Allies and Rivals II

This is the last chapter of this story. So please review and tell me what you think.

Chapter 43

New Leadership Arrangements

The City of Townsville, and it was the morning of January 4th. It was a few days before their vacation ended and school begins again. But the main concern of the kids was far from school.

It was eight in the morning. The Professor was sitting on the table, reading a paper while the girls were serving him and themselves breakfast. The girls were eating. Buttercup and Bubbles exchanged a glance at each other while Blossom delivered a tedious lecture.

"And furthermore, the rate of increase of the speed of Jupiter is non-existent, as it is apparent, for the time of revolution around the star of this system is one and ten years, or in otherwise eleven years, which is quite slow in comparison to it's rotation which is only ten earth hours, and in stark contrast to Mercury, which takes nearly ninety days to rotate. Anyway, four of Jupiter's largest moons, Ganamede, Callisto, Europa, and Iota or something, I'm not sure, was discovered by Galileo in 1611. Some of those moons are even larger than some of our terrestial planets, or rocky ones," Blossom explained. "If you do not believe me, go to page 413 column A line 13 of The Solar System by Paul Wilkinson, Professor of Astronomy, or go look to letter J in encyclopaedia Americana or anything else. That is why, you Buttercup, are absolutely wrong in your answer to Bubbles' question, and that is the true answer to the question of Bubbles!"

"Huh?" Bubbles replied, what Blossom was saying going in over her head. "What?"

"Know-it-all!" Buttercup sneered.

"Of course I know it all!" Blossom defended. "I know more about any subject than you, since I read so many books and I've asked the Professor so many questions! Right Professor. Professor? Professor!"

"Whatever you say, Blossom. Now tell me, what is antonym of astonish that has eight letters, begins with the letter W and ends with an E?" the Professor absentmindedly asked while trying to answer the crossword puzzle.

"Whatever," Buttercup said. "Hey Blossom, could you teach me some of your special techniques, you know, the one with the fancy movements and all? Now?"

"I don't know. Maybe later. I do have to discuss with Brick about who should be the leader of the alliance, you know," said Blossom.

"Oh don't worry. I'll be here waiting for him, and I'll call you when he arrives," said Bubbles.

"I don't know," said Blossom. "I don't like teaching you one-on-one. I like it better if Bubbles is with us so I can give you both a lecture."

"Well Red, I want it one-on-one, and if you don't like it, then forget about it," said Buttercup.

Blossom, not wanting to miss teaching Buttercup the real way of fighting, relented. "I'm glad that you finally decided that brute strength does not equate to victory in battles. Finally, you've seen the light. I don't know why, but I think that it was the struggle against the late Mr. Ckracknow that finally convinced you the futility of banging your head against a wall, and the best way for winning is strategy, tactics, and the such, using your brain instead of only your muscles, and such, would require—"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever! Look, are you going to teach me or are you going to talk all day about it?" sneered Buttercup.

"Okay okay, don't get upset," Blossom said. "Sheesh, don't you think you ought to listen to what I'm saying first? But if you wish to, then fine, though you'd learn less because you don't listen to my magnificent speeches. After all, they did persuade the people of Townsville to drop their riot against us. So let's go outside—"

"I think we better do it in the Professor's training room," said Buttercup. "It's too cold out there."

"Hm, okay, if that's how you want it," said Blossom.

So both puffs went to the training room, while Bubbles played with her doll in the living room alone, and the Professor went to work.

"Okay, Buttercup, I've brought here a couple of charts and graphs showing the energy level consumed at each of my techniques, and graphs and charts comparing it with your brute strength…" Blossom droned while Buttercup pretended to listen.

'I hope Brick arrives soon before she drives me crazy on her lectures,' Buttercup thought.

Meanwhile…

"Broom, broom! My car drives fast towards his destination, having just escaped the cops!" Boomer said, playing his toy car.

"When suddenly, a plane appeared and began dropping bombs!" Butch, playing with a toy plane, said while dropping pellets on the car.

"But the amazing Boomer Edwards dodges the bombs," Boomer said.

"Then, a tank with anti-air weapons rolled by to rescue Boomer," Brick said, bringing his toy tank. It then shot a small pellet from its barrel, hitting the plane.

"I'm going down, I'm going down," Butch said while slowly crashing his plane. "I'm ejecting! I have survived using my parachute!"

