The days after the accident were passing slowly. It was like everyone was caught in a sea of invisible honey, it took every ounce of effort to just move through the world. There was no joy in the children of Pokey oaks, the terror had left them all exhausted. It was like being caught in a terrible dream.
But for the Powerpuff Girls, it had been a nightmare.
Their minds had still been reeling from the whole ordeal, waking them up in stressful panics nearly every night since. The memories were still fresh, still horrible. The frantic search through the city to find the armed men who had taken Elmer... and only succeeding in finding mocking black tire tracks that vanished as they followed further.
All of them were still taken aback by the incompetence of the cops and the mayor with providing any help. The girls knew the law system of Townsville was not run by the most helpful folks, but it was nearly impossible to shake any information out of them. If it weren't for Mrs. Bellum, they might've never been sent in the right direction.
Monster Island.
Yes, they had succeeded in bringing Elmer home safely, and with the Professor's efforts were able to get him back to normal.. for the most part. He was still going to need regular check ups to make his condition go away completely. They had brought him back home from the island unharmed and were working to keep him completely human. They had saved the day again.
But none of them felt like they had.
Something was still wrong, about all of this. It was like some invisible ghost of an enemy was dancing just outside of their reach. The sisters desperately wanted to do something about it, to at least give this intangible evil some sort of name, but everything escaped them. There was only an absence. For three days, it had been like this, with the girls lost in thought over the strange evil they couldn't find, and the rest of the class still stunned with shock. Mrs. Keane struggled to smile, and Elmer sat in the back of the class. It was like someone had sucked the colors from the school.
But on the third day after the incident, the darkness finally broke. In the middle of stone-silent arts and crafts, the door to the classroom opened, and sunlight shone in around a tall, long-horned figure in the doorway. He grinned with sharpened fangs and his single eye shone with an optimism that they had had all been missing for so long. The kindergarten class looked up from their drawings and squeeled with joy, rushing out of their seats and giving their favorite green-skinned substitute teacher excited hugs. Gleeful laughter and chattering once again filled the absence that the tragedy had pulled out of them, to the point where even Elmer smiled again.
Mrs. Keane walked up and shook the monstrous teacher's gloved hand, thanking him for coming on such short notice. Mr. Green just smiled and assured that he was more than happy to, laughing as some of the kids played under his red cape and clung to his legs like monkeys.
The sudden life that had jump started the classroom was like a breath of fresh air, and as her sisters went to welcome the teacher as well, Blossom smiled over the fact that everyone else was happy again. Mrs. Keane shooed the other kids off of their substitute teacher, giving them all an early recess. The children whooped and hollered, hearts filling with hope that this day would continue to get better and better. They rushed out to the playground, trailed behind by the three Powerpuffs and Elmer. As they were going out the door, Buttercup noticed a quick glance shared by Elmer and Mr. Green. It lasted only a quick second,the teacher's eye locked with the boy's glasses, and the two solemnly regarded each other with a strange understanding. As soon as it had begun, it was cut by Mr. Green continuing his conversation with Keane and Elmer turning his attention to the swing set.
"I missed Mr. Green!" Bubbles beamed, twirling through the air, feeling weightlessness over the unusually heavy heart she'd been carrying for days.
"Yeah.." Buttercup absentmindedly responded as she watched Elmer sit immobile by himself on the swings.
Blossom didn't even bother responding, she was standing with her back turned, listening intently against the wall of the school building.
"Blossom?" Bubbles hovered down to the ground and tapped her sister's shoulder. "Whatcha doing?"
"Listening." Blossom pressed her head against the rough surface of the building, brushing her long hair out of the way of where an ear would be.
Buttercup joined her siblings on the ground, arms crossed. "Listening for what?"
"I don't know.. I wanna know why Mrs. Keane is letting Mr. Green substitute today, don't you? Maybe she's sick." Blossom turned her attention back to the wall, and Buttercup and Bubbles did the same. In reality, Blossom was much more worried that Mrs. Keane hadn't been sick in the physical sense. She had silently been worrying over the gloom that filled the classroom, and the heavy guilt that seemed to be emanating from the otherwise upbeat teacher. This whole mess wasn't her fault. If for some reason Mrs. Keane wasn't feeling well due to stress from this horrific ordeal, Blossom felt like the blame of it should fall on her own head. It felt like it was their.. her fault that bad things were drawn to the school.
The two teachers were small talking, Keane giving him the simple lesson plan for the upcoming week while she took a vacation. It was stiff, but pleasant conversation.
Buttercup frowned and leaned against the wall. "Come on, this is boring!"
Just as Blossom was about to agree and move on, she heard Mr. Green nervously cough and say, "I.. heard about what happened."
Immediately the three sisters were pressed against the wall again. They knew that their teacher's expressions would be telling more than half of the story, so they peered in with x-ray vision, urgency disregarding privacy.
Mrs. Keane sighed and turned back to the papers on her desk, organizing them in a folder. "Oh.. yes, I'm sure news got around."
