Allies and Rivals II
Chapter 5 - The Challenge
The City of Townsville, and the six superchildren and Dr. Edwards arrived safely at their home.
"Now let's see," Dr. Edwards said as he put his coat on the rack. "It's late, and I think it's better to order pizza than to cook. What do you think?"
"Works for me!" Brick replied.
"Okay, girls, what are your orders?"
"Well, I think the largest pizza with everything on it will do," Blossom answered.
"How many boxes for each of you?" asked Dr. Edwards.
"Only one, silly," said Bubbles. "For the three of us!"
The Rowdyruff Boys and their father just stared at the girls.
"Are you sure that's enough?" asked Dr. Edwards.
"Of course! What, you think we can't finish it?" Buttercup asked defensively.
"No, not at all," said Brick.
"Well, if they want to starve, it's not our problem," Butch replied.
"Alright boys, what'll be yours?" Dr. Edwards asked.
"Well, I'll have 15 boxes of the largest family sized pizza with everything on it!" Butch said.
"I'll have 15 also," Boomer said.
"Eight will do," Brick added.
"Well, counting the three that I'll order for myself and the one for the Powerpuff Girls, that would be 42 boxes of family sized pizza," Dr. Edwards said as he dialled the pizza place's number.
Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup just stared wide-eyed at the boys.
"Are you guys serious? You couldn't eat that much!" Buttercup said.
"Yeah! It's biologically impossible!" Blossom added.
"Wanna bet?" Brick replied. "Twenty dollars says that we could eat it all!"
"Just to warn you, Buttercup," Dr. Edwards said, "you'll lose that bet if you accept. I've seen my boys eat much more than that, you know."
"Um, never mind," Buttercup said. "I don't have twenty dollars anyway."
"Aw Dad, do you have to ruin it!" Butch whined.
"And couldn't you afford it! I mean 42 boxes of pizza is too expensive!" Bubbles added.
"Well, I'm not Townsville's richest man for nothing, you know," Dr. Edwards replied. "Now, I'll be going to the lab to prepare the equipment to cut those cuffs. After dinner, we'll all go to the lab and we'll cut it off. I hope you don't mind the long wait girls. These things can't be rushed you know."
"Why not?" asked Buttercup.
"'Cause I'd have to take my time or I might accidentally cut your arm off," said the doctor. "I'm sorry, but there is no other way."
"It's okay Doctor," said Bubbles.
"Yeah I guess!" Blossom said, while thinking, 'Just great! We're going to remain tied up for the next hour or so with those boys!'
The doctor then ordered the 42 boxes of pizza.
"Well, I'm going to the lab to prepare the equipment," says the lab. "It shouldn't take too long. But call me when the pizza arrives. I'm famished. Boys, entertain the girls while I'm down at the lab. And remember, be nice to them!"
"Yeah, be nice to us!" Blossom added.
"Shut up," Butch said to Blossom.
"Yes Dad," the three then said to their father.
So Dr. Edwards went to his lab.
The three boys and the three girls were left at the living room.
"Boys, I want to again say thanks for rescuing us," said Blossom.
"Yeah, Mojo said that you wouldn't go and save us, but I didn't believe them, and I was right!" Bubbles said. "And I know you three care!"
Boomer looked down at the floor, unable to look Bubbles in the eye.
Butch was about to guffaw, but Brick glared and he stifled it. 'Ha, us caring? That's a good one,' he callously thought.
Brick just stared at the girls, before replying. "Look, you might as well know that we didn't do it because we cared for you, but because we cared for Dad. And even if we wanted, we wouldn't have if it wasn't for my Dad. So all your gratitude for us is misplaced. Give it to Dad. He deserves it. We don't!"
"Yeah, but you still went with your Dad to save us, and that is good enough for me," Bubbles proclaimed. "You deserve our thanks, and nothing you tell me would change that."
"Ughh, you girls are impossible!" Boomer suddenly shouted. "We clearly said that we don't want your thanks, and we don't deserve it. None of us cares for you, can't you see that?"
"You're deluding yourselves," Blossom curtly replied. "You're improving for the better, and you refused to admit it! Tell me, if it was Him, Fuzzy Lumpkins, or the Gang Green Gang, and not Mojo, would you have hesitated to save us?"
