Allies and Rivals II
Chapter 2 - Alliance Proposed
The City of Townsville, and the three newest superheroes are walking towards home from their first day of school.
"No wonder all these people are idiots!" Brick commented. "The schools here teach nothing new! Every six year old knows that Lee surrendered at Appomattox, yet they don't even know of the Civil War!"
"Aw, you're so smart that you already know that," Mike said. Mike and Mitch are with the boys walking home, since their house happens to be on the same street.
"You mean that kids our age don't know that we have three branches of government?" Brick asked.
"Or that the boiling point of water is 212 degrees Farenheit?" Boomer asked.
"Or any number multiplied by zero is zero?" Butch asked.
"Wow, you guys are so smart?" Mike asserted. "I don't know any of those things, and neither does any other six-year-old kids, so could you teach me all those things?"
"Wait a minute, how did you know all these things?" asked Mitch.
"Dad taught us," Butch simply said. "He said that we should be smarter than anyone else, especially the Powerpuff Girls."
"And the money for it doesn't hurt either," said Brick.
"You get money for studying?" asked Mitch.
"Sure," Boomer began. "It goes like this. Dad would ask questions out of the blue on topics like Science, History, Math, English and stuff, and we would get a dollar for each question answered. He then would give a lecture on each subject, then would ask another round of questions. If we answered it, we would get three quarters. If not, the one who didn't answer will do the days chores. He would then give us an hour to read some books about the topic he thought us, then ask more questions, and if we answered it correctly…"
"We would get fifty cents," Butch continued. "And he would do this everyday. At first, we didn't answer most questions, but as time went on, we asked Dad the topic he would ask, and we would study our brains out the night before. That way, we would almost always answer a total of at least ten dollars for each session."
"And we don't get any allowance or any kind like that," said Brick. "Almost all our money comes from those question and answer sessions. We're smart because of it, so it's worth it, even if I have to cram for it! Because he deducts a quarter for every questioned unanswered."
"How long have you been doing this?" asked Mitch.
"Since the start of July," Butch offhandedly said.
"No wonder you're so smart," Mike commended.
"And your Dad sure made studying pay-literally," Mitch said.
"Not to mention all those knowledge," Mike said. "Oh here's my house. See you tomorrow."
Mike then darted towards his house.
"Hope you don't brag 'bout this, you might look like a nerd or geek, y'know," Mitch said.
"Don't worry. We ain't gonna be goody two shoes like those Powerpuff Girls," Butch said. "We're tough, and we're gonna show it!"
"And smart too," Brick added. "No matter how smart we are, we're never look like nerds! Besides, you won't tell anybody else, right?"
"Of course not!" Mitch said. "You're too cool! And I can't wait to see the look on Blossom's face when she finds out she's not the smartest one around. Well, see you tomorrow."
Mitch Mitchellson went home with a big evil happy grin on his face.
The boys continued home.
"Hi boys," Dr. Edwards said as soon as they arrived home. "Are you guys busy this afternoon?"
"Not really," said Brick.
"Good," said the doctor. "I've got something to show you in my lab."
"Wow! A present?" asked Boomer enthusiastically.
"Well, it's close!" the doctor said. "Now, how was your first day of school?"
"Well, it's not that bad," Brick replied. "I don't know what's the fuss is about it being hard! Heck, I could pass it with my eyes close! Hell, it's harder for Mojo to rant repeatedly again and again that it is for me to pass, and I'm sure it's the same for my brothers, right?"
"Well, I think so," Boomer said. "Science is no problem, but the others might be a kind of challenge."
"It's all easy!" boasted Butch.
"Well, it might be easy for you, but not to your classmates," said Dr. Edwards. "And without your special lessons from me, our classmates would be just as smart as you!"
"Yeah, I guess," said Brick. "And guess what? Those powerpuffs are our classmates!"
"Yeah," said Butch with disgust. "And their leader ratted on the entire class!"
"The girls aren't so bad, boys," the doctor said. "Besides, you already forgave them. There's nothing to be pissed about. Maybe you can be friends with them?"
