Next chapter ^^ This one's a little short


"Get out of here Blossom," Brick ordered sternly. He was shaking now, still staring at her and not having moved. It wouldn't be much longer…

"Why should I?" she taunted.

That was all it took. Adrenaline rushing, filled with a poison that felt all too familiar. Burning eyes, loss of hearing, hand-eye coordination fading… His breath caught as he struggled to stop the rush as his hands balled up into fists and began to gleam with a scarlet flare. He shut his eyes tightly, but at this point his efforts were pointless; his mind was already slipping away.

Brick streaked forward, aiming for his counterpart. As the distance between them shortened, her magnetic pull on him grew stronger, urging him on.

Just before the two collided, Blossom sidestepped the attack. He took the opportunity to put some distance between them again and forced himself to race blinding ahead as he had been, driving himself not to turn and hit her on the spot as he passed.

But he spun around sooner than he would have hoped to see her eyeing him strangely, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

He threw himself at her again without thinking. Once he realized he had begun to attack her again he pulled back as best he could, attempting to weaken his strike. He balled his right hand up into a fist and hurled his arm upward.

Blossom continued to glare at him, not with anger but with perplexity. She barely paid any attention to his punch. She simply ducked out of the way, just as she had before.

Brick threw punch after decelerate punch. He forced his speed to remain low; he wasn't about to let this urge get the best of him again, not so easily. He absentmindedly attacked over and over again, until Blossom took to the skies. She glowered down at him. "This is just insulting! You're not the same boy who beat me before," she taunted.

Brick's eyes flared, his blood rushing. "You're damn right I'm not!" He wouldn't turn into that mindless killer again. Not if he could help it. He shot up, attempting to punch her again, but Blossom caught his fist in the palm of her hand.

His eyes widened in surprise, his blood burning. "Why are you holding back?" she whispered.

Blossom's touch stung Brick's hand, making him fall deeper into Him's influence. He gritted his teeth together as his awareness began to fade once more and he started running off curses in his head. He knew what she was up to; she was going to just keep talking until he lost control completely. Brick felt his eyes burn, his heart pounding. "Are you suicidal or something?" he yelled.

Blossom released Brick's fist and let his punch follow threw into empty space as she flew up above his head. Her eyes scanned him from top to bottom, her questioning gaze returning. "Why aren't you fighting me?"

"Because you can't help me if you're dead!"

Brick's breathes became short and quick. His heart burned as it pushed sinful blood through him, his muscles aching with the poison. His hunger roared deep within him, akin to that of a siren's call, while his whole body seemed to be screaming, kill her...kill her... It was a new chant compared to the former "how dare she", and frankly he preferred the original because he found this one rather disturbing.

Brick could feel his consciousness vanishing, but he desperately forced himself to think in spite of it. If he could just keep himself thinking, if he could just keep his mind active, he might be able to avoid killing this stupid girl. This stupid, idiotic, no-nothing, little…

Brick gripped his arms tightly and fell to his knees, his head down. "N-no... I won't do it."

Blossom floated down and landed right in front of Brick. Despite the hair covering his eyes he could see the shine of her shoes. Then she knelt down in front of him, face to face, with her brilliant pink eyes staring at him.

"Why not? You did it before."

Brick stopped breathing. This person... this girl, who he personally wanted to slaughter more than anything at that very moment, was kneeling less than six inches away from his face.

Brick clenched his jaw more tightly. He shut his eyes, but that only made it easier to feel the burning. The irresistible urge was almost too much. The overpowering yearn to attack her caused his body to tense, ready to spring; ready to strike her down.

But he compelled himself to remain seated. It took every ounce of self control he had to keep still. What was she thinking!


Boomer watched from behind the glass, unbeknownst to Brick, as the two leaders fought. He was horrified. This was their test? What kinda test was this anyway? They must be crazy, they must be.

Brick appeared to have had enough and fell to the ground with his arms wrapped around his torso. He was shaking pretty violently and Boomer was just waiting for him to fall to one side and curl up in a fetal position.

He wanted to leave, to just walk out. Go upstairs maybe, go outside. Go somewhere. But not only did it feel wrong to just leave Brick alone in the simulator with Blossom, even though he couldn't really help him, leaving the room meant risking running into Bubbles.

After witnessing what Blossom was putting Brick though, Boomer decided staying where he was would be a safer option.


