Into the Fire

The Powerpuff Girls were in the midst of a heated battle with their super powered rivals the Rowdyruff Boys. Ever since their resurrection by the notorious demon sorcerer Him they had become a regular nuisance to the girls, challenging them to battle time and time again at the direction of their new master. This encounter proved to be no different than the rest. As usual the three Powerpuffs were paired off with their Rowdyruff counterparts as they dueled through the evacuated streets of Townsville, doing their best to mitigate the inevitable trail destruction in their wake.

"You ain't gonna take us boys out this time." Brick stared down his Powerpuff counterpart Blossom, a scowl of grim determination set on his face. The two of them hovered high above the city skyline in a standoff as streamers of light danced beneath them, bright streaks of blue and green, indicating their siblings battling it out in the city below.

"Ha! we've beaten you so many times now I've lost count," Blossom gave a haughty sneer, hands on her hips in an air of smug superiority. "What makes you think this time will be any different?"

"Oh, you'll see," Brick growled. "Me and my brothers are gonna rip you girls to shreds, and when we're done with you no one will even recognize you."

With that Brick launched himself at Blossom at top speed, a streak of red against the blue sky. They collided in a flash of red and pink, exchanging a wild flurry of punches and kicks, mere blurs to the naked eye. He was hitting her with everything that he had, hammering her with powerful blows that landed like comet strikes, each one accompanied by a vivid shock of pain that took everything for her to endure. As much as she hated to admit it, he was a little more than a match for her with his natural advantage of strength and raw animosity. She would have to keep on her toes if she were to come out on top in this battle.

Likewise Bubbles and Buttercup were trading blows with their own Rowdyruff counterparts. Butch and Buttercup were taking turns pummeling one another with a total lack of restraint. It was little more than a brawl, a contest of pure brute strength and aggression that spared nothing in their path. Bubbles, on the other hand, preferred a more strategic approach when it came to her opponent, leading Boomer on a wild chase at hypersonic speeds, weaving in and out of buildings, taunting him all the while with the occasional "you can't catch me" or "slowpoke". While Boomer could easily outpace her on speed alone, she could navigate through obstacles with a finesse that the clumsy Rowdyruff couldn't ever hope to match. He was more apt to crash into and through his surroundings than match her clever maneuvering skills. In the end he seemed to do more damage to himself than his opponent as he smacked headlong into buildings, cars, lamp posts and whatever else happened to be in his way. Still, speed alone was enough of an advantage for Boomer to catch Bubbles off guard a number of times and she endured her fair share of bruises. It was a strategy that could only hold up for so long.

The battle stretched on for quite some time until signs of exhaustion began to show itself amongst the combatants on both sides of the fray. Finally, almost in concert, the two factions broke off from their skirmish to regroup their efforts, the combatants having hit a mutual standoff.

Blossom summoned her sisters into a tight huddle. The fighting had taken its toll on the redhead's appearance. Her uniform was dirt-smeared and torn in several places, and her hair was in messy tangles, the ever present red bow now missing from its usual perch atop her head. Her two sisters weren't looking any better. Bubbles sported a black eye and a missing pig tail, the loose blonde locks splayed about her face, strands matted against her skin with sweat and grime. Buttercup appeared to have taken the worst of it, the majority of her exposed skin riddled with dark bruises and her clothes and hair encrusted with dirt and grit. Blossom took them both in with a grave expression.

"Girls, this isn't working. We aren't getting anywhere taking on the Rowdyruff Boys head to head like this. All we're doing is wearing ourselves out. We have to change our tactics if we want any hope of beating them." Bubbles and Buttercup mirrored their sister's concern.

"I hate to say it, but those boys have gotten a lot better since the last time we fought them," Buttercup said. "None of my moves work anymore. It's like Butch knows everything I'm going to do and how to counter it."

"It's the same way with me," Bubbles added. "I can't even seem to get close to Boomer anymore. He's gotten so fast. And his punches really hurt too."

Blossom furrowed her brow in thought. "We're just too evenly matched. There's got to be some way to overtake those boys. We just need to come up with a unique strategy to gain the upper hand, something they won't expect."

"But we've already used every tactic in the book on these guys," Buttercup retorted. "They know all our moves. They've seen enough of our battle maneuvers to second guess us every time. There's probably nothing we can do that they won't wise up to."

Blossom burned into her sister with a firm gaze. "There are three key things that we have over those boys: organization, discipline, and tactical prowess. They may be stronger and faster than we are, but we're smarter and nobody is better at teamwork than us. That's what always gives us the edge in the end, and that's how we're going to beat them now. Now, girls, we've just been going about this the wrong way. We don't need muscle or elaborate strategies to win this battle. Every opponent has a weakness. We've proven that countless times already. We simply need to find a new one and then exploit it."

Buttercup scowled with obvious skepticism, but gave a relenting huff. "Okay then leader girl. So what do you suggest we do?"

