A/C: This arc will explain in depth about the RowdyRude Boys past as well as The PowerPunks past, it also includes the mirror counterparts of the boys (Haru, Ressee and Kai) in the mirror realm they are (Harumi, Rex and Kyle) it explains the origins of some issues like for example Miharu´s issue of Rave- Bruise and also Rage´s parenting issue and some other stuff. I know many are looking forward to the rudes and ruffs to meet for longer periods of time and yes, it will happen but first I needed to add this (Thankfully this is not as long as the PPGR: Reflections arc)
I hope you guys enjoy this arc just as I loved writing this and again I tell you all that questions either in pm, deviant or review here are welcome and I´ll be sure to answer you guys (If it´s through review you´ll have to wait until I update the story so you get the answer, I´d suggest you to pm instead but well, do as you wish XD ) Try not to ask for spoilers please XD
Chapter 2: Scars
It was a cold winter morning; it´s quite rare for days like these to occur in midsummer if not highly improbable of them happening. Jomo took his time to come back from investigating the PowerPunk girls and well, I do not feel fond of having been made to wait. That´s right, when Jomo comes back I will sourly speak my thoughts about this matter… how can he take so long? This project couldn´t wait at all and he was just delaying the process, stalling its complete phase. I admit I have grown a bit too desperate about its fulfillment but it´s something that is just worth it.
I sat on my bed looking sideways towards a window which showed me a slight peek of what was Dimenzia, in my daydream as I gazed through the window, I thought once more about the entire matter of the girls future enemies and there it was, the constant thought that bugged me: we were messing with the whole concept of life. Who are we to create artificial beings? And it´s still shameful to then expect souls to work with us so that the project bears fruit; It was plausible to think the souls would agree but it was still troublesome and possibly embarrassing to ask for their help in such cynical matter…
I then gazed sideways towards no particular direction and spaced out for a moment pondering about these troublesome things eventually reaching a conclusion: Angels are such naïve beings; interestingly they use their naïveté to excuse themselves of toying with humans…
"Is that what you really think of us?" asked a voice which interestingly didn´t startle me, I looked at the angel as it appeared on the middle of my room and stared at it with a poker face and sighed.
"Well, you tell me; am I wrong?"
"You know our purpose is not to toy with humans but achieve a-" said the angel interrupted by me.
"Better concept of the self. Yes, I know that… it still doesn´t change the fact of what you all are doing" I said as the angel smiled compassionately at me, I only rolled my eyes at the gesture "Knock it off"
"Does me looking like this bother you?" asked the angel.
"Actually yes, I don´t like hypocrites like you" I said flatly.
"Oh, does my human look suits you better?" asked the angel looking surprised "I didn´t know there was a difference"
"How can there not be, you are not the angel you claim to be; you are the demon of the personality you wear"
"The demon? Oh…" the angel murmured looking thoughtful for a minute "Hahaha!" released the angel with great amusement.
"My, isn´t that a sight coming from a stoic angel" I said mockingly.
"You are indeed right, I do prefer my human personality better" it said as it changed appearance to that of a tan, brunet with spiky hair boy and yellow eyes "Although I gotta say this look also pains me greatly"
"Oh… a look that an angel grieves, I wonder why, after all… aren´t you idolized here?" I said honestly curious about the angel´s discomfort.
"Haha, this look is an old one, this personality already existed in a past lifetime" said the angel "It pains me to look like a personality of mine and having to act like it" as it said this, he emphasized the ´´act´´.
"So, you are having problems growing accustomed to this body?" I asked.
"Haha, not in the least… I´m greatly familiarized with this one, it´s just… Whenever I look into the mirror, I can only see myself as an empty shell… there´s no personality there, it´s just me" the angel said.
"I see… so you find yourself lonely" I said, to think an angel would grieve over being lonely.
"I don´t feel that bad when I´m on my angel form, yet when I turn human… the feeling and grief strikes me tenfold" said the angel without any kind of hesitation.
"So, you don´t like being lonely… that and also seeing yourself as the shadow of what this personality once was" I said.
