Allies and Rivals II
Chapter 9 - Bubbles, Brick and Boomer's Quid Pro Quo
The City of Townsville, and at four in the morning, September 8…
A small man, about 5'6", wearing black, with a dark shades covering his eyes and a mask his mouth and gloves, stealthily walked across the Edwards' front yard. Reaching the door, he quickly grabbed some fine wires from his pocket, and plucked the keyhole. The door opened, and the would-be burglar entered.
Dr. Edwards rose from his bed. Still in his PJs, he groggily walked towards the kitchen.
The thief quietly made his way to the kitchen, where he saw a tall man with thick glasses opening the refrigerator and sampling some desserts. He drew his gun, and pressed it against the back of the doctor's head.
"Don't move, or I'll blow your brains out," the thief quietly said.
Dr. Edwards shuddered when he felt the cold barrel of the gun in the back of his head, and stiffened.
"Dr. Edwards, I presume?" he asked.
"Yes," he said.
"Good. Now, direct me to the place where you store the data on your latest inventions and discoveries, particularly the one about the hide of the monster you bought," ordered the thief. "And don't try anything funny, or your floor would be decorated with the pieces of your broken skull and brain!"
"Okay, just don't shoot," the doctor said. "Just follow me."
The doctor, still sleepy and groggy despite all of this, or at least giving the outside impression of such, led the thief towards one of his rooms. It was a room cluttered with scattered papers, several pens, spilled computer ink, scattered books, and a lone desktop with scanner, printer, speakers and an internet connection in a table connected to a socket. There were no other things in it.
"Burn the data on this CD," the thief ordered.
He opened the computer. He did just as he was told. He burned several pieces of data in it.
"Is that all there is to it?" the thief asked after several minutes.
"Yup, I've already copied all my data on that disc!" Dr. Edwards said.
The thief smirked, then pressed the insert then entered, then made a combinations of keys, then esc and 0.
"Virus infection activated!" the computer warned. "Terminating data in hard drive! Sparing data in drive D."
"Ha! Now that I've got the data on the disc," the thief said as he put the CD in a case, "you won't need those!"
He half expected the doctor to have an angry look or at least an annoyed face for losing all his data, but he detected none. In fact, it showed the face of a man pleased with himself.
It surprised the thief. But he dismissed his concerns as he again pointed his gun at the doctor. "Now, go back to the living room."
The doctor did as asked. When they reached the living room, they stopped.
"Now, I'm going to shoot you," the man said in a low voice.
"But you said…" the doctor began.
"I didn't say anything about not killing you, did I?" said the thief. "I have what I came for, and you have outlived your usefulness. The master only needed this," he said, referring to the disc in his other hand. "Now, you will be disposed of so only he, the master, would have the knowledge that you laboriously accumulated. Now, turn around so I can see the look on your face when I blow your brains out."
The six foot doctor turned, but as he did, he suddenly grabbed the arm holding the gun and pointed it at the ceiling. The surprised thief dropped the disc on the floor while he concentrated on grabbing the gun. The doctor's powerful grip convinced him, however, to throw the gun towards the corner of the living room to prevent it from falling into the doctor's hands.
It was a big mistake, since the six-feet tall doctor is much stronger than the five foot six thief, and a punch later, he was reeling towards edge of the room. The doctor then rolled his sleeves and was about to lunge at the thief when the burglar grabbed a small gun from another pocket and shot at the direction of the doctor.
But instead of seeing a dead Dr. Edwards, what he saw is a red-faced red-haired angry boy in his PJs floating in front of the doctor clutching the bullet.
The thief looked around and saw five more figures, mere children, surrounding him. Two were red-faced boys who was very angry and looking at him with hate, three were girls in their nightgowns scowling at them.
"Who are you?" said the thief asked without a trace of fear.
"We're the Rowdyruff Boys," Brick shouted.
"And the Powerpuff Girls, now known as the Ruff-Puff Alliance!" Blossom shouted.
"And that is the last thing you'll ever ask. You're going to pay for trying to kill Dad! Boomer, Butch, kill him!" Brick ordered.
"Wait!" Dr. Edwards shouted. "Not yet. I want to know who sent him."
