I hadn't intended to keep to my word but it was no surprise that Blossom figured that out. The next day, while I was outside my room, rummaging the fridge for something to snack on as I read, the doorbell rang. Boomer was preparing lunch and Butch was busy watching a football game. Neither looked like they were going to the door so I guessed I had to do it instead.

I opened the door and Blossom grinned at me. "So, ready to go?" she asked.

"Go where?" I asked back.

"To see Dylan, of course," she said.

"Dylan?"

"The kid you saved. Come on, Brick," she sighed. "It's not like you have anything to do on a Sunday afternoon."

"I kinda have a lot of homework," I replied. That wasn't exactly a lie actually.

"Your teachers told us that you never do your work."

Nothing I say was going to change her mind. I sighed and nodded. "Alright. Let me get changed."

I headed to my room and pulled on a pair of maroon jeans and a black t-shirt. My scars were still present, with no change from the previous day, and I had no choice but to wear long sleeves again. Why did I cut myself on my arms? I vowed to do it on less obvious places if a next time ever came. But with my new powers, I wondered if I would even end up having to do it again.

I left my room. Blossom had seated herself down on the couch and seemed to be talking to Butch. I cleared my throat.

"Shall we go? I really would like to get back home faster," I said when she looked at me.

"Woah. Are you two out on a date?" Butch asked, looking at the two of us and smirking.

"No, we're going to the hospital to visit the boy Brick saved yesterday," Blossom replied.

Butch's smirk fell to a frown of utter confusion. "Huh? Brick saved someone?" he gasped. He looked at me with widening eyes. "Are you feeling okay, bro? I know you haven't been yourself lately but…"

"I'm fine," I snapped. "Blossom, let's go."

Without another word to Butch, I walked out of the house and towards the elevator. Blossom followed behind me.

"We could fly there, you know," she said slowly.

"Nah."

"Don't you like flying?" she asked.

I remained silent for a moment until the elevator came and we entered it. "I'm not a big fan of relying on my powers when I'm trying to act as a normal kid," I replied.

"How's it been living as a normal person?" she asked.

"I wouldn't recommend it to someone else," I sighed immediately.

Blossom giggled a little, her voice sounding strangely interesting. I turned away from her and focused my eye on the numbered buttons of the elevator, thinking over what had happened the previous day. Why did I save the boy again?

We headed towards the hospital in silence, without speaking another word to each other. What was there to say anyway? Blossom was my enemy and I was hers. There was nothing for us to talk over. But even as we walked with no attempts at making conversation, my sense of uneasiness grew with every step. I could feel eyes on me at every corner. Everyone was looking. Everyone was judging. They knew who I was and they knew who she was. They knew what we were and they knew that it was not normal for us to be walking beside each other.

Were they judging us or were they judging me? I could only speculate but something told me that there was no way anyone was sparing me. They were probably wondering what wrong I did till Blossom ad to escort me someplace.

With the discomfort plaguing my mind and senses, I stuffed my hands into my pockets and fixed my eyes down at the pavement, letting my hair fall into my eyes in the process. I didn't want to see anyone. I didn't want to see anyone looking at me.

I just wanted to go home.

When we finally reached the hospital, Blossom led me to up a few floors to a room. The doctors and nurses were much too busy to pay much attention to us but some did cast dubious glances at me. Outside the room, Blossom lightly shoved me towards the door.

"Wait, aren't you coming with me?" I asked.

"No. It's you he wants to see," Blossom replied. "I only came because I wanted to make sure you didn't run away."

It would have been a typical Brick thing to run away but since I had been so conscious of everyone staring at me, I hadn't even thought about it.

"So you're leaving now?"

"No. I'll just stay here and wait," Blossom said with a smirk. "Just in case."

Just in case I do anything stupid and evil, I suppose.

I entered the room and shut the door behind me. The boy— Dylan as Blossom had called him earlier on— was seated on his bed, his back faced towards me as he looked out of the window. At the sound of the door closing, he turned his head and he smiled weakly at me. Considering that he was grieving his family's death (his eyes were puffy and all), it was relatively a large smile.

"Hey. Dylan, right?" I said, walking over to him. I initially was about to pull a chair up and sit by his bedside but I opted to sit on the edge of the bed, beside him, instead.

"Hi Brick," he said, his voice sounded a little too hoarse for a kid like him. (Must be the crying.)

"Are you… doing okay?" I asked and immediately groaned in my mind, knowing that it was a stupid question.