"Yes, you are incredibly accurate on this" said the angel "I could veil myself and bring back that personality which is lurking within but I cannot do that since its time was up centuries ago, it would be baffling to revive him and worst of all having to relive all of his suffering once more when there´s no need to…"
"Sounds troublesome" I said frankly "So you fill that void with being a slut?"
"Huh? Haha, I see where you are going" the angel said, though I kind of believe it's more his human side speaking when it´s like this; angels would never contemplate or so matters like sex at all, that´s a human thing "I wonder… talking in perspective of this one personality… his love has always been to one sole person and soul"
"Oh, what about you?" I asked intrigued.
"Things like Love, I cannot understand… I can comprehend a great deal of what it involves but not everything there is to it" it said.
"That's not what I asked"
"Huh? Well… personally, I believe I´ve been always attached to one particular soul but it´s different you know" said the angel.
"Yeah, kind of" I said "So, what are your plans now?"
"For the time being I have to dwell in this realm until I fulfill what I was sent to do, that includes waiting for my partner"
"Wait for your partner?" I asked slightly confused.
"Yes, the idiot suffered an accident and now I have to wait for him to grow a bit before I can get in touch with him" the angel said, I guess when they are humans they can experiment diverse emotions and express themselves just like an ordinary one.
"It´s always so odd whenever I speak to you" I said.
"Same here, I wouldn´t have come if it hadn´t been for that comment" said the angel.
"Oh, so you came here just because of that… what a sensitive angel you are" I said jeeringly.
"Well, I admit I can´t understand why some humans think ill of angels" said the angel then releasing a sigh.
"Well, there will always be people who disagree" I said flatly.
"Yeah, I guess you are right" said the angel "I also came out of curiosity"
"Huh?" I murmured looking lightly interested at him.
"Yes, you mentioned something about ´´artificial beings´´ didn´t you?" said the angel sounding intrigued.
"Right… just like the girls" I said a bit uneasy, I wasn´t okay by creating life that way.
"So you are worried about that being something forbidden?"
"The general idea is what I dislike" I said flatly.
"I see" said the angel simply "Well, why don´t you try doing what you think is best rather than worrying about those things? Worrying is not your style or so I believe"
"Maybe" I said "So, is your partner going to take that much?"
"Ah? What a way to change the subject…" said the angel as it pouted at me "Well, no, when he is three years old approximately I´ll go meet him"
"You sound eager"
"Well, how can I not? The moment I meet him I will start on my mission" said the angel.
"I see…" I murmured.
"For the time being I guess I can afford fooling around for a bit… so! If anything comes up be sure to give me a call" said the angel as it winked at me.
"Yeah" I said as it disappeared in the wink of an eye leaving behind sparkles, this one in particular sure is odd…
After the angel left I went towards the bathroom to take a hot bath, I needed to think things over… I wasn´t sure about what we were doing; the angel is right though, worrying is not my style.
After a bit, Jomo came back, but I wasn´t going to go greet him or anything, nobody interrupts me when I´m taking a bath… that is, if they treasure their lives.
"Her! Where are you?!" the monkey called, though amazingly enough his voice sounded childish, it made me start doubting it was Jomo after all… but who else would come here? I made him wait anyway and after like 10 minutes, I exited the bath groaning on the thought of not having enjoyed that bath as much as I had wanted to.
"What is it that you want?" I asked in a cold tone as I stepped on the lab, it didn´t look like Jomo… it was a boy with a monkey on his shoulder so, I thought everything but that… yet, regarding the environment and moment I decided to dismiss any kind of common sense and deemed him to be Jomo anyway.
"Well, I thought you´d be more cooperative, I finally came here to start the process and you receive me that way" said the kid who was supposedly Jomo.
"I´m the one who agreed to help you, without me your project would be a total failure so deal with it" I said as I stared him up and down, was this boy really Jomo?
"Jeez, how not to expect this… whatever" said the boy rolling his eyes along with the monkey.
"Before I lend you a hand… what´s up with the boy and circus monkey?" I asked frankly puzzled.
"I faced some issues along the way, I ended taking this boy as my helper" said apparently Jomo.
"Oh, I didn´t know you swung that way" I said while arching a brow, I then approached a tub where the mix was being made.