"Okay, doctor," Blossom said. "Butch, Boomer, grab some rope. We'll tie him up and interrogate him."
The two brothers looked at Blossom, glaring. "Hey, you just can't…"
"Butch, Boomer, need I remind you that Blossom's the leader?" Brick snapped. "Now do it!"
The two brothers looked at their brother in surprise. They saw the glare Brick was giving them and they knew better than to defy him at such a moment.
"Thanks Brick. Buttercup, take the phone and call the police. We're going to interrogate him while waiting for the police," Blossom said.
But before anybody could do anything, the man suddenly clutched his neck and began making coughing sounds. Soon, he fell to the ground.
The doctor immediately went over him and checked his pulse and breathing. "He's dead."
"Boomer, get my medical instruments!"
A minute later, the doctor, using his instruments, began checking the body. Five minutes later, he said, "I can't believe this. This guy is young and he died of stroke!"
"Stroke? How convenient! He gets captured and dies of stroke before we could get anything out of him," Brick said.
"I suspect it's foul play," Dr. Edwards said. "But we can't say for sure until we know all the facts. I think we should let the forensics team at the police department to handle this." He then removed the shades from his eyes and his faced turned to white, as did his sons and the girls.
The man's eyes had no pupil or retina, only the white cornea. It was so bone chilling that the doctor immediately dropped the dead man's eyelids to avoid looking at it. The rest shuddered at it.
"What was that?" Butch asked.
"I've never seen any human who has only whites in their eyes!" Bubbles said.
"We've got to investigate this!" Blossom said.
"Girls, boys, it already five-thirty in the morning so you better get ready for school. I'll handle this!" Dr. Edwards said after recovering from shock.
"But…" Blossom began.
"Your education is important. This is something the police can handle," the doctor said. "This is not a villain and a monster. Buttercup, have you called the police yet?"
"Yep, they're on their way already!" Buttercup said.
"Good. The Professor's gonna arrive this afternoon and I want you to pack your bags before going to school. Don't worry about bringing it to school, I'll give it to the professor when he arrives today," Dr. Edwards directed.
A few hours later…
The children were now at school, and about a dozen police were scrounging the premises for clues. Well, as far as the police were concerned, they actually spilled more donut crumbs at the carpet than pick clues from it, but they did pick up the body and put it in the crime lab. Police Chief Alexander Grulp, probably the only one in the force with a decent IQ, was talking to Dr. Edwards.
"So you said that this man, who has no color in his eyes, just white?"
"Yes Chief," the doctor said.
"And he died of a stroke when you cornered him," asked Grulp.
"If you perform an autopsy, I'm sure you'll confirm what I said. Anyway, the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys were witnesses, and I've got the entire scene caught by videotape by my surveillance cameras," Dr. Edwards said defensively.
"Don't worry, I believe you," Grulp said. "Anyway, do you know anyone who might have an interest in stealing your data?"
"I think Spencer Morebucks has an interest in getting information about that hide that I just bought," Dr. Edwards said, "though I have no proof. He certainly would have the motivation. But so would my other business rivals. Still, I won't make any judgment on who would do such a thing. I just want to say that what I have is so valuable that they'd probably kill for it. It will kill the competition to say the least."
"I'm sorry to hear that, to lose all those data," said the chief.
"Don' t worry, that computer that was hacked is just junk. What I stored in the CD is the formula for Einstein's relativity theory, which is already well know in the scientific community, and therefore useless," Dr. Edwards said.
"Yeah. Anyway, I should warn you. This man obviously isn't working alone. That reference to master, and the fact that he was killed—there has got to be foul play. I just can't believe he will die of stroke when you're in your mid-twenties, it's too much of a coincidence! It means that someone wants to get that data and information badly, and, and then wants to get or kill you," Grulp said. "And the fact that he was able to kill him using stroke meant that we're dealing with no ordinary group here."
"I already know that," said the doctor.
"Just be careful, doctor," said Grulp. His cellphone rang.
"Hey chief!"
"What is it, Kaczinsci?" asked Grulp.