Blossom fell into deep thought as she considered her options. It only took a few short seconds before her lips curled into a devilish grin. "I've got it." She leaned in close to her sister, her eyes glowing with fiendish anticipation. "Alright girls, this is what we're going to do." She lowered her voice to a whisper as she began to hastily reveal her plan.

Hovering across the sky a distance away, the band of Rowdyruffs were similarly gathered in their own huddle, speaking in low voices.

"What is wrong with you two? We're falling apart out there. Can't you guys stand up to a couple of sissy little girls?" Brick glared daggers at his two brothers, his eyes blazing with near a manic fury and something else...terror. Both of them looked subdued under the intensity of his gaze, neither quite meeting his eye. "You know what will happen to us if we lose again. You know what Him will do to us if we fail. Is that what you want? Is it?"

Boomer's eyes widened in naked fear and he shook his head rapidly as if warding off a vengeful apparition. Butch grit his teeth in a dark grimace, his eyes remaining downcast. His fists clenched tightly at his sides and his whole body gave a subtle tremble, though it couldn't be said whether it was from anger or fear.

"We can't let those Powepuffs beat us again," Brick continued. "We're the Rowdyruff boys and we won't let ourselves be beat by a bunch of stupid girls. So I want you two to go out there and show them what we're really made of, understand?"

Subdued nods came from the other two Rowdyruffs.

"Right. ROWDYRUFF BOYS, ATTACK!"

Three bright streaks of red, green and blue blazed across the sky, honing in like missiles on the three Powerpuffs still hovering in a tight group nearby. The girls were ready for them, though. Blossom gave her sisters a discrete nod which they both returned in kind before the three of them raced out to meet adversaries. The Rowdyruffs attacked with a blind fury, throwing a barrage of punches and kicks at their opponents, lighting up the sky with laser beams and energy blasts, tearing up their surroundings with reckless abandon, but the girls made no attempt to return the aggression and instead they simply weaved in and out of the boys' attacks. This went on for quite some time, and all the while the Rowdyruff Boys' attacks were growing more and more wildly, more and more discordant as they grew ever more frustrated at the elusive girls. Finally Blossom gave the signal.

"Now girls!"

Each girl ducked in close to her opponent and at once began to tickle him furiously. The boys were caught completely off guard and were immediately overtaken by the girls' assault, rendering them helpless as they were overcome by uncontrollable fits of laughter. Each boy could have taken a nuclear explosion point blank and they wouldn't have even blinked an eye, but they had no defense against the wriggling fingers that assaulted them now. The girls continued in this way, tickling the boys until they were so exhausted they could no longer keep themselves aloft. The three of them plummeted towards the earth as one, laughing uncontrollably all the while, and collided with the pavement below in a sprawled heap of giggling bodies.

Blossom smiled with triumphant satisfaction. "All right girls, lets finish this. Powepuff Shining Missilen Attack!"

With an acknowledging nod from both her sisters the three girls launched themselves downwards, accelerating towards the laughing boys beneath. As they descended they flew in close together and locked hands in a tight circle and began to rotate as one, their bodies glowing their respective colors as they steadily picked up speed. They spun faster and faster, their colors blurring until all that could be seen in the sky was a single point of brilliant white light. The Powerpuff missile soared towards the earth like a comet, preparing to obliterate the unsuspecting Rowdyruffs below. Still caught in their fits of laughter, the Rowdyruff Boys did not even notice the deadly spear of light streaking towards them. It seemed as if they would be laughing all the way to their deaths, but at the last moment a crimson mist rose up from the pavement and quickly engulfed the boys, rendering them invisible beneath a cloud of thick red fog. Almost as quickly as it had come it was gone, and along with it the Rowdyruff Boy. The Powerpuff missile collided with bare pavement, the earth shattering force rocking the city's foundation and sending a shockwave rippling through the city streets, shattering windows and upending anything that wasn't securely bolted down. Dirt and shrapnel rose high into the air, peaking at the tops of the highest skyscrapers before dispersing in a thick, dark cloud.

It took several minutes for the dust to finally thin enough to see through it. By the time the Powerpuff Girls were able to identify the large crater they had just created, it was clear by the abscence of the tellale ingredients of snips, snails and puppydog tails that they had entirely missed their mark. That could only mean one thing.

Buttercup let out a frustrated cry. "Argh! Every time were about to cut those Rowdyruffs down to size Him always interferes."

"As much as I hate to say it girls, we've lost yet another chance at stopping those Rowdyruff Boys for good," Blossom groaned.

"They'll be back," Bubbles added. "They always come back."

"And when they do they better pray Him is there to intervene because I'll beat them so bad they'll be begging for me to kill them," Buttercup shouted furiously while grinding a fist into an open palm.

"Don't count on it Buttercup," said Blossom, her tone low and serious. "Despite their slow wit the Rowdyruff Boys always manage to come back just a little bit stronger and a little bit wiser too. We'll have to keep on our toes if we want any chance of beating them next time."