"Huh? Hey, I didn´t kidnap him… he accepted the request himself, I didn´t force him or whatever" said apparently Jomo.
"Yeah, that´s why you are controlling him instead of him talking" I said while shooting him a brief glare.
"Hey, it´s not my favorite method to do things! But I had to resort to this! And just so you know, he is aware that I am controlling him" said Jomo.
"Fine, whatever" I said "Did you bring the supposed miracle ingredient?"
"Jeez…" he mumbled as he pouted at me, he then looked surprised and nodded "Yeah, I do, what about you?"
"Here it is" I said showing a sparkling scale which made me think was a mermaid´s for some reason…
"Now, that´s a pretty nice ingredient you got there" said Jomo as he stared marveled at it "Throw it in the mix!"
"I´m on that… but just so you know, if anything happens with these, I´m not doing another" I said already fed up on the failed experiments.
"Huh? But these are for the sake of success!" said Jomo sounding a bit frustrated.
"I´m not going to watch the three kids blow up, melt or die in front of me again" I said firmly, this was the whole problem, I did not want to suffer this anymore; life isn´t a toy, we cannot afford to play with it like we were doing, yet… Jomo wasn´t getting it at all.
"Hey, you know that if a experiment fails is just a matter of trying once more! We can´t give up! The city´s fate is in our hands!" said Jomo.
"And so are the lives of the children we create, as they keep on dying as soon as they are born… this whole thing makes me feel like I´m aborting them over and over" I said while frowning at Jomo.
"You are not giving birth to them woman…" said Jomo looking at me dully.
"That´s not the point… the one we have more problems lately is the green one, he doesn´t last much and has blown up first than the others" I said sorrowfully, seeing children so young and innocent die before me was painful, even more when I knew we were the parents… "Just, don´t make me experience another death"
"Oh? Who knew you were such a sentimental person, I thought everything but that" said Jomo while smirking.
"You are evil you know" I said flatly.
"So are you, I´m not doing this by myself" said Jomo as he threw the ingredient into the mix.
"I won´t create another three if these three do not live, so you better do anything there is to save them, you hear?" I said seriously at him.
"Yeah, yeah" said Jomo as he motioned me to throw in my ingredient, though he spitted before I even raised my claw.
"Ugh…" I rolled my eyes. That was so gross… doesn´t matter I can stand a great deal of things… that one has never ceased to disgust me.
"Now, throw it your majesty" said Jomo jeeringly. I threw the scale into the mix and swirled my claw above to stir it, after a few seconds, the mix bubbled and steam started to envelop the room, it then produced a huge blast which gave result to three black figures barely distinguishable. The steam then faded and we remained awestruck at the outcome.
"Well, well… seems this was a success" said Jomo sounding pleased.
"Wait for it" I said waiting for what was common to be the children blowing up just when we thought everything had gone okay.
"Why are you staring at us that way?" the orange haired spoke.
"So? Is it safe to say it was success then?" asked Jomo.
"I guess…" I murmured as I stared warily at the three who were sitting naked inside; the orange haired looked dully at us while the blond looked curious and the raven haired looked confused.
"Now, now, these are a fine batch" said Jomo mildly irritating me by him calling them ´´batch´´ like if they were some sort of food or some other stuff.
"Batch?" questioned the orange haired; the blond frowned at Jomo in response while the raven haired looked around.
"Jomo…" I muttered while eyeing him angrily.
"Hey, it is true! Look" he said while picking the raven haired up, I swirled my claw and dressed him along with his brothers.
"Uh…." Murmured the raven haired uneasy and so then gripped the boy´s nose and chuckled.
"What´s going on?" asked the blond as Jomo looked at the raven haired with irritation.
"Your name will be Bruise" I said flatly at the blond.
"Huh? What? You didn´t answer me…" said the blond while staring troubled at me.
"You are Brazen, alright" said Jomo to the black haired as he chuckled still amused. The orange haired then floated towards Jomo and snatched his brother away from him.
"We are not toys" he said flatly releasing his brother aside of him, I then stared at him intrigued.
"You´ll be Barricade" I said simply, the orange haired looked at me confused.