"You won't believe, this, sir, but not only has this guys no eyes, but he also has no fingerprints to speak of. He's fingers area as smooth as silk, sir."
"What, they've got no fingerprints?" asked the chief in disbelief.
"No fingerprints?" asked the doctor in disbelief.
"And chief, we tried DNA testing, and we found no match. It's as if this guy didn't exist at all. He has no records in anything whatsoever!" Kaczinsci said. "It's as if he just popped in from nowhere and tried to get the doctor."
"William, could I call you William? After all, we were classmates before?" asked the chief.
"Of course. Just don't call me Bill or Billy or Will or Willy. I hate those nicknames. But can I call you Alexander," Dr. Edwards said.
"Just Alex, William. Anyway, William, you are both a scientist and a doctor, right?" asked Grulp.
"Yes Alex."
"Okay, could you come to the police lab with us William?" asked Grulp. "You could help us more than those idiots assigned there."
"Of course, anything to help the investigation, Alex," Dr. Edwards said.
Meanwhile…
It is lunch time, and the boys and girls had just eaten their fill. They are now floating near the ceiling to avoid the others kids from mobbing them or from eavesdropping.
"Damn it, he just have to die! Before I could kill him!" Butch ranted, swinging his fist.
"Um, Butch, I'd like to kick his ass until it bleeds, but isn't killing him a bit too much?" Buttercup asked.
"Not when he's threatening Dad," Butch said. "I won't hesitate to open his bowels while he still alive and eat his liver before his very eyes before grabbing his heart and ripping it off just for the satisfaction of it! That's what I would have done with Mojo had not Dad stopped us! And if he did kill Dad, I'll grind his bones bit by bit and rip his guts out before doing him in! And I won't use anesthesia on him."
Buttercup was struck by the savage thoughts of her counterparts. Sure, she was also ruthless, but she would never even think of killing anybody.
"That's not nice!" Bubbles suddenly said. "I don't think you should kill anybody, no matter how evil they are!"
"Yeah, I promise Dad I won't kill anybody, but I draw the line when someone threatens my Dad! There should be no mercy for them!" Butch said.
"Boomer here won't kill anybody, right Boomie?" asked Bubbles.
"Don't call me that. Yes, I won't kill the guy if it were left to me. I'd rather beat him up silly, rip his arm off and legs off in the most painful way," said Boomer, "but I'll let him live. He'd be a cripple for the rest of his life, and in pain too!"
"Nah, you guys are wasteful. A simple laser eyes to put a hole in his heart would be the most efficient," Brick said. "He'll die quickly, and you won't have to exert any effort at all. Anyway, Blossom, you've got much more experience here than us. Could you tell us whom you'd think could be behind all of this?"
Blossom recovered from being dumbstruck and shock by all the talk of killing by the boys. "Well, there's Mojo, he's the most logical one since he is also a scientist, there's Princess, since his Dad owns a multimillion dollar corporation and is your Dad's competitor, there's the Gang Green Gang, Sedusa, Fuzzy Lumpkins, the Amoeba Boys, and I think that rounds up the villains in Townsville."
"Okay, so any one of them could be the one who sent that killer on Dad," Brick said. "I propose that we preemptively strike them. Kill them so that they would never get the chance to attack Dad again!"
"Brick, there would be no killing!" Blossom said.
"Why not?" Brick replied.
"Because, it's wrong."
"And your point is?"
"My point is, I, as your leader, order you and your brothers to refrain from killing anybody, even if they are villains and they could be behind them!" Blossom sternly said.
Brick glared back, while his brothers also glared at Blossom. Finally, he backed down.
"Okay, no killing. How about this, we frame them for some crime, so they would be behind bars. Or if not, then beat them up enough to scare them," Brick proposed.
"Brick, we can't do that!" Bubbles said.
"Why not?" Buttercup said. "I've beaten them up before for no other reason than to get their teeth, and you've framed Mojo for stealing golf clubs. Then, we've made a deal with Mojo to bust him out of jail to get candies from the mayor. So, if you leave out the killing part, what's the difference?"