"Dad, forgiving is one thing, but forgetting is a completely different matter," Butch exclaimed. "We rather be chummy with Mojo than be friends with one of the girls!"
"Boys, you shouldn't have that attitude towards the girls!" Dr. Edwards said. "Sure, you suffered because of them, but that's in the past. Besides, it isn't healthy for you to hold grudges. Anyway, did you make any friends today?"
"Well, they're not really friends, but they're close enough!" Boomer declared.
"Who are they?"
"Well, Mitch Mitchellson, and Mike Believe!" said Brick. "They're really cool, though not as cool as us!"
"Glad you have made some friends. I was worried that with your attitude, you wouldn't be able to make any," Dr. Edwards said as they entered the doctor's lab.
Then, without warning, Dr. Edwards wore black shades and threw a ball the size of a large marble on the floor.
Suddenly, all the boys could see was white, and they closed their eyes and put their hands in front of their close eyes.
"Can't see!" said Boomer.
"Yeah, where did that bright light come from!" Butch whined.
"My eyes! We're being attacked! Protect Dad!" Brick panicked.
Dr. Edwards took from his pocket three similar shades to which he was wearing and carefully put one of them in Brick's eyes.
"Brick," he whispered. "You can open your eyes now."
"But Dad, the light's too bright!" replied the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys.
"Trust me," said Dr. Edwards.
"Okay," said Brick, and he carefully opened his eyes. It was a bit bright, but only as bright as the noon of a clear day in summer. He first saw his brothers with their eyes closed, and he observed his Dad looking at him with those dark glasses on. He then saw a small ball giving off a tremendous light.
"That, my son, is the sunball. It's my latest invention," said Dr. Edwards.
He then picked it up and pressed a button, and suddenly, all the bright light disappeared.
"If you press this button and throw it in the ground, it would give an intense light that would force all those within a radius of one hundred feet to close their eyes or be blinded. Except of course if you are wearing my special shades, which I also invented. Butch, Boomer, you can also open your eyes now!"
Butch and Boomer opened their eyes.
"You could've at least warned us!" Butch complained.
"Yeah Dad! I was nearly blinded," Boomer added. "But that sunball is cool!"
"Now, wear your glasses," he said, distributing special dark glasses to his sons.
They wore it. What they saw is just like what anybody would see with ordinary shades.
"Brick, would you do the honors," Dr. Edwards said, giving the marble sized sunball to the red-haired ruff.
Brick then threw it in the floor after pressing the single solitary button on the sunball and threw it into the floor. In a second, there was a bright light, but with the shades, it was just like an ordinary summer day. They could see the room as if they didn't wear any shades.
"Wow! With this baby, we won't have to worry about losing again," Butch declared.
"Not really. The light would only last five minutes, and it would have to be recharged for two hours for it to be used again. The good news is, it could be recharged by the sun," Dr. Edwards said.
Soon, the ball's light faded and the light around the lab returned to normal.
"But Dad, there's not yet five minutes," said Boomer.
"Well, if you added the minutes when I surprised you the first time, then it would be exactly five minutes," their father replied. He then gave the sunball to Brick. "You're the leader. I'm giving you the responsibility to decide when and not to use it. Use it only when necessary and use it wisely."
"Yes Dad," said Brick.
"And remember, don't tell anybody else about this weapon, especially the Powerpuff Girls, or else!" Dr. Edwards warned.
The boys gulped at their father's sudden change of tone.
"Good," said Dr. Edwards. "Now you go play or do whatever six year olds normally do. And don't forget the Q&A session before dinner!"
"Yes Dad," said the three boys as they went outside the lab and into the house.
Meanwhile…
"An alliance?" Buttercup sceptically asked. "Are you guys sane? Even if you're right Blossom, I don't think they would want one. I mean after what happened last week, I don't think those jerks would want to join us!"
"Yeah, but that wouldn't deter us!" Blossom confidently declared. "We would negotiate with them the terms of a proposed alliance!"
"With what?" said Buttercup. "We don't have any cards to deal with them! Basically any negotiating that we'll be doing will be tantamount to begging for the scraps!"