"Barricade? Why…" he said cut off by me.
"You seem to be rather protective" I said making him stay thoughtful, the black haired then laughed.
"I like the name Barricade you know" said Brazen as he then jumped Bruise and hugged him tightly "I like the name Bruise too!"
"Ah? I still don´t understand what´s going-" said Bruise cut off by Brazen who grabbed him and started spinning around gleefully.
"So, mind explaining a little?" asked Barricade as he looked intently at his brothers.
"That is…" I started though Brazen threw Bruise against Barricade and then embraced both affectionately. This hadn´t happened before…
"So?" asked Barricade as he looked stoically at me while Brazen snuggled against them, who knew the green one would act like this…
"Don´t worry about that for now, I´ll explain later" I said "Just know you were created to give this guy some company"
"Huh?" murmured Barricade as he looked at the boy who looked at me confused, yet, I wasn´t lying, Jomo sure craved some company anyway.
"Ah? So he is our dad?" asked Bruise as he was almost strangled by Brazen.
"Effectively" I said simply, I then got jumped by Brazen who hugged my arm.
"Mommy!" exclaimed Brazen making me look troubled at him.
"Of course…." I said while looking away, I noticed Barricade suppressing a chuckle while Bruise openly giggled.
"Ehehee, I´m hungry!" exclaimed Brazen as he continued to hug my arm. As he said he was hungry, I made my way to the kitchen.
I heard Barricade and Bruise talking and sharing doubts and answers with each other as I walked into the kitchen, I then abruptly stopped as I felt something trail down my arm after Brazen had coughed brusquely.
"Huh…" I murmured looking at the black substance trailing down my arm.
"Ah! I´m sorry..." murmured Brazen as he released my arm and went to step aside of Barricade.
"This is…" I murmured a bit confused, was this what I thought was…? Though maybe that´s just how children like them vomit…
"Mom, I think that´s-" said Barricade cut off by me.
"I´ll go take a bath then, Jomo, feed your children" I said leaving for a bath, Jomo only uttered a ´What?!´ and so I left.
I went pleased towards the bathroom and so stayed inside for like 30 minutes, it was certainly a good omen the fact of these children turning out to be fine and not presenting any signs of instability. Wait… Brazen just… As soon as I recalled this I hurried out and appeared in the kitchen.
"Mom?" called Brazen who saw me as if I was crazy or something.
"You look sick or something…" said Bruise looking concerned at me.
"That´s her natural skin color boys" said Jomo jeeringly causing the others except for Barricade to laugh.
"I like mommy´s natural red skin" said Brazen with a grin as he stuffed his mouth with cereal.
"I think you boys first need to learn some table manners" I said while looking annoyed at the way Brazen ate.
"Table manners?" asked Brazen looking baffled, I then approached them and stood aside of Jomo.
"We´ll leave that for later, for now… I will explain in brief about you three being here" I said flatly.
"Finally!" said Bruise sounding happy, I then frowned and pointed at him.
"First of all, you may not interrupt be or you will be severely punished for it and I´m not joking so don´t try to press your luck" I said seriously, I then noticed them going completely silent not looking eager to interrupt me.
"You three were designed to fight and defeat the current enemy of the city of VileTown "The PowerPunk Girls" these girls are a trio of super powered heroines that rule the entire city under the commands of their creator "Oppressor Plutonium". The reason you were born is mainly for overthrowing these fiends from the power to restore peace in VileTown; although that´s a near impossible dream to achieve, we tried creating counterparts for them who could match or preferably overpower them to achieve our goal"
"I see…" murmured Barricade while looking thoughtful.
"Ah? We were born to fight? That´s odd, I don´t feel like fighting at all" said Brazen with a smile.
"I share his feelings" said Bruise looking troubled.
"For now yes" I said with a poker face making them look at me with curiosity.
"What do you mean?" asked the three.
"The city you are fighting for will stir your will to fight, that´s completely plausible" said Jomo "But do not worry about such matters, for now, we will show you the city; every corner of it will be known to you and so it will become your battle place"
"I understand" said Barricade "But I do feel more intrigued by the entire city thing"
"Yes, we will be on our way right now" I said as I enveloped us in red smoke teleporting to VileTown, we would explain everything; the city´s layout as well as its type of citizens would become known at least to Barricade who until know showed signs of being the one most suited to be the leader in the team.
