"My thoughts go around me...And they tell me what I gotta do...
But my heart does not want to beat there...Beating love with no sign of truth..."
-Elaiza
Boomer POV
~~~
I just couldn't believe it.
Here, I'd thought I'd escaped my worries, only to find the cause of some of them lying right below me. Bubbles just lay there, that little ugly octopus cuddled in her arms. How dare she invade the park when he was trying to get some peace and quiet?
I scowled down at her. Her perfect golden pigtails bounced when she turned her head. Bubbles had recently grown a long bang over one eye, I noticed. That really wasn't like her. She was the type of person to keep everything visible, modest, etc. Not like that. That hairstyle was for the brooding type, or the divas. She fit neither of those categories.
...Don't ask me how I know! It's not like I actually pay attention to her.
Anyway, I just stood there on the tree branch, staring down at her with forced malice in my eyes. I pushed forth the hatred Butch and Brick assured me I had. I strained myself to hate every last inch of her, my face twisting up into a scowl.
When she looked up, when I saw those innocent, hurting blue eyes, it almost vanished.
She didn't give it time to, though. She shot up, flying with an incredible speed up to where I was, coming face-to-face with me. Her face, which I'd expected to be full of anger, had a sorrowful, exhausted look upon it. I almost stopped acting aggressive, almost asked what was wrong.
Almost.
"Can you just go away, please? I don't feel like fighting ever, but today, it's just something I really don't want to do."
I studied her face with a confused expression. A Puff turning down a fight with a Ruff? It just wasn't something easily comprehended. "Well, I'm not exactly supposed to be the listening type, but you're really confusing me, so I'll bite. What happened with you?" I queried.
People were starting to gather around, wanting to see the show unfold.
She sighed heavily. "It's not something easily talked about," she said before giving me a brief scowl. "Especially not to my sworn enemy."
I let out a groan, rubbing my temple. "Look, if you don't want to fight, and you don't want to talk, what am I supposed to do? Kill you while you don't fight back? That's no fun. And besides, I wanna know what's causing a Powerpuff to be so sad."
At the word 'kill', she widened her eyes, but then she realized I wasn't actually going to do that. Not now, anyways. "I'm...not sad, exactly. Just...stressed about some things."
I nodded without meaning to. I was stressed too; I found my need to fight Bubbles evaporating. I struggled to hold onto it, but it kept waning. I was actually agreeing with a Puff about something. I understood Bubbles a little better just by that one statement. That's why she wasn't acting all giggly and whatnot.
She took my nod into account. "You...you know what I'm talking about?"
My mouth tightened around the edges. I knew what she was talking about, but I didn't know if my brothers would approve of letting Bubbles know that I was weak somehow.
...You know what? Heck with my brothers. I love them, but it's going a bit too far to let them tell me what I feel. The last bit of my hatred dissolved into nothingness, and I did nothing to revive it. It was fake, anyway. Just something they'd put into my head for me.
"I do, believe it or not. I've been stressed about a lot of things recently. Mainly you and your sisters."
She frowned. "A Rowdyruff actually slowing down and thinking about feelings? That's a first."
I chuckled. "I inherited some of your traits, remember? Just enough to give me a slightly more innocent personality. One of Mojo's biggest mistakes."
I said the last part bitterly, remembering how the monkey had told me in private that I needed to 'man up and stop being soft'. I hated Mojo. That feeling was real.
She looked at me with genuine sympathy at that. "I...didn't realize you were..treated like a mistake."
I stared into her blue eyes. "No one but me, Mojo, and my brothers know. Of course, my brothers still love me just like family should, but...they've always seen me as the...the smallest one. The omega of the pack."
She looked down. "I know that story. Every time we go into a fight, I'm the one being protected. I stopped trying to save ladybugs from monsters and all that junk, but my sisters still treat me like the baby. It...it gets hard to keep up, when you're constantly being put down."
"Why do we even fight?" I blurted. She looked at me with slightly wide eyes, and a surprised gasp ran through the crowd below us. "I mean, I understand why you'd fight me back, but...I don't even see the point in attacking anymore!"
I should shut my mouth. I knew that was my inner self coming out, and it had strict rules to remain within my darkest depths, hidden under the hatred and, well, Rowdyruff-ness that Mojo and my brothers had forced upon me. I should just fly off, and never speak of this again.
But I couldn't.
Bubbles POV
~~~
What was Boomer even saying?
He...didn't want to fight?
But...that was....just... I couldn't comprehend it. Boomer all of the sudden didn't want to fight? The same Boomer who had almost killed me the other day?
My mind screamed at me that it was a trick; it wasn't true. But every single bit of empathy in me said that he was telling the complete and utter truth. Should I trust it? Should I trust him? The boy who'd caused me so much pain...for a dozen long years...
But as I looked into his cerulean orbs, looking so sad and full of regret, I couldn't help it. Whatever doubt I'd had washed away; he was like me, after all. He had kindness in him all along, he just couldn't find it until now.
Boomer cleared his throat.
"I...I m-mean..." he stammered, suddenly becoming aware of what he'd let out. His brows furrowed into a scowl, but I could see the force he had to put on himself to make it happen. He was going back to what he'd been all those years. He was trying to remain what he was created to be.
He shook his head, golden hair glinting in the summer sun. "I mean, of course I know...why we fight! I-I'm a.. a Ruff, and I was created to..destroy you. So...who am I to say no to the one who gave me my life!?"
A hidden battle was going on in his mind; I saw it raging. All he's ever known going against what he knew in this moment was right. His words were empty, but they still stung. I could feel a single tear welling in my eye, but I willed it to stay off my cheek. He was struggling more than I was; he had a messed-up family and a worse life. And even through that, he was still seeing a path to being good. After being put through everything, after being raised for the sole purpose of being evil...he still saw what was actually right.
I don't say this to many people... but Boomer really amazes me.
His voice shook as he continued on. She could practically see the uncertainty he held within his mind.
"Y-you better be glad...you better be glad I-I'm alone and still h-healing from yesterday!"
He shot off from the branch like a bolt of cobalt lightning, leaving me gaping after him. Why did he fight with himself like that? Why couldn't he just see that it was easier and better to be on the good side?
I promised myself that I'd help him the first chance I got.
"Boomer," I muttered to myself, "I promise, one day, I'll take your pain away."
(A/N) Yayy! I have no viewers yet :P
Oh well. When I get some (If I get any) this will be fun to write...if it's not already done by the time anyone pays attention to it. Haha! Ah well, maybe one of these days, my work will not be for me alone.
This is getting fun to write. I can just imagine how Boomer actually would think like this; he's just too sweet not to. I mean, yeah, he's evil, but everyone can change. If he took a minute to actually think about it, he'd probably see that being good isn't all bad.
Anyway, enough of my blabbering (probably to myself). Bye!