This was a very intense situation, and it seemed that none of the five superpowered kids knew what to say for a brief few seconds. But being the leader and feeling somewhat responsible, Brick thought he should speak up. "Blossom. I can-"
"No Brick" Bubbles stopped him softly. "Don't you take any heat for me."
That moment Buttercup had flown up beside Blossom after looking for her for the past 15 minutes. "Ah Blossom there you are, I've been looking-, what are you staring at?" The green Powerpuff then saw herself. "There's the boys! And, Bubbles is standing with them?"
"Bubbles is with them Buttercup" Blossom explained.
"What? You're kidding right? I mean there's no way Bubbs would ever join those little, little-" Buttercup trailed off, looking back at her 'younger' sister, realising she was serious. "You, actually have."
"I haven't actually quote unquote 'joined' the boys" Bubbles countered. "I've just, well-"
"You've been conversing with them" Blossom pointed. She wasn't even angry, she was still more or less in a state of shock. "Did you meet up with them today? And try to distract us from arresting them?"
"I, met them quite a while ago, actually" Bubbles responded shyly.
"How long?" Blossom questioned.
"Well, you know all those months ago when I went on that school field trip to Founders city?" The blonde rubbed the back of her head.
"Since then?" shot Buttercup.
"I saw a building on fire, and when I flew to help I saw Boomer fly out with a baby, that he was rescuing. He didn't even know I was there! He was just as shocked to see me as I him. And he didn't even want to talk to me at first, Brick specifically had a face to face talk with me asking to be left alone. They did not want to get involved in anything! And that was before they became heroes!"
Bubbles tried to get this across to them, but her sisters still wouldn't budge. "Probably because they were still plotting" figured Buttercup.
"What? No-"
"I-it must be" Blossom said, still trying to wrap her head around this. "Y-you must've caught them doing something, and they had to go along with it!"
"They were living on the street scrounging for food, because they had given up stealing! They didn't even want Mrs Innlost to adopt them at first-"
"You knew them before Mrs Innlost?" said Buttercup.
"Well, see, that proves it, being adopted by her would've set back their plans. Until they decided to use Mrs Innlost of course" accused Blossom.
"Is she actually suggesting that we're using mom?" Butch whispered quite offended at that.
"Butch be quiet" Brick whispered back.
Bubbles was herself now in a state of disbelief. Even with all this evidence being given to her, Blossom would still not budge on the topic, or even admit that maybe there was a chance that she was wrong.
"Girls don't you see? I chose to visit them, I even brought them food sometimes, and I swear, they were just living in a warehouse not doing anything other than surviving until they were adopted! If they were planning something, why would they wait this long to do it?"
Blossom didn't answer her sister's question however, instead asking her own. "You've been secretly visiting them? Is that where you were actually going all this time? To meet with them?"
It made sense now. She never paid attention to it before, but whenever the boys would come up in conversation, Bubbles would always suggest that they weren't evil, or that their 'turned a new leaf' charade was genuine. The pink Powerpuff always thought it was just Bubbles being naive or trying to see the best in everyone.
In truth, Blossom felt betrayed. She would never expect one of her own sisters whom she fought alongside to go against her like that. If they ever would, she always thought it'd be Buttercup who she'd have a problem with, not Bubbles. Why didn't she suspect it? Didn't she think that Bubbles was capable of this? And now look, she's been brainwashed by the enemy. She had to get her away from them.
"Bubbles, you are coming over here, right now." The Powerpuff leader ordered.
"But you're gonna hurt the boys!" her sister protested.
"I said, with me. Right. Now."
Bubbles paused, then just simply stated "No."
She folded her arms. "I won't let you hurt three innocent people. Three innocent people who have family, and are trying to help us."
Blossom couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't want to do this, but she had to resort to drastic measures to save her sister. "Bubbles forgive me for this, but it's for your own good." Drawing in air she blew out her ice breath straight at Bubbles before the blonde puff could even react. Her sister was now frozen solid, and was caught by Buttercup mid air before she could fall.
"Bubbles!" all three boys exclaimed.
"A bit harsh wasn't it?" Buttercup commented holding the frozen Bubbles.
"It was to help her" Blossom stated and turned back to the boys breathing another gust of ice breath at them. They saw this.
"Boys, spin attack!" Brick ordered quickly. The three ruffs then spun around on the spot, so fast that it generated enough heat to melt the ice breath before it could hit them.
Blossom opened her eyes and saw that it had failed. So she turned to Buttercup and commanded "Put Bubbles down on that building, she'll eventually melt. Then go after Butch."
The green puff, not wanting to argue with Blossom this angry, put Bubbles down on the nearest rooftop.