Brick and Boomer didn't answer. They knew they would save them, even if their Dad wouldn't order it, but for different reasons. Butch, though wouldn't, but probably would just go along with his brothers.
"I guess so," Blossom said, switching into preacher, holier than thou mode. "You see, the fact that you refuse to admit the obvious shows that you're not ready to be prime-time superheroes. Yes, you're strong, fast, and very cooperative, but you're inexperienced. You don't know how to handle the public which adores you. We do. That is why it is important for you to have an alliance with us—with me as a leader! Because you Brick, doesn't know a thing about leading a team of superheroes in public relations and morality, while your tactical and strategic skills I also have, so it's clear that I am better qualified to lead an alliance than you, Brick."
Boomer and Butch were irritated by Blossom's declaration, and it caused not a few grinding of teeth. However, Brick's scowl suddenly became a smirk bordering on grinning.
'Nice one Blossom,' thought Brick. "I don't want to burst your bubble, Blossom, but you can't just make demands on us. You see, there's a little of something called leverage, and as of right now, we hold all of the trump cards. I know that you know that without this alliance, you're going to just fade away, so you need it, but we can have the pleasure of going on without you. So, you are in no position to make demands. Instead, I have three proposals, which you can take."
"First," Brick said, "you can be full allies of us, and get every privilege it entails, but you have to accept me as the leader with full authority over each and every one of you in matters relating to saving the day."
"Second, we can divide responsibility. We'll take care of all the monsters and villains, including Mojo, while you take care of criminals and help the people of Townsville in their petty problems. And I'll tell Dad to relay those kinds of calls to you instead of us. And best of all, we won't have to cross paths ever again, as we can avoid each other, and we can ignore each other's existence."
"And third, no alliance whatsoever, and we'll continue the status quo," Brick concluded. "So what'll it be?"
Brick smiled. He knew he caught the girls in a quandary. One way or another, he'll get what he wants from them. 'They have no other choice than to accept the first or second one, or face irrelevancy, which wouldn't be too bad for us.'
Blossom and the girls were stunned by Brick's propositions. "Um, could we talk about it for a minute or so?"
"Of course," said Brick. "Take all the time you want. Me and my brothers have some unfinished business to take care of!"
So they left the girls to talk among themselves and settled down on the nearby couch and watched TV.
"Well, I don't like the last two," Bubbles said. "How about the first, where we could always be close to them with Brick as leader?"
"No way!" Blossom declared. "The first option is definitely out! As for the second option…"
"That's out!" Said Buttercup. "They just wanted all the glory for themselves. I don't want to just all do the drudgery of crime-fighting and helping the people. There's no glory in that 'cause the police could do it. I want to fight monsters and villains! So it's out, out, out! I'd rather choose the third option. We don't need an alliance!"
"And I don't want for us to be separate. I'd like us to be working together, and then, slowly becomes friends with them," said Bubbles.
Before Blossom could make a decision, Dr. Edwards came. "Girls, good news. I have the device ready in the lab," said Dr. Edwards. Then the door bell rang. "It must be the pizza delivery! Brick, could you…"
"I'm on it, Dad," Brick said. He then went and opened the door.
Pizza men delivered all 42 boxes of pizza. Brick, Boomer and Butch drooled at the sight of the boxes of pizza, as its smell penetrated their noses and further excited their empty stomachs.
The Rowdyruff Boys, under the direction of their father, neatly placed the boxes of pizza at the table. The boys then took their orders and chose a chair. Boomer and Butch got 15 each, while Brick got 8, while Dr. Edwards got three, while the girls collectively had one.
"Um, Doctor, we have a problem," Buttercup said.
"Oh yes, I get it!" Dr. Edwards said. "Boys, I want you to feed your counterparts."
"But Dad…" the three simultaneously complained.
"Look, the girls' hands are still tied behind their backs," Dr. Edwards said. "And they can't eat because of it. Now, I'll soon be able to cut those cuffs, but I can't do it on an empty stomach, or I might make a mistake. After dinner, I'll cut it, but as for now, I want you to feed them!"
"Yes Dad…" the three simultaneously said.
They grumbled, but they grudgingly complied. Soon, Boomer was feeding Bubbles Pizza, Brick was feeding Blossom, and Butch feeding Buttercup, with the doctor keeping a sharp eye on them.
