A/N: Another long chapter! And finally some Blossom and Brick, woohoo!
I've been dying to write this chapter. Tell me if ya like it! :D
P.S.: This chapter contains many references to The Powerpuff Girls Movie, and some from Bubble Boy.
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The sound of stirring leaves caressed the thick of a shadowy forest. A chilly brisk wind took shape and lightly jangled the rim of a lake, proceeding to whirl around an abandoned cabin close by—almost abandoned, that is. For inside the lodge came a dingy light emitting from a dusty old oil lamp, illuminating and heating its surrounding dark. Yet, with the cutting edge of the cold night wind seeping through the sloppily patched holes of the cabin, the source of slight warmth was barely distinguishable. In that event, the Rowdyruff who was dosing off on a wooden chair shivered from a sudden cold rush and repositioned himself to retain his bodily heat.
Understandably, the red-headed boy had more than little trouble submerging into deep sleep. Previously that day, after being fed up moping around, he had in fact gathered small timber at an attempt to fix furniture in the lodge and block up unwanted openings of the exterior. In a corner, he had also scavenged an oil lamp that could be a helpful light source during the night. However, his luck turning sour, most of the furniture—the bed especially—were in such wretched condition to be properly repaired by his inexperienced hands. Not to mention the oil lamp he had found had hardly any oil left to burn, hence his poor circumstances. And to top all that misfortune, throughout the entire day the ruff had found neither edible food source to replenish him nor any activities to entertain him.
He was cold, hungry, and as much as he hated it… lonely…
The red ruff grouched in his sleep and wrapped his arms around him. Never had he in his life had to do anything alone. As a natural course, the leader boy normally made his brothers do all of the dirty work, and even when that wasn't the case, the dink-heads were always there to enjoy whatever it was with him together. They were typically very supportive, no matter how much he ordered them around. And among all the multiple shenanigans they shared, he began to miss how Butch would always throw some extra sauce into the mix, and heck, he even missed Boomer's stupid remarks here and there.
But he knew—he knew he wasn't invited back with them anymore, or anywhere else in alteration.
With sad bitterness, the red boy opened his eyes narrowly. Seriously though, not that he ever wished them to—peh, but it seemed like none of them had even bothered to look for him. Just as he thought, nobody even cares that he's gone. Nobody came. Nobody—
Except for one. That know-it-all pink Powerpuff who to his surprise, did not rat him out or return to immediately raid him with her stupid daisy crew. And he had been pretty positive that she would come back, even though he threatened her NOT TO.
…Whatever. In all honesty, now that he thought about it, maybe quarreling with that obnoxious puff would have been a better scheme than being stuck here with absolutely nothing to do or no one to talk to. Grudgingly, he brought the brim of his red cap to the front and jammed it down to cover his face. Running away stunk more than he had impulsively planned. He had carelessly believed that once he abandoned HIM and Mojo's grasp, and the taunting and shunning of others, everything would turn out for the better. For sure, anything was still better than being in that pit-hole of lame idiots, but he had imagined life to be much easier. Yet no way did he feel this was easy. He was freezing, starving, and sulking like a wimp for crying out loud! He was free, but not free in the way he wanted.
The ruff clenched his arms tighter for warmth as another breeze stroke him. Screw 'not needing anybody!' he squirmed. At this point, he longed for company—any company.
*Rustle*
…!
Right away, the leader's red eyes lit up in alert at the disturbance. Apart from the gentle crinkle of the leaves, Brick was quick to detect a meek but foreign tremor from afar after spending hours alone. The boy blinked away his puzzlement and shoved the brim of his cap backwards. Not sure what to do, the current owner of the shed frowned and stealthily crossed over to the other side of the wooden floor, holding his breath. He listened closely again, questioning if he had heard it right.
Silent moments ticked by in his cautious position… then, after a confirming creak of wood echoed from the front porch, he hastily swept the door open almost breaking the door off of its hinge.
And there she was.
Out stood the pink Powerpuff on the porch of the cabin, as if to answer his grave longing for company. A passing wind grazed her face softly and gently tousled the back of her long strands.
Facing who he had partially expected, the red ruff did not know what to feel. Anger? Annoyance? Relief?
The two stood there momentarily in a staring contest, equally confused in the predicament. The boy eyed her features evenly. What was she doing here? She didn't come back when he had mentally prepared himself to face her and her stupid sisters right after his location was exposed. So why the heck was she back now? To see how miserable he became? To jab him when he's most vulnerable? Or maybe… finish off that obscure sentence she left him to be stunned for hours…?