After a brief explanation about the city areas, we went back home where Jomo gave them a tour and ushered them to their room, the reason why it had been just a brief look around was that they would understand the layout themselves as they explored, got lost and fought inside. A few weeks passed and so I noticed the closeness the trio showed, I sometimes ran into Brazen brushing Barricade´s hair while Bruise slept sideways against Barricade, other times Brazen played tag with them, curiously Barricade played as well though he got bored or fed up and resorted to stay reading in the living room. Other times Bruise and Brazen watched TV and Barricade surprised them with a dessert or well, he went right with them and sat in the middle to watch a movie, I found particularly interesting when they slept all cuddled up with a cover on the sofa; when they did that we had to carry them to their bed.
Barricade sometimes read upside down on the sofa with his hair cascading down the sofa, weird habit for a leader… and Bruise got an habit of scaring Brazen, if we had to study anything in this period of time I would suggest their interaction with each other; how to describe this? It produced me a warm and fuzzy feeling that made me smile warmly, thing that was rather odd.
One day, Bruise came to my bed and sneaked in, I didn´t notice until a bit later; it was rather confusing if not odd, why was he in my bed?
"Bruise… what are you doing here?" I asked the blond child who looked at me with half lidded, tired eyes.
"Mom… I had a nightmare, sorry, I just… uhm…" he murmured uneasy, maybe he felt I was going to scold him but to be true, it had been a cute thing, of course, anything is cute if it doesn´t involve peeing the bed.
"I see" I said flatly as I changed my claw into a human hand and petted his head confusing him "I´m not going to scold you for this"
"Mom…" murmured Bruise as he smiled warmly at me causing me to slowly return the gesture, he then giggled in response and I looked away "I like mom´s smile"
"Bruise…" I murmured kind of troubled. I suddenly felt aware of what was going on, it had troubled me several times before but watching these children always got me distracted and so I ended pushing away the thought to the deepest parts of my mind.
"Mom?" he murmured as he tilted his head in confusion. I embraced him grievingly as if I was about to lose him and that saddened me even more; when did I grow so fond of these boys? "Mom… you are making me feel sad, you are shining gloomy colors"
"Bruise, things are going to turn rough for you and your brothers but you should know that I just…" I whispered. Bruise could see the aura so he knew how I felt pretty well.
"What? What are you talking about?" asked Bruise sounding surprised. Seems I scared the poor child.
"It´s nothing Bruise, don´t worry about it" I said pushing the subject once more, I felt uneasy but there was no reason to trouble the poor child with my concerns.
"If you say so…" said Bruise looking at me baffled.
"Have your brothers woken up yet?" I asked simply.
"Ah? Well, I´m not sure… when I came here he was still asleep" said Bruise, he then went back to his room and so I followed.
"Nnn…" uttered Brazen as he snuggled against his brother, Barricade had an arm around Brazen so it looked like he was protecting the other… that or maybe resembled a teddy bear hugging back its owner.
"Cake…" murmured Barricade as he held Brazen a bit tighter and smiled probably imagining the dessert.
"Uh…" murmured Brazen as he woke up probably startled by his brother´s sudden action "Mom…?" he uttered in a low voice as he looked towards us.
"Seems you two slept really well" I said.
"Yes! We did!" exclaimed Brazen then letting out a yelp of surprise as Barricade pulled him towards him "Uh… Barricade…"
"Haha you two look so funny like that" said Bruise as he chuckled at the sight.
"Bruise, come join us hehe, Barricade emits warmth" said Brazen making me arch a brow in confusion.
"Eh? Emits warmth?" asked Bruise as he looked at Brazen in disbelief "Well, you know it´s a natural thing… Brazen, that´s called body heat"
"Ah? No, no" said Brazen as he shook his head "It´s different, come!" he said motioning Bruise to come closer.
"Uhmm okay…" murmured Bruise uneasy as he got on the bed and crawled close to Barricade.
