A/N: That awkward moment a one shot turns into well... this. so guess Halloween is coming early lovelies! well not really I'll still have something for the month of October because well reasons xD
I digress however because this one... whoo boy this was an interesting one . This is why you don't just give me random prompts with no further instruction... you won't get what you're looking for. You'll get... well you'll see XD
Enjoy!
Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires."
― William Shakespeare, Macbeth
-o-
"Reversal"
-o-
The place was dark but the amateur clearly didn't know how to not make a mess regardless, Glass was on the floor under the window where it looked like it had simply been smashed in with a heavy object.
Or a fist.
Brick Jojo, seasoned criminal, resident gang boss and well over all that kind of guy that every parent feared their daughter would bring home someday, only rolled his crimson gaze skyward and shook his head.
Amateur. Had she listened to his lessons at all? He cleared his throat.
"Come out, come out wherever you are- c'mon little kitty." He murmured. "Come out and play."
Silence of course. He frowned and stepped over the glass listlessly. He could have floated over it obviously but the crunch that greeted every "missed" step was a good warning he decided.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
"Don't make this harder kitten. Just come out here and quit wasting your time with small fry- you wanna act out? No problem."
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
"Just come play with me." He heard a groan and saw what… was likely a dying man slouched against the wall surrounded by... He actually grimaced at the sheer savagery he was looking at.
Even Butch had never gone this far. At his worst Butch had put one asshole in the hospital with a concussion and four broken bones but… don't pickpocket a Rowdyruff Boy? Even in a mosh pit? Especially in a mosh pit?
Common...Sense?
But this… this was just.., he couldn't help it. He flinched. There was nothing left of this guy practically. He'd been ripped… almost to pieces.
Brick clenched a fist and took a deep subtle breath to regain his bravado. He forced a laugh. A chuckle really.
"C'mon Kitten I thought I taught you better than that… we don't play…."
Slosh.
"With our food." He shuddered again and shook his foot listlessly free of… whatever that had...been. So that was what happened when heat vision met a non X' laced individual's face. Okay then! Fascinating really!
"Here Kitty Kitty." He murmured again. Every step sounded unusually loud. His already heightened senses were in overdrive.
The growl was low and he tensed.
She was here. She had done...this.
There was an old saying… the student always surpassed the teacher but in this case… Brick had honestly hoped it would be the lone exception to this universal rule.
He squinted. There was a streak in the darkness. He whipped around. The growling was low and growing more and more… beastlike.
Badum. Badum. Badum.
Was that his fucking heartbeat? Fucking hell it was.
The growling grew louder. Closer.
He put a hand out. "Babe. I'm not here to start a fight alright? I'm just here to congratulate you really." Another forced laugh. "You've finally seen the light. Welcome to the dark side. You graduated!" Brick eyed the carnage with a wary eye. "With...honors it looks like too! Congratulations! Okay then, how about we go off and celebrate! By not...killing people? How's about I buy you some uh...cat nip or something kitten…?"
Hissssssssssss.
That didn't sound in the least bit human.
"Or... I take you out for drink or dinner! How's dinner sound?"
"Leave me alone."
That however did. He almost sighed in relief.
"Babe. Look. Okay- I get it. I do. What happened was beyond question bullshit. But-."
Screeeeeeech.
Brick cursed and covered his ears- that old diatribe about the screech of a nail on an old fashioned chalkboard or something equal to it? Yeah they weren't kidding!
Only admittedly claws were much worse!
He tensed and narrowed his eyes- readying himself to lunge if necessary.
"I said. Get out."
Well at least she still sounded human. Well, as human as they could all be actually it was more likely Brick surpassed any regular human male but-! Never mind! Not important!
"How's about we just talk this out nice and calmly instead Kitten-."
The attack was swift and sudden and fuck! She was fast!
He grit his teeth and lunged forward but she dodged him with ease. A brief glimpse of her face let Brick know everything he needed to know. It was all in that empty black gaze despite the feline like grace of her movements even Brick would admit she still possessed.