"That was fun," said Brick. "Too bad I kicked your ass, Butch!"

"That shot was just lucky!" said Butch.

"So, what are we going to do the rest of the day? Maybe we can play in the snow outside," said Boomer, changing the topic of conversation.

"Nah, I'm going to the Utonium's today. Me and Blossom are going to have a discussion on who should be the leader," said Brick.

"So what time are we going?" asked Butch.

"Who's saying we? I'm saying, I am going there," said Brick, "alone."

"But why alone?" asked Boomer.

"Nah, he just wants to be alone with Blossom, his girlfriend!" Butch snickered.

"Oh shut-up Butch! That's really lame! I wouldn't touch that ugly girl with a seven-hundred foot pole!" Brick said.

"So why are you going alone?" said Boomer.

"I don't want any interference from you two. I best work with her alone," said Brick.

"I don't care what you and your girlfriend do, but don't sell us out!" Butch warned.

"For the last time, you idiot, she's not my goddamned girlfriend!" Brick shouted. "But don't worry. I won't sell you out. I only have your best interests at heart."

"You better not, but even if you do, we're still with you," Butch replied. "You know how loyal Boomer and I are to you."

"Thanks," Brick said. "It's ten minutes to nine, so I better get going."

So Brick went to the girls' house.

"Hi Brick," said Bubbles, who was still playing with her doll, when he arrived. "Wanna play dolls?"

"I don't play dolls," Brick asserted. "Anyway, where's Blossom? There's something I want to discuss with her."

"Oh she's downstairs in the Professor's training lab with Buttercup," said the blue puff. "I'll take you there."

Taking a surprised Brick by the hand, she dragged him towards the training room, where Brick finally yanked his hand from the over eager Bubbles. "Thanks, but I'll just follow."

"Hey Blossom, Brick is here," shouted Bubbles. "Hey Brick, want to take a look at our training room?"

"Why not?" Brick said, and he followed Bubbles into the training rooms. He was already familiar with the rooms of the house so he wasn't surprised too much by what he saw. Finally, they arrived, and found Buttercup and Blossom fighting each other.

"Blossom, Brick's here," shouted Bubbles.

Buttercup and Blossom stopped. "We'll continue this later," said Blossom. "I've got a meeting with Brick."

"Hope you settle your little dispute," said Buttercup while going near the metallic door of the training room.

"Hey Brick, I think you better go in," suggested Bubbles.

Brick went in and looked at the training room. "Wow! I never knew this one looked just like ours," said Brick.

"Yup! And it's stronger than it was since the last time you saw it. You see, during our Christmas vacation, the Professor replaced all the metal walls with Hardetal, so even we wouldn't break it if we tried," Blossom explained.

"Well, our training room is still better," Brick asserted. "Let's go upstairs, to your room or some other place. I don't like to discuss it here."

"Let's go to our room," agreed the pink puff leader.

Brick nodded, but before they can leave, the door suddenly closed. Blossom tried to open it using the controls beside the door, but it was no use. "Somebody must have accidentally locked it from the outside! And when this room is locked, the outside controls would override the controls inside."

"In other words, we're stuck in this room until somebody outside unlocks the door," said Brick.

"Buttercup, Bubbles, I think you accidentally locked the door!" the bow topped powerpuff shouted through a speaker.

"It ain't no accident, Blossom," the raven haired girl replied. "Bubbles and I purposely locked you together in that room!"

"What? No! Why the heck would you do that?" asked Blossom.

"I demand you unlock the door immediately, Buttercup," the redheaded rowdyruff shouted. "There will be hell to pay, and believe me, I will get back at you and Bubbles for this if you don't open the door right now! As the leader of the Ruff-Puff Alliance, I order you to!"

"Ha! You're still not leader," Buttercup retorted back. "You and Blossom still haven't settled that, remember? Okay, here's the deal. You will settle your dispute about the leadership problem. Only if you settle it both and you two agreed to abide by it would I unlock the door. Until you settle it, you would remain locked up in that training room. I'll be back in four hours, about lunch time, to see if you have found a solution. If not, then no lunch for both of you, and you will remain there! Bye!"

With that, Buttercup cut off the transmission from the speaker.