"Gee, you really are hungry," Boomer said after Bubbles hungrily chomped on her first slice of pizza.
"Well, we haven't eaten anything since this morning. Did you know that Mojo's plan is to starve us to death?" Bubbles said as Boomer got another slice of pizza for Boomer.
"Now why would Pops do something as lame as that?" Boomer wondered.
"Cot ee kent ewtwoy us with zis eap-oons," Bubbles replied.
"Could you say that again, and this time, without food in your mouth?" Boomer asked.
"Aw towwy," Bubbles said before swallowing. "Cause he can't destroy us with his weapons, so he decided to starve us."
"Well I'll be!" Boomer said as he held another pizza for Bubbles to eat.
"So, you decided which of my three proposals are you going to accept," Brick asked Blossom as he got a slice for his counterpart.
Unlike Bubbles, Blossom first chewed and swallowed her food before answering. "I think it's unfair!"
"Yes it is, but you can't do anything about it," Brick coldly said. "One way or another, you'll accept one of those three proposals, because you've got no choice." He then let Blossom bite another slice.
After Blossom chewed and swallowed it, "Not really. You'll see. Before this weekend is over, your first proposal will be in effect, with the exception of that instead of you, I will be the leader." She then took another bite.
"You're delusional," said Brick, then waited for Blossom to chew and finish her pizza.
Blossom looked and smiled at Brick. "You'll just have to wait and see! And if I were you, I'll watch my back! One more slice please," Blossom asked, which Brick gave her.
'She's up to something, I know it!' Brick thought, a little worried, as he readies another slice. 'I know that look. I have the very same one if I'm up to something!'
"Eat some if you don't wanna starve," Butch said as he offered Buttercup a slice. His face wore a scowl.
Buttercup, despite being peeved about the recent events, clearly enjoyed Butch's discomfort. "And I thought you don't like us!" she teased before biting the pizza.
"Shut up and eat, you…" but his father glared at him, and he stopped.
Suffice to say, Butch and Buttercup didn't speak to each other the rest of the dinner, though Butch certainly grumbled and Buttercup made mocking faces at him, all the while eating the pizza Butch was forced to feed her.
Soon after, the girls were full, and the boys commenced with their eating.
The girls just stared wide-eyed at the three boys. They could not believe the sight before their eyes.
The boys were like vacuum cleaners in eating slice after slice of pizza, from box after box after box. Of course, the three didn't eat the same way. Brick was the most polite, and most clean, even though he eats just as fast as his brothers. He placed the empty boxes neatly in one pile, and there were few, if any crumbs in his side of the table. He then carefully wiped his mouth. Since he only ate eight boxes, he finished first.
"How could they eat so much?" asked Blossom to herself aloud.
"You mean you don't know yet?" asked Dr. Edwards as he finished eating his last slice.
"What?"
"Well, apparently, the chemical X caused the metabolism of your bodies to go overtime which immediately turns it into energy, which means that though you could eat normally and not go hungry, you would only have the normal energy input of a average man. However, if you ate as much as my sons are doing right now, you could have almost unlimited energy for the day, and only needed two to three hours sleep per day."
"You mean you get to be hyperactive all day for only two hours of sleep if you eat as much?" asked Bubbles.
"It means that you don't feel tired or fatigued the entire day if you only got two hours of sleep the previous night. And all you have to do is eat as much as you possibly could, and you won't have to worry about getting sleep," Dr. Edwards opined. "Though I'm not sure about you. Have you ever tried eating as much?"
"No. We're usually full by the time we finished our meal for more. Remember that candy incident?" Bubbles asked.
"Yeah…we ate all of the candy, and we nearly got sick," Bubbles added.
"Is that so," Dr. Edwards replied. "Well, that throws out my theory off the window! But that doesn't explain why my sons can eat so much and have so much energy after it—wait a minute, did you say candy?"
"Yup!"
"Of course! It's sugar!" he shouted, pounding his fist on the table. "Tell me girls, did you ever get sick on overeating on something without sugar?"
"Well, I don't really know. We haven't tried overeating on eating without sugar," Buttercup replied.
Dr. Edwards got a small notebook from his pocket and excitedly wrote some notes on it.