"Yeah… I'm fine… Thanks to you, I guess." He turned away from me and stared out of the window. I looked out as well. Townsville's hospital used to have a nice view of the park but since it was destroyed, that perk vanished as well. But with Dylan's connection to the disaster, he had been placed at the other set of rooms, the more boring ones that were facing rows of grey metal and glass buildings.

"Brick, can I ask you something?" Dylan asked after a long thoughtless silence between us.

"Yes?"

"You're a bad guy so why did you save me?"

It wasn't a question I hadn't expected but it was one I was hoping he wouldn't ask. I turned to look at him, meeting his large blue eyes with mine. His eyes were a lot of shades lighter than Boomer's were but they held the same wide-eyed innocence that my younger brother once had (maybe he still did but I never noticed since I didn't look much at him anymore). Dylan looked a lot like Boomer but at the same time, he didn't.

I remembered my train of thoughts back then during the incident and I was sure the thought of Boomer and Butch in such a situation had crossed my mind but whether it had prompted me to act, I wasn't so sure.

"I don't understand. They say that you're a bad guy but I think you're a good guy," Dylan continued.

"I… am not a good guy," I replied.

"You saved my life," he insisted.

"Saving one person's life does not justify the hundreds of deaths I have caused, Dylan," I replied, trying to stay calm. There was a strange feeling stirring through me. The fact that Dylan doubted my evil nature made me, strangely, contented.

"But… you didn't kill anyone intentionally, didn't you?" he argued.

"What do you think an evil person is like?" I asked, disregarding his question.

"The person who destroyed the park is someone who's evil. He killed my family and he destroyed this city's happiest place." His answer was immediate and sure.

"Then, what if I was that person?" I asked.

"Impossible."

"It's just a hypothetical situation," I sighed.

"It's still impossible."

"Then what do you want to do to the man who did that to the park?" I asked.

Dylan tilted his head, frowning. "I… want him to die like my parents did." He sounded almost emotionless, taking me aback initially.

"Revenge huh?" I murmured, turning back to the window. That was no surprise at all.

"Actually, Brick, do you think you can do that for me?" he asked softly.

I glance at him and frowned slightly. "You want me to kill him."

"Yes," he whispered, shrinking back. "I mean, it's okay if you can't… but if you could, I thought…"

"I have never killed someone intentionally before and if I do kill someone, I could end up in jail permanently," I replied.

He grabbed my sleeve, turning his body to face me. His eyes were welling up in tears. "But there's no way I can do something like that. I'm young and weak. But you're strong and I know that you can do it."

"Look, kid, I know you're upset but revenge is never the answer," I replied, almost lecturing him. "No one knows what happened. It might be some freak accident or some paranormal crap. I dunno. But what I do know is that, if someone is responsible, the police, government or someone like that will make sure he's punished."

Dylan burst into tears at my insistence, holding tightly onto my sleeve as he shifted closer to me. "But Brick, they won't kill him. I want him to die. He killed my parents. He left me all alone. You know, Mommy was pregnant and I was going to have a little sister… But I can't now. I want all of them back. I want Mommy, Daddy and Emi. I want them back."

"Dylan, I—"

"You're powerful, aren't you?" Dylan cut in. "The man who took them away from me is mean and bad and bad men should not live, right? Right, Brick?"

"Dylan, I really can't do that," I replied.

How was I to accept this anyway? He wanted me to kill myself.

"Please Brick, please!"

Without knowing what else to do, I reached over and wrapped my arms around the sobbing and wailing kid, hoping that at least, a hug would calm him down. If someone happened to walk in while he was crying, there was no doubt that I would be accused of doing something and I would have ended up with a greater problem.

"Look, look, I can't kill him but I will try to find him, okay?" I said in haste. "I'll find him and I'll talk to him and I'll find out what happened exactly. After that, if he really is evil, I will kill him, okay?"

Liar.

"Really?" Dylan sobbed.

"Yes, really."

Liar liar liar.

Sometime later, Dylan finally calmed down at my words and I decided to take my leave. After waving goodbye to him, I walked out of the room and found Blossom waiting for me. Noticing me, she pushed herself off the wall and grinned.

"So, did you manage to soften that rock-hard heart of yours?" she asked cheekily.

"Shut up," I muttered. "He asked me to find the culprit and kill him."

"And?"

"I agreed," I sighed. "I couldn't say no to him when he was bawling his eyes out."

"Little Brickie's gone soft, I see," Blossom cooed, nudging me with her elbow. "Well, whatever it is, you can try talking to him after he recovers from this incident."

"What's going to happen to him?"

"He has an Aunt who lives on the outskirts of the city and she'll take care of him. She was on an overseas trip at the other end of the world— someplace in Asia— when this happened. She's on her way here now. I guess she'll be taking care of him," Blossom replied.