"It was all word of mouth, but.. yes, everyone's heard about it. I'm really sorry something like that happened. It sounded awful." Mr. Green spoke softly, looking off through the window to the little boy sitting alone on the swings.
Mrs. Keane laughed weakly. "I should probably be used to these things, considering. But it was so shocking... everyone crying. It was a disaster." A chill passed through the three super heroines listening in. Their teacher rubbed her temples and passed the folder of assignments over. "Would you like me to get you some coffee?", she asked, working up another smile.
"Oh.. yes, if that's okay." Mr. Green smiled back in appreciation and sat down at on of the lowly tables, his long legs crossed and his cape curling around him on the ground. "Again, I'm just sorry to hear all of that happened."
"It's fine, really.", she said, passing him a warm mug of coffee. "I'm sure I'll be feeling better after this break, and the kids seem so happy to have you here.. I mean it, thank you so much for showing up on such short notice."
He smiled and nodded. "I'm more than happy to. You know I love teaching this class."
They sipped their coffee and Mr. Green flipped through the folder with his free hand. "I'm sorry, we've been talking all about what happened to me," Mrs. Keane asked, "How have you been?"
He paused for a moment. "Good. It's just been a little tough between jobs."
"That's right.. what other job was it you had?"
"School counselor", he said, smiling. "At the high school.. It helps for when I can't find any substitute positions."
"How's that going?"
He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Good, for the most part.. I had a bunch of teenagers dumped on me recently by the school system, it's been pretty tough trying to help them!"
Mrs. Keane raised a brow, interested. "Really? Why?"
"You know that truancy officer, Mr. Wednesday?" Green began, grinning a bit. "He brought a whole gang of kids to me, saying that I could help 'straighten them out'. They haven't even been to school! I don't mind helping teenagers, but I was hoping to work with students, not delinquents."
Mrs. Keane's eyes alighted with re-sparked memory. "He's done the exact same thing to me! My goodness, did he leave you with those "GangreenGang" hooligans?" She sounded practically horrified.
"That's them." He said, still smiling. "They aren't all bad, though!" The look on her face made him chuckle.
"Really, I think they need something like this! Someone to talk to. They aren't as bad as I thought they would be, they're just tough to work with, sometimes. It's been on and off for a few weeks, and I feel like I'm finally starting to make some progress with some of them."
"I don't see how! They were positively awful in my class.. they were picking on my students constantly!"
Mr. Green sighed, nodding. "Yes, they do have a bullying side, but some of them are actually quite nice. They've just been through a lot. The big one, William, he's really a sweet heart, he's just a bit slow and forced around by the others.. Sanford and Arturo took a long time to open up, Sanford was always so reserved, and Arturo used to threaten me! But it seems like they've had some tough childhoods, and they're quite caring about the others as well.. I'm really trying to learn more about them. And Grubber is an absolute prodigy! I almost can't see how he became involved in the gang at all. He doesn't talk much, but from what I've seen, he's really a genius...
Ace has been the toughest one of them, he refuses to talk to me or treat me with any respect. The others protect him every time I bring him up, they care about him a lot."
It was clear from the way Mr. Green was so excitedly explaining his progress that he cared about them too. Probably more so than anyone before.
The girls looked between each other in surprise, shocked that someone so nice was trying to help people who were so bad. The fact that he was able to see something other than a gang of incompetent villains was almost alien to them.
"Well, I'm glad you've been able to help them! It would probably be for the best, to get them on the right track.. I can see why Mr. Wednesday brought them to you, aside from the obvious reason."
Mr. Green froze, his sip of coffee being cut off abruptly. "Which is..?"
"Oh, you know, the.." Mrs. Keane stopped herself, surprise crossing over her face. "Never mind, I didn't mean anything by it."
A heavy silence filled the room as Mr. Green shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Really, I didn't."
Mr. Green smiled, but his eye portrayed a strange kind of sadness. "It's alright, I know you didn't. It's probably true, though, I doubt anyone else would have been willing to talk to them."
The silence was harsher than before, to the point where it almost hurt to breathe.
"Green," Mrs. Keane began again, looking worried. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I know you're not like those boys, just because of your skin. I just meant that you must know what it's like to be.. like that." Her voice trailed off as Mr. Green remained silent, gazing at his coffee spinning in the mug.
" A monster?"
"No, of course not! You're nothing like the monsters! You're different, you're doing good things. I mean, you're teaching kindergartners and helping teenagers, not attacking the city! It's your actions that define you, not what you look like..."
A bitter tinge of cynicism uncomfortably ran through Blossom's mind as the words were spoken.
"I appreciate that." Mr. Green smiled sadly and took another sip from his mug.
"Honestly, Green, you're not like any of the other monsters. You actually made something of your life, instead of hurting people for no reason! You didn't just give up, you got a job, and you're the best substitute creature in the school district!"
Mr. Green choked on his coffee.
"..teacher."