"Well, I'd never get sick of overeating sweets," Brick, who just finished his eight boxes, said. "Maybe that's because I haven't got much of a sweet tooth. I never eat too many of them!"
"You don't like sweets?" asked Bubbles.
"No. I like one or two a day maybe, but not an entire jar at an entire sitting."
"Let's just wait for your brothers to finish eating," said Dr. Edwards as he cleaned his mess.
Twenty minutes later…
"That was satisfying," Boomer said as he rubbed his stomach.
"Um, ah, I'm full!" Butch said.
"Boomer, Brick, clean up your mess while the girls, Brick and I go to the lab," Dr. Edwards said.
"Huh, why us?" asked Boomer.
"Because you two made the most mess," Dr. Edwards declared. Indeed, the area around them is full of discarded cartons, spilled sauce and pizza ingredients, and a couple of wasted slices. Plus, their clothes became really dirty, and their faces, especially around their mouth, is full of sauce and other condiments. "And while you're at it, take a bath and get a new set of clothes."
"But what about Brick," complained Butch.
"Well, he is clean and he already taken care of his mess," Dr. Edwards replied. Behind him, Brick stuck out his tongue at his brothers.
"Yes Dad," the two meekly said while glaring at their leader, who made a face at them.
So the two brothers went about cleaning the mess while the five went down to the doctor's lab.
Soon, they entered a room with a large table on it. Dr. Edwards spread a thick blanket over it and put a pillow on it.
"Who wants to go first?" asked the doctor.
"I'll go," volunteered Blossom.
"Okay. Go and lie on your stomach on that table," Dr. Edwards instructed, then got a device in another table. It is a long cylindrical device the size and shape of a remote control, with a long power-cord switched to an outlet to provide power, and a small circular blade made of some unknown metal.
"Do you think that could break the cuffs?" asked Buttercup, worriedly. "I mean it is duranium, and for all our power, we couldn't break it."
"Well, it can," Dr. Edwards began explaining as he began cutting the cuffs in her wrists. "You see, duranium is the hardest known metal known in the world. It is the metallic equivalent to diamond, only much much much harder. I'd explain the molecular properties, but it would probably bore you. Suffice to say, there isn't anything, not even the hardest of diamonds, that even comes close to the toughness of duranium. However, it has been discovered that you could twist and shape duranium like any other metal by heating it to temperatures reaching half a million degrees. That is how they are able to make various things from duranium, like these cuffs."
"Nobody, including I, thought that there was anything that is harder than duranium, that is until a few days ago. Remember the four monsters that attacked the city last time?"
"Um, yeah," Blossom said, her face and expression showing nervousness and discomfort. It was one memory they wouldn't want to be dwelling upon.
"Yeah I remember," Brick said. "This was when we were so 'evil' that we were beating up poor innocent monsters who just happened to pass by Townsville! After which, you became so angry that you beat me and my brothers up because you though me and Mojo have a conspiracy to break the pretty nails of those monsters—and I refuse to admit it!"
"Brick, it's over!" Blossom replied. "We were wrong, and we admitted it, and we apologized for it. So don't bring up a dead horse."
"As I was saying," Dr. Edwards interrupted, "one of those monsters have a very tough metallic hide. You probably know that I bought it for a billion dollars from the city. I have studied it for the past few days, and I haven't even figured what it is, but I've discovered that it is much harder than Duranium. I haven't deciphered the secrets of it, but it hasn't prevented me from making this device. Good for you I just finished it yesterday, or you would have been stuck in those cuffs for a very long time."
The three girls shuddered at the thought.
Twenty minutes later, the cuffs on Blossom's wrists were cut. And for the first time in ten hours, was able to stretch her arms. "That feels good. Ten hours having your hands stuck behind your back sure makes you appreciate the use of your arms!" Blossom commented.
Dr. Edwards then proceeded to cut off the cuffs on her ankles. Twenty minutes later, Blossom was completely free. She was floating in the air, making practice kicks and repeatedly rotating her arms.
"Who's next?" asked the doctor.
"Me, me!" Buttercup said excitedly.
"Okay, Buttercup, lie down on your stomach," he instructed.
She did, and forty minutes later, Buttercup was free.