"Well, that's good," I murmured.

We headed out of the hospital together, falling silent again. I didn't know why we were walking together and I didn't know where we were headed to but after some time, Blossom stopped and I did as well, turning back to look at her.

"Do you know that Mojo's dead?" she asked.

The memory surfaced but I shook my head. "Is he?"

"Yeah, we found his partially rotten corpse yesterday while we were investigating the park. No one knew when he died," Blossom said.

"Do you know why?"

"Probably old age or some illness associated with it. Natural causes. No trace of homicide," Blossom replied. "It's information that isn't going to be released yet but I feel that it's something that you should know."

"Is it?"

Just like it was when I had seen his corpse, I hardly felt any remorse.

"Isn't he your father, after all?" Blossom said.

"My father?" I scoffed. "Blossom, if he was truly my father, I wouldn't be left alone on the streets with my brothers all those years ago. If he was my father, we would be living as a family and we would have a home and all this wouldn't have happened. Mojo's my creator and HIM is my resurrector. Nothing more. Nothing less."

"I see. I'm sorry, I just thought that it was something you should know," she replied.

"Well, I appreciate that thought but it doesn't concern me. I'm going home."

I left without a goodbye and she didn't offer one either. Her words had slightly annoyed me, once again reminding me of how pathetic my life was in comparison to hers. Blossom's happy family kept surfacing in my mind, causing me to draw unneeded comparisons between our lives. I had no father. My brothers and I didn't even act like brothers. We were nothing she could comprehend.

Of course, Blossom's just what you always wanted to be but you can't so you end up as a rotten scheming liar.

Shut up.

I had been wondering when HIM was going to appear in my head.

You lied to that little kid.

I was trying to console him.

When the truth gets out, it's going to get ugly.

It won't.

HIM didn't say anything else but my mind burst into a pit of his laughter, with it ringing in my ears with no trace of stopping. I quickened my pace home, feeling my head start to throb. I rushed all the way back to my apartment and swung the door opened, accidentally slamming it shut when I was in.

Butch turned to look at me from the couch and raised his eyebrow. "Dude, what did that door even do to you?" he asked.

"Just shut up," I snapped, heading to the kitchen for some aspirins. As I was rummaging through the drawers, I heard footsteps and I looked up to see Boomer approaching me.

"Hey, Brick, what's going on?" he asked.

"Where do you keep the aspirins?" I sighed.

"In here." Boomer reached above me and opened the cupboard, taking a glass bottle and passing it to me. "Are you okay?"

"My head hurts," I replied.

"Really? Why don't you go lie down? I'll bring some soup for you," Boomer said.

Stop it.

"I'm fine. I can take care of myself," I replied, unintentionally snapping at him in the process. With the bottle in my hand, I went to the refrigerator to grab myself a bottle of water and started towards my room.

"Brick! What about lunch?" Boomer asked.

"I'm not hungry."

"But you hadn't had breakfast yet."

I didn't reply him and I went to my room, retreating back into the darkness I felt so comfortable in. I headed to my bed, throwing two pills in my mouth and gulping down a few mouthfuls of water. After placing the bottles on my bedside table, I threw myself on my bed and buried my face in my pillow. HIM's voice and laughter had faded off but the dull ache in my head from them was still present. I closed my eyes tightly, hoping for sleep to come so that, hopefully, the pain will ease by the time I woke up.

I was disturbed by a knock on the door.

Not so keen on walking all the way back to the door, I merely shouted across. "What?"

"Can I come in?" It was Boomer.

I honestly didn't want him to but I decided to anyway. If I refused, he might end up bugging me more in future. Boomer was such a person. I didn't know if he was trying to be a good brother or if he truly cared but whatever it was, it annoyed me a little. Still, it was more bearable that however Butch treated me.

"Yeah, sure," I mumbled. With his hearing, he managed to pick it up and he opened the door to enter my room.

"I think you should eat something," he said, hesitantly looking up at me. "Blossom mentioned that you seemed to be losing weight and now that I think about it, you really have grown at lot thinner."

"No I haven't," I scoffed.

"Really?" Boomer wondered aloud acidly. He walked over to me as I sat up and he grabbed my wrists, digging his fingers into the bones. "You're almost all skin and bones."

"That's my wrist. Most wrists are like this," I argued.

"Most ribs aren't like this though," Boomer snapped, poking me from the side, making sure to jam his finger against a rib to prove his point. "Why don't you remove your shirt then? We'll see if you really need more food."