"No you're wrong," Bubbles added. "I'm sure Blossom can think of something."
"And whatever you say, we need an alliance to survive as superheroes!" Blossom declared. "And don't worry. Before the week is over, we'll be working together with the boys with me as leader!"
"Ha, you wish!" Buttercup said.
Later…
"Professor, I know I'm grounded for two months, but could I go to the boys' house?" Blossom asked the Professor as he was watching a game.
"HE WAS SAFE!" the Professor shouted, not even listening to Blossom. "DID YOU SEE THAT! I SWEAR THAT UMPIRE WAS BLIND. What's that Blossom? Sure, yes, whatever you say. THAT WASN'T OUT, IT WAS SAFE, THEY SHOULD HAVE FIRED THE UMPIRE!"
"Thanks Professor," said Blossom.
"You're welcome! HE SHOULD'VE BEEN SAFE!"
A few minutes later, when the game was over on TV...
"Hi Bubbles, hi Buttercup," the Professor greeted. "Where's Blossom?"
"She went to Dr. Edwards' house," Buttercup declared.
"SHE WHAT! I thought I told her she was grounded for two months! And according to the calendar, it's a lot less days before October 29!" the Professor ranted.
"But Professor, you just gave her permission," Bubbles said.
"I did? I don't remember giving any permission to Blossom," said the Professor.
"Well, we got proof!" Buttercup said. "Show him Bubbles!"
Bubbles then grabbed a videotape and put it in the VCR. It showed the Professor watching his game on TV and Blossom asking permission and the Professor giving her his "consent."
"Well I'll be," said the Professor after watching the videotape. "By the way girls, where did you get the camcorder."
The girls just giggled.
Meanwhile…
"Well, here it is!" said Blossom. "I hope I do fine!"
She knocked on the door.
Dr. Edwards opened the door. "Hi Blossom! What brings you here?"
"Um, could I see the boys, specifically Brick," said Blossom.
"Brick, you girlfriend, Blossom, is here to see you!" the doctor shouted, laughing afterwards, teasing both his son and Blossom.
"Doctor!" said Blossom, her cheeks flushing red. "I'm not his girlfriend!"
Meanwhile, upstairs…
The boys were playing with their toys when they heard their father call them, er, Brick.
"Brick, your girlfriend is here to see you!" they heard their Dad say.
"So Blossom is Brick's girlfriend!" teased Butch.
"Brick and Blossom, sitting under the tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Boomer started singing.
"You two shut up! She is not my girlfriend," Brick shouted, his cheeks red and absolutely furious with his father.
"Dad, she is definitely not my girlfriend!" Brick shouted as he stormed down the stairs.
"I'm sorry, Blossom, Brick, I was just teasing," said their father.
"What do you want, girl?" Bricked asked.
"Brick, the name is Blossom. I came here to make a very important proposition," Blossom began. "I would like to propose that you join us in an alliance so you could have the honor of being part of the Powerpuff team and the privilege of serving under my leadership!"
"The nerve! The nerve of that girl, barging here around and demanding we join them and accept her as leader!" Boomer whispered to Butch. Both of them are listening, though both leaders didn't know it.
"Yeah Boomer," Butch replied. "I second it. That girl has some nerve! Brick must not give in to that girl or leader or no leader, that Brick is going to get some serious ass kicking after this."
"Yeah, I'd rather watch the aquarium channel than follow that girl's orders!" Boomer concurred. "An alliance is okay, but I won't follow accept Blossom as leader! I don't know how Brick could stand her!"
"Hey, as Dad said, she's his girlfriend!" Butch joked, and they both laughed and soon, both were rolling on the floor. "And correction, the only thing scarier than having an alliance with the Powerpuff Girls is having Blossom as leader."
Both laughed again.
"No seriously, an alliance with the girls is OK with me as long as Brick and not Blossom is the leader!" Boomer declared. "Besides, her sisters are much more bearable than Blossom, especially Bubbles."
"You mean after what they've done, you can still stand them?" Butch asked incredulously. "You're the one who heard from that monster all about his alliance with the girls! How could you even stand them all?"
"You forgave them!" Boomer said in reply.