"Oh when I get out of here I'm going to punish them! Oh they are going to get it!" Brick shouted, pounding his fists on the door and walls.

"That Buttercup, so simple yet so effective," said Blossom.

"Hm, maybe I can call my brothers," said Brick.

"No, you can't. The walls of this room would block all transmissions," Blossom explained.

"Well I'll be! I'm going to make them pay!" Brick said.

"Well, at least they didn't tie us up," said Blossom, "like before. I would have died if they did it again, because I've had enough of that, especially after being kidnapped thrice by Mr. Ckracknow."

"Well, I have cuffs on my pocket, maybe it's not too late," Brick snickered.

"Don't you dare!" Blossom exploded.

"Just kidding!" Brick said, showing his empty pockets. "Seriously though, looking back, it was really funny that you were kidnapped not once, not even twice, but thrice—in three days! Maybe I should call you kidnap girl instead, since being kidnapped is so common to you! And not only by villains, but by your own sisters and us boys too! Hahahaha!"

"Shut up, Brick," an annoyed Blossom shouted. "Okay, I want to get out of this, so let's discuss what we're supposed to talk about. Okay, I say, let's arrange a new election."

"Yeah, but what would happen if there is a tie? I suggest that in that case, then the one who is the previous leader would be the new one," suggested Brick. "Just like before."

"No! Definitely not! How about, we look for someone who will cast the deciding vote. How about Professor?"

"No. He'll be biased for you," said Brick. "How about Dad?"

"P-lease! He's biased too!"

"Yeah, but he chose you leader the first time, remember?" said Brick.

"Yeah, but no, Dr. Edwards is out," said Blossom.

"Okay, how about Mitch?"

"He's a boy. He'll vote for you. How about Robyn?"

"She's a girl. She'll vote for you,"

"Well, let's scrap the election," said Blossom.

"How about another fight?" asked Brick.

"It's possible," said Blossom, "but no. Let's keep it non-violent. How about a game of chance?"

"No. I don't want to be leader just because of luck," said Brick. "Besides, it's too risky for me. How about this? We cuff each other up, and the first one to get loose will be the winner!"

"No. I've been cuffed-up and tied-up too may times before, and not once have I ever been able to escape by myself," said Blossom.

"Well, what then? We can't agree on anything! We can't just leave this unsettled or we're never going to get out of here!" Brick replied.

"Well, I can't think of anything!" Blossom said. "And it's not only you who wants to punish those two."

"What are you thinking, you ugly kidnap girl?"

"Stop calling me that, you jerk!" Blossom snapped. "I'm thinking, you remember how we punished the others for disobeying us?

"Oh no! It's harsh. I mean, I don't want to make them train in a far higher level than they can take until they get unconscious!" Brick argued.

"No you dummy, not that!" said Blossom. "Remember last September, when I ordered them not to fight each other while doing a mission, and Buttercup and Boomer still fought while leaving the giant ant alive? Remember the punishment I gave?"

Brick grinned. "So you're planning to tie them up and tickle them until they laugh their heads off?"

"That's the idea," said Blossom. "Besides, it's not really a punishment, but rather, something that they won't like, and something that they can't really complain about! I mean, there's nothing wrong with tickling, right? We always do it to each other!"

"I like how you think," said Brick, snickering. "You're almost as devious and cunning as me!"

"But we still need a solution to our problem of who will be the leader," said Blossom.

"Want to play a game of chess?" Brick asked, getting a tiny magnetic chess set from his jacket pocket. It was large enough for the pieces to be recognizable, and small enough for it to fit in his pocket.

"Why not?" Blossom said, and both spent the next three hours playing chess, with both having equal number of wins and loses and a couple of stalemates, like their struggle ever since they agreed to form the alliance.

"Checkmate," Brick said on their final game as he positioned his queen, protected by a pawn, besides her king, on the edge of the board.

With nowhere to go, she gave up.

"One more?" asked Brick.

"No, I think I finally found a solution to our problems," said Blossom. "Why don't we just alternate as leaders on a regular basis?"

"What do you mean?" asked Brick.

"Well, let's see. You can be the leader for the rest of the month, till January 31, 11:59, but on February 1, I'll be the leader until the end of the month, and you'll be leader again on March 1 till March 31. On April 1, I'll be leader again, and so on. What do you think?"