"Butch, run" Brick ordered hearing what his counterpart said. The Rowdyruff nodded and zoomed off.
"What about these two?" Buttercup asked pointing to Boomer and Brick.
"I'll handle them."
"You sure?"
"Sure, now go!"
Buttercup flew off too, pursuing the other Rowdyruff, leaving the three remaining chemical X users to their stand off.
"What do we do now Brick?" Boomer whispered very worriedly.
"Follow me" he ordered as he sped off, Boomer following him.
"Get back here" Blossom chased after them, very clear anger in her voice.
Flying alongside each other at high speed, Brick knew if he said anything to Boomer, Blossom would hear it with her super hearing. So instead he tapped his brother on the shoulder, and used sign language, which they had learned since they thought it'd be helpful for crime fighting. Boomer saw and nodded.
He parted from Brick and zig zagged inbetween buildings. The ruff leader then quickly cut across Blossom so she couldn't see where Boomer was going. "Wha-, hey!" she yelled turning to Brick who was a few feet away from her. "He's not getting to Bubbles if that's what you're planning!"
"Bubbles will be fine Blossom, though I doubt she'll be very happy with you once she thaws."
"You brainwashed her! How dare you use my own sister against me."
"At this rate, you're turning her against you" Brick countered.
Blossom studied her counterpart. Though his mannerisms were completely different, he didn't seem to have changed much physically. Apart from having short hair again, and perhaps an inch taller, he was the same as when they last met. So maybe if she played this right, she could defeat him.
Brick did not want to fight Blossom at all. This whole thing was just a waste of time from what he should be really doing. And if people saw him fighting her, they would instantly take her side. The media would spin it anyway they could to make it seem like he was the bad guy, regardless of facts. He had to lose her in a non violent way.
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Meanwhile, Butch was pretty much back at square one with Buttercup, trying to lose her through the city. He groaned. "Ugh, I thought we already did this?"
"Well if you kindly gave yourself up, it would be over wouldn't it" Buttercup heard him.
"What's your problem? Why is it so hard to admit that we're not the bad guys you think we are anymore?" Butch challenged.
"Probably because you are evil! You manipulated Bubbles into siding with you!" accused Buttercup.
"Oh yeah, we managed to manipulate her after one day, then let her go straight back to tell you all about us" the ruff mocked sarcastically. "After all those months of visiting us, and you don't think she would've suspected anything? Tell me Butter brain, do you believe everything you read? Do you genuinely believe we're bad? Or do you just listen to everything the news says about us? That you only hate us because it's trendy and popular to?" Butch finished and Buttercup didn't have any response to that.
Just then an explosion went off at a nearby bank, setting it on fire, making both the ruff and puff stop midair. It seemed that some criminals took advantage of the girls and police being distracted. Buttercup knew she should continue chasing after Butch, but innocent citizens could get hurt in that fire. "Aaah" she moaned and zipped down to the bank.
Butch turned and noticed this as well. At first he was glad at this distraction, and figured that his counterpart would help those people as she of course did. But then he considered the people inside. They could get hurt, or Buttercup might not be able to catch the thieves if she was busy saving the people. Rolling his eyes he flew down to the bank as well.
Entering the bank, Buttercup saw three robbers holding up the staff and taking money out of the destroyed vault. "Hold it right there!" she demanded.
The robbers looked at her. "I thought you said them girls was busy?" said one to another.
"Well there's only one of 'em it seems, and she ain't gonna 'ave the chance to catch us." One of them lit a stick of dynamite and threw it up into the broken ceiling, right above the kneeling citizens, and it exploded.
Buttercup gasped and sped to the broken ceiling, holding it up so it wouldn't collapse on the citizens.
The fire spread and the robbers ran out the front door. "Can't, hold, it, all," the Powerpuff struggled to hold the entirety of the ceiling up. But then she heard three punch sounds and all the robbers flew back into the building unconscious.
Butch floated inside and made sure the thieves were tied up and threw them back out. By now the sprinklers had come on, but Butch ripped off the pipe and used it as a hose to put out the flames. "Go!" he yelled to the citizens and staff. They didn't care that it was a Rowdyruff saving them, they just wanted to get out.
"Wha-, what are you doing?" Buttercup had seen what he had done, but before she could say anything else, the whole ceiling collapsed on her, trapping her underneath.
Butch immediately flew down and began lifting the rubble as high as he could. Enough for Buttercup to get out at least. She coughed and tried to get up. "Why, why are you helping me?"
"Do you wanna live or not?" he strained.
Looking up, the Powerpuff flew and knocked the rubble upwards with her shoulder slightly, and both chemical X users sped out before it collapsed again. Taking a few breaths, and turning to see that the civilians were okay, Buttercup had a multiple of questions she wanted to ask.