With that the three girls flew homeward, eager for a well deserves rest.

In a hidden dimension somewhere between the borders of the mortal realm and those that lay beyond, a being of unspeakable evil sat upon on a throne of black stone settled atop a barren chunk of rock floating adrift in a vast sea of bleached, empty void. He watched the retreating Powerpuffs on an enormous screen hovering in the space before him, Fury burning through him at witnessing yet another defeat of his boys to those superpowered brats. With a powerful crimson blast of light from his eyes he tore the screen into a hail of crystal shards that rained down into the endless void below.

"Those fools. Those imbeciles. I can't believe they lost to those girls AGAIN." The next moment a misty vortex of red vapor opened up from overhead and the Rowdyruff Boys dropped from its mouth to land in a heap at his feet. They were still laughing uncontrollably, completely oblivious to their surrounding as well as the new threat presently standing over them. The sight only made Him grow even more angry.

"STOP YOUR LAUGHING YOU WORTHLESS BRATS." The sound of Him's voice sent a quake through the floating island on which he stood and the earth beneath him cracked and crumbled as the Rowdyruff Boys were blown back by the sheer force of his outburst. The laughter immediately ceased. Upon realizing where they were and who was standing before them their eyes widened in absolute horror. Murderous rage blazed in Him's eyes as he bore into them with a look meant to kill. "You insolent whelps. You incompetent fools. How is it that you always manage to lose against those Powerpuff Girls. I made you stronger than you were before. I fortified you against their feminine wiles. And yet you still manage to be defeated again and again AND AGAIN."

Him sneered at the boys with gleaming canines that looked ready to tear into them, glaring at them with such fierce contempt as the air rippled with an incomprehensible heat that radiated off of his skin with a tangible force. The ground sizzled and hissed beneath him as rock more more durable than any found on earth bubbled into into glowing molten puddles. He leaned in close to Brick, their supposed leader, the one who should have ensured their victory, the one who was ultimately to blame for their failure. He winced at searing pain that drilled at his skin from the supernatural heat, but he didn't dare make a sound. He knew well enough the hold that Him held on the three of them.

"WORTHLESS," Him shouted again at the top of his lung, "ALL OF YOU, WORTHLESS! I don't see why I shouldn't kill the three of you where you stand." He turned his back to the boys then and began to pace frantically too and fro. The three boys eyed each other fearfully. None dared speak or even move. "Still, despite your countless failures you boys are my best hope for defeating those girls." He spoke much calmer now, melting back into it's usual silky falsetto. "Of all the evil forces in Townsville you three alone have come the closest to destroying those little brats. And so as much as I utterly despise the idea I must rely on you three to ultimately take them out. But I must find a way to make you stronger. It seems my magic alone isn't enough. I could send you three out there a hundred times more and I'm sure those girls would discover some new weakness to exploit each and every single time. No, I will have to find some way to make you invincible against them, to eliminate any and all possible weaknesses you boys may possess."

Him abruptly stopped his pacing and fell backwards as if to sit, and a cozy armchair materialized in a cloud of red mist beneath him in a cushiony embrace. There he sat in deep thought for a long time as the Rowdyruff boys looked on in silence, not daring to disturb their master. Finally, he gave an exclamation of pure delight, and a bright smile spread across his face.

"Yes, I have got it." Him lifted up from his chair, rising into the air like an ascending angel, his voice now a silky purr. "I don't see why I didn't think of this before." He turned his attention back to the boys, a wicked glint in his eyes. "In you current state you boys are weak and pathetic and no amount of my magic can change that, but with the proper training you could learn to wield the very powers of Hell itself. Imagine what you boys could become if you were able to harness such vast power for yourselves. Such an ability would surely make you unstoppable. You could become such a tremendous force that not even the Powerpuff Girls themselves would be able to stand in your way. Yes, genius. Pure genius"

Him let out a long, terrible demonic laugh that echoed throughout his domain until it was an ear splitting chorus. The fire in his eyes seemed greater than ever as he grinned wickedly at the three boys.

"There is only one place where you will be able to learn such dark secrets. A place I myself was once called home." Him was rising still higher into the air and with one claw traced a line straight down through the space in front of him. A seam tore open as he rent the very fabric of reality apart, slicing a wide gap into the space before him as he now began descening slowly to meet the ground beneath him. The three boys could only stare in amazement and horror as the tear widened into a gaping aperature, a portal, spreading apart ever wider until it became like an enormous archway. Beyond it they could see a realm bleak and horrifying, a hideous landscape engulfed in unnatural flames that flickered a dark, bloody crimson like no fire they had ever seen. Heat like nothing they ever felt blasted their skin, a horrible searing that went all the way to the bone. Their eyes grew wide with terror as they stared into the horrible realm that stood before them.

Him touched down in front of the three terrified boys, deeply satisfied by their fright. He grinned at them more with pure, malicious delight as he raised one claw towards the archway. "Pack your bags boys. You're going to Hell."