"…I was just as upset as you were."
Yet another forest breeze seemed to carry his recollection. The dwindling gust of air lingered between them, amplifying the still silence.
And while the boy stood there speechless, the pink visitor slowly lowered her protracted arm that was originally up there to knock on the entrance, and offered an awkward hand-wave in greeting.
"Uh- hi."
At her opener, the Rowdyruff likewise recovered from his former trance and knitted his face. How stupid… What did all that matter to him?
His senses resurfacing, the red ruff as usual, switched on his arrogant maneuver in return. "Hah," a little snort released from his nose, "I'm surprised that you didn't bring your dopey sisters along," he remarked to the trespasser, leaning his arm on the doorway.
Little did he know, this was the exact reaction that she had already anticipated from him.
Dispersing her slight nervousness, Blossom in time looked straight at her counterpart and collected her determination. She had briefly rehearsed this scenario in her head before she arrived at this current spot.
To what she figured, if she were to catch Brick off guard and break through his hard stubborn shell, she sure had to be bold and tactless. The Brick she knew before lived off of his vanity and the recognition from others. If some of that essence was left in him, by now with nobody around, he was bound to be lonely—but he wouldn't admit that. So what she had to do was ram herself into his comfort zone, though not too much to hurt his reputation. She had to be brash, but delicate at the same time.
Hah…. the things she would do as a hero. She fixed herself into a more languid and relaxed position.
Come on Blossom, you can do this…
The pink heroine mimicked her counterpart's cocky expression and rebounded in similar rhetoric, "I'm surprised you didn't move your obvious little hiding place," she smirked with tingling amusement. Truthfully though, she really did half-expect this place to be empty. "How did you know it was me? Were you expecting?"
The red ruff glowered at her, putting knuckles to sides. So she was here to call him out! No way was he going to back down and show any sign of weakness!
"I woke up from your clumsy girl feet making such a ruckus! I thought I told you to keep out, toots. A little brain-dead on memory?" he spat.
At that, the Powerpuff rolled her eyes dramatically. "Wow, you expected me to just do what you tell me?" With that, she brushed off his mockery, and pushed past him whilst giving a teasing little smile. "I can come in, right?"
The red ruff's pupils dilated in surprise.
"What?! No you-"
It was too late. Before the boy knew it, the Powerpuff was already in his personal hideaway, examining its lacking condition. The boy could only goggle incredulously at her presumptuous act. What in the world…?!
"Listen you dimwitted Powerpuff, you better get out right now or-!"
"You fixed this place up a bit," the puff cut in, "but uhh… it could need some more work."
"DO YOU THINK I CARE?! Get out or I'll-"
"Hey! I brought some food. Are ya hungry?"
Completely ignoring Brick's angry burst of revolts, Blossom twirled towards him and high-spiritedly held up the paper bag she brought in front of his nose. His super senses automatically kicking in, Brick took an unintentional sniff of the package before he bit his tongue and resisted himself away. But in that brief second, his brain had processed the internal contents...meat….
"Are you stupid?!" he yelled resiliently, "to think I would take food from you?!"
The pink girl simply tilted her head in a curious manner, throwing the boy off. "What? It's not poisonous. You can tell by your powers."
The red ruff crinkled his brow and grunted doubtfully at her anti-climatic suggestion. Though, it was true. Brick's super scent had already detected no harmful signs of whatever was in the packet. But that was NOT THE POINT. This had to be a trap. And Rowdyruff or not, he was never going to get help from a girl! Let alone a Powerpu-!
In that brilliant timing, his stomach bellowed shamelessly out in the open for said Powerpuff to hear. Unseemly of him, the ruff jumped back and took a few strides behind, bracing his stomach in embarrassment.
Blossom just shook her head and smiled to him warmingly. "I know you're hungry, Brick. And no one's looking, you know, if you're scared getting caught receiving help from me."
The Rowdyruff scoffed at her kind gesture and stubbornly whipped his head away from her to face the corner of the lodge. He wasn't scared. But that was hardly enough reason to rely on the Powerpuff for food! She and her sisters were the reason for him being miserable, right?! He ran off to this lousy place because he was tired of hearing of them! So why would he ever get help from the very prime reason he was trying to avoid?!..
Still… he contemplated this as he analyzed his situation. Because Brick's stomach indeed, had been growling for a while.
Evidently, the red boy hadn't thought carefully through this when he isolated himself in the woods. The option of actually hunting the animals in the area did cross his mind, but it was easier said than done. He wanted greasy fries, processed meat, junk food, anything but organic! And today, the wilderness was surely not his friend in helping that, and he definitely wasn't gonna become a vegetarian right then and there to start chomping down on some yucky grass on the ground.
