Reds: A Love Story
On any other day, school was a joy to attend. That's not to say she didn't find herself growing bored with it—there was certainly a lack of challenge involved—but she enjoyed the overall experience of participating in a learning environment. Being it answering questions when no one else would, or helping her dearest friends when they struggled in their assignments. She'd never missed a day, she never let her mind wander in class, and she never wanted it to be over. That was how she felt on most days. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, today wasn't most days.
Blossom stared uncharacteristically at the clock, unblinking for the past half an hour. Watching the clock never hurried the time, but she didn't have any other option. Under no circumstances could she be late today. Hundreds of lives were depending on her. It pained her terribly, but if the bell didn't ring the second the clock struck three, she was going to leave regardless. She had simply run out of options.
"We're running low on time...so remember your homework is the review at the end of chapter twenty-seven," Thankfully, the second the clock hit three, the first bell rang. Before it was finished, Blossom was gone in a pink flash. She cringed, watching the world blur around her. Powers on campus weren't allowed. Yet...again the rules needed to be bent today. She was out of options. She stopped at her locker, holding her breath and spinning the dial with superhuman speed and accuracy. Moving just beyond the scope of visual perception, she snatched her necessary books and looked up at the clock. Blossom cringed and shot down the hallway. Twenty seconds had already passed; she was never going to make it.
Glass shattered as she, quite literally, threw open the front doors. Blossom felt the rush of wind against her skin and the gentle caress of sunlight on her face. She wished she had time to admire the day, it was impossibly beautiful. But the singing of birds was cut short abruptly by a sonic boom, tearing cement and stone alike from the ground. A streak of frenzied pink light took to the air, moving like a stealth fighter. As she passed by the clock tower, she chanced looking at the time.
'Ten til 3:01...I'll never make it in time!' She thought frantically. The world blurred further around her, the clouds practically exploded away from her. So panicked and hurried was her flight that the air seemed to form a vortex behind her, a jet stream that tore apart anything careless enough to cross it. She could already see her destination in the distance, but even then she knew she was too late. Blossom landed, kicking up dirt and debris. She viciously threw her backpack to the side and snatched the wrist of her target.
"Barely made it...what kept you?" Brick asked with a malicious leer. Blossom forced his arm down, meeting his gaze with a death glare. Brick jerked his arm away from her and stalked away, putting his hands in his pockets. Blossom watched him, taking a few calculated steps back.
"I'm getting sick of this game!" Brick spun around growling and clenching his fists. He swung his arm, tearing apart the railing holding up the water tank. It crumbled and fell between them, smashing and pouring out over the rooftop.
"Sick of it?! You haven't lost yet!" Blossom sneered and crossed her arms, standing up straight and exchanging her glare for a look of smug satisfaction. Brick growled and stood up straight, adjusting his shirt. He cleared his throat and crossed his arms, mirroring her stance.
"I hate it when you look like that...self-righteous bitch," If possible, Blossom's smirk became even more arrogant.
"Why fight it? I'm better than you," Brick glowered, slowly lowering his arms. His fists clenched and relaxed sporadically. Blossom could tell he was on the verge of cracking. He broke eye contact with her, his gaze traveling down to the water tank between them. With an angry growl, he grabbed it and threw it into the apartment building next to them. Blossom lost her arrogance and instead stepped forward, glaring.
"What do you think you're doing?! I won!" Brick grinned and narrowed his eyes, slowly he began to advance on her.
"I'm evil, I don't have to follow the rules!" He charged at Blossom and hit her with a vicious uppercut, knocking her off her feet. Not one to be outdone, the puff spiraled around in the air and kicked him in the side of the head, knocking him to the ground. She landed just as he sprung back to his feet, the two meeting in a deadly collision. For the better part of the fight, their attacks were evenly matched. Blossom played more a more defensive game, always managing to stay just a step ahead of Brick. The ruff grew more and more infuriated as the struggle continued.
"Stand still!" Brick abruptly grabbed Blossom's hair and forcefully slammed her face into his fist. He shoved her back and stomped down on her chest, shattering the rooftop beneath them. Without missing a beat, he flew down at her, grabbing her and driving her through each floor of the five story building. Blossom managed to escape his grasp before hitting the floor and punched him across the lobby they ended in. The patrons and employees ducked and ran for cover.