"If you touch here you can notice he is burning" said Brazen as he moved Bruises hand above Barricade´s belly, they stood like that for like half a minute and then Bruise withdrew his hand surprised.
"Whoa! It´s true" said Bruise as he looked at Barricade with curiosity.
"See? Barricade is really hot- ah!" Brazen exclaimed again startled at Barricade´s sudden pull "Uhmm… I think Barricade is a heavy sleeper"
"You think…" murmured Bruise looking at Brazen sarcastically "It´s kind of funny how he is always so serious and when he is sleeping he is actually pretty funny"
"That´s true" said Brazen, they then looked towards the door surprised, seems Jomo came and was cooking something.
"Awesome! Breakfast!" exclaimed Bruise as he ran off excitedly.
"Hey! Wait for me!" shouted Brazen as he somehow managed to escape from his brother´s hold and dashed after Bruise.
"Uh…" murmured Barricade as he woke up.
"Well, who knew you were the last one to wake up" I said while staring at Barricade intrigued.
"Hmmm…" he uttered as he turned to see me "I can´t help it…" he said as he sat up and stretched.
"That´s fine, I´m not accusing you of anything" I said.
"Mmm… it smells of pancakes" said Barricade while doing a pleased expression, he then stood up from the bed and walked towards the kitchen.
"You can float you know" I said wondering why he didn´t flew instead of walk.
"I don´t like being lazy" said Barricade lastly, I then followed.
"Says the child who wakes up last" I said while smirking, Barricade ignored my comment and continued to the kitchen.
"Brazen! Brazen!" called Bruise who was moving his brother slightly; Brazen was leaning on the table while grabbing his stomach.
"Huh?" murmured Barricade taken aback by the sight of his brother suffering "Bruise, what happened?"
"I´m not sure, he suddenly started coughing and then he was like this… he keeps saying how he can´t move since it´s painful" said Bruise, concern apparent in his face. I looked down and noticed the small black puddle on the floor.
"Her… I´m afraid this is-" said Jomo interrupted by me.
"Prepare the lab" I said simply to Jomo, he then ran off. "Brazen…" I murmured as I approached him.
"Mom, I don´t feel well…" murmured Brazen as he sobbed and coughed, Barricade and Bruise were examining his brother who was leaning on the table; I lifted him up and carried him towards the laboratory where I laid him on a steel bed.
"Mom, is Brazen going to be fine…?" asked Bruise looking at his brother worried while Barricade held Brazen´s hand tightly as the other coughed brusquely.
"I can´t assure you anything…" I said a bit troubled, I wouldn´t be able to stand another death and worse his brothers grieving the loss of his brother.
"Nah…" uttered Brazen as the Chemical X waste trailed from his mouth "No… Barricade, Bruise…" said Brazen as he winced.
"Boys, I´m going to ask you to leave, go to the living room or somewhere else, I will do everything in my power to save your brother" I said as Barricade and Bruise stared at me speechless and possibly scared to death with my words.
"What…" murmured Barricade as he stared at his black haired brother on the steel bed.
"Barricade, Bruise, leave the room. Now" I said seriously and so the boys left the room reluctantly. I then turned to see Brazen who was groaning in pain as he tugged his shirt just above his heart.
"Her, what should we do?" asked Jomo.
"Save him, isn´t that obvious?" I said as I put a respirator on his mouth and locked his wrists and ankles firmly.
"I don´t know… maybe we should-" he said interrupted by me.
"Do not dare suggest that with Brazen listening, you hear?" I said while glaring at him, I then turned back to Brazen who was panting troubled "I will not let you die… you just started living, I will not allow you to go you hear?"
"Mom…" muttered Brazen in pain, he then stared at me and smiled at me as happy as he could.
"Brazen… please forgive our incompetence" I said to him, I then made a scalpel appear and changed my claw to a human hand.
"Eh…?" murmured Brazen as he widened his eyes lost in dread, I then started to cut his flesh from above his chest causing him to release a shrill scream of pain "No! No! don´t touch me!" cried Brazen as loud as he could as he stared tearfully as I moved the scalpel, I couldn´t null his pain or consciousness since I was afraid he would blow up the time I injected him something; I just had to bear his cries and screams to have any chance on saving him.