"Well, I don't like it, but since there's nothing else to go by, then fine, I'll accept your idea, but I have some reservations," said Brick.

"What?" asked Blossom. She was pleasantly surprised that he accepted it at all.

"If for example, there is a major crisis occurring at the turn of each month, whoever is leader at the beginning of the crisis will remain leader till the end of the month the crisis was over," Brick proposed. "For example, supposed another superpowerful villain attacked on January 29, and it took us till February 2 to defeat him, then I'll be leader till the end of February, and you'll be leader only on March 1. Of course, it could also apply to you when you're in charge."

"Fair enough," said Blossom. "Of course, whoever is leader would have absolute control over all business of the alliance, just like before."

Brick nodded.

"Well, glad we can settle this. I actually thought of this while we were playing chess," said Blossom. "By the way, won't your brothers be upset by our little arrangement? I mean, they don't like me giving orders to them."

"Don't worry about them," said Brick coldly. "Boomer won't mind, and Butch will never ever challenge me."

"But why did you accept my terms?" asked a curious Blossom. "I would think that you would prefer uncontested leadership in perpetuity."

"I still prefer it, but as they say, it's better to have a bird in the hand than two in the bush," Brick replied. "I'm just practical you know. I know that right now, I can't force you to accept me as the permanent leader, while I still want absolute control over the alliance. So your proposal is the best that I could have. I'm not totally happy with it, but I can live with it."

"That was what I was thinking too," said Blossom. "Well, Buttercup has got to release us since we settled our little dispute."

"Yeah, and I also want to get out of this room and get away from such an ugly girl like you, yuck, who keeps getting kidnapped!" Brick concluded.

"Keep it up Brick, just keep it up, and you might find yourself wishing you never opened your big fat mouth!" Blossom responded, again annoyed at Brick's teasing.

"Whatever. However, I have a plan to make those two pay," said Brick. And he told Blossom about it.

Meanwhile…

"You know Bubbles, I got this idea from watching a movie, I forgot what it was. Some kids locked two adults who always quarrel in the basement, and the adults were forced to settle their quarrel before the kids finally released them," explained Buttercup to her sister.

"Hm, don't you think it's time to check if they already settled it? I mean it's more than three hours you know," Bubbles said, concerned.

"Okay, you're right," Buttercup said. "Let's see if they aren't at each other's throats by now."

"You're dreaming! I am a better leader than you'll ever be!" Blossom shouted. "Remember, I was leader when we rescued our Dads from Ckracknow!"

"Oh yeah? Who was the leader when we defeated Ckracknow the second time and who defeated those five teen-agers?" Brick retorted. "I am still the greatest!"

"Hey Red, Brick, have you settled your little dispute yet?" Buttercup suddenly asked through the speaker.

Both leaders then ended their argument. "Yeah, we did."

"Well that's a surprise," said Buttercup.

"So who's the leader?" asked Bubbles.

"Well," Blossom began, and she explained their new arrangement to Buttercup.

"Wow. You two actually had a good idea for once," said Buttercup. "Brick, is that true?"

"Yes," he said.

"Wow, it was easier than I though," said Buttercup as she unlocked the door of the training room, then she and Bubbles went to the door of the training room to meet the two redheads.

"Why did you lock us in that room?" asked Blossom, smirking and folding her arms in front of her.

"If I don't, then you won't be motivated to settle your dispute," Buttercup asserted. "All you two would do is shout at each other and Brick would just leave and things would get worse. And the alliance would still be dead, and Bubbles over here would still be crying over its demise."

"Hey, I would not!" said Bubbles.

"You're probably right," said Brick to Buttercup, also with a smirk. "But it is absolutely unnecessary, and we would have solved it without you locking us. You locked us up in the room just to piss and annoy us!"

"Well, you figured us out," said Buttercup. "What about it?"

"Just watch your back," said Brick. "I promise you, you won't get away with this!"

"We already did," said Buttercup. "We got what we wanted!"

"Well Buttercup, turnabout is fair play," said Blossom. "But have you cooked lunch? I'm famished!"

"I'm going home," said Brick before zooming home.

Later, in about two in the afternoon…

The boys had already finished lunch. Their father was cleaning the mess at the kitchen while the boys were playing video games in the living room.

"Die Brick!" shouted Butch as he furiously pressed on the button of his controller. "Yes, a few more hits and I win!"