Blossom's eyebrows turned down in confusion. If this really was driving Brick crazy, if her sitting in front of him made him want to kill her, then why didn't he fight? They were offering him the chance, why not take it? She knew that was a very likely motive for them to come to her and her sisters for help, splitting them up and getting them out of the picture when they least suspected it. She was offering him the same chance she had now; take down the leader. Why wasn't he taking it?

Brick quickly streaked back a few yards in a flash of crimson light, anger apparent with his eyes still blazing. It still stumped Blossom how they did that, after all she was sure her and her sisters couldn't.

He glanced down to his hand that now held a forming power beam and seemed startled. He clamped down on his forearm with his opposite hand.

"I... I don't wanna hurt you..." he all but mumbled.

She folded her arms across her chest, her analytical glare unchanging. "Why not?" Why not now? Yesterday sure, tomorrow most likely, but here he stood today. If his story about instinctively striking them down before was the truth, which Blossom was foolishly starting to believe, then he was obviously in a lot of pain.

"Do I need a reason not to hurt someone!" he yelled, but he looked down as soon as he finished. It was common for liars of little skill to lose eye contact often.

Blossom tilted her head as her eyebrows knitted together. Keep the questions simple, she thought, look for loopholes in more evident places first. "But aren't you Mojo's newest weapon?" she said this as if it were a question.

Brick's eyebrow furrowed as he gritted his teeth, still pressing his arm to his side. "...and?"

And? That was it?

"Weren't you created to destroy us?" she pressed.

As Blossom spoke, Brick's right arm jerked violently again, the scarlet glow intensifying. He fell down to one knee, his other foot planted firmly on the ground, and groaned. "S-so what if... w-we were? M-makes no d-difference..."

She was beginning to feel some guilt, but she shook it off. She needed to question him now; if he wouldn't fight her, this was the perfect opportunity. With his head so filled with hate, as he'd like her to believe, then if he was to ever slip up or make a mistake it would be when he was drowning in the desire to kill, or rather trying very hard to keep up the charade.

Blossom kept her face fairly blank, "Then why did you guys attack us when we first met?"

Blossom could hear Brick's teeth clamp together tightly before he spoke, his head still down and eyes closed, "I already... t-told you!"

Blossom's glower darkened. "You seem to be doing a fine job of not killing me today," which compared to yesterday he was.

Brick opened his eyes slightly, but he didn't seem to be focusing on her, and glared back down at his glowing palm as it thrashed under his grip. "Mojo ordered us to. And w-we weren't expecting... we didn't know."

Brick's hands left his sides, his right hand rising slowly in front of him in Blossom's direction with a crimson light radiating from the center.

Brick's eyes glowed with the same hue as his hand, "Blossom... you have no... idea... h-how close I was." He glanced down at his shimmering hand one more time, then he shut his eyes tightly as it rose the last few inches so that it was on the same level as Blossom's face.

"LOOK OUT!" he yelled as his hand fired a beam of red lightning towards her. Blossom's eyes widened, he actually shot at her. She was beginning to think he never would. A shock ran across the ground, accompanied by the sound of an explosion. Blossom dodged the blow rather easily, unbeknownst to Brick, who was steadying himself from the recoil. He faced a cloud of smoke that covered the spot Blossom had been standing, and his eyes widened with worry. He whispered something, but Blossom was too far away to pick up on exactly what. In the area of combat, he was still very much untrained and it insulted her to think that he'd managed to defeat her yesterday.

The smoke started to clear, revealing her presence, and Brick breathed a sigh of relief. Blossom shook her head; these reactions seemed very genuine, not even the slightest hint of satisfaction had appeared on his face after the blast. Blossom was becoming worried.

Then the surrounding area began to fade away, just like the smoke, and the white tiles surrounded them once again. The Professor and Buttercup came into view in the window ahead of them, along with Boomer.

"Blossom?" the Professor called.

Blossom floated over to the glass window, keeping an eye on Brick as she passed, "Yes, Professor?"

The Professor readjusted the microphone with the tips of his fingers. "How did he do?"

Blossom knew what the Professor was actually asking, disguised as a more expected question. He wanted to know if she'd learned anything, and if Brick had kept up his end of the charade. It wasn't part of his question, but the anxiety in his eyes also made it clear that he wanted to know if she was alright, so she smiled at him as an answer to his unspoken doubt.