"You don't know when to give up! I hate that! Stupid girl, doesn't know her place!" Brick fired his heat rays at Blossom relentlessly, missing every time. Blossom managed to work her way to him, grabbing his equally long hair and hurtling him through the air. Brick halted his flight and launched himself back at Blossom, cutting off her charge. He slammed her into the ground with his knee and proceeded to mercilessly punch her face. To her best effort, Blossom fought back, but lacked the necessary strength to dismount her enraged counterpart.
"Every single time! Every fucking time! You always do this! You always fucking win! Not this time! Just stay there! Stay there and take it! Just fucking take it!" Every shout resulted in another heavy-handed punch, slowly driving the superheroine trapped beneath him into her own personal impression in the linoleum floor. Brick brought his fist up and brought it down with all his weight. His fist never hit the ground.
"You never learn!" Brick fell backward when the second punch landed on his nose. The room spun around, and he faintly noticed the feminine form rising over him. Brick shook his head and stood up, snarling at her. Blossom glared back, ignoring the blood leaking down her cut cheeks and her chin. Brick snickered, leering darkly.
"You look better like that...that's saying something...you are the ugliest bitch in the city," Blossom narrowed her eyes and began to grind her teeth. Brick took a conscious step back. He knew what he was getting himself into. He'd ended up on his back in that same grave more than once. But he couldn't stop his mouth from running.
"That's right, get mad you stupid, hideous whore!" Blossom's lip curled up, her entire body trembled. Brick snickered again. He adjusted his stance. If he didn't stop, he'd be in no condition to withstand the storm brewing not three feet away from him.
'Storm?' He thought with a mental laugh, 'It's no fucking storm, it's a nuclear warhead!' He grinned and stood up straight, wiping the blood away from his nose. He lowered his voice to a serious whisper. Blossom was barely breathing, barely moving except for the occasional homicidal twitch. If he kept going, there would be no going back. Brick smirked and finished signing his death wish.
"Hey Babe, why don't you get back in the kitchen where you belong?" For a split second, Brick thought he actually heard her snapping. Then, when his vision swam on the edge of blackness and his body broke through several feet of cement, he realized it had been the floor when she lunged at him. Brick crash landed in a dumpster, slowly pulling himself up moaning in pain. He was promptly slammed back into it.
"You chauvinistic, selfish, evil, son of a...this time I'm going to kill you!" This wasn't the first time they'd had this encounter. But with every successive strike, Brick felt his world cracking. It felt like it would be the last. He crashed into the ground and barely had time to breath before the dumpster was slammed against him, burying him in a pile of refuse and green shrapnel. Brick forced his way back to the top, laughing. Blossom's face was bright red, her breathes were coming in dangerous snorts. Not to mention, she still had blood leaking down her cheeks, and what looked like the start of a black eye or two.
"God you're ugly," Brick said with a grin. Blossom snarled and lunged at him again. He was ready this time. Brick parried the attack and started his own, ramming her in the stomach with another uppercut. Blossom recovered like an angry hornet, attacking him hysterically. Brick fought back now, throwing her around and returning fire when he wasn't floating at the edge of death. Brick caught Blossom's wrists and spun her around, lifting her off her feet and slamming her into the ground on her back. He held her down, sitting on her with his face inches from hers. She cringed and looked away, gagging.
"Your breath is horrible...and you're bleeding on me..." True, the blood streaming from his nose, his mouth, even his eyes, was trickling onto Blossom's face. He just chuckled and pressed his nose against her ear.
"Yeah and you look like a cheap whore who just got beat for being an idiot," Blossom bristled and started to fight back, but Brick managed to somehow keep her held down. He laughed and got in her face, brushing his nose against hers and lightly kissing the bruises and cuts on her cheeks.
"Get off me!" Blossom whispered harshly. Brick's grin became predatory as he forced her down once more. Blossom swallowed and clenched her fists, feeling Brick pressing against her leg. He chuckled and forcefully kissed her again. Blossom turned away, breath catching in her throat. Brick narrowed his red eyes. His grin grew wild and crazy when he felt a shudder run through her body.
"Don't worry...I'm gonna,"