"The difference is, we're wrong, and we should have known better," Blossom said. "So, what we would do is to wait for all the evidence to come out, figure out who did it beyond reasonable doubt, and only then should we attack! Not go and beat every villain you see!"
"Look, girl," Butch shouted at Blossom. "You may be the leader, but you can't tell us what to do to protect Dad, and…"
"Oh yes I could! I AM THE LEADER AND YOU WILL DO AS I SAY!" Blossom said, shouting, glaring at Butch. "And I won't take anymore of your insubordination!"
"Oh yea—" Boomer began, but was interrupted by Brick.
"Boomer, Butch, shut up! She's the damn leader of this alliance for crying out loud and whatever she says go!" Brick ordered. "And Blossom, okay, you win. We'll do as you say. But if ever Dad gets harmed by one of those you mentioned because we didn't adopt my plan, then I'm holding you responsible."
Butch and Boomer looked at Brick. Brick, even if he wasn't the leader of the alliance, remained the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys, and he commands a lot of respect from his brothers. They have an immense respect for Brick, and backed down, though they were grumbling.
Fortunately, the bell rang. Lunch was over and the six-superpowered kids went to their respective classrooms.
Meanwhile…
"Doctor, we just found something," Kaczinsci said. He then got a small petri dish, and in it were some crystals the size of a pellet. "We found this lodged in the artery leading up to his brain. It's what caused the stroke."
"Odd? How could a crystal become lodged in the artery of a man?" Grulp wondered. "Any ideas, William?"
Dr. Edwards took the sample and put it under a microscope. "Ah ha! Grulp, do you have a remote control or something with infared?"
"Sure," Grulp said. "Kaczinsci, tell Mac to bring the remote here."
Dr. Edwards looked around the lab, and took a bottle of a strange white powder. He then took a glass of blood, and mixed it with the blood. It disappeared, like sugar mixed with boiling hot water.
"As you see, the white powder dissolved into the blood, and without any side-effects. Now, give me the remote."
Dr. Edwards took the remote, and pressed a few buttons, pointing it into the blood sample. Soon, a reaction occurred and soon, solid crystals were forming. "You see, the infared waves caused the dissolved material to lump together, causing it from a solid mass. Now, when the robber was cornered, someone activated an infared device somewhere, causing particles in the blood to lump together, blocking the artery leading to the brain, causing the stroke!"
"Very clever!" said Grulp. "That way, they could take out one of their own, and make it look like death from natural causes."
"Except that everyone knows no healthy man in his mid-twenties die from stroke," said the doctor. "They were thirty years off the mark. If he was sixty, his death would have been less suspicious."
"Yup. And that means that he has a companion, or at least someone was shadowing him," Dr. Edwards said.
"Why do you say that, William? Is there something I missed?" Grulp asked.
"Well Alex, who would press an infared device to crystallize the dissolved particles in the blood?" reasoned the doctor. "He must have shadowed him to ensure that he would not talk if he was captured."
"Well, in that case, I would have to warn you. These people who are after you are no ordinary criminals or gangsters for that matter," Grulp said.
"I already know that. Still, have you encountered this group before?" asked the doctor.
"No," Grulp said, shaking his head.
A few hours later…
"Listen to this," Boomer said in his room to Butch. Brick was in another room reading a book.
He pressed the play button on the tape recorder.
"So you're not Miss goody two-shoes after all," they heard Brick's voice in the recorder. "So that's the reason why you didn't bother to help my brothers. And why you chose to beat me up while my brothers are in the city. You divided us so you can deal with us one by one. The monsters would keep us busy, while you yourselves deal with me. I must admit, I was impressed by your plan, yet you botched it up big time! And don't be a parrot and keep repeating your damned conditions. We won't surrender to the police and give any bogus confession!"
"You're not entirely wrong Brick," they heard Blossom said. "Our plan was for Tom and the others to soften you up so that you would scream for us to help you from the monster. You being thrown into our clutches was entirely unexpected, but convenient. We decided to keep you here so that your brothers will have less chances winning against the monsters. We used the oldest rule in the book, that is divide and conquer. Those monsters failed and turned out to be evil, but it was remedied because you did our job for us by defeating them. But it did divide you long enough so that we can weaken you one by one. Give up now, boys!"