"Okay, it's your turn Bubbles," said the doctor.
"Hey, where's Butch and Boomer?" asked Buttercup.
"I think they're upstairs," Brick replied as he watched Bubbles lie down on the table. His father began cutting the cuffs.
"Um, Doctor, Buttercup and I have to go to the bathroom," Blossom asked.
"Okay," the doctor said without really paying attention. He is much too busy with Bubbles' cuffs.
So Buttercup and Blossom left the lab.
"Now, where could those two have gone?" asked Blossom.
"Let's go to the living room. I bet they're watching TV," Buttercup suggested.
And soon enough, they found Butch and Boomer in the couch watching TV.
"Hey guys!" Blossom greeted.
"Huh, what the… oh it's you?" Boomer said with a hostile tone. "What do you want and why aren't you down in the lab with Dad, Brick and Bubbles?"
"Well, we decided to find where you two are, since you should be down there in the lab with your father," Blossom retorted. "Anyway, I came here to issue a challenge!"
"I think you should talk to Brick f…." Boomer began but was interrupted.
"What kind of challenge," Butch asked, interested.
"Simple. I challenge you three boys to a fight tomorrow morning, and if you lose, you will have to join us in an alliance with me as leader!"
"That's silly!" Boomer said. "I think you should…"
"Why, you're scared of being beaten by a girl?" Buttercup teased.
"No, it's just, why should we…"
"Coward!" Blossom teased, baiting the two brothers. "If you don't want me to be your leader, all you have to do is beat us! Why, you're afraid, aren't you? Tsk, tsk. And I thought you boys were very brave! And you can't even accept a measly challenge from a girl!"
"And what do we get if we win?" asked Butch.
"Simple. We get to choose from Brick's three proposals," Blossom declared.
"What, that's highway robbery!" Boomer protested.
"Not really," Blossom retorted. "That is what you wanted, and you could have it if you beat us. That is, if you could actually touch a single hair for us!"
"Why you!" Butch said, gritting his teeth.
"Why, are you afraid?" Buttercup teased. "Afraid that a mere Powerpuff Girls would kick you butts?"
"If you think you could just…" Boomer began but…
"ALRIGHT! YOU CAN HAVE YOUR WAY! WE'RE NOT COWARDS SO YOU CAN HAVE YOUR FIGHT!" Butch shouted, interrupting Boomer, clearly infuriated. "YOU CAN HAVE YOUR FRIGGIN' CONDITIONS! You can have your damn alliance on your terms if you win, BUT MARK MY WORDS, TOMORROW, WE WILL KICK YOU BUTTS TO KINGDOM COME!"
Meanwhile…
As her cuffs were being cut, Bubbles has been telling the doctor and Brick what happened, and both of them were laughing.
"I couldn't believe Pops was so stupid!" Brick said in between fits of laughing, rolling on the floor clutching his stomach. "That was the funniest thing I ever heard! You were tied up and helpless yet you got the better of him! What an idiot!"
"And we could watch it all over again," Dr. Edwards remarked while cutting the cuffs on her wrists. "I confiscated his surveillance tapes so we could all see it! But it was so funny Bubbles, just hearing it! I would probably run out of breath laughing watching it!"
"And Mojo decided that the only way to kill us is to starve us!" Bubbles said, causing Brick to laugh more, and Dr. Edwards to chuckle.
"What a pathetic loser!" Brick remarked.
"So that's why you're so hungry," Dr. Edwards remarked. "I'd have to bill him for the additional cost of pizza!" he joked as he was finally able to cut the duranium on her wrists.
"Anyway," Bubbles said as he stretched her arms, "what have you guys planned this weekend."
"Well, I decided that we would spend tomorrow camping besides the lake in the middle of my property," said Dr. Edwards as he begun cutting the cuffs on her ankles. "Then, in the afternoon, we would hike the hill and camp there for the night."
"If you girls are up to it," Brick said.
"Of course we are," Bubbles said. "I'm a nature lover!"
"Well, if you can wake up at four in the morning, bathe in the ice-cold lake afterwards, fish, then clean it with only a knife, walk through Dad's land through thick bushes and sage brushes, pick up scattered pieces of wood for fuel, hike steep cliffs, not complain about mosquitoes when they start sucking your blood, not freak out when wild animals growl in the night, and sometimes sneak to you, lie on a sleeping bag, with a hard ground, not a cushion," Brick said, trying to scare Bubbles.