I didn't care if he noticed that I was no longer as toned and muscular as I used to be. My chest was almost bony and my abs were practically non-existent by then. But I did mind him seeing what my body was filled with. Those scars that I had inflicted on myself were mine. They were a work of art only meant for my eyes— something that no other pair of eyes should ever see. They were my sacred ornaments that I was proud of, so much so that the thought of others' sight on them repulsed me.

"Alright, fine, I'll eat your stupid soup," I growled, getting onto my feet.

Boomer grinned at me. "That's more I like it."

I followed Boomer to the dining room, where Butch had already seated himself and was taking his helping of soup and mashed potatoes. I hadn't expected Butch to be there and I wasn't looking forward to sitting on the same table with him. I glared at Boomer, mainly at the back of his head, wondering why he even had to come get me. While I was cursing my fate, the image of the destroyed park flashed in my mind and I turned my eyes away from Boomer. Would Boomer die if I looked at him with ill-intentions? Was my ability even legit?

Deciding to test it out, I looked around to try it on something. Through the glass window, I caught sight of the refrigerator and I decided to make do with it. Taking a deep breath, I stared at the refrigerator.

Stupid, worthless piece of junk. You're hopeless. You didn't even have food for me when I came to check this morning. You should be destroyed.

I had expected a huge explosion of sort but nothing of that happened and I turned away from it in part relief and part disappointment. I guess HIM was playing with my mind and I didn't have that ability after all. While it was saddening that I didn't have that cool ability, I was partially at ease thinking that I was absolved of the responsibility of killing all those people. Perhaps, I might even be able to keep my promise with Dylan.

"Dude, what's so interesting about the fridge?" Butch asked as I slid into my seat.

"Nothing. I was just wondering," I replied, taking some soup. I decided not to touch the mashed potatoes, not unless Boomer said something about it.

"About what?"

"Ice-cream. It's a hot day so maybe we should get some ice-cream," I said.

"That's a good idea," Boomer said, chuckling.

"Yeah but Brick thinking about ice-cream is weird," Butch replied. "You alright, bro? You're acting kinda weird today?"

"You've only seen me for five minutes today," I pointed out. "I'm fine."

"You saved a kid," Butch challenged.

"He looked like Boomer so I saved him on instinct," I replied. "And that was yesterday, by the way."

"But, well, it's not you to save people," Butch sighed.

"I would save you guys if you were ever in trouble," I argued. "Though I doubt you'd so the same for me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Butch asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

"It means that I can't trust my back with you two," I scowled. "I get knocked out in one fight and look what happens! One fight. It was just that one fight and the two of you fucked up big time."

For some reason, this seemed to piss Butch off. "So… it's our fault?" he asked aridly.

"Of course it's your fault! Why the hell would you—"

I couldn't finish my sentence because Butch had jumped to his feet, slamming his palm right in front of me. "Look here you pathetic ungrateful little bastard. If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't have died."

"Butch!" Boomer hissed.

"Of course, I would have died. We all would. They'd have given us the death sentence."

Butch scowled, reaching forward and grabbing my collar. "You know what? I'm getting sick and tired of this bullshit. I've had enough of having to deal with you blaming us. Know this, it was you fault that—"

"Butch, I said enough!" Boomer cut in, almost at the top of his voice. "We promised never to bring this up!"

Butch cursed under his breath but he released his hold on me, sitting back down. Uncomfortable with the new tensed silence, I decided to take my bowl of soup and head to my room instead. I didn't know what Boomer and Butch had promised each other but it was obvious that I was being left out again.

I guess they blamed me for their situation. I could see why though, not that it seemed logical. It was probably my fault for getting knocked out. I mean, I was being targeted and all but all that mattered to them was probably the fact that I was knocked out. Being the brains of our old team, it meant that the two of them were at a loss. No wonder we lost.

How unfair.

I finished exams and all quite some time back and I had this sitting in my computer for quite sometime. Anyway, I should have the next chapter up soon. I don't intend to make this too long. It'll probably be about 10, max 15 (?), chapters. We'll see.

I should be continuing the boys are back in town but I really enjoy writing this much more than that. Or, at least, I rather write this than the las two chapters, mainly because for that story, it's all the happy parts left and for some reason, I only like writing when my characters are suffering or something. I'm such a mean person, I guess. :(

Well, whatever. I hope you guys enjoy this. Thank you for the amazing reviews and whatever support all of you have given to not only this, but to all my stories. (I'm debating taking down Operation Execution even though I have that complete for some reason. The new chapter seems a little too inappropriate...)

Stay awesome y'guys

Much love,

Me xx