Blossom glanced back at Brick for a moment, thinking over the question, before turning to the window again. "I... I think he's still tired from the monster fight earlier. Maybe we should test him a little later." In other words, she hadn't learned anything but she was sure there was more he was hiding.

She could practically feel Brick's eyes widened behind her.

"Are you sure?" the Professor asked again.

Blossom nodded, there was nothing else she would get from him now, but she would later. "Why don't you give Buttercup a chance? I can tell she's more than ready." If they couldn't break the leader, then next came the lackeys. And a good leader always feared for his lackeys.

Blossom turned to see Brick's jaw dropped slightly as he eyed Buttercup jumping up and down with enthusiasm. Maybe she would get something out of him yet.

The Professor turned back to Blossom. "Alright, you two can come out now."

Blossom smiled and headed over to the door with Brick following close behind. Much closer than he had during the fight, she noted.


Brick watched as Blossom turned the handle and smiled at her sister and the Professor before stepping out of the simulator. Brick tried to look around her, but the door was still half shut, making it impossible to see anything other than the empty space above her head. "Alright, Buttercup, you're up!" she encouraged eagerly.

"Yes!" Brick caught a glimpse of Buttercup pumping her fists back against her sides, a grin spread across her face. Boomer stood a few paces back, his bright eyes filled with worry.

The Professor smiled at her and turned to the hall that led to the containment ray. "Butch, can you come in here?"

"Hold it!" Brick pushed the door open the rest of the way with his outstretched arm. He'd just been forced to fight his counterpart in a lose-lose situation; he wasn't about to let Butch go through that too.

He glanced to his right to see Butch walking around the corner with Buttercup just barely out of his line of sight. "Butch, stop."

Butch stared back into Brick's warning glare with a look of confusion. Brick turned back to see Blossom standing a foot away from him, Buttercup, Professor, and Boomer behind her.

He gritted his teeth slightly as his head ached, but the pain wasn't nearly as severe as before, thanks to his power blast. He glowered at the Professor, irritated at the man that was responsible for the suffering he'd just endured. "My brother's aren't going through that. Not without an explanation."

The Professor blinked in surprise, "It's your physical."

Brick clenched his fists. "What kind of physical was that!" he growled. He felt his eyes burn slightly with his anger.

The Professor folded his arms together and eyed Blossom strangely. "Blossom, I thought you said he was too tired to take his test?"

Blossom gave the Professor an awkward smile as she turned back to Brick, her expression transforming into a glower. "Brick, can I talk to you for a minute without you going crazy?"

Brick returned the glare with crimson eyes that continued to glow brighter. "Maybe," he warned, unsure of the answer.

Blossom walked past him, past Butch, and down the hall towards the containment ray. Butch's eyes followed her as she strode past him, then his gaze settled on Brick as he trailed behind his counterpart.

Butch stopped him before he walked by. He placed his hand on Brick's shoulder, forcing him to turn around and look him in the eyes. Brick saw his brother's eyes widen as he glared back and knew that he looked awful; jaw clamped firmly, scarlet eyes blazing. Butch released his shoulder, "Dude, are you gonna be alright?"

Brick closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose and sighed through his mouth before reopening his eyes barely more than half way and stared coldly back at Butch, his eyes flaring with anger, for once, more than the urge to slaughter. "No promises."

Butch's eyebrows knitted together with anxiety, but he shrugged it off and began walking back towards the Professor and Buttercup.

Brick caught Butch's arm just before he turned the corner. "Do not go that way."

Butch gulped, "R-right."


Blossom continued around the corner and down to the other end of the lab just before the stairs. The fight with Brick was really starting to bother her, but she just couldn't find it in herself to believe his story.

"Can I help you?"

Blossom spun around to see Brick glowering at her just as happily as ever with Butch on his left. He eyed the two reds as they continued their staring contest, until he grew tired of watching them, and left. Still nothing was said for some time; Blossom didn't know where to start and frankly she was more interested in what Brick had to say.

"You better talk fast if you want to have a conversation before I lose it," he threatened.

She folded her arms across her chest, might as well start at the beginning, "Why are you here?"

Brick raised an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to be some philosophical question?"

Blossom's glare darkened. "Why did you come to us for help?" she specified, "Mojo's our archenemy." Sure, it wasn't like there were many other superheroes in Townsville they could ask, but still.

"You just answered your own question."