Brick however, with a couple of fast movements with his joystick, jumped his player, got a special bonus that both boys were counting on and then defeated Butch's player with one punch! "I win!"

"What! No! I should have won! You cheated!" Butch accused Brick.

"I did not! You just suck!" Brick shouted back.

"So how did the meeting with Blossom go?" asked Boomer who tried to diffuse the tension.

"Huh? Oh yes, we settled our little dispute," said the rowdyruff leader turning his attention away from Butch.

"So you're still the leader of the Ruff-Puff Alliance?" asked Butch.

"Yes and no," said Brick.

"Huh? What do you mean yes and no?" asked Butch.

Brick then explained his deal with Blossom.

"What? You traitor, you sold us out to that redheaded girl?" Butch suddenly shouted.

"Aw shut up, Butch," Brick lightheartedly said. "You sound ridiculous. I haven't finished. You see, it's all part of a plan. Even if it's Blossom turn to be leader, in reality, all her decisions would have to be approved by me, and I'll make sure that she won't do anything foolish. So I'm really in charge."

"How are you going to do it?" asked Butch.

"I ain't gonna tell! It's a secret!" Brick replied.

"Yeah right," Butch said, unconvinced that his brother hadn't sold his soul to Blossom, but left it at that.

"So anyway, we'll have a little project to do this afternoon, if you two can stand working with Blossom. I know you will because I say so, so listen carefully," Brick said, and talked to both his brothers.

In the meantime…

"Blossom, want some tea?" Bubbles said as both played pretend tea.

"Why certainly Bubbles," said Blossom, giggling. She then put forward her cup as Bubbles pretended to pour tea in it. She then pretended to drink it.

"Buttercup, you haven't drunk your tea yet," Bubbles said.

"This is really stupid," said Buttercup, with a frown on her face as she tried not to blow-up at being forced to play tea. "Is this my punishment for me locking you up earlier this morning?"

Blossom then laughed. "Oh no Buttercup, it's much worse than this. But I'm betting you'll laugh through it."

"I won't!"

"Will to!"

"Won't!"

"Okay, but if you do, promise me that you won't try to get back at me for me getting back at you?" Blossom said.

"Only that? What a doozer! Okay, I promise, that if I laugh at your revenge, then I won't. But I will resist and run if need be," said Buttercup.

"Oh believe me, you'll have blast," said Blossom, with a grin before taking an imaginary sip.

"Oh stop talking like that," said Bubbles. "I know Blossom will have a good payback, and it won't be too horrible for us. You still haven't drunk your tea yet, Buttercup."

Suddenly, they heard Brick on his watch.

"Blossom, Buttercup, Bubbles, go to my house now! We're going to have a meeting on something very important! That's an order as leader of the alliance!"

"He can't just order—" Buttercup asserted.

"Oh yes he can," said Blossom. "After all, you accepted the deal we made with Brick, and when we told you that part where each one of you has to obey whoever is leader, you didn't object, and you even nodded. Besides, you're the one who insisted that we make any arrangement just to settle our dispute and preserve the alliance, you know. So we did. And you have no right to complain."

Bubbles nodded. "Blossom's right you know. Besides, it won't be any different from before. Blossom's so smart and cunning!"

The Powerpuff leader smiled, looked at a flustered Buttercup, and said, "Checkmate."

Buttercup's planned had backfired. Instead of teaching them a lesson on humility and bossiness, she instead made Blossom and Brick even more powerful and arrogant by reducing, if not eliminating, their incessant rivalry for leadership. The two became even more formidable.

"Okay, you win," said a grumpy Buttercup. "But you still won't get back at me for what I did!"

"Whatever," said Blossom. "I think we better go and see what Brick wants."

Buttercup, who then had a smirk on her face at that point, with her sisters, flew towards the boys' house. Landing in the front porch, Bubbles immediately pressed the doorbell.

"Come in," shouted Boomer's unmistakable voice.

Bubbles turned the knob, and all three girls entered the room. The boys were nowhere in sight.

"Boys!" Bubbles shouted.

"Now!" Brick's voiced shouted from behind. They were surprised, but before they could turn around, Brick and Butch tackled Buttercup to the floor on her stomach. Pulling her arms behind her, they quickly used one of their new cuffs to tie her up.