Her counterpart was still floating beside her, and she asked him "Why'd you come back? Why did you help me with that?" she said between breaths. "You could've easily have gotten away from me just now."
"Look, for what it's worth, I didn't do it for you, I did it because innocent people were in danger" he answered.
"Since when did you care about innocent people?" the puff questioned.
"Ever since I realised I can achieve a lot more helping them than hurting them. If I was planning something, then I could've escaped from you just now and have carried it out. But I'm not. And I wouldn't have come here with a ridiculous story like 'three other super powered girls' if it wasn't true. And as much as I really want to smack and punch you right now, it wouldn't be, as Brick said, productive."
Buttercup then began thinking. It did seem a bit strange how he didn't want to fight her. And she did think freezing Bubbles was a bit harsh.
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Still being pursued by Blossom, Brick saw in the distance a burning building. The same bank Buttercup and Butch had saved.
The reds had seen it was taken care of though, and Blossom continued to chase him. Getting an idea, Brick put a breathing device in his mouth from his belt, and flew in circles around the fire, the Powerpuff on his tail.
After a while, Blossom began to cough, and stopped chasing the ruff. Now away from the fire, Brick removed the breathing device. "Being around carbon monoxide for too long whilst flying, not a good idea. Don't worry, it wasn't long enough to seriously affect you."
"How did you, 'cough', know about-, ' cough cough', ah it doesn't matter. I'm still bringing you in."
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Boomer flew into the Utonium household, where Brick had told him to go, and called out "Mom! Mom! Professor!"
"Boomer!" Wendy and the Professor came into the room. "What's happening? We came back and saw that the girls were gone."
"Boomer?" This was the first time the Professor, in awhile at least, had met the ruff in person.
"Hi again Mr Utonium. Mom, the Townsville police chief has been attacked, and the girls think it's us who did it!" Boomer told her.
"Oh no, it must've been those other super powered kids. I have to contact the girls somehow" worried the Professor. "Girls!" he called out, hoping they would hear him with their super hearing. "Girls!" Nothing. "I'll call the line to the mayor's office, see if they can get them."
As soon as the Professor left the room, Boomer asked his mother. "What are we gonna do mom?"
"I'll speak to Brick" Wendy inserted an earpiece in her ear.
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"Brick you there?"
"Mom? So Boomer made it" the ruff answered, still speeding across the city's skyline.
"What happened Brick?"
"Mom, Blossom's attacking me. Butch is trying to lose Buttercup, and Blossom froze up Bubbles when she found out she was meeting with us."
"She did what?"
"She thinks it's for her own good. Boomer will fill you in. But for now I'm trying to beat Blossom without actually fighting her. If anyone sees me in battle with her-"
"They'll think you're the bad guy. Okay Brick listen, I've come up with a few plans just in case of a scenario like this. Here's what you need to do." Wendy then explained everything to Brick on how to battle Blossom without actually laying a stub on her.
"Got it mom, thanks." The Rowdyruff got off the comm, and his opponent then once again came face to face with him.
"I've had enough of playing cat and mouse Brick! Perhaps it's time for a different approach."
"I agree, that's probably what Bubbles thought when she got fed up of you" Brick said in a bored tone.
"She what? Don't you dare talk to me about Bubbles-"
"Perhaps it wasn't her being fed up, but instead being afraid. Do you always freeze her when she has a different opinion to you?" the ruff mocked still maintaining the same bored tone of voice.
"No! It was to get her away from you!" the Powerpuff fired some of her heat vision at him but he dodged it easily.
The Rowdyruff continued. "Bare in mind, it probably won't just be Bubbles who'll start preferring us to you. I've seen your work in Townsville recently. Slipping up a bit aren't you? I wonder what the people must think of that-"
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Blossom dart at him, and again he dodged her attack, and led her into another chase. "It wouldn't do for Townsville's citizens if their protector was wrong."
"Oh I definitely wasn't wrong about you. You attacked the police chief and robbed our national bank!" the puff yelled.
"Even though most officers in Founders gave statements otherwise? Honestly Blossom, can't you even admit you're wrong?"
"I'm not wrong!" The supergirl was becoming furious now, and tried to hit Brick. She felt so many things at this time, and was ruled by her emotions. Anger, frustration, and most of all the fear of him being right about Bubbles.
Brick kept a clear head however, and did not let any emotion cloud his judgement, avoiding her attacks with ease. He countered most of them, but she got lucky with one blow and knocked him down to the street.
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On top the nearby roof where the confrontation with Bubbles took place, Boomer had found where they left the frozen Powerpuff who was by now slowly melting, and thawed her out completely with his heat vision.