"Correction! Brick forgave them. And yes, I forgave them, but as Brick suggested, I only forgave her because it's in our self-interest to do so! And answer my question!"
"Okay, okay, it was all Blossom's fault!" Boomer defended. "She's the one who led her sisters and they just followed her. Bubbles thought we weren't evil. She never laid a hand on me and Brick. So I'm not sore at her, and I can stand working with Bubbles, though don't get me wrong, she and I are not friends!"
"Nah, let Brick decide it!" Butch said. "Let's just listen to the two."
So the two brothers listened to the conversation between Brick and Blossom.
Brick was not irritated by Blossom's demand. In fact he was amused by her audacity.
"Very interesting proposition," replied the red ruff with dripping sarcasm, "I would certainly be delighted that we would serve under such darling heroic superheroes!"
"Really?" said Blossom, the sarcasm totally lost on her.
"Fat chance!" Brick acidly replied. "However, if you accept my conditions, you could have your precious little alliance!"
Blossom's face fell, but it brightened when Brick dangled the possibility. "Okay, let's hear it!"
"In such an alliance, I, Brick Edwards, should be the leader, not you. And as such, I should have full command of each of your sisters. You shall remain leader of the Powerpuff Girls, but I shall have direct authority over Bubbles and Buttercup. You shall be my subordinate, my second in command so to speak, but you shall have no authority whatsoever over Butch and Boomer. And any orders you make towards your sisters can be overruled by me. There are my conditions, now do you accept?"
"I certainly will not!" Blossom indignantly replied. "I should be the leader, not you. I accept it if I'm the leader, not you!"
"And why is that so?" asked Brick.
"Because I'm a better leader than you!" Blossom declared with as much pomp as she could.
"No, you're not, I am!" Brick replied.
"You're not!" Blossom said.
"Are to!"
"Are not!"
"Are to!"
"Are not!"
"Prove it!" Brick finally shouted.
"Sure. With pleasure," Blossom replied. "I am the leader of the Powerpuff Girls, the greatest superhero team Townsville ever had, has, and will have! I've led my sisters on many life-threatening missions to save Townsville from many threats, and that includes you and your brothers once," Blossom emphasizing that fact, "and stopped countless villains from repeatedly destroying Townsville. We're considered heroes by the people of Townsville, and they love us. We're the protectors of Townsville. And none of this would be possible if it were not for my strategic plans, my brilliant tactics and of course my inspired leadership!"
'She is so full of herself,' Brick thought, though he continued to listen to every word of the Powerpuff leader.
"And," Blossom continued, "you are only new, and we've been here for a year, so we're far more experienced than you in the ways of being a superhero. So under my leadership, if you and your brothers follow each and every one of my orders and obey my instructions, you in time would be as good as us! Just act like obedient puppies, you'd be fine."
Brick was infuriated by Blossom's last remark, but calmed himself down. "Well, you failed to account for your failures! A leader should always bring his team success, while you have failed many times."
"I have never failed at anything!" Blossom declared.
"Really. Then what do you call the time you stole a pair of golf clubs for your father and got community service? Or that time when you fought that monster, and all your tactical plans proved useless because Bubbles just asked it to leave, and it left, and let's not forget our third fight since we're resurrected by Dad. Oh yes, you bungled that up!"
"We've already discussed that one before, Brick, and you already forgave us!" Blossom said.
"Oh yes I did, we forgave you. But I'm not talking about forgiveness here, Blossom. I'm talking about the level of competence of your leadership, or lack of it, at that time. Hm, if you're such a spectacular success, you wouldn't need to ask for this!"
"Why you!" Blossom said, gritting her teeth. "You must know that I'm not perfect. Because of my many decisions, I'm bound to make a mistake! And that's what's not important! As if you hadn't made stupid mistakes before. The important thing is that you learned from it, and you've corrected it, just like I did after that big mistake I just did!"
"Oh, so you admit you're not Little Miss Perfect anymore, Little Miss Utonium. That is news! Stop the presses! I have a surprising, shocking announcement! Print it in bold big letters, BLOSSOM HAS ADMITTED TO NOT BEING PERFECT! FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!" Brick shouted with relish, enjoying the look of annoyance on his counterpart's face.