"What the—" Buttercup said.

Blossom quickly held Bubbles by her right arm, while Boomer quickly took the left arm. Bubbles sighed defeated as she looked at Buttercup and the boys struggle unevenly.

"I told you I'll get back at you two," said Blossom.

Buttercup grinned. "Yeah, but I ain't laughing, so the joke's on you!"

"We'll see," said Blossom, and turning to Bubbles. "I think you know what to do."

"So this is what you've in mind," said Bubbles excitedly as she put her hands behind her and Boomer secured the cuffs. "Are we going to play kidnap and damsel-in-distress again? And who's going to rescue us and play hero?"

"No, we're not. We're going to tickle you. Simple as that!" Blossom smiled.

Bubbles opened her mouth in surprise, while Blossom got her large bandanna and packed it in inside Bubbles' mouth. Grabbing a nearby roll of duct tape, she then tore off a strip, and put it over Bubbles closed lips. Boomer then cuffed her ankles, put on some anti-gravity belt, some goggles, and plopped her on the couch. Bubbles was giggling the entire time.

Boomer then went to his room.

Brick and Butch had subdued Buttercup, and cuffed and gagged her the exact same way. After placing an anti-gravity belt and goggles on her, they placed her on the couch.

"And now, to the tickling part," said Blossom with delight.

"Wait. Boomer has something that would really up the ante!" Brick said. He then looked at Bubbles and Buttercup. "I told you you're not getting away with it!"

Bubbles' eyes widened as she saw Boomer come back with four giant-sized feathers. She then backed deeper into the couch and giggled more, while Buttercup shook her head vigorously as she tried to hop away. But she was easily subdued and plopped back into the couch.

The three boys and Blossom got a feather each. Blossom removed Bubbles shoes, and, using the feather, gently stroked Bubbles' stocking covered feet. Bubbles immediately burst, laughing hysterically. She was laughing so hard that it was loud even behind the gag. Bubbles tried withdrawing her feet but the feather just followed it. She utterly lost it and dissolved in laughter. Boomer joined in, tickling the blond on the stomach and on the ribs, though he used his hands instead of the feather because of her thick winter dress nullified the effects of the feather. Her laughter exploded even more. After a minute, she was trying to regain her breathe after laughing so hard. She literally was "the joy and the laughter".

Brick also removed Buttercup's shoes, and he run the feather against her stocking covered feet. Buttercup tried to stifle her laughter, and her face was twisted into a grimace as she tried. Butch then stroked the tip of the feather into her cheeks and bare neck, and it was too much for Buttercup. It tipped the balance. She lost the struggle, and Buttercup laughed and laughed and laughed.

They continued the relentless tickling for five minutes, after which the both girls were breathing heavily and were full of sweat as their bodies, and their lungs, were utterly exhausted from continuously laughing.

"I think they had enough," said Blossom.

"Yeah. If we keep this up, they might laugh themselves to death," said Brick. "Boys, stop it."

"Well, since two of the girls are there, I don't see why Blossom here can't join them," Butch said with a grin on his face. He and Boomer then prepared to pounce on Blossom.

Blossom froze. "Wait—no!"

"Boomer, Butch, stop it!" said Brick, freezing both of his brothers on their tracks. "Our revenge is only for Bubbles and Buttercup!"

"But—" Butch protested.

"I said no! And that's final!" Brick firmly said.

"Okay, okay," Boomer said. "So now what do we do?"

"We watch TV, and after one hour, we tickle them then release them," Brick said.

Blossom sighed with relief. She had narrowly avoided her sisters' fate.

So they sat on the couch with Buttercup and Bubbles, and they watched cartoons for an hour. After that, they tickled them with feathers for five minutes again, then untied them.

"Ha, you laughed, so you can't get back at me!" Blossom triumphantly said.

"Yeah you won," said Buttercup. "Okay I won't get back at you for this. But this is uncalled for!"

"No it's not!" said Blossom.

"Well that was fun!" said Bubbles, jumping in excitement. "I never thought feathers could tickle so much!" Bubbles then grabbed the feather from Boomer's hand and tried tickling Blossom. Blossom yelped as she jumped away, but her path was blocked by Buttercup. However Blossom simply flew upwards.

Bubbles then jumped on Boomer, and began tickling him.

