It was a quiet day in Townsville.
It was, until a green dash crossed the sky.
"Brick, come back here, you rat!"
"Leave me alone, you stupid girl!"
Boomer stretched out while yawning. Butch, next to him, watched his older brother zig-zagging through buildings and trees, trying to confuse Buttercup.
"It was a quiet day, uh".
*****
It was a quiet day in Townsville.
It was, until green, pink, and blue dashed crossed the sky after green, red, and blue dashes.
"Stop it, boys!"
"Yeah, sure!"
"You do?"
"When hell freezes, idiots!"
*****
It was a quiet day in another Townsville. And in another Townsville. And yet in another one. And in all of them, blue, pink, and green streaks crossed the sky, chasing the blue, red, and green blurs.
"You can't take that!"
"Just look at us".
"Come back here!"
"As if!"
"Watch it out, boys!"
"Won't fall for that, idiots!"
"Uh, Brick?"
"What?"
"Look ahead, Brick. There is some kind of portal just in front of us".
"A what? Why didn't you say that sooner, Mojo?!"
"This is a perfect example of what I was telling you three last night and explain why it is important for you to keep an eye on your surroundings even when running away…"
The boys' opinion on the matter disappeared as the portal closed with them, leaving Townsville quiet again.
*****
"So, did you lose her?" Butch asked calmly.
Brick peeked through the trees. Even though he was sure to have lost her in the construction, he still insisted on checking the surroundings a couple of times before getting into the forest.
"Let's do this already".
"Ugh, I guess we can't do it after lunch, right?" Boomer cracked his knuckles while stretching.
"No, we've been delaying this business for too long. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can focus on our next steps".
"If we even figure out our next step".
Brick was about to answer Butch when Boomer glanced around.
"Uh, do you hear that, guys?"
Before he could even find the source of the whirring, portals opened around them, and boys were ejected at full speed against them. Boomer clashed his head against another blond guy wearing blue. Brick got himself tackled by another redhead, who at the same time got hit by a third Brick. And Butch, well, he simply raised his force field and ducked a couple more guys that crashed next to him.
And so, the Rowdyruff Boys from different worlds arrived in this one.
First, it was chaos.
"Why are you dressed like me?"
"Me? You're the copycat!"
"When did you get your ear pierced, Brick?"
"What do you mean? The same day as you, idiot."
Butch looked at Brick.
"So, after lunch?"
"Shut up, Butch. I'm trying to figure this out".
Mojo sat down, gently tugging at his beard.
"Apparently, multidimensional portals have been opened through a few different worlds and ended up here. Since we have been transported to these three specific Rowdyruff Boy's world, is highly possible that the one that opened the portal opened it from here, but since I cannot see any device that could have opened a portal to open here, I have to theorize that these Rowdyruff here are not the one who opened the portal, and he who opened the portal is not here, thus, he miscalculated the opening of the portal…"
"Oh, great. He's here too", mumbled Butch.
One Brick bent down at him.
"Be grateful there's only him and yours".
"Yeah, sure".
"Oh, that's right! We could ask Mojo!", a Boomer shouted.
"He's right here, and he said he doesn't know who brought us", said another one, fully confident.
The first turned to the Brick closer to him.
"Do I really sound that stupid?"
"Most of the time, yes".
"Still, the suggestion is a good one", Mojo observed. "We must not stay on open until we can meet the one who brought us here and know the reason…"
"Yeah, we got it. Let's go to the volcano", some other Brick said while taking off.
"Bad idea. The girls will notice us and will get their noses in".
"This Brick is right. We shall not risk the PowerPuff Girls getting in our business".
"Wait, we're not gonna walkin', right?"
"No, we'll be just as remarkable".
"So, in small groups?"
Everyone looked at the Boomers.
"Too much risk".
Brick came up again.
"The best plan would be staying out of the city. We'll call Mojo once we find a safe place".
"Yes, this Brick is right".
"Cool, so, where do we go?"
"Oh, I know a place!" said Boomer, the one from that world.
"You do?" asked one of the Butch, "You sure?" he looked at this world Brick and Butch, and they shrugged.
And Boomer was right. In the middle of the forest between cities, they found a summer house. It was old and abandoned, but not a dumpster. They could fly there without being noticed.
"How did you know about this place?" another blond asked him.