And in another light…
Brick writhed his features in reluctance. Ah man, this really stunk!
Although it had been a short while—he had missed this. Someone else's presence. And the puff shockingly, didn't come to him as an exception. True, even though he had wanted nothing to do with the Powerpuff earlier, later on, with her words digging deeper under his skin, the ruff had recurrently wondered if she was ever coming back. The girl drove him insanely up the wall, but for a while, he was even willing to put up with that to save himself from sheer boredom. And that last meaningful edge of sadness on her face... might have been some kind of trick, but the puff seemed to be on to something.
But can he trust her? Just let her in? A weak dumb girl who defends those losers in town and everything else that are sappy and pathetic like flowers, and rainbows, and... love? What possible benefit would he get from having her stick around?
From a distance—even in the dim lighting of the cabin—Blossom, being the acute girl she was, noticed that the tension on Brick's back had somewhat lightened for a while, and therefore stepped forward to present her other method of conciliation. Be the situation as it may, the fact that he had momentarily stopped trying to kick her out of the space meant something hopeful.
"You can take it or leave it really," the pink girl suggested lightly, jiggling the meatloaf bag in front of her. "After all, I'm the one who barged in all of a sudden, right? You didn't ask for my help."
Fortunately, her method seemed effective. Immediately, Brick jerked his head up and gazed over his shoulder at her pretty good raise of point. The puff was right; there was no need to overcomplicate this! He for himself, never stooped down to ask for help, did he? She invited herself in. She offered him food. And he didn't have to move a finger. And with all internal complexity aside, what use would all this be if he blew off this opportunity? He was starving, and he couldn't get himself to sleep anyway. He had nothing to lose in the time being.
The red boy grinned and turned to her fully. "I guess if you put it like that," he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
He approached the pink girl and snatched the bag in her hands before she could change her mind. But Blossom laid her palms back, showing no intent of stopping him.
The Rowdyruff then went over to fetch his wooden chair and continued to stroll his way towards a wooden table in the room. Alas, before he could even lay down the meal on the surface, the frail table crumbled before his eyes to a useless pile. Blossom, witnessing all this, could not help but release some giggles.
"Shut it," the red boy snapped, unpacking the contents anyway. "Who needs a table?" Once he got to the plate itself, he heated the meal up with his laser vision and gulped down the food in one bite without bothering to sit down.
The Powerpuff watched in awe at his eager speed out of hunger as he finished off and burped out proudly.
"Not bad," he commented the best out of his manners, and tossed the empty plate to the side. "Now what, Powerpuff? You came here for a reason, didn't ya?" Arms crossed, Brick looked over at Blossom with a less than amused expression.
"Yeah, but…" the Powerpuff droned at her last word, and looked around.
With only the oil lamp flickering, the cabin was an awfully dark place to hang around. Moreover, the occasional wind penetrating through the walls hardly made it a cozy atmosphere to talk. The Powerpuff mulled in her head for a solution.
"It's a bit cold in here, don't you think?" She brought up slyly, as if pointing to something mischievous. "Let's build a campfire." The puff concluded.
Brick was preparing for a smart comeback to anything, but… "Huh?"
Without waiting around, the pink girl sprinted outside in super speed and raced around collecting firewood. Realizing what was happening, the Rowdyruff kicked the closing door from her leave open and hollered, "What are you, nuts?! You'll send off a signal and let others know where we are!"
Not giving a darn at his words, the eager Powerpuff zipped back from the forests after profusely leaping around among the trees, and placed the big hunks of wood she found on suitable ground. While the puff dusted her hands clean in proud achievement, the quick tempered Rowdyruff took his chance to march towards her angrily and grab her wrist to make her face him.
"This is what you were planning, weren't you?! To have your sisters find me!" The red boy was incensed as he got all up in her face. Under the moonlight of the dark, he clenched his teeth and leant back, his features soon emanating a devilish smirk. "I should have known! Well don't think I can't take down the three of you!"
How idiotic! Just when he thought that she, she actually came to-!
*Swat!*
"Relax, will you?" The calm but sturdy voice of the heroine resounded. The back of the ruff's hand stung as she had pulled her wrist down along with his hand moments ago and swatted the back of it with her other hand to set her free. "If that really was my plan, then why would I go through all the trouble of talking to you instead of ambushing from the start?"