Boomer just lost it as he was tickled in the neck, stomach and ribs. He tried to get away, but Bubbles grabbed him with an iron grip, and used her other hand to tickle him. Butch and Brick just looked on, amused.

"Well, I won't get back at you," said Buttercup, smiling at Blossom, "but that doesn't mean I can't tickle you for other reasons! Besides, Bubbles never promised that she won't get back at you, and I never promised not to help her get back at you!"

"Not if I can help it!" Blossom said. "Well, we better be going."

At that, the girls flew back towards their house laughing, and in good spirits.

"Blossom's in for it now," said Boomer, shaking his head, still breathing heavily after laughing so much.

"Yup! Bubbles and Buttercup won't let her get away with it!" said Brick. "Even if it's all in good fun."

"The funny thing is, we are totally free, since they'll get back at Blossom, but can't touch us," said Butch. "Ha, you got your revenge, and directed all their ire towards Blossom. Very smart!"

The boys then resumed watching their favorite cartoons.

That night, Blossom got exactly the same medicine she inflicted on Bubbles and Buttercup. Of course, formally, it was Bubbles' revenge, and Buttercup was just helping, so technically, Buttercup didn't violate her bet that she won't get back at Blossom if she laughed. Brick of course got away with it as Buttercup and Bubbles can't think of a way to get back at him.

And so the struggle for leadership among Brick and Blossom came to an end, as they finally found an acceptable solution for both of them, and for the rest of them too. And it was Buttercup who ironically and indirectly was responsible for it.

And so ends the story, Allies and Rivals II: Commander and the Leader.

The End

And so ends the story. Thank you for reading this long tale. And to those who haven't reviewed, please review! Please!

The next tale to this story is of course, Allies and Rivals III: Mind Games. That story is set four years after the events of this story. They are ten years old. That story was already complete, but I have to warn you that I am currently reading it again and editing it for mistakes and to make some corrections. You can read it now, but only up to chapter 7. I will repost each chapter as I finished with the editing.

I already edited Allies and Rivals, the first story, and I have done so with this story too.

Of course, if you want to read more about the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys of this universe, you can read The Date, when Brick and Blossom arranged for Bubbles and Boomer to go on an amusement park one day. Buttercup was annoyed by the two leaders' arrogant attitude and tried, with Butch, to teach the redheads a lesson, but it slipped away. Will Boomer enjoy his date? Will Brick and Blossom get what they want out of the deal? Will Buttercup succeed in teaching the two readheads a lesson? And what is Mitch Mitchelson doing here?

Then there is What is Buttercup's Plan?, a story that happens directly after The Date, where Blossom attempts again to arrange something for Boomer and Bubbles, with Brick, but Brick wouldn't bite. It would be the last straw for Buttercup, who decided to implement her plan to teach the redheads a lesson! Would Buttercup this time succeed in getting the best out of the two brilliant redheads? What of Boomer and Butch? And will she escape revenge?

Then there is The Dance, a story where a Sadie Hawkins Dance, where the girls ask the boys, and the boy has to take the first girl to ask him to the dance, or else! The boys conjure ways to get out from being asked, and going to the dance, while the girls, as a result of a combination of events, were left with only the Rowdyruffs to ask. Will the Rowdyruff Boys escape from the terrors of the dance? Or will the Powerpuff Girls manage to get the boys to the Dance? And what does Princess Morebucks have to do with all of this?

The three fics above, The Date, What is Buttercup's Plan, and The Dance, happens between Chapter 21 (The Triumph of the Ruff Puff Alliance), and Chapter 22 (Brick's Challenge) of this story, Allies and Rivals II: Commander and the Leader. The kids already had rescued Prof Utonium and Dr Edwards from Ckracknow's first island. Ckracknow himself escaped, got some financing from Mr Morebucks, and unknown to the kids, was creating the five clones that will attack Citiesville. Blossom's still the undisputed leader of the Ruff Puff Alliance, but Brick was plotting to grab it from the pink puff leader.

So if you read chapter 22 of this story, those three fics already had happened.

And of course, after Allies and Rivals III: Mind Games, there is High School Odyssey, set five years after Allies and Rivals III. I haven't finished that story yet, and it has been on hiatus for quite a while. I'll probably continue it later this year, though I make no promises.