"It's a friend's place, but she doesn't come here often".
As they walked in, an arrow flew and stuck next to their heads. Boomer looked at it, then at the girl standing with the arch still in her hands.
"Hey, Aisha! I thought you were spending Ramadan with your grandma".
"Boomer! I thought it was a traspaser! I could have hit you, idiots! Why are you guys here?" She looked at the redhead next to Boomer. "You look different, Brick. Oh, I know! I've never seen you in casual clothes!"
"Hum, yeah, that should be". With all the excitement, he hadn't really thought about that silly observation.
Boomer was at the door, calling for someone outside.
"Get in, Aisha won't bite you".
"No, but she will freak out".
"Is that Butch? He just sounded like you, Brick".
And then, the troop of Bricks, Butches, and Boomers got in.
She paled, gasped, and froze.
"Told you your friend would shock".
"I'm fine", she lied, "and let me get this clear: I'm not asking what's going on, I don't even care about it, as long as you don't get me involved. Got it, guys?" she finally said while pinching Brick's shirt harder than she intended.
"Hum, Ok?" the boys replied.
"Ok", answered Aisha's friend.
"Good. I'll be in the forest, screaming".
And just like that, she left.
"Will she be fine by herself?" asked quietly a Boomer, one wearing a hoodie.
"Sure, I think we scared all the animals in our way here", replied Butch. This one was wearing shorts and a shirt whose sleeves and collar had been ripped away.
The boys sat where they could. Now that everyone was calm, they could notice the differences.
"So, what now?"
The Boomer who asked that wore a sleeveless shirt with metal rings and long gloves, also with metal features. His brothers wore alike: Brick had a black T-shirt under a dark red leather jacket. He had personalized it with some nails and chains, just as his cap. Butch wore a shirt with transparencies in the sleeves. He had a leather bracelet and, just like his brothers, wore chains and tractor boots. They had eyeliner and black polish.
Other group had casual clothes. Brick wore a lumberjack shirt over a dark red t-shirt and jeans, while Boomer wore a blue hoodie. He also seemed nervous and would pull his sleeves over his fingers. Butch, standing next to his brothers, arms crossed, was the one wearing the torn shirt and shorts.
There were the ones that came with Mojo Jojo. Their most notable feature was their piercings. Brick wore them on his left ear, while Butch had chosen the right eyebrow. Boomer's would be unnoticed except that he and Butch wouldn't keep their mouth shut, making the blond tongue piercings visible.
Some others wore uniforms, a sleeveless shirt with long gloves and black boots, while some others had sport shirts. And then, there were the ones from this world. Standing with their backs against the wall, they had nothing in common: Brick wore a red army uniform while Boomer had a light blue sleeveless shirt, blue shorts, and under it dark blue licras. He didn't wear socks with his tennis shoes. Butch; he had only blue jeans and a gray shirt. As if this wasn't shocking enough, Brick's hair was shorter than any other of his versions, barely touching his shoulders.
"Fascinating," Mojo took a good look at the boys. "The fact that all of you are Rowdy Ruffs yet, you all are not the same Rowdy Ruffs, despite looking so much as if you were the same, but with totally different likenesses. But we cannot get distracted by your differences. We need to find out the responsibility of this situation since this situation was not set with our previous agreement and knowledge of the subsequent events and consequences involved in this actual situation".
The boys turned to each other.
"So, where do we start?"
"First, we need to know who opened the portals".
"Mojo?"
"He would have given us a heads-up," the Butch on the gray shirt really didn't address the other Rowdy Ruffs, but his own brothers.
"What about him? Magic portals and chaos are his thing".
"Yeah, but this many portals and through dimensions would take a huge chunk of his power", Punk Brick noted.
"What if Him's working with Mojo? In this world, they may get along and work together", suggested Butch with piercing.
Everyone looked at the guys from the world.
"Hum…" Butch looked at his brothers again.
Boomer pondered:
"I don't think I've ever seen Him…"
"Working with Mojo? No". Brick interrupted the blue guy.
"We're running in circles. Right now, the best option'd be talking to Mojo, the one from this dimension. If he isn't the author, for sure he has an idea who might be".
"I've told you, we'll be spotted in a sec if we move together", the Brick in army uniform led, "It'd be better if we bring Mojo here."
"And dinner. It's almost dinner time!" one of the blonds jumped out.