The ruff ignored the remaining twinge on his hand and snapped back, "Hah, don't think you can fool me! You wanted to make sure I was here first! Then make sure I wouldn't get any ideas to escape while you caught me off guar-"
"Well genius, do you hear anyone coming from the sound of us arguing?"
Blossom's shrewd assertion left the boy wordless. Nonetheless, he took a second to listen to anything echoing in the murkiness, until he finally admitted,
"…No."
The girl's face brightened softly. "See..? I just really thought a campfire would be a good idea. Besides, no one's going to see the smoke in this hour." She gazed into the runaway boy's unconvinced face and guided it to the stars in the sky. "Come on, it'll be fun. Just look at the sky."
Although reluctantly, the red boy gradually followed her gaze and took a small glimpse at the night sky. And when he did… his whole frame froze still, and only his huge round pupils navigated aimlessly to soak in the countless sparkling stars beautifully embroidered on the black tapestry above.
He couldn't believe his own eyes. He had never taken in such a sight in his short span of life. The scene of HIM's underworld, the usual sight of daylight—nothing could compare to what he was seeing right now.
He brought his stunned gaze down and faced the girl standing patiently next to him.
"You've… never seen this?" The girl asked, which he responded with a cross of his head.
Blossom stared down at her feet pensively. Though Brick guessed wrong, he was right in pointing out how this was all originally part of her 'tactic' to lift her guilt as a hero—out of obligation, mostly. But now, the empathetic part of her that had propelled to leave her house was drawing stronger. Of course… she should have figured. He probably hadn't experienced or seen part of the world he should have deserved as a little boy. He probably never had been given time to understand the world as she did. And from what she observed to this point, he was beginning to realize how it could 'hurt,' and maybe even, how something in his villainous life feels 'wrong'—to have instigated him to run away and refuse to return.
There was only one way to find out. Blossom peered at her counterpart and gave him a patient smile. She wasn't sure of it when she first saw him this afternoon, but now it came clear to her as crystal. Now, she wanted to help him, not because she needed to.
"So what do you say? It's kind of cold out here, too." She inquired with her eyes and massaged her exposed arms in the cool air.
Brick grunted loudly. "Get out of the way," he said, demanding the puff to step aside from the firewood. As soon as she obliged, he shot the firewood with his laser and started a blazing fire.
"Careful! You don't want to burn the whole forest down," The startled Powerpuff warned. "If that happens, then that definitely would give out a signal."
"Who cares! Did'ya want the fire or not?" Brick grouched with a slight pout on his face.
Blossom, at the sight of his unamused expression, shook her head and laughed playfully in willing defeat. "Alright fine, flame-boy," she remarked. "You stay here and watch the fire while I find a log for us to sit."
The red-headed boy watched the puff vanish behind the pillars of trees, and when he was sure of her disappearance, he quirked a slight smirk. There were no signs of danger ahead, so he decided it best to play along with the Powerpuff's game.
So, matters were taken, and by the time Blossom returned with a sizeable log above her head, she noticed Brick adding more fuel and controlling the fire. The Powerpuff grinned happily in delight and gently laid down the log.
"You found it?" Despite the small volume, the red ruff, feeling her presence nearby, turned to ask.
And after taking in the situation, he sized the wood with his eyes and sat down next to her, but kept a distance in between. He later picked up a long twig and poked the fire with the piece of wood, keeping the fire alive.
In a matter of seconds, the crackling fire instantly spread a warm blanket to envelope the two. And the lake a few yards away had embraced the mirror reflection of the spectacles in the sky ceiling.
Letting a few still moments settle by watching the scenery, the pink puff finally opened up with her side of the story, which was primarily her reason being there.
"My runaway place was a rocky planet."
"..."
This was obviously a continuation from what she left with before. The red boy visibly acknowledged her conversation starter, but maintained his eyes on the flames. That was okay with Blossom, so she continued,
"We were first out on the streets, but we were later kicked out… And, that barren planet was worse. It was dark, cold… there was no food or shelter, and I was devastated. We all were. My sisters and I—we didn't know what to do when we had faced the hatred in the townspeople's eyes, let alone.. our dad."
Brick's eyes stirred noticeably.
"You expect me to believe that?" He put down his twig and looked at her with high level of disbelief. "Please. A bunch of goody-goodies running off to outer space? Why wouldya ever do that? Why would those pip-squeaks ever hate you three?"