"Very not funny," said Blossom.
"Yes it is!" Brick insisted, snickering.
"No it is not!" Blossom said, backing away to the wall.
"Hey, you're shoes untied!" Brick suddenly said.
"Oh," Blossom replied, then bent down to tie her shoes, conveniently forgetting you can't bend down while lying flat against the wall. She lost her balanced and fell to the floor.
"You fell for the lamest joke in the world. I was wrong," Brick said, "you are perfect, a perfect…" but whatever he was going to say was lost in laughter.
Brick collapsed in laughter. Not that it was particularly funny by itself, but by the level of annoyance he detected in Blossom.
"That's a good one, Brick!" Boomer shouted from the next room, and both Butch and Boomer was heard laughing from the next room.
Blossom was embarrassed, and sweating. "Stop it!" she shouted as she righted herself. "It's not funny! I'm not that perfect!"
"Stop it, don't say anything, can't breath, so funny!" Brick said, laughing so hard.
"Ooooh! Brick, you and you're brothers are nothing but brain dead idiots!" she shouted, and left the room, fuming. "And you can keep your alliance! We certainly don't need it!" she shouted, conveniently forgetting that she and her sisters were the one who needed the alliance.
The boys' laughter just increased.
She resisted the temptation to pull her hair. 'Those boys are so annoying. Anyway, who needs boys! We can certainly manage on our own!'
Thirty minutes later, after the laughter had completely subsided at the Edwards suburban home…
"You sure showed her!" Boomer said, complimenting Brick.
"I did, didn't I?"
"Yeah, for a minute there I thought you were going to sell us out?" Boomer said.
"Now why would I do that?" Brick replied. "You should've have known that an alliance is the last thing I want. And by the looks of it, we won't have one for a very long time."
"You sure, Brick?" asked Boomer.
"Yeah," he replied. "Blossom is one proud girl, and she won't agree to any alliance with my conditions."
"But what if she agreed to it?" asked Buyvh.
"Hm, well, in the absolutely one in a million chance that she'll agree to it, well, why not?" Brick said. "I mean being a leader of two is one thing, but being a commander of five, now that is power!"
"Knock yourself out, Brick," Butch said. "But the best thing about it is that she can't blame you on not wanting an alliance."
"Yup! We did hear her say, 'You can keep your alliance'," Boomer said, mimicking Blossom.
"That'll teach those girls! I mean the nerve of her, going in here, demanding we join them in an alliance with her as leader!" Brick remarked.
"She should have known that you can't stand taking orders from anybody but Dad," Boomer said.
Meanwhile…
"Tomorrow? Sure I'd love to! Okay bye," John Utonium said on the phone.
'Wow, I'd been invited to the National Conference of American Scientists! For the entire weekend! Wow, what an honor! But what about the girls? Miss Keane is leaving town this weekend, the Mayor is attending a conference in Washington D.C., and Ms. Bellum is with him to keep him from embarrassing himself, and all of my other friends are out of town, so that leaves Mr. Morebucks, no, no, not him. Now let's see, well, there's William, though he's still hates me, or does he? But he loves the Powerpuff Girls, but I'm not sure after what happened next week. Well, I'll have to ask. Wait, he's a scientist too? What if he attends the conference too? Then I can't leave the girls to her. But he also has boys to take care of? Where will he leave them? I must know so I can leave the girls to them,' he thought. He then dialed Dr. Edwards's number.
"Hello?" said William Edwards.
"This is John," Professor said. "Hi William."
"Oh, it's you. Anyway, Blossom was here. I thought you grounded her for two months."
"Um, well, ah, I gave her permission, sort of," the Professor said, feeling nervous.
The doctor could feel the professor's unease. 'Wonder what made him so uneasy about it.'
"Don't worry, Blossom just left. I'm sure that she'll arrive there soon enough. Don't worry. She can take care of herself. She's a superhero, after all," Dr. Edwards said.