Boomer pressed the stop button. He then grinned at Butch. "All we have to do is show Dad, and poop! He'll know about the monster alliance, and bye bye Blossom!"
"That's brilliant, Boomer," Butch complimented. "But are you sure Brick will approve of this?"
"Of course!" Boomer said. "He wants to be leader, right? How best to be the leader? By destroying the current leader's reputation, Blossom! Then Dad would have no choice but to choose Brick as the new leader with Blossom discredited!"
"But how did you record this?" asked Butch.
Boomer pointed to his communicator watch. "I've been fiddling at this for quite some time, and by accident I discovered you can record voices here. I just transferred it to a tape to free up some space."
"Now let's go to Brick and tell him the good news!" Butch said.
They then raced to where Brick was reading Machiavelli.
"Look at this, Brick," said Boomer. "Now, you can be the leader!"
Boomer then played the tape. "All caught on tape. And the best thing is, Blossom won't be able to wiggle her way out of this one, since nobody but us knows about it, and even if she apologizes, they would still be in trouble for not telling earlier!"
"That's brilliant, Boomer," Brick said. "Now, is this the only copy of this conversation?"
"No, no, no!" Boomer said. "I've made three more copies!"
"Get it!" Brick ordered.
Soon, Brick has all the copies of the tape.
"Now, all we need is your go-ahead!" Boomer asked.
"Yup, we could even blackmail Blossom into stepping down and handing it over to you!" Butch added.
"Well, I think not. Sorry, we won't use this tape anytime soon," said Brick.
"What! But you want to be the leader! Why waste this opportunity?" Boomer asked in shock.
"Because it will ruin my plan!" Brick said. "And Dad said something—that I don't have much experience in this kind of things. He's right, like he always is. I want to prove to Dad that I have enough experience to be leader when I become the leader so that he would know that I truly deserve to be leader, not because Blossom deserves it less. I think two or three months under Blossom's shadow will be enough experience, don't you think?"
"But…"
"Besides, it's my fault Blossom's the leader now," Brick said.
"What?" asked Butch.
"Because I made very stupid decisions. We should have rescued the girls from Mojo the moment Dad ordered us to. We should never have even considered using the sunball. And I looked very bad when I tried to smear Blossom over the golf club incident. I made myself look like an immature, mean fool. No—I want Dad to know that I really deserve to be the leader, and slinging mud at Blossom won't convince Dad."
"Also, using that tape would ruin the alliance, and I can't be leader of the Ruff-Puff Alliance if it doesn't exist, right?"
"Yeah," Butch said.
"And Boomer, you don't want the reputation of your girlfriend, Bubbles, to be ruined right?"
"She's not my girlfriend!" Bubbles shouted, his face red, but then calmed down. "But yeah, I agree, I wouldn't want that to happen to Bubbles."
"So there! You won't use that tape!"
"Why?"
"Well, if you aren't convinced of it yet, because I said so and I order it!" Brick said.
"But that means Blossom we'll remain the leader!" protested Butch.
"So we'll just have to live with that!" Brick said.
"But Boomer and I can't stand her, and I can't stand taking orders from her even more!"
"You won't stand it, but you'll do it," Brick said. "Look, I know how you dislike her, but let me be clear to you, we don't make decisions based on feelings, or what is right or wrong, but on what would be best for Dad and us! Remember, self-interests! That is the magic word! Now, I know that if you use that tape, a whole can of worms will be opened and the damage that would destroy Blossom would also drag us down. And we are in a middle of a crisis. Somebody is trying to get Dad, and we need all the help we can get. In short, it won't be in our interests, and it would certainly damage it if you would use that tape to force Blossom down!"
"But…" Boomer began.
"Look!" Brick continued, glaring at his brothers. "We'll keep these tapes and maybe we'll find some use of it for the future, but for now, I'll keep it."
"Where's your pride man!" Butch shouted. "You'd let yourself and your brothers be pushed around by that girl!"