Heartbreak. Betrayal. Vulnerability. An encounter with the Devil. Desperation. Signing of a name. Revenge.
He'd always gotten a kick out of comparing her to one after all- it'd always been a real hoot when they were younger... but Brick wasn't laughing anymore.
And that look was nothing to laugh at either. He took another subtle breath and threw on his Devil may care smirk that had gotten him boxed ears more times than he could count by said being of darkness way back when.
"Okay kitten- I get it, you're still learning how to be bad, I know- it's difficult."
He heard that sinister hiss again as he took a careful step towards her. Easy. Easy now. He feigned a shrug.
"But we were making good progress. We were well on our way to fucking the city up nice and easy…"
Another claw swipe and Brick dodged it again. He kept a close eye on her as she circled him like some hungry lioness looking for her next meal.
Blossom Utonium was after all a deadly opponent, she always had been- cool and calculated: she lived up to her element, her words could be as frigid and piercing as any blizzard wind despite being hidden under that kind and "nice" facade.
He and his brothers had suffered the consequences of crossing her even before…. well you know.
Brick was her only equal and both had begrudgingly acquiesced to that damning fact. A minute sort of truce and trade off.
He stayed in his own territory. She stayed in hers.
But grief had a way of… messing with even the most sane of mind and brilliant as she was, the girl was by no means immune to it.
She'd come to him. Or perhaps admittedly he'd gone to her. The image of her being held back by those fools and the pure rage in her eyes… had been an interesting sight to say the least. So maybe he'd paid her a visit in one of those cliche moments at her window.
She'd screeched. She'd yelled, and he'd listened. Through her tears and angry tirade alike that night he'd discerned she'd wanted one thing.
Revenge.
Revenge disguised as "justice"- and one more… interesting development from that night…
She'd no longer been interested in being what she had supposedly been born to be.
His orders had been clear, and his pupil a quick student. He'd started small, it was a gradual process- overwhelm the student and in all likelihood she'd quit and return to her old ways.
She wanted them to pay. He'd known that. He'd understood that. Had even prepared for that.
He'd counseled patience.
But he'd admittedly forgotten one key fact that the Devil had one upped him in.
Revenge and grief were not patient bedfellows.
Crunch.
He whipped around but the clawed hand closed around his throat and pinned him to a wall within seconds. It had literally been a few seconds, he hadn't even seen her move.
"Is she not a fine creation my boy? The perfect specimen?"
"What...what did you-?"
"She wanted revenge. Revenge and blood. How delightfully entertaining!"
"What...what have you done?!
"Leave me alone." Another beast like hiss. "I spared them. I owe you nothing else."
Them as in his two traumatized brothers who were too injured and or petrified to leave the house! Then again the whole city was under lock down as it was.
A city which had betrayed her. She in turn would betray her city.
A raging grieving former Puff was on the loose. It sounded so fucking stupid, a "Puff" and hardly at all intimidating.
Until one looked into those dead eyes and saw nothing but the seething burn of hatred directed towards them. The grit elongated teeth, the deadly claws capable of sinking deep into flesh and those dead eyes filled with nothing but death.
All that was left of her former self was that tattered red ribbon that still hung in her hair.
Townsville's greatest heroine had fallen to the "darkness".
And now Brick was the only one who could stop her.
CRASH.
In...theory.
"I won't tell you again." It was a deadly sliver of a whisper in his ear. "I won't stop until they're all dead." Her hold grew tighter, he felt the blood pooling underneath that death grip. "I'll show them the same justice they showed to him."
"Justice is a double…" He choked with a sudden pressure.
"Double edged sword? That's pathetically obtuse of you Brick Jojo. There is no true justice- only what can be bought."
"He went to jail-!" More gagging again.
"Be silent." She snarled. "Close that mouth of yours and cease in trying to justify that travesty of justice before I get angry." Another hiss.