"Of course we can," Bubbles asserted. "We're superheroes!"
"And did I say you mustn't use your powers at all," Brick said.
"Is that true Doctor?" asked Bubbles.
"Yes," Dr. Edwards said. "If you use your powers, then the wilderness won't be much of a challenge, will it? Don't worry. It isn't as scary as Brick says it is. Just follow my directions and stick to the boys and you'll be fine! Don't fret! It'll be fun!"
"Yeah stick with us!" Brick boasted. "If Boomer could barely survive, how could you three girls do? Anyway, just stick with me. I have very long experiences with these kind of hikes, have been going on these hikes from almost the day we were recreated, and I were trained by Dad to be the greatest wilderness expert in the world, and I am the most experienced of all my brothers. I know all about it!"
Bubbles and the doctor could just feel the temperature of the room rise due to all the hot air Brick has been spouting.
'He's just as cocky as Blossom,' Bubbles thought.
"I'm sure you are," Dr. Edwards said.
"What's all that shouting?" asked Bubbles when he heard voices from above.
"I think, Brick, you should look what's the matter with your brothers upstairs?" Dr. Edwards suggested.
"And while you're at it," Bubbles suggested, "find out what happened to my sisters."
"Check them yourself!" Brick said as he left.
He went upstairs and saw Boomer and Butch, and Blossom and Buttercup having a standoff. Butch was looking enraged, while Boomer looked annoyed. Blossom and Buttercup were cockily looking at the brothers.
"BUT MARK MY WORDS, TOMORROW, WE WILL KICK YOU BUTTS TO KINGDOM COME!" he heard Butch shout.
"What is going on here?" Brick said in a serious manner, looking all parties squarely in the eye.
"Well, Butch here agreed that tomorrow we would have a fight to determine which of our plans for alliance should be adopted," Blossom said. "If we won, then there would a full-fledged alliance between us, with me as the leader! If you won, I get to choose between your three earlier proposals."
Brick glared at Butch, his anger seen as he breathed heavily and his gritting of teeth.
"Of course, even if Butch was the one who agreed to it," Blossom continued, "we all know that because you are such a great leader of your team, he would never agree to such a proposal without consulting you first and without your approval. So thanks for changing your mind from your earlier stance, since we all know that only you, could have made such a decision. Oh what a disaster it would be if we all found out that you can't even control what your own brothers in such a momentous matter." She managed to say it with a straight face, though she enjoyed the look of consternation on Brick's face.
This put Brick in a quandary. 'Damn it, that girl is so damned smart. If I reject Butch's agreement, then she would say I'm not fit to be a leader at all, and I would lose face. And I would have to humiliate Butch in front of them, and I won't do it. No—I can't deny it. It's an issue of leadership. If I back away from this, then I'm saying that I'm not fit to be a leader. Though that won't mean Butch won't pay after this.'
"Yes, we discussed about it earlier and I decided to have a fight," Brick said, though he couldn't look Blossom in the eye. Both of them (Brick and Blossom) knew that he was lying and he was just doing it to save face, "to give you a fair chance. So tomorrow, we'll have a fight with the conditions that you mentioned a while ago."
"Okay," Blossom happily said. "Now, let's discuss the details and go tell Dr. Edwards about this deal so he can judge it!"
"Okay," Brick meekly said, still not recovering from his setback. They ironed out the remaining topics, then they went to the lab, where, as luck would have it, Dr. Edwards has just finished cutting the cuffs off Bubbles' feet.
"Look girls, I'm free!" Bubbles happily said as she saw her grinning sisters.
"That's great," Blossom said. "Doctor, could you be a witness to an agreement that Brick and I made a while ago concerning the relationship between us. And of course, you would have to enforce the provisions if one of us breaks it."
"Hm, seems nothing wrong with it," Dr. Edwards said. "Do you agree, Brick?"
"Yes Dad," Brick replied.
"Okay. Wait, let me get the camcorder so we could record this on videotape. That way, you could always remember what you said," Dr. Edwards said, getting a small camcorder from a cabinet and setting it up on a tripod.