As if on some sort of invisible cue, the honking of a car came from the front of the school. Keane stood up almost too fast, happy to have an excuse to get out of here. "Oh, my ride is here.." She quickly apologized for having to leave so suddenly as she grabbed what she needed, Mr. Green just saying it was fine while he wiped the coffee off of his face. She thanked him one more time as she made her way out the door, and then she was gone.
Mr. Green sat alone in the class, staring at the door for a while as the whirlwind of misplaced compliments and Freudian slips slowly died into uncomfortable silence once again. He sighed and leaned against the short, child-sized table, running his clawed, gloved hands through his long white hair. Occasionally his fingers bumped against the base of his horns, forcing him to navigate around.
Eventually he stood up and made his way toward the back door to the playground. The Powerpuff girls scrambled back in a panic, pretending to play with a rubber ball as he walked past them. They watched quietly as he made a quick trip around the playground, occasionally smiling and playing with children when they called his name. But the sadness in his expression was still clearly evident.
After a few moments, he walked around to the side of the school, hands held tightly behind his back and gaze locked to the ground. The girls hadn't spoken since their little spying session had begun, and quiet as they could, the three flew silently behind the substitute teacher. As he stood alone beside the building, the girls took up a vantage point on the roof, peering carefully over the edge.
After a quick look around, and positive that no one could see him from where he was at, Mr. Green let out a pained sigh and hid his face in his hands. Bubbles squeaked quietly, worried that he would start crying.
He rubbed his eyes and forehead, biting his lip carefully with sharpened teeth. At the base of his flowing red cape, small green sparks began to sputter into existence and mold into a flame. Buttercup stood up to rush down and put out the fire, but was quickly yanked back down by Blossom. There was a stern look in her brilliant pink eyes as she pointed back down to the unnatural fire. It was increasing in size and intensity, circling around Green and practically reaching up to his waist. He opened his eyes and ran his hand through it, sighing as the flames curled to his will and twisted into his palm.
The girls gasped as softly as humanly possible, but remained where they were.
The spring green glow of the flames filled their sight, bouncing with life against every surface and casting long, dark shadows. His strong and controlled breathing made the fire pulse like an extension of his soul, twisting and dancing around him. With a swift, fluid movement, he raised his hands and pulled the fire into the air, somehow condensing the straying fires into an intensely concentrated ray of white-ish green light. He whipped around and sent the blade of fire slicing through a nearby tree, cracking it into an even split and letting it become engulfed in it's burning heat.
He watched it for a moment, taking in the deep breaths of firey, smoky air. His long horns, flowing white hair and militaristic uniform all gave him a terrifyingly intimidating air of power when portrayed in the glow of that otherworldly green fire. Every feature on his face was accented, his sharply upturned nose, darkened stitch-like scar on his cheek, and glistening teeth. But his bright red eye portrayed more of who he was than his villainous appearance and well-practiced power would entail.
His single eye was swimming with emotions, reflecting the fire before him.
Anger, resentment, pain, grief. With another quick wave of his gloved hand, the fires flickered out into a thin trail of smoke. The tree that had formerly been growing there at the side of the school was now simply reduced to a pile of ashes.
Mr. Green ran his long fingers through his hair once again, his sharp ears turned downward. He cast a quick, uneasy glance, toward the front and back of the school to make sure no one had seen his outburst. Content that no one had, he dusted some straggling ashes off of his clothes and turned back to the playground. His gaze was straight forward, and his posture was a bit more dignified than before. As the clueless children rushed to his side to play, he laughed, a genuine and happy smile finally returning to his face.
The girls gazed in gape-mouthed confusion from the rooftop. They weren't sure what to do next. Their substitute teacher was a monster. He had super powers. Strong super powers. He was potentially dangerous to their entire class.
But they knew that wasn't true, at least the last part. He was a nice man. He taught children. He helped teenagers. He wasn't like the other monsters.
Hewasdifferent.
Why was he so hurt when Mrs. Keane told him that?
Why did he see the other monsters as being different as well? How could he see something good in the bad?
Bubbles sat on the edge of the roof, watching Mr. Green cautiously. She turned to her sisters with confused panic in her eyes.
"What do we do now?"
Blossom's eyes locked with her sister's. And for once; the leader, the smart one, the one who always knew what to do- was stuck. She could do nothing but mirror her sister's loss. Tears welled up in her face and her expression twisted into an ugly frown as she struggled to hold it back. Her voice was weak and wavering, stinging dry from the ashes in the air. But she somehow managed to choke out the words. "I don't know..."
But the truth was that she did know, or was starting to. The evil that had been evading them for days was finally starting to form, and it horrified her.
Bubbles began to cry as tears fell down her sister's face, and she rushed into her sibling's arms, holding her as tightly as she could. "Oh, Blossom! Don't cry.. What's wrong?"
No real response came from the red-headed toddler, she just buried her tearful eyes into Bubbles' dress, letting out small, pathetic sobs.
Buttercup stood aside while her sisters cried and embraced, watching as the tall green-skinned man sat down next to Elmer on the swings.