"Don't ever question my pride!" roared Brick, pointing a finger at him. "Do you really think I will enjoy the next few weeks, playing second fiddle to Blossom? I don't dislike her, I kinda admire her, but you and I know I HATE TAKING ORDERS FROM ANYBODY BUT MY DAD! But what's done is done! You can't solve a problem by making it worst! Dad has made his choice, and all of us will respect it, whether you two like it or not! We have to do what's best for our self-interests, even if we don't like, even if we hate it, because if we don't, our pride will even be worst off than before!"
"Now, if Blossom gives you orders, just pretend that it was me giving it!" Brick said in a calmer voice, not anymore raising his voice. "Don't worry, it will only be temporary. After this crisis is over, or in a few months, I'll find a way to grab the leadership position from Blossom, and at the same time make Dad approve of it, and make Buttercup and Bubbles like it, or at least accept it!"
Butch and Boomer were again flabbergasted. Once again, what Brick said made sense.
"Okay, okay, we'll do as you said," Butch said. "Damn it Brick, why do you always have to be right?"
"I guess I was selfish!" Boomer admitted. "But that doesn't mean I won't dislike Blossom less!"
"Well, what should we do about the robber?" asked Butch.
"Well, we should wait for Dad and ask him what the police has said. After that, we ask Blossom and the girls what they know. After that, we'll see where to go from there," Brick said. "I hope the police don't mess up the case, like they did our house."
Boomer then remembered something. "Oh hell! I just remembered! Dad said we should clean the house as part of our punishment! And everyday that he comes home with the house in a mess is one more day grounded!"
"When did he say that?" asked Butch.
"You know, when we lied to the girls about being in cahoots with Mojo?" said Boomer. "And Dad found out! We're still grounded for it, remember?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that!" Brick said in near panic. "Okay, Boomer grab some brooms and I'll take the vacuum while Butch will get the duster?"
Soon, the boys got on a mad scramble to clean the house. And like typical boys, they messed it up more as a result.
Soon, they were near despair, as nothing worked and the house was much worse.
"We're doomed! Doomed I tell you!" Boomer shouted.
Suddenly the doorbell rang.
"Uh oh, Dad's home," Boomer said in terror.
"No, Dad doesn't ring the doorbell! He just opens it when he arrives, and he has a key if its lock. Must be someone else," said Brick. "I'll get it."
Brick opened the door and was surprised to find…
"Bubbles? What are you doing here? And where's your sisters?"
The blond puff was standing alone in front of here house, looking cute, trying to stifle a giggle.
"Well, Buttercup and Blossom are still grounded, but I was grounded for only three days and now I'm not grounded anymore. Well, since I was the only one who could get out of the house, I thought 'why not play with the boys,' well, since we were allies and all I thought we can be friends? So, wanna play?"
By this time, Boomer is standing besides Brick, while Butch was grumbling in the background.
"Well, we would love too, but we need to clean the house," Brick said and explained their plight.
"Oh don't worry, I'll help you clean the house," Bubbles offered.
"Really?" Brick and Boomer said together.
"Yup," Bubbles said, grabbing a mop. "Just do as I do and as I say."
And Bubbles directed the housekeeping of the boys' house. Even Butch followed, though he grumbled. Soon, the house was spic and span.
"Wow," Brick and Boomer said.
"I'd never thought this house could get so clean!" Boomer said. "Thanks Bubbles."
"Bubbles, how about going here every afternoon to help us clean the house?" offered Brick. "That way, Dad won't get mad at us when he comes home from work. In return, we'll let you play with us afterwards!"
Bubbles think for a moment. "Well, I guess, but…"
"But what?" Boomer asked.
"You should apologize to me for making me feel ugly last Saturday?" Bubbles said to Boomer.
"What? Why'd I'd never apologize to anyone except Dad!" Boomer said.
"Well, then the deals off…" Bubbles said.
"Wait, wait. I didn't really mean it," Boomer quickly said. "I just don't want to be kissed by girls or anybody. Please, no kissing! I hate it! So don't feel too bad about it. I'd react the same if any other girl kissed me."
And even though he didn't say the words, 'I'm sorry,' Bubbles figured that that is the best she could get of an as an apology from the proud Rowdyruff, so she accepted it.