Falling to the floor in a pool of water, Bubbles breathed and looked around confused. "Boomie? What? What happened? Wait, I remember. Blossom, she froze me. She actually froze me."
She put her hands on her head. Once again a state of disbelief overcame her. She never thought Blossom would do something like that. Never.
The Rowdyruff flew down by her side and put his arm around her. She was shaking slightly, and looked very distressed. "Are you alright? Do you want to rest for a bit or find my brothers?"
Bubbles leaned against him slightly holding him close, and replied "No I'm, I'm okay, we gotta find your brothers and my sisters, and quickly."
"Mom gave me the last location of Brick, let's go." The children zoomed off to that very location, and using their super hearing, they found the reds down on the street, Blossom currently standing over Brick.
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"Give it up Brick, it's over now" demanded Blossom, having been all worked up.
"Blossom wait!" a high pitched voice came from above and she turned to see the blues arrive.
"Bubbles? So that's where Boomer went."
"Okay Blossom, just please listen to me" pleaded the blonde puff sounding desperate.
"Do you still honestly believe that the Rowdyruffs have changed?" argued the pink puff.
"I think, she's right Bloss" another voice, Buttercup's voice, came from behind her. Both the greens had just come back from saving the bank.
"Buttercup? Oh no, not you too?"
"Look sis, I know we were both dead sure about them still being evil. But, as much as I hate to say it, Butch here helped me out of a burning fire, after saving some folks, and it does seem a bit unlikely how they don't want to fight us."
"Well don't you see it's a trick!"
"Blossom, I think we were wrong" Buttercup finished.
This could not be happening. Not both her sisters. Well, if she couldn't convince them, she instead turned to the cops, who had just arrived behind them. "You, cops! You've been ordered to arrest the Rowdyruffs, well there's one now!" she pointed at Brick, and the officers ran in front of the citizens and fired their guns at the boy.
They didn't affect him of course, and Brick flew further down the street away from them, Blossom in pursuit.
The police then turned to Boomer and Butch, but before they could shoot at them, the two girls beside them flew in front, shielding them. "Officers" began Bubbles. "Let us explain."
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Brick, still being chased, decided it was time to end this. He flew up into the sky, and with both the sun, and her fury blinding Blossom, he appeared out of nowhere and knocked her straight down to the ground with one incredible punch.
She fell directly down on the concrete, on the steps of city hall, dazed and beaten. Brick floated down to the steps.
Her head in a mess, the pink puff could barely stand. "How? How did you-"
"I'm sorry Blossom, but I had to get you out of my hair somehow. And I really didn't want to fight you. I taunted you and made you become emotional, letting your emotions cloud your judgement, causing you to fight carelessly. And once you couldn't get your sisters on your side, you resorted to getting the nearest thugs, the Townsville cops, to do the dirty work for you. In short, I took jabs at your femininity. Now if you'll excuse me, I have your hides to save." Brick turned and began floating away.
The Powerpuff growled trying to stand. "Come back here and fight, you coward."
"For the last time, I'm not going to fight you Blossom! You're not worth it" he said over his shoulder. He turned back and shook his head, continuing to float away, saying the next part to himself. "And I'm going to kick myself for taking this long to realise you never were."
For a second, both the reds thought this was it, that this was the end of it. That Blossom had lost the battle. Until police sirens appeared from nearly every direction. They had been watching the reds battle for a while, but now they could finally intervene.
Behind the cops were a crowd of Townsville citizens. And the only thing they saw was Brick, and a beaten Blossom. To the cops and the townsfolk, they thought they had the whole story.
"Mr Brick Jojo, you're coming with us" a police officer announced from a megaphone.
"Let me explain-" Brick tried to say but his counterpart cut him off.
"Arrest him officers!" Blossom managed to float up. "Him and his brothers."
The blues and greens, along with the cops who were with them arrived at that point too. And on hearing Blossom's order, they pointed their guns at the other two ruffs.
The people of Townsville started to jeer at the boys.
"They should've never come back!"
"They haven't changed at all!"
"Send 'em down the river!"
"You can't trust them at all!"
Tensions were high, and the worst part was, the boys couldn't escape from this. Physically they could, but they knew if they ran away now, that would only make it look like they were guilty.
The big confrontation between the two, well mostly Blossom and Brick, but even then it doesn't seem that the boys have had much luck coming back to Townsville, and still haven't tracked down those 'other' chemical X kids and their boss Ian. And now how will they get out of this.
To Neo Tastsuji aka Zeta master, Bliss I'm afraid won't appear in this, as obviously I thought of this story before she was introduced, but thanks for the review.
And thanks to guest, Vip189 and John.
Powerpuff girls and Rowdyruff boys belong to CN.