Blossom was becoming more and more annoyed, and she hated not knowing something he obviously did. She stood on her tip toes, staring Brick right in the face. "Why do you want our help to run away from Mojo? He made you, didn't he? To destroy us? Which you almost did yesterday!"

Brick clenched his jaw, shut his eyes, and turned his head away from Blossom's face. "Why are you doing this to me?" he groaned.

"Why?" she taunted, "If it really makes you want to kill me so bad, why not just get it over with and be done with it?" Why not kill her? Then Mojo would be happy and the Rowdyruff Boys would've succeeded in their purpose. If she was out of the way, his life would be that much easier.

So why not?

Brick turned and glared right back at his counterpart with crimson, hate filled eyes. "Don't tempt me."

Blossom fell back on her heels and she stared at the ground, deciding for once to give him some space. Brick clenched his fists in frustration. "You really are suicidal, aren't you?"

She completely ignored his question. "It won't work," she stated calmly, sternly.

Brick's eyebrows furrowed, "What won't work?"

Blossom glanced up at him, knowing full well what she was about to do, "I know it's not true, that story you told us. I know you're not here for our help." Let him in on their charade, let him know that they knew he was lying, and judge his reaction.

"What!" he yelled angrily.

"Brick, just how dumb do you think I am? You can't be made from my DNA, you would be a girl! And Mojo ordered you and your brothers to attack us yesterday and apparently you almost killed us, but I'm supposed to believe you guys just left the job unfinished for no reason? If you really had an insane urge to kill us, why would you stop? And now you came to us, the same Powerpuff Girls you tried to destroy less than 24 hours ago, for help?" She glared at him as she finished, "How could anyone believe something like that?"

"Well then, little-miss-smarty-pants," Brick snarled, "If you know everything, why don't you tell me why I'm here?"

"I don't know!" she nearly yelled back, "I don't know why you're here, and I don't know what you could possibly want! If you really did want to kill me so bad, I just gave you the chance, didn't I? If you really wanted all of this to be over, to be free from Mojo and to not have to deal with the pain of seeing me, why didn't you take it?"

"Because I can't," he finally said, sounding almost defeated, "I just… can't."

"Why not?"

"I have no frickin' clue!"

"Don't go and give me some spew about feeling some 'attachment' because we 'share DNA' or some other garbage."

"Heck no."

"Then why-"

"I don't know!"

This was new, something he hadn't told them before. Brick's eyes were blazing now, shifting in a strange way from bright to slightly dimmed and back again. This could definitely be a loophole.

He decided to start speaking again while she considered this, "Why would you bring us to your house then, if you didn't trust us?"

"We can't have you running loose in the streets, can we?" she answered calmly.

"We're not animals you know."

"You're right, you're not animals. You're villains."

"What if we attacked you again?" he challenged.

"We can take care of ourselves," she said, turning her back to him for only a moment.

Brick smiled mockingly. "Hate to tell ya this Blossy, but it sure didn't look like you could take care of yourself yesterday."

Blossom whipped around and glared daggers at him, "Do not call me that!"

His expression changed to a glower. "You have no intention of helping us, do you?"

"As far as I'm concerned, you don't need any help from me."

He spoke through clenched teeth, his voice husky for whatever reason, "Blossom, everything I've told you is true."

He'd closed his eyes again, something that had become a normal habit of his, and Blossom took the time to run though the conversation again. He had been angry, which she had expected, but not quite as furious as she had anticipated. He seemed more… disappointed now. Disappointed she didn't trust him, which if he was being exposed was not a standard response.

He seemed to be shivering now, and he opened his eyes again. "You have absolutely no idea how far gone I was, how close you were to death," he snapped. "Blossom... if there was any other way to escape from Mojo, I can almost guarantee that you wouldn't be breathing right now."

"So you do want to kill me," she mocked. "And here I thought earlier you told me you didn't, and just now you told me you couldn't."

Brick shut his eyes and turned his back to her. Eye contact was apparently not one of his strong suits, "Personally I don't want to, you're just being difficult and it's beginning to get frustrating. But…" he paused, "Well, it's like you said. Mojo created us specifically to destroy you." He glanced back to her wearily and his eyes brightened yet again, "I'd say he did a pretty good job."

Blossom's eyes tightened. "If you want to fight me so bad, why didn't you do it when we were in the simulator?"