"I´m sorry Brazen, I have to do it like this otherwise we could lose you… try to bear with it please, we are not trying to kill you" I said to him and so I noticed him sobbing and closing his eyes looking defeated, I guess he was trying to say he was going to try.
"Mom…" muttered Brazen as I pressed the scalpel. I noticed him wincing and trying his hardest to repress his groans and tears from escaping. Somewhere along in the procedure I felt a deep feeling of sorrow, I couldn´t lose Brazen, he was just getting to know his brothers…
"Brazen… hang in there" I said as I felt myself about to burst into tears, I couldn´t afford to, I would be implying everything was lost and I didn´t want this child to think like that.
XXX
"I don´t get anything of what is going on…" murmured Bruise as I was lost in thought "What´s up with Brazen? He is going to be fine, right?"
"Bruise…" I murmured in my place on a sofa, I was lying down staring at the ceiling, watching Bruise had made me dizzy and the feeling of concern for Brazen didn´t ease it at all "Calm down, there´s nothing we can do right now but wait patiently"
"What? Don´t you care for what´s going on right now?"
"Of course I do… but pacing around in worry is as useless as lying down thinking about things" I said.
"Maybe but why do you look and sound so indifferent?!"Said Bruise with a frown "And with that scary scream from Brazen just a bit ago…"
"Bruise, don´t misunderstand" I said simply as I closed my eyes and sighed heavily.
"Huh?" he uttered confused as he stopped his nervous pacing and looked at me, I then turned around giving my back at him.
"I´m scared too, We´ve only been together for a few weeks now but I fear not being able to be with him more, therefore… I´m scared" I said honestly. I didn´t want to live on wondering how would it had been if Brazen had lived.
"Barricade…" murmured Bruise, he then walked up to me and took a seat beside me, as soon as he did that, I sat up and hugged him "I don´t want him to die…"murmured Bruise as he hugged me back.
XXX
"Ah… Ah…" uttered Brazen as he panted, he was doing a great effort standing this torture. "I can´t… mom…"
"Please, just be a bit stronger…" I said while gritting my teeth, I could feel the sweat trailing from a side of my forehead, I was covered in blood and chemical X waste; Brazen was fading and I couldn´t do much more… yet I struggled as much as I could to keep him alive.
"Be strong boy… if you die there´s not going to be any chance of…" Jomo said to him as he then bit his lip finding it hard to continue speaking.
"You two are blurry… I´m scared…" murmured Brazen as his eyes started to close. This wasn´t working, his heartbeats were erratic and I just continued being covered in blood and Chemical X waste.
"Brazen…" I muttered, I was angry at myself, was this it? Couldn´t this child be saved? Does this means our plans to give the city a better chance of life was stupid or maybe useless? This was just like the angels telling me that I should just give in. How many children are going to die so we are satisfied?
"Mom... I´m sorry, I´m so weak… aren´t I…" he managed to say before he finally passed out, as the monitor marked his heart had stopped, I stood speechless.
"The green child again didn´t make it…" said Jomo hurtfully.
"We were so close… yet Brazen, just…" I muttered as tears welled up in my eyes, I sobbed painfully trying my best not to cry even if it was futile now "What will I tell those poor boys?"
"Her, you shouldn´t beat yourself over-"
"What am I supposed to tell them?!" I said enraged. Tears continued piling up until they cascaded uncontrollably at me screaming angrily with all my might.
"Should we take this as a sign…" said Jomo softly. I didn´t say anything back, I only glowered at him "A sign to stop. The green one always dies first and you know how it´s said that it´s supposed to die last"
"…"
"Green is the color of hope is it not?" said Jomo lastly as I stared sorrowfully at Brazen who had apparently passed away.
Bringing hope to the city is meaningless? Does it mean the good guys will never win? Justice will not prevail? Then what are we supposed to do…? What…?
A/N: Thank you all for reading the second chapter of PPGR: Regressions, chapters will be longer from this point onwards. I appreciate your patience guys and I will try to update as fast as Graphic Design allows me xD