"Okay," Dr. Edwards said. "Make whatever agreement you made, and repeat it again."
The two then took out pieces of paper to read what they had earlier written.
"Okay. I, Blossom Utonium, leader of the the Powerpuff Girls, on behalf of my sisters Bubbles Utonium and Buttercup Utonium and myself, announce that a fight to be held tomorrow at the edge of the lake. Anything goes in this fight to win, and you can use any device which might help you win. If the Rowdyruff Boys win, then we, the Powerpuff Girls, shall choose between three alternatives that Brick earlier offered, the first one that Brick Edwards being the leader of a full alliance, the second that the boys would take care of monsters and villains and us girls would take care of crime and help the people, and the third is to continue the status quo. Do you accept the conditions?"
"I, William Bricker Edwards Jr., on behalf of myself and my brothers, Boomer Edwards and Butch Edwards, accept the conditions. If however, the Powerpuff Girls win, then we would have a full fledged alliance whereby the Powerpuff Girls would be admitted to be part of the Rowdyruff Boys where Blossom could be considered as a leader by the parties concerned. Do you accept the conditions?"
"I accept," Blossom replied. "And one team wins if the other surrenders, gets knocked out, or fails to turn up on the designated time, which is at 10 a.m. in the morning, tomorrow, September 6, Saturday, on the east side of the lake in Dr. Edwards' land in the edge of the suburbs of Townsville. If none of those happens, then Dr. Edwards would select the winner."
After that, both Blossom and Brick shook hands, Blossom with a smug grin and Brick struggling to avoid having his lips twist into a scowl. And it was all captured on tape.
"And cut!" Dr. Edwards said. "That was some agreement. Whatever the outcome, you must do what you said you will do, or I'll have to force you to. I'll send a copy to John so he too can enforce it. So tomorrow, ten a.m., besides the lake, you'll have a fight, and I'll be the judge of it."
"Yes Dad," Brick and his brothers said.
Bubbles' mood darkened. She looked at Butch and Boomer and saw them stare angrily at Blossom and Buttercup. 'This is very bad. Very bad indeed. This is no way to create an alliance.'
After that, Dr. Edwards showed the girls their temporary room, where they unpacked. Blossom and Buttercup slept that night confident that they would win. Bubbles was a little worried that it would only worsen the relationship with the boys.
But one thing is for sure, whatever the results of the next days fight, an alliance between the Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls is assured.The only question is—who will emerge as the leader, Brick or Blossom?
The mood was less bright on the boys. As soon as they were alone, Brick vented his anger at Butch.
"You idiot!" he shouted. "Why the hell did you that?"
"Because," Butch replied, "she called me called me a coward if I didn't agree to give her a fight, and I'm no coward."
"Yes, I know you're not," Brick shouted back. "But are you too blind to see that she was just baiting you? And you fell for it! You fell for the oldest trick in the book! How stupid can you get? You know what I wanted for our group, and yet, you gave her what she wanted! You shouldn't let your emotions dictate what to do! You should use your head, Butch!"
"She called us a coward!" Butch replied.
"Did you realize what you just did! You ruined all my plans! I have them at the palm of my hands! They have no choice but to accept any of my three proposals, and yet you have to open your big mouth! What kind of a moron are you, Butch?"
"Look's who's talking!" Butch retorted. "If you were so smart, then why did you back me up?"
"Do you really want me to humiliate you before those girls?" Brick replied. "Do you really want me to contradict you in front of our rivals? We are a team, Butch, we're brothers, we're family, and we don't criticize each other in front of others, especially in front of the girls! That's why I didn't blow on you till we're alone! If I'm not that smart, then I would have humiliated you in front of Dad and the girls the way you have done to me."
"And you shouldn't have made that decision," Brick continued, though not anymore shouting. "You shouldn't make any decisions for the team without consulting me, because I'm the leader. It makes me look bad! Now there's a chance that Blossom would be our leader tomorrow, and I know how you two dislike her."
"Nah, don't worry!" Butch said. "We'll beat them, and they'll eat crow!"
"Yeah Brick," Boomer said. "Lighten up! You worry too much."
"I wish I can be as confident as you guys are," Brick said. "But my gut feeling tells me we're going to lose the fight tomorrow."