"Because-" Blossom drew in a breath and looked at her feet, "Because we didn't understand. When the professor created us, when we first came to be.. we didn't understand we were different, and neither did they. We didn't understand the capability of our powers, and how it could inflict a lot of pain on them—and what that depth of pain actually meant." The puff sadly gazed into the flames, where she visioned the past hate-filled expressions of the citizens. "…That was until we faced their harsh negativity, and saw the loss of trust in the Professor's eyes."
"So then why did you come back?" The boy pestered, "Why the heck would you come back to the crummy old town that kicked you out?"
To respond to his impatient inquiry, the heroine's unequivocal answer easily rolled off her tongue.
"Because what pained us more than our pain from their hatred, was the pain of the ones we loved. Even though they doubted us before, as soon as we heard the cry of pain from the Professor, we didn't think twice to go back and save them from mayhem." She put on a tender expression whilst recalling the moment she discovered her purpose to fight crime.
Suddenly, Blossom looked to her side in surprise as snickers of harsh ridicule spilled out of Brick's mouth. His past signs of empathy towards her autobiography were devoid.
"What a load of garbage!" he belittled, "If someone's so weak that they don't have the power to save themselves in the first place, they deserve to be abandoned! Those wimps should be strong enough to survive alone!"
Blossom looked at him dazed. Soon enough, at his pretentious gall, she could feel her anger bubbling up from her stomach. Didn't he realize?! He was just rebelling against the fact that he was talking about himself and exactly what he was going through! Enough beating around the bush! He had to get real and face the truth.
"Well on that matter, how are you holding up Brick?" the puff challenged.
By her stern tone, Brick instantly picked up her point and stood up from his seat to direct red glowing eyes back in agitation.
"Look, you dimwit! I am NOT weak, and I can TOO save myself!"
"Can you, Brick? Can you?"
"YES! I TOLD YOU! I wasn't abandoned! It was my choice to leave!"
"But WHY?!" Blossom could feel her voice escalating. "It was because they didn't understand your pain, wasn't it?! Because they just couldn't accept how you felt!"
"SHUT UP!"
"You were HURT! And you just wanted them to care and understand!" The Powerpuff breathed deeply from frustration. "Didn't you?!"
"I-!…"
"Didn't you?!"
Before long, the Rowdyruff lost his words as they broke into pieces in his throat. It was no use denying. Her words clawed deep into him like venom, but they only stung because they were true…
The ruff, in time, found his annealing point as logic pounded itself into him. There was no escape to fool her anymore. Not after what he had already told her at their first encounter. She had to be oh so stinkin' smart.
He exhaled heavily in surrender.
"Yeah..." he cooled down his hot head and admitted with a grudge-filled heart. "But what's it to ya, puff?" he suspected, folding his arms in front of his chest. "What do you want from all this?"
"…Nothing." Blossom's expression had already loosened when she responded earnestly. "I just, want to help."
"…"
Strangely, that confirmed everything.
Brick's bottom lip wobbled the tiniest bit as he let her response sink in. Mixed feelings began to twist and turn inside his system, and it was obvious why. Because he in fact, had already guessed and, hoped from the start that she did want to help for no apparent reason. Just like how she last looked at him and left with sorrowful eyes.. how she kept it a secret and returned to see if he was still here.. and most of all, how she was standing right here and now, knowing all too clearly what he felt and was feeling, without judging him or ridiculing him to bits.
He could see well through her intentions, he wasn't stupid. Her words just now made it all much clearer. But why?—why she was willing to put up with him and help when it literally had no benefit on her side, he couldn't understand. Out of pity? To be the nice little good girl?
The red ruff sunk his teeth deep inside. Whatever it was, he had decided to play along with her little plan, didn't he? Because rather than disregarding or making fun of his agony like the others, she had chosen to stay around and understand his situation. Right now, that was clearly all that he craved. All that he needed and all that he never had. He had nothing more to lose and nowhere else to turn.
So if she was the only one willing to go this far to reach out to him at this dark-ridden forest, then he didn't care about anything else—any rules or judgment that he abandoned anyway. He was going to take her offer.
In slow order, Brick unfolded his arm gesture and spread them apart. "You got me," he conceded, positioning himself down on the log again.
"So, I might as well lay it on you, huh?" The ruff evaded her glance, not yet comfortable of what he was about to say next. He placed his elbows on his lap in deep thought. "I've been having these questions, Powerpuff. Questions of how 'being evil' might not really make sense to me sometimes... Weird, huh? For a villain to say this."
Through the end of his eye, Brick glimpsed at Blossom and caught her shaking her head and encouraging him to go on. Gaining some courage, the ruff surprisingly smiled a little.
