Family Matters

Chapter 9: Their First Outing

As the metahumans flew over Megaville, Bubbles looked around at the ones around her and smiled. There wasn't much conversation between them-just a bit of an argument between Butch and Buttercup, really-but she liked how they were going somewhere together. Something inside her felt warm, and she thought to herself about how it became like this because she'd talked to Boomer. She looked down at all the buildings, then she stopped.

However, doing this caused a couple of disastrous events.

Boomer had been only a few paces behind her, and because of Bubbles's sudden stop, he collided into her back. Bubbles shot forward, and her arm flew out and hit Butch right in the head. Buttercup had started to move away when she saw Bubbles coming, but in doing so, she backed up into Brick. A cry of protest escaped him, and he whirled around to give her a piece of his mind; but as he did that, his elbow went and struck Blossom's face.

All of these incidents happened so quickly, none of the children could concentrate, and they went hurtling towards the ground. With simultaneous cries, they landed in a heap on the sidewalk.

"Boomer, get off me!" Butch shouted.

"Bubbles, your hand's digging into my back!" Blossom complained.

"That's not my hand; it's Buttercup's!" Bubbles protested.

"Brick, get your damn hair out of my face!" Buttercup snapped.

"How can my hair get there?! I'm at the bottom of the pile!" Brick retorted.

"I'm not on you. I'm at the top," Boomer pointed out.

In unison, the others shrieked, "THEN GET OFF!"

Eventually, after a few minutes, the metahumans were standing upright on the sidewalk. Brick crossed his arms and scowled. "Who the hell started this?" he demanded.

Bubbles didn't hesitate to take the blame. "Sorry, it was my fault. I stopped."

"Why?" Blossom asked.

In response, Bubbles pointed down the sidewalk. At first, when her companions looked, nothing jumped out at them. Then Bubbles explained to them, "I saw the café. Maybe we can go there?"

"What about the arcade?" Butch whined, jabbing a thumb towards a pair of automatic glass doors that stood a few feet away from them. A sign above it told them that it was the arcade.

Buttercup shrugged. "Don't get your shorts in a twist. We can go get a bite to eat after the arcade, okay?" Suddenly, she bolted for the arcade. "Race you to the inside!"

"Hey!" Butch ran after her. "That's not fair! You had a head start!"

Bubbles couldn't help but giggle as the two of them fought to pull each other back. "That looks really cute! C'mon Blossom, let's go." Without looking, she took her sister's hand and started to walk towards the arcade. But Blossom refused to move from her place. "Blossom?"

"I'm really not sure about this Bubbles," she said uncertainly. "I mean, shouldn't we at least tell the professor about this?"

"Do we need to?" Boomer asked confusedly.

"Not really," Bubbles said. "But the professor doesn't really know about what we're doing, does he?"

Blossom's fingers curled to form a fist. "That doesn't mean-" Suddenly, she felt something thump at her head from behind. "Hey!"

When she turned, she found Brick standing right there, his hand held out as if he'd just given a finger thump. "What are you, a coward? You take down monsters ten times more than your own size, and you're afraid your dad will ground you?"

Blossom's fist tightened at his mocking tone, but she refrained from hitting him. "Mind you, but the professor is also your dad now, and that means you can get in trouble too."

Her annoyance didn't faze Brick for even a moment. In fact, he seemed to take it in his stride, because he smirked. Such a thing would make his fan girls swoon, but this only annoyed Blossom even more. "Do I need to remind you of who we are? Since when does a little trouble ever bother us?"

Bubbles took a cautious step back, while the two reds leaned in. Blossom glared into Brick's crimson eyes. "Why do I feel like you've changed since you've switched guardians?" she demanded.

"Isn't that something good?"

"I don't think so. You're acting differently now that you have a guardian that isn't so restricting."

"Wasn't that the point of the adoption? So we can have a normal life?"

Bubbles bit down the gasp that threatened to burst. She felt Boomer glance her way, but she was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to check. How'd Brick know that the adoption is to give them a more normal life? Dr. Brisbaine wouldn't tell them that, and the Admiral wouldn't tell them either. Just then, another thought came to her mind. Did he hear us talk?

Blossom seemed rattled as well, because the angry look escaped her eyes. All thoughts of protest fled her mind as the truth of his words smacked her in the face.

Brick seemed to sense what she was thinking, but before he could gloat about it, Butch's impatient voice interrupted him. "What are you guys waiting for? Come on!"

For a moment, the four of them seemed lost. They turned towards the arcade and found the two greens standing by the automatic glass doors. "Well?" Buttercup demanded. "Hurry up, or we'll go in without you!"

"Oh, yeah! We're coming!" Bubbles called back, almost shrieking out her words. With that, she snatched Blossom's hand and quite literally dragged her to the arcade. The two boys behind followed silently.

"What took you guys so long?" Butch asked once they were close enough. "It looked like a fight was ready to break out between our leaders." With a grin, he added, "Been a while since I've seen you like that bro. Wonder what made that show?"

"Shut up Butch," Brick scoffed. "Let's go."

Butch was still grinning as they walked in.

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It's the boys' first outing! And with the Powerpuff Girls too! "Believe me. One day, the six of you will be going out together." I'm sure if anyone ever told them that would happen, they would have thought it to be impossible. Not anymore!

Sorry for such a late update! Don't shoot me for it, okay? Seeing those comments made me feel so guilty... But after putting this up, I feel all better! ≧◠‿◠≦

- BlackAndWhitePersona