Oh so right now she was only "annoyed" then- a pissed off kitty cat? Oh wonderful, it was Brick's lucky day! He managed to free himself but she didn't put up much of a fight anyway.
She only glared at him, he glared back.
"Like it or not Babe- that's… how the fucking system is. You win some you lose-!" His windpipe was again near crushed before he got thrown down.
"Shut up!" She snarled. "Damn you just shut up! Fifty five dollars! That was how much was in my father's wallet when that wretch gunned him down! Fifty… five… measly dollars and yet they let that cretin out after a mere two months for good behavior!" Her voice rose. "Is that all he was worth to them?! The most brilliant man of this time mercilessly gunned down for the contents of his wallet and his killer is released… on a technicality!"
There was more to that story obviously. Dirty money and a smirking heiress with a grudge who paid big bucks to break a Puff's heart….
He'd tried to break it to her as… nice as he possibly could at first. With a grim satisfaction he'd heard her outraged initial denials but had stood silent waiting for it to hit home.
And so… it seemed it finally had.
"Welcome to reality Babe. The world sucks. It is dirty! Welcome to reality! You're ready to leave your nice rose colored bubble finally I see!"
He hit the wall. Well at least he could still breathe. She stood over him.
"Tell me Brick. Why of all people are you defending a system which threatens to put you in a cage at any given time?" She snorted. "That's a role reversal isn't it?"
"I ain't defending shit." He snapped. "But I'm letting you destroy yourself either! Him ain't doing you a favor Babe! You're his pawn! He wants to see you destroy yourself and I'm not letting that happen! That shit is my job! You ain't destroying yourself! I am! My purpose was to destroy you in some grand old fashioned battle to the fucking death with the PUFF - not… not whatever it's turned you into!"
" What did you do!"
"Nothing that I wasn't asked."
"Don't play me for one of your sycophant fools! What. Did. You. Do!?"
"She wanted revenge. I'm giving it to her. You had your shot boy. It's hardly my fault you were too slow in doing so."
She paused and they glared at each other.
"I should kill you." She turned. "I won't show you mercy next time. Interfere again and the consequences will be dire. Stay away from me Brick."
He grit his own teeth and whirled her around. "No fucking dice Blossom - I'm not letting you do this shit anymore!"
"Unhand me! You're not stopping me!"
"Stopping? Oh no. I'm not stopping shit. you want to be a "bad girl"- a blood thirsty villainess then fine be my guest. But there are rules to be followed Kitten."
She snarled. "Don't call me that!"
He caught her in a grip. "There are rules and a hierarchy to being bad, little girl and you can't just swoop in and start some reign of terror on my watch- no no, not in my city!"
"Your city? Don't make me laugh!" She kicked him-hard- then twirled out of his grip with more of that damned grace of hers. She crouched down- poised to strike again as he held his fists up. "No one can stop me! I'll kill anyone who tries!"
Brick grit his teeth again.
"That right? That so- Tch…. sorry to break it to you Babe but your first and last opponent is going to be me because I'll put you down myself before I watch anyone else even try-!"
The searing heat scalded his cheek bone and he cursed before a bitter cold numbed the wound just as quickly.
"Will you now?" Her voice was pure silk, smooth but with an emotionless chill. "You know… they thought they could stop me too." She pointed to the carnage behind them. "They didn't."
"... Humans are fragile."
"Humans are weak. In both body and mind. My father was the exception to the rule… and they hated him for it."
Crunch.
"They resent us. They resent us for our superiority. Our strength, our minds, even something as petty as our looks. But I still wasted my time in believing the glorious little lie they composed for me so many years ago."
Crunch.
"Can you imagine it? They wished to run three innocent children out of not just the city...but out the very planet. To make it so there was nowhere… we would belong."
He was silent even as she began to circle him.