"I'll be frank," he began, "I don't really remember the very first time we met. Yeah sure, I have fuzzy memories, the kiss and all-" Brick drawled, "-but the only reason I remember the details, is because HIM kept blathering about it."
"HIM?"
"Yup. After he 'brought us back to life' he always blubbered in his stupid speech how we were all destined to be evil and how it was what we always wanted and all that crap, to destroy you three."
Blossom drank in this information thoughtfully. So HIM played a role in this event, too. And he told the boys what it was like before their revival and how they felt rather than have them recall it themselves. It sounded as if…
"-It was as if he was trying to brainwash us or something."
"-It sounds as if he was trying to brainwash you."
The two stared at each other in amazement after they enumerated simultaneously.
"I know, right?! That was what I was thinking!" Brick turned to her excitedly. "And I always had that suspicion in mind I tell ya, especially every time he insisted to drug us with some fishy liquid."
"Drug you?!" Blossom's attention peaked.
"Yeah, there's this liquid he calls medicine. But I don't believe him. Well anyway-"
Before he knew it, words streamed out from his mouth like it was the easiest thing in the world. He told her about his weeks of intensive training in HIM's lair before he and his brothers reached the surface. And how every day after that, he would still force them through workouts though he sometimes let them have some temporary rest. Last but not least, he told her how the clawed-demon was always so squeamish in letting them out in the surface for too long, which is why they were only seen in the day time for just a short while.
Blossom found the ruff's story very credible. Come to think of it, if the Rowdyruff Boys were free to roam around above ground all the time, with other unlawful acts plaguing Townsville, the girls would have been tired out by their mischief already. But that wasn't the case. The boys always disappeared somewhere with HIM and came back some time after. And this time recently, they had been gone for a month!
"Say, weren't you guys gone for a month this time?" Blossom formed her contemplations to a question.
"Oh, yeah," Brick affirmed, "that was because HIM and Mojo made this useless pact to take turns being our parent for a month. It was HIM's turn just a while ago, now it's.. Mojo's turn…"
Blossom noticed Brick trailing off, and suggested for him, "So… he shunned you for being upset after you got attacked by a mob?"
"Uh, not exactly... The monkey-brain doesn't know anything about that. He just-" Brick hesitated as it kind of felt silly now. "Forgot." He let it out. "He forgot it was his turn to be our dad. And he didn't even apologize like we don't mean anything to him at all! We're just tools to him, like it is to that claw-head!"
Blossom felt her heart ache at his confession.
"That's… very unfortunate." The pink puff murmured sympathetically, acknowledging the hurt he must have felt; first when he was forgotten, and further when Mojo refused to apologize. For her next gesture, the pink girl searched the boy's gloomy expression and shifted over on the log to lessen the distance they had between them. "Mojo should have at least given you an apology. I'm sorry you had to go through that." The puff gently put her palm on his shoulder, making the boy momentarily shudder, but allow it at the end.
The shaken up Rowdyruff however, dodged eye contact with her again, unsure how to react to kindness and comfort such as this. He thought for sure that once he had a Powerpuff or anyone act 'nice' to him again, he would feel sick and blow chunks everywhere. Yet the warming feeling inside him completely debunked that prolonged assumption. Is this what he was missing in life? Is this what he believed for so long to be weak and pathetic? Then what was this amazing feeling of strength beating inside his heart? Did the Powerpuffs always cope with their life with this sense of mentality?
Watching him flounder in new emotions, Blossom could only simper pleasantly at her counterpart. It was all plainly noticeable how he had never really thanked anybody in his life. She placed her hand down beside him and went on with her more serious dialogue.
"Those people at the park, too. They shouldn't have lashed out on you like that for no reason. I'm sorry for doubting you."
Brick winced at her stinging remark, staring at his hands hanging on his lap uneasily. He knew what she said wasn't entirely true. And after the sincerity she bestowed on him earlier, something made him intuitively feel that he should tell her the truth.
"Actually…" he attempted slowly, "We did kind of… mug a dude."
Off at his side, Brick could see Blossom bump up one of her eyebrows.
"You what?"
The ruff pressed on nervously with a toothy smile. "And I uh… kind of did punch one of the kids first when they ganged up on us. Then everyone around got all butthurt about it and attacked us."
"Brick!"
"Well whaddya expect?" he flailed his arms defensively. "It was just for kicks, nothing serious! That's what we always did, ya know?"
The cross Powerpuff merely sighed and shook her head sideways. At least he was being honest about this.. and the citizens still should not have done what they did. But regardless, the Rowdyruff wasn't entirely off the hook.
