teeth together to the point it hurt. Worst of all, she had taken her meatloaf!
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The last remaining Powerpuff rubbed her sleepy eyes and woke up, suddenly feeling the cold sense of abandonment. And in fact, when she looked around, she found herself alone on the bed in the darkness.
"Blossom? Buttercup…?" The startled Powerpuff hugged her blanket sheets and curled herself into a ball. She was rarely ever left alone to be in the dark, and she was afraid as to where her sisters might have disappeared.
Right at that point, Bubbles heard a familiar sound of momentum echo as a lime green streak of light passed by out the window in short notice.
Buttercup! Bubbles urgently ran up to the window and watched her sister distance away to the dark sky. The frightened Powerpuff timidly jerked her head sideways, unsure what to do. She absolutely did not want to be left in the room on her own, but the draping darkness outside scared her the same.
She indecisively rolled on her two tiny feet back and forth, then chose to chase after her sister before it was too late.
The sparkling moonlight and stars were her only source of comfort as the blue puff hurriedly zipped into her clothes and blasted out to the looming black celestial sphere of the night sky.
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A/N: Ooooh, what's going to happen next? For the next chapter, I promise you some Brick and Blossom fluff! ;)