This seemed to startle him a little, and his voice had a strange edge to it as he spoke, "Because we need your help, and you wouldn't be very much help if you were dead."

"You told me you couldn't kill me," she reminded him yet again.

"I'd rather not risk it," he warned. "My brothers need your help too, and I'm not about the kill you just for some instant gratification."

"So what will you do now?" she taunted, "I'm not going to help you, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe I'm of any further use to you other than a punching bag." Okay, that might've been stretching it. There probably wasn't a need for her to put herself in the line of fire.

He didn't answer for a moment, and Blossom was starting to worry that she really had gone too far with the taunting and actually made a suggestion that Brick might favor.

But then he went off on a previous tangent, "Is your life really that intolerable?" Blossom rolled her eyes.

But he continued anyway. "So what was the point of trying to make me kill you back there anyway?"

"I would've been fine," she protested.

"What was the point of that?" he asked again, stressing each word carefully. He seemed to want to move to a different topic, and she would allow it for now. If he didn't want to talk about not being able to kill her for the time being that was okay; she'd be interested in hearing the explanation he could come up with later.

"Why does it matter? Like the Professor said, for you guys that would be considered a standard physical." Make him assume the worst, make him believe that if he stays here nothing will improve, and see what he does.

Just another experiment.

But he didn't seem particularly angered by this. She knew she was being impossible to deal with; that was the idea, and that was what seemed to bother him more. His hands started glowing again, and for a moment Blossom was worried Brick would fight her now, now that he was losing control again.

"Oh, forget it!" Brick shook his head and flew past Blossom, up the stairs, and out the door.

Blossom shook her head. She had been beginning to believe parts of his story, despite her better judgment. It was true, he didn't show the signs most other villain did when their plots had been discovered, but still…

Mojo creating his own clones of her and her sisters. Being forced to attack the Powerpuffs. Changing their motives and wanting to be good. Shock remotes. Him's DNA. Chemical X. Fighting instincts. Glowing eyes. Boy clones.

She just couldn't believe it.


Brick raced up the stairs, out the door, down the hall, and finally out into the open air. He fell to his knees in the grass, digging his fingers into the soil, his breathing fast and short. His muscles began to relax as his arms shook, his power beginning to fade away with Him's influence. Brick stared wide-eyed at his shadow below him, the red light from his eyes illuminating the spot where a dark outline of his head should be.

Kill her...

He clenched his jaw again, biting hard as he waited for the voice to fade. It made his head spin. Sweat trailed down his forehead and dripped from the tip of his nose.

"Brick?"

He glanced up to see Butch walking over to him. "You needed some fresh air, too?" his brother asked.

"Yeah," Brick sighed, his breathes still coming much too quick. He shivered as his eyes refused to dim, the red light still dancing widely on the blades of grass in front of him.

"You hear that beeping?" Butch asked.

Brick attempted to focus, to listen to the sound, but his head was pounding too much for him to concentrate. Brick shook his head, but that only made his head spin more.

...kill...

Brick groaned at the sound of it. He wished it would stop.

"You okay?" Butch asked.

Brick didn't answer; he continued to gasp for air, waiting for his blurry vision to sharpen again and for his head to stop spinning.

Butch raised an eyebrow. "What happened to you?"

Brick shook his head, unsure if he would be able to speak clearly. He tried anyway, still panting, "I was so close..."

"What? To going crazy again?" Butch finished for Brick, chuckling.

"It's… not funny Butch! It was… I almost lost it... completelyl!" Brick protested between breathes.

"You're such a drama queen," he laughed.

"Oh shut up…"

Butch still giggled, "You did better than I ever could."

"Huh?" Brick peeked up at him.

The green boy shrugged. "Sure, like a few minutes ago. Man did you look shot, but you still held out. You were even able to stand. Stand! And she was talking! I don't know about Boomer, but dude, I can't even be in the same room as Buttercup."

Brick's breathing began to slow, but it still wasn't quite at its regular pace. He hadn't noticed his change in breathing while talking to Blossom. He gulped in mouthfuls of air, "I... don't know Butch... I could've... really hurt her..."

Butch shook his head. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, dude. It's not your fault. I'm surprised you were able to stand so close to her. You were even able to look her in the eye and talk and stuff."

Brick released his grip on the ground and sat down on the lawn, holding his arms tightly. He kept his head down; he didn't want to look up at Butch when his eyes still so filled with hate.