"Well, we're going now".
Some of the Bricks walked behind them until the porch, seeing them take off. Boomer was joking with Aisha and asking her if she had had another fight with her grandma, which she answered by kicking him and saying she was an atheist, though she was wearing her hijab.
As for Boomer, he seemed to be almost as friendly as the other Boomers, but only with her. Butch, on the other hand, was far quieter and serious than any of his other versions. And Brick, well:
"He limps, doesn't he? Even if he tries to hide it," pointed the Brick with the lumberjack shirt.
"Yup. It wasn't just a stumble, but a real injury," Punk affirmed.
"What would it take to make us cripple?"
"A damn powerful explosion. A catastrophic one", continued the punk.
Mojo sat on the handrail, next to his own son.
"They were annoyed," the monkey expressed.
"We're all here," was his answer.
"No, they avoided eye contact or comments related or addressed to me; I think I smelled hate mixed with surprise."
Brick Punk leaned toward Aisha, who was checking her phone.
"Geez, if only we could ask one of their friends…"
"Forget it, we get along because we don't ask questions about each other. I don't even know their last name".
*****
Butch and Boomer flew behind their brother, waiting for the instructions that never came.
"Now what, Brick?" asked the blond finally.
"Yeah, that was a dull lie."
Brick suddenly stopped, forcing his brother to fly back.
"They'll start suspecting something's wrong if we keep avoiding the meeting", Butch continued.
"I know."
"But if we tell them the truth, they'll just talk to someone else", added Boomer.
"That won't help either."
Brick was thinking hard about how to solve this puzzle. Boomer started glancing around, as if looking for something, until he got Butch annoyed.
"Damn… I don't think we have any other choice but to let'em know".
"Stop that, Boomer! You're getting on my nerves!" Butch exclaimed.
"Don't you have the feeling that someone's looking at us?" he answered, a bit anxious too.
*****
At the cabin, the boys were bored. Of course, there was no electricity or TV. They had been talking about the differences between their different worlds, but they were tired of that now. Except for the blond and green with piercings, who seemed to find a new topic every few seconds, and never got tired of talking.
"Hey, how's that you haven't got any piercings for you and not just your clothes?" asked this Boomer to his punk version.
"I tried, but the needle breaks every time. The downs of being invulnerable, I guess."
"Oh, I know that! Mojo had to make special needles for us."
"He did?" The three punks looked at the monkey.
"There is absolutely no way I will make more needles for such an irrelevant aesthetic fashion. It takes too much time to prepare the alloyed materials to pierce a superpowered being".
A general "Why not!?" came from every other RowdyRuff in the room.
Aisha looked at the Brick with piercings, the only one who stayed away.
"Your brothers can't keep quiet for two seconds, eh?"
"Nope."
"How can you handle it?"
"After a while, they just become white noise. Hey, wanna trade your boys for my brothers?"
"No, thanks. I like silence."
"So, they don't talk that much, uh?"
"No, they're very… Wait a minute! Are you trying to make me rat on them?"
"Almost worked, didn't it? Besides, I'm curious, why a Senior would hang out with freshmen?"
"We don't even go to the same school."
"Even stranger. Where did you meet those guys?"
She sighed and stood up.
"I think there are some blankets in the storeroom. I'll go try to find the keys."
She met one of the Butch outside.
"Hey, girl. What're you up to?"
"Nothing much, I'm trying to open the storeroom."
"Cool! You think there are any dead rats?"
"You know, you don't have to come with me."
"Nah, that's fine. That's probably the only fun here."
He hadn't finished complaining when two ant-like creatures leaped from the bushes, their sharp legs cutting down everything in their way. Butch grabbed her hand and made her twist away from the danger before beating the creatures off.
"What were those?"
"I don't know. They seem to have magic, maybe they were Him's imps?"
"Whose what?"
More imps ran toward them.
"Cool! Finally, some fun! And you're a dead weight." He said, and with an "Up you go," he threw Aisha to the sky.
Once freed to fight, he did what he was better at: destroy every imp on his way. He kicked, hit, and blew them with joy. And then just stretched his arms out to catch Aisha. A very pale version of her.
"See? I told you I had everything under control."
"You never said that, you just tossed me."
"Whatever. There are more of them coming," Aisha held him as firmly as she could. "We'd better let Brick know about this."