"Not saying what the people did was a-okay, but you do at least realize why they were butthurt, right? You guys pushed those people around all the time, so you had to expect them to push back sometime."
Brick frowned as the edges of his lips sunk down along with his pupils. "Yeah, I guess."
"And you should know… the people there were injured pretty deeply. Physically and emotionally. Nobody deserved something like that, as you didn't either."
"…"
Hearing her, the red ruff stayed motionless staring off on the fruitless ground. Amidst his silence, he seemed to be recollecting his past actions. The Powerpuff peered over him intently, hoping he would link the situations together and feel the Townspeople's position. And thankfully, in a splendidly amazing process, the ruff closed his eyes and nodded to concede silently to her point. To the puff, that was a good enough answer for now.
"Thank you," she told him. "I know it mustn't have been easy."
She, in expanding content, diverted her glance from him and directed it to the sky. The stars were sparkling in tiny but brilliant hue.
"Look up at the stars," she said.
"What about it." The ruff mumbled sullenly. "I've seen it already."
The pink Powerpuff giggled at his mopey answer. "I know, but look again, silly."
At that, the Rowdyruff rolled his eyeballs, but complied with her request anyway. It in fact, was the same sky, though beautiful.
"You see them? They're pretty neat, right?" Blossom remarked in awe. "But they're all in different sizes, and depending on what kind of star they are, they send off a different color and intensity of light."
Brick scowled with little enthusiasm. "So? I don't get what the fuss is."
As she continued heartily, the Powerpuff girl's face shined bright from her surroundings; "What I'm saying is, it's you who can decide what kind of person you want to be, and what kind of light you want to emit. As a hero who fends for Townsville, I should probably tell you to become a good person, but honestly… you should be given the right to figure it out for yourself." The girl faced the boy with an encouraging smile. "I don't know what advice to give you in the current status you are right now, but… be true to who you are, instead of reflecting the light of someone else's. Those are not even called 'stars' in scientific terms. But keep in mind, there are a lot of people around you, just like the stars up there, who are also trying to make the best out of themselves, too. And if you choose to cross the line and become someone who hurts them," the girl winked at him slyly, "I'll have to kick your butt senseless."
During her bombardment of strange metaphors, Brick became befuddled to no end. Not at what she meant, but how she portrayed it. 'Stars?' 'Kind of light you want to emit?'
And the Powerpuff for a fact, was beaming at him expectantly. Before long, within her two pure doe-like orbs, the boy was swarming in a pool of glistening stars and the fervent flames of the fire. At its allurement, the Rowdyruff could almost feel his cheeks heating up... because of the flames, of course!
"You're such a nerd," he coughed out, reverting his gaze.
Her depictions were a bit too sappy for his taste, but it was to no question he appreciated it.
Be true to who you are, instead of reflecting the light of someone else's, huh? The keen boy knew all too well what she was referring to. But that advice was highly untenable at this point, unless…
Off the corner, the ruff pondered a few moments as he reached for something in the pocket of his pants. "I've got something to give you," he announced.
Give her?
Blossom lifted her head in curiosity. What Brick took out of his pocket was a small vial containing some questionable glowing liquid.
"Is that?"
"Yeah, this is the stuff."
Blossom stiffly took the liquid container when Brick handed it to her. She eyed him with uncertainty, "You want me to take this?"
"That's the idea, yeah?" Brick looked at her slightly annoyed from repeating. "I was gonna give it to monkey, but… you know what happened."
"Okay, but um, why?"
"Well…" the Rowdyruff rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought somebody might be able to go through the contents of that stupid thing and figure out what kind of jig HIM is pulling."
The Powerpuff looked at the vial, and then at the boy amazed. He had the consciousness to escape with this material from HIM's lair?
"You smuggled this all by yourself?" she asked in a haze.
"Uh, duh. I'm the only one able to get away by pulling that sort of shady trick. Even my brothers don't know. Those barf-bags don't even realize anything wrong is going on!"
Blossom nodded in understanding, restoring composure. "Right, I'll take this for safe keeping and see if it can be scanned." She tucked the contents safely in her dress pocket.
"Don't lose it." Brick growled in warning. "I went through loads of crap to get my hands on that darned thing!"
"I won't." The puff assured, "You must trust me a lot now, to entrust me with this thing right? I won't let that down."
Brick stiffened at her promise, and "hmph" was his answer that followed.
Whatever, it's just that he was smart enough to figure out that the puff was his best chance. Besides, by now he realized that his prior hatred towards the Powerpuffs was pretty stupid. Other than being annoying, they literally did nothing, really. That nasty red demon, he was the scoundrel behind this...