Butch's eyebrows knitted together. "Geez, dude, why are you letting this bug you so much?"

"It doesn't, it's just..." Brick searched his thoughts for an answer. Honestly, he wasn't really sure why in upset him so much, but then again he was pretty furious at Blossom too. All that work and she wasn't going to help them. Some superhero.

Butch remained silent as Brick thought. He'd been staring off into space through most of his reverie, but then he focused in on his bangs when he noticed they were brighter than usual. After a moment, he realized it was from the glow of his irises as they shimmered before him on his hair. Why were they still glowing?

...her...

Brick's breathe caught as he heard the almost inaudible call coming from his head. He tensed, ready to restrain it. Why would it bother him again? Blossom wasn't even around.

...help...her...

What!

This voice that spoke... it wasn't the same dark, malice chant that had plagued his mind before. Not even close.

...help her...

A strange energy coursed through Brick, not painful in any way, but still strong and overpowering. This new energy compelled him to stand, and his eyes widened. He glanced over to Butch, his expression mirrored on his brother's face. Then his body began to radiate with a bright scarlet light surrounding him before he subconsciously took off into the sky.

He looked back to see Butch staring up at him with wide eyes. "Where are you going!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Brick yelled back just as his brother vanished from sight, and he flew onward.


This was bad. Really, really bad. Worse than the time the Mayor accidentally turned Dynamo back on bad.

Bubbles had been fighting this giant orange dinosaur for what seemed like hours. Then the mayor must've called Blossom, because she had just showed up a little while ago but she was completely out of it now. And she looked pretty worn out. Bubbles had guessed that Brick must've beaten her in their simulator match.

Anyway, this monster just wouldn't stop. Bubbles wasn't even sure it knew she was there. It had managed to knock Blossom out almost instantly, but Bubbles had no idea where she was and was currently recovering from getting slammed into the ground for the umpteenth time herself.

The monster spun around to face her, its tail whipping around behind it. But then its tail stopped midswing and just hovered there a little ways above the ground. What was going on?


"Just what do you think you're doing!"

Blossom groaned and tilted her head from side to side in the pile of rubble she was lying in. There was just no way.

"...B-Brick?"

"You're not dying on me!" he yelled back at her, "Not yet!"

Blossom stumbled to her feet, dirt and dust splattered across her face, a deep gash on her left cheek. She glared back at him. "What are you doing here!"

"Apparently you need my help!" he shouted, holding up the monster's tail. Blossom ogled at this for a moment, dumbfounded at how easily he seemed to be able to stop the creature when she'd been knocked out instantly.

"But how did you know where I was?" she continued to question, "And what's with the perfect timing?"

"When you figure it out, let me know!"

What was that supposed to mean?

Brick flew up into the air, the monster now dangling by its tail below him. He held his hands in front of him, tail tightly grasped, and jerked his hands down to cause a whiplash to run through the creature as it landed a couple dozen yards away.

Blossom flew up next to her counterpart. "I can handle this myself!" She hated needing people to come to her aid, especially this person.

Brick didn't seem to happy about that, and glared back at her, "If you didn't need me, I wouldn't be here! And would you please go float somewhere else!"

Brick darted away from Blossom and she just raised an eyebrow at him for a moment. He was a good actor, he hardly ever faulted.

"EEEEEEEE!"


Brick turned just in time to see Bubbles get shot down by the colossal monster's claw, causing her to crash into a nearby building.

"Bubbles!" Blossom streaked just past Brick, her hair brushing across his face. His eyes glowed deep scarlet before he quickly shut them and turned away, his jaw clenched with annoyance. It was a wonder to him that that pink Powerpuff Girl was still alive.

"Blossom!"

A split second before Bubbles' scream, Brick's head shot around, eyes wide, to see Blossom get pile-driven into the ground. He instantly shot towards the girls; landing near the whole Blossom's impact had left in the street. He heard the almost inaudible sound of Bubbles' gasp, obviously not expecting to see him there.

Brick peered down into the cavity to see Blossom lying in a mound of rocks, unmoving. Her clothing was splattered with dirt and grime, her bow torn, and the cut on her cheek staining her face and shirt with blood.

Brick shut down. His heart stopped; his mind dazed and clouded. His hazy eyes remained fixed on Blossom as his arms went limp and he fell to his knees. Brick could vaguely make out the noise of Bubbles' high pitched voice calling his name, but just barely.