It was actually useless, since by the time they got to the door, the boys were already fighting the imps. Butch just let Aisha drop.
"Idiot! Why didn't you just jump off?"
"Idiot! Why did you just drop me?"
"Idiots!" shouted one of the Bricks, "This is not the time for arguing!"
They were surrounded by the imps, who seemed to keep materializing out of thin air. Aisha tried to shoot but it didn't even scratch them.
"Damn, Boomer, be careful with those lightings."
"I can't aim! Everyone is moving without sense!"
"Do you want me to ask them to attack us in a single file line?"
"Duck!"
In the chaos, one of the imps tried to order the attack.
"Bring the boys! Don't kill the boys!"
"Brick, did you hear that?"
"Yes, Boomer. We need to make them talk before we sweep them off."
Punk Brick had a different idea.
"I've had enough! Butch, get'em!"
"You got it!" was every single Butchs' answer as every single one of them threw a powerful blow. Not only the imps but the whole cabin went off.
"Idiots. I meant my brother!" Punk Brick shout.
"A little misunderstood."
"Technically, it was your fault, we're all 'Butch'."
"Well, this is it. We're going to the volcano. Those guys better start giving us some straight answers."
So they took off back to Townsville.
As they flew, a strong magic gave them the chills down their spine. No matter what world they were from, they knew exactly who possessed that furious and malevolent magic way before they could spot him. And they knew he was choleric.
At first, the boys couldn't see who was Him fighting, yet, considering he had turned to his real giant form, it should have been someone strong. Then, a red flick. And a blue one. And of course, a green flash. This world Rowdy Ruff Boys. They were barely visible because they didn't fly as much as they jumped from Him's shoulder to his head and then his back. A couple of blue lightings appeared for a second as if Boomer was to hit Him on the waistline, but suddenly disappeared to hit Him on his face. Before the giant claw could even come closer, a green bubble rose around the blond and sent him away. Boomer used those few seconds to fill Butch's force field into an energy bomb, and he left it on time for Butch to send it again to Him. Brick had been waiting for this moment when Him put his guard down so he could attack with a strong flame kick that almost sat Him down.
"Damn it, he just doesn't fall."
He hid in the tree tops. His left leg wobbled with the effort. From there, Brick looked for his brothers. They were following the plan, of course: Boomer had retreated to the branches. For his slow floating, Brick could tell his brother was also at his limit. Butch had found a blind spot. Of course, he was the one with the most stamina, but still, it was obvious he wouldn't get a chance to win by himself, even if he wanted to try it.
"We finish this now", Brick signaled to his brothers. Butch clenched his jaw. Of course, he didn't like the plan. He had always considered it stupid, even if it gave them the advantage.
"It just seems to be an advantage, but just a little mistake and it will blow up," the green had said after they'd used it the first time.
"We don't have any other option right now; we still need to fix the other RRB thing", Brick pointed out to him. The green swore and took his position.
Brick and Boomer leaped from their hiding places in a colorful zig-zag. Him focused on the redhead and launched a fist from the right and another from the left. Brick couldn't avoid that Him clutching at his shirt. All the boy did was let himself slide off it, grab the piece of cloth, and pulled it over the claw. Boomer appeared in the space formed under the fists, with a lighting bolt ready to clash on the giant. Brick used his last card, a special power that played with his enemy's mind, but blinded the red for a couple of hours. Butch hit Him's jaw with an uppercut, leaving his throat visible. And Boomer would have shot, but then Brick's shirt tore off, Him's claw whiplashed to his chest, hitting Boomer from the back, knocking him out.
While his vision blurred, Brick saw his blond brother fall, unconscious.
"I… miscalculated?" was his last thought before he fainted out.
Some red, yellow and green strokes crossed the sky, reaching the Boys and pulling them away from the fight while Him threw erratic punches and kicks to the air.
"You guys hafta a lot to explain to us," said the Brick on a lumberjack shirt, "once we get to the… Volcano?"
Against the night sky, a crater stood in absolute silence. Few walls and steel columns still stood from Mojo Jojo's lab.
"Man, what happened here?"
"There'll be time to find that out", said a voice above their heads, "Right now, I think it's time for you to stop avoiding us".
And there they were, Bubbles, Blossom and Buttercup. The PowerPuff Girls.