"And I know you guys don't like Blossom," Bubbles continued, "but since she's the leader and all, could you at least don't fight with her?"
"It's okay. We won't fight her, right Boomer?" Brick said.
Boomer lips at first we're unmoved. He then saw Bubbles, then Brick. "R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ight!" he finally said with difficulty.
"Right Butch? Remember what we talked about a while ago?" Brick said.
"Well yeah, okay, but I don't want to repeat it in front of her," Butch derisively said.
"Butch, do it!" Brick said in a loud voice.
"Okay, right," Butch reluctantly said.
"Well, any other conditions?" asked Brick.
"Well, can you be my friends?" asked Bubbles.
Brick and Boomer looked at each other, then grinned.
"Yeah, I guess," Brick said, though it hasn't a hint of enthusiasm in it. "Is that all?"
"Yup," Bubbles said.
"One more thing. Promise not to tell Blossom about his deal?" asked Brick.
"Okay," said Bubbles.
"Okay, so here's the deal. Correct me if I'm wrong Bubbles. You come here every afternoon after school to help us clean our house. In exchange, all we have to do is not fight Blossom and be your friend and play with you afterwards? And this deal is confidential!"
"That's it!" Bubbles said.
"It's a deal! Let's shake on it!" said Brick. And so, Bubbles and Brick shook hands sealing the quid pro quo.
A few hours later…
Dr. Edwards arrived home. He was surprised to see Brick and Boomer trying to teach Bubbles how to play chess, while Butch was just playing computer games by himself.
"No, you should say check when your piece threatens my king! You couldn't just capture my king without warning!" Brick said. "Dad!"
"Wow! This house, it's so clean! Congratulations!" Dr. Edwards said.
"Well, you should thank Bubbles," Boomer said. "She helped us!"
"Thanks Bubbles. Though I think you should go home now," said the doctor. "It's late, and the professor would be worried if you don't go home."
"Thanks for reminding me," Bubbles said. "I'd had a great time guys! Thanks!"
"Glad she's gone," Brick said after she left. "I'd thought she'd never leave. But her sisters are lucky to have her."
"She's not that bad," said Boomer. "Though I hate it when she she's trying to kiss me. Yuck!"
"So what did you find Dad?" asked Brick.
His father told them all he knew.
"That's horrible!" Brick said.
"Yeah, we'll protect you Dad," Butch said.
"I'm glad to hear it," Dr. Edwards said. "That is why we're going to spend the rest of the night learning all the criminals in Townsville." He then showed them five CDs. "I just borrowed his from the police station. "Contains all the records of criminals in Townsville. Hopefully, we could figure out who's behind these."
And so, the Edwards family spent the rest of the night mulling over criminal records.
Author Notes
Ok, I decided to give Dr. Edwards' reasons for choosing Blossom over his son.
1. Dr. Edwards really don't know how arrogant Blossom was, and he doesn't know how Boomer and Butch disliked Blossom.
2. Brick didn't give a coherent argument when Dr. Edwards asked him why he should be chosen leader. He just said, "because I'm better," without giving any actual reason for saying so, unlike Blossom, who actually gave a reason why she should be.
3. Brick made so many mistakes that day. Example, he looked like a meanie when he brought up Blossom's past. He embarrassed himself when he failed to show up in time for the hike and gave a lame explanation that made him look like a fool.
4. Dr. Edwards is still upset over the sunball. He had forgiven him, but it caused doubts to arise over whether or not Brick is mature enough to be leader when he could not even follow a simple instruction as not to let the girls know about it unless an extreme emergency, let alone use it.
5. The incident of Mojo Jojo. That really began doubts about his boys. They learned their lesson, but Dr. Edwards felt they needed more guidance before they could take on the world and not look like a villain or a bully.
6. The reputation of the girls themselves.
7. Dr. Edwards query to the Professor about Blossom. He knows about Brick strength and weaknesses, but he really didn't know Blossom that much, and about her past. Asking the Professor, Ms. Keane and Ms. Bellum all removed remaining doubts about Blossom's abilities.
8. And of course, there is the fact that the girls has so much more experience in the superhero stuff.
Well, there you have it!