"Oh it's not that!" said Professor Utonium. "I just want to tell you that I've been invited to the National Conference of American Scientists."
"Lucky you. Call me when you have more important things to tell me," said Dr. Edwards.
"You mean you're not excited?"
"Frankly, they're not worth the paper the invitation's printed in. It just a gabfest and nothing comes out of it. Believe me, I know, I've attended eleven of those things. I just politely declined to attend this year. I'd rather watch reruns of Barney than attend another of this."
"Anyway, since you aren't coming, could you look after my girls since I am gone for most of the weekend?"
"Why not?" said Dr. Edwards. "I have nothing better to do this weekend. Sure. When are you dropping them off?"
"Tomorrow, Friday, after school. I'm leaving Townsville tomorrow at six, and I'm going to pick them up Monday afternoon."
"Okay," Dr. Edwards said.
"By the way, what's that laughing I keep hearing?"
"Oh that's just the boys having some fun," said Dr. Edwards.
"Okay," said Professor Utonium. Little did he know that the boys were making fun of Blossom.
'Problem solved,' the Professor declared as he hung up the phone. 'I don't care what William says about the Conference, tomorrow, I'm going to go to New York City!'
Blossom arrived, mad as hell, a few seconds before Professor Utonium hung up.
"Oh those boys!" Blossom ranted.
"What happened!" Bubbles asked.
"Those boys are impossible!" Blossom said. She then told the girls what happened, saying word per word what she told the boys and Brick's response. "And they had the audacity to make fun of me, so I told them to take a hike!"
"You blew it!" Buttercup simply said.
"I did not!" Blossom defended, irked that Buttercup, of all people should take the sides of the boys. "Tell her Bubbles! It's the boys' fault, not mine!"
"Sorry Blossom, Buttercup's right," Bubbles said. "You blew it! You should have asked, not demanded that they join us and with you as leader. A little dose humility doesn't hurt you know."
"I was humble," she cockily asserted.
"Normally, I'd say that the boys aren't worth having an alliance with, but having said that, you are so full of yourself Blossom!" Buttercup retorted. "You of all people say that we need them to remain as superheroes, yet you go to their house like they're the one who should ask us? What kind of fools do you think those boys are? And if you're right and we need them, then we wouldn't be superheroes for long, all because you bungled it!"
"No I didn't," defended Blossom. "But you're right. We still need those boys to survive as superheroes. And because of this, I have a new plan that not only would make us allies and renew our superhero status, but would wrap those boys around our fingers!"
"Not another of your plans, please!" Buttercup said.
"Nonsense. My new plan will work. Trust me. The last one didn't work because of the boys intransigence!" Blossom said.
"You said that last time," Buttercup said.
"Just listen to my plan," Blossom said. "Bubbles, Buttercup, my plan is…" and Blossom told Buttercup and Bubbles her new plan.
Afterwards, Buttercup was grinning and Blossom was smirking and Bubbles was frowning.
"I like it!" Buttercup said, rubbing her hands. "Even if it's not worth it, I like your idea!"
"I don't like it!" said Bubbles. "This is no way to make friends!"
"Don't worry," said Blossom, reassuring Bubbles. "I'm sure we'll all be friends after this. And if this fails, we'll try your plan. Just trust me on this, okay?"
"Okay," Bubbles said. But she still thinks it would end in disaster.
"Now, there's only one problem…" said Buttercup to Blossom.
Suddenly the Professor entered.
"Girls, I'm be going to the National Conference of American Scientists tomorrow afternoon. I would be gone the entire weekend and I've just asked Dr. Edwards if you three could spend the entire weekend in his home and he said yes. Are you girls okay with that?"
"Yipee!" Bubbles shouted, jumping up and down. 'Now we could spend time with the boys!'
"Of course Professor," Blossom said. "We'd be happy too."
"It's okay with me," Buttercup simply said.
"Good. Now be good little girls and go pack your things while I'll prepare dinner," said the professor.
Blossom grinned at Buttercup. "Our problem has just been solved for us by the Professor!"
Buttercup grinned back, but said nothing.
Only Bubbles seemed worried. 'I hope Blossom's right.'