For a while, Brick and Blossom's exchange of words arrested, letting the wind of silence find its way back. That was until Blossom soon smirked over at him cheekily at a thought.
"But seriously, wow. You're quite the stealthy one aren't ya?"
The egotistic ruff for certain, could feel himself itching to boast at her compliment. Soon enough, the boy's lips curled up from her flattery.
"And savvy," he added in a whimsical manner. "What can I say, I was born this way, babe. Not even HIM can control that."
At his playful remark, Blossom simpered, then broke out in hearty laughter. For once, his mighty ego drew charming to her. Who knew? And Brick as well, glimpsing toothily at her honest reaction, also tagged along and chuckled in correspondence.
The lightening of the atmosphere seemed to cause the fire in front of them to soar up in liveliness. In time, the super beings who had their share of laugh settled their leftover gusts of joy, and exchanged pleasant glances.
"I can't believe we were able to get away with Bubbles' undercover last time when you are actually this shrewd," Blossom commented.
The ruff's eyebrows waggled a little dance. "Hah! You wish! I actually already knew what was going on!"
"Oh, did you?"
"No, duh! It was way too obvious! Don't know if Butch realized, but Boomer has a dumber voice than your sister. Gotta admit though, when she led us to your house and suddenly disappeared, I was confused and caught off guard for a moment seeing Boomer. Boy, do they look freakishly alike!"
"Yeah, we all look pretty similar." the puff agreed with a smile.
This was amazing. The way they were throwing playful banters at each other, how Brick looked excited to open up and share his story, how she got to know so much about his qualities… it was as if they both found a long lost friend, rather than being the enemies that they usually were.
"So, you actually made our sister believe you were fooled, then? Why? To find your brother?"
"Of course, isn't it obvious? And on another note, it was pretty darn amusing seeing her struggle in disguise."
Well, that was kind of mean, but Blossom let it pass. After all, even Bubbles admitted it was a fun experience that time.
"Then that means, you were worried for your brother, right? You care about those two."
Brick stopped in his playful manner to groan. Those idiots... "I guess you could say that."
"Maybe you could go back and let them know that? They might understand. Maybe even feel the same way."
"…"
"I'll help?" Blossom offered.
..Be true to who you are, instead of reflecting the light of someone else's.
Mulling over this pensively, Brick abruptly rose from his sitting. "Eh, maybe."
The ruff brooded off in space and noticed that the dim light in his cabin had completely extinguished. Curse that stupid oil lamp. Seems like there was no point in going back to that shabby place now.
Without a word, the ruff determinedly zipped towards the lodge and disappeared into its dark.
"Brick?" the confused puff called. But before she could hover over to check on him, Brick reappeared out of the entrance with broken furniture pieces in his hands.
"The fire's dyin'. Might as well make use of these, right? Since I won't need them anymore."
Instantly, the pink girl's face brightened in proud glee and relief. Seeing that, the boy also smirked at her in return.
The ruff flew over and the puff, too, helped him recover the faltering flames. Then, instead of sitting back on the log, the two supported their backs on the wood, returning to their chitchat.
Miraculously for the next few hours, the two conversed happily in front of the warm fire, under the twinkling watch of the stars. And as the night slowly grew older, and calming sleepiness befell among them, the puff was the first to doze off and lean her head against the boy's shoulder. The boy, after some sleepy attempts of his own to shake her awake, gave up and let her sleep, laying his own head comfortably on hers alike.
The stirring and whirs of the cool wind could no longer intrude their space of radiating warmth.
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From afar, in the middle of nowhere, the exact visual of the two snoozing children filled the screen of an upside-down TV set floating in mid-air. Raging images of bloody hellfire and indistinct blurry voices in the distance revealed it to be the underworld. That instant, the screen at hand instantly gave way to static as a red demon-like presence smoldered in resentment on his armchair at the sight of it.
"Well, well," he sizzled in a dark voice. "Looks like I've let you have your freedom for too long, now haven't I?"
The red demon chuckled menacingly and gathered his large pincers together. "I should have known this was inevitable. Enjoy it while it lasts, child."
Breaking off to an ear-to-ear grin, the dreadful ambience of the realm boomed entirely with his new arrays of evil hysterical laughter.
"AHA-AHAHA-AHAHAHAHAHA!"
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A/N: Welp, HIM found out. That can't be good.
And what ever happened to Buttercup and Bubbles? See you later folks! ;)