"Oh I'm sure you can. Wasn't that done to you? To your brothers? You see they resented you too. Admittedly we were fools falling for such convenient lies- willingly enslaved as children. Paid for risking our lives with nothing but cheap acclaim and the occasional sampling from a candy jar." He tensed then. Her breath was like ice… and fire at the same time against his ear. "But you wouldn't fall for it. They couldn't take you as their own and so their habit of punishment began again only this time they didn't have to lift a finger… instead all they had to do was press a button and make a phone call."
Silence lingered, she was in front of him again.
"And yet you're defending the very people who given the chance would have done the same to you as they did to me. They never cared, they waited for their chance to take revenge on the man who dared show them their true inferiority… do you expect me to let this travesty stand? Truly believe I would be content in mere physical and material retribution? Nearly two decades of servitude to be reconciled by paltry jewelry!?"
She reached up and ripped a string of pearls off her neck.
"What's the matter kitten? You seem distracted. Oh… I see."
"It's nothing."
"You want them? They'd look nice with your skin."
"I can't afford them."
"Why bother paying? They can't stop you. Go on Babe. Take them."
"I-..."
"You wanted to learn to be bad Kitten? Lesson one: when you want something. You take it. When someone tries to stop. You make them regret it."
"...how?"
"Use your imagination. C'mon. Admittedly I'd like to see you in them. If you don't take them I will. Either way you're going to be leaving with them. Just decide how."
Twenty five hundred dollar pearls rolled around on the floor by their feet.
"It understood that." She said softly. "It offered me revenge you offered me nothing but excuses and distraction. The choice wasn't hard."
"You liked that distraction for a time." He murmured. She tensed but maneuvered her way out of his grasp.
"You can't stop me Brick Jojo. You never could and never will - this city will pay for what it's done and for all its crimes both present… and past!" That last sentence came out as more of a beastlike hiss than anything else so far.
It put a chill down his spine. An honest to God chill. What… had it done to her?
"Blossom. Listen to me. Just -listen!"
"No." She circled him again. "You listen. I've given you a warning, and I trust you to deliver it. I'm also showing you another mercy. I'm giving you two days to get your brothers out of here." He stiffened when she slunk back towards him. "You want to stop me Brick Jojo? You want to destroy me?" She cooed with a syrupy voice and her clawed hands trailed up his shirt and rested on his chin. "I'll play your game. Fine. One last match. One on one- a finisher of this little game we've played for years- winner takes all."
He tensed more but then finally nodded.
"Fine then." He murmured. "Two days."
The grip this time was strangely gentle. "Good. I look forward to it… of course…" her knuckle brushed his cheek. "You can also not come. You can hide with your brothers and stay alive." Her black eyes… for a brief moment he could have sworn he saw a flicker of pink return- "... I would also be satisfied with that outcome."
"... I can't do that. Blossom just… you're right. Fuck them. Fuck this place. Come with me now, I can teach you all about being bad- the right way. The proper way. We can terrorize these clowns and rule this damn city! Just… forget the angry kitty claws, lemme show you the real path to revenge!" His voice had taken on a pitiful… somewhat pleading edge to it but she hesitated! He could see it!
"Blossom… c'mon Babe. You can be a bad girl… you've earned that… I get it… just… come on- come be bad…" he trailed.
With… me.
His pride wouldn't let him finish that sentence. The offer that had been dancing on his tongue from the very beginning when he'd aided in her grief… just not enough.
And the pink soon faded into darkness once again.
"... get your brothers out of Townsville Brick. And if you're so bent on this sudden role reversal…" she turned from him. "Then get my sisters out as well."
"Blossom-!"
"Two days Brick. Don't keep me waiting."
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
Silence
A/N: And this is why lovelies- you don't just let my Muse run rampant! XD : Oh well, hope you enjoyed- The next chapter of this is already in production/ a good chunk done so we'll just see how this lovely horror story err evolves well "de-evolves" -ahaha. This is also why you don't let me binge on horror movies unsupervised. My cast will not like it XD
Well until next time lovelies! If I haven't scared you off yet, ;D
Cheers,
Carrie