He felt something, some force pulling him somewhere, he always did. But now he didn't know what it was or what it wanted him to do. His head was empty.

Once realization started to set in his eyes burned with rage. He stood and faced the monster, his fists already smoldering with crimson light. He gritted his teeth until he thought they'd shatter like glass.

The monster merely glanced down at him before turning back, his tail lashing out against the buildings around Brick and Bubbles. Brick shot upwards to avoid the strike, heading up to the monster as he attempted to strike back, before stopping in midair at a sound behind him.

Brick froze and glanced back to see the buildings surrounding the newly-made pothole begin to collapse, pieces of skyscrapers raining down on Blossom's crater.

He searched frantically for Bubbles, only to find her slumped against a building farther away after being struck by the creature's tail; clearly incapable of helping her unconscious sister.

Brick's head spun, panic causing his thinking to delay. Time seemed to slow as he watched the debris fall from the sky. What could he do? There was no way he could help her, he was already far worse than crazy.

Segments of his earlier conversation with Butch ran through his head, filling up his lack of coherent thoughts.

"You did better than I ever could... you still held out... I can't even be in the same room as Buttercup."

Brick shook his head; he couldn't.

His eyes widened as the piles of falling building neared his counterpart.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, dude."

Brick shut his eyes tightly, attempting to think of what to do without any distractions. In a desperate attempt to do something, Brick began blasting away at the rubble as it fell, trying to stop it before it reached the ground. However, he quickly realized there were too many fragments for him to destroy them all. Panic began to rise in his heart again.

Then one of those voices popped back into his head.

Help her!

Brick no longer had a say in his actions; he subconsciously shot down towards Blossom, his eyes blazing. He flew faster than the debris falling around him, nearing his target that much quicker and as soon as he reached the hole, he scooped Blossom up in his arms and rocketed back into the sky.

Pain.

Brick felt his blood boil, poison seeping into his limbs and his body cried out in agony as he bit down on his lower lip, his head spinning. He was on fire, burning alive from the inside out.

Kill...

Stupid little nice voice goes and shuts up after he does what it wanted…

Brick glanced down at the girl in his arms and when he did, the light from his eyes intensified to the point where his pupils were engulfed in scarlet rays completely while his hands lit with fire, the crimson flames leaving scorch marks on Blossom's skin.

Kill.

Slaughter.

Destroy.

Brick shut his eyes tightly, the heat from his eyes burning his eyelids while the menacing voice continued to chant, and he bit harder into his lip as he slowly began to hear his own voice echo the demon's.

Kill. Slaughter. Destroy.

Kill. Slaughter. Destroy.

Kill. Slaughter. Destroy.

"K-k-kill..." The word slipped through Brick's mouth and as it did, a more powerful wave of temptation, of pain, coursed through him. He had to find a place to set Blossom down, otherwise...

He opened his eyes and turned back to see a powerful blast trailing behind him and he followed the trail to find the dinosaur at the end of it, a beam shooting out of its mouth. When he glanced at the creature, Brick was vaguely aware that it had been red instead of orange along with the building and the street and the sky; his vision was stained with scarlet light. He glanced back again and watched as the building behind them fell silently to the ground, smashing into the street; his hearing was drowned out too.

Kill. Slaughter. Destroy.

Kill. Slaughter. Destroy.

Kill. Slaughter. Destroy.

Brick's eyebrows furrowed in frustration and he clenched his jaw as he realized he had no options left.

He would have to take Blossom back to the Professor.

Brick streaked past the building, past the monster, the city whipping past him in a blur.

Kill. Slaughter. Destroy.

Kill. Slaughter. Destroy.

Kill. Slaughter. Destroy.

"Slaughter..." A lump formed in Brick's throat as the chant escaped his lips and heat flooded through him, the power of Him's immense strength causing him even more agony from holding it in.

He flew faster and faster than he ever had, narrowly missing skyscrapers as they passed.

Brick's eyes widened as he felt a warm liquid seep through his sweater and touch his arm. He glanced down to see the blood from Blossom's cut stain his shirt a darker red.

Kill. Slaughter. Destroy.

Kill. Slaughter. Destroy.

Kill. Slaughter. Destroy.

"D-d-de..." Brick looked up to see the Powerpuff Girls' house, almost reaching his destination and he glanced sideways as a streak heading off in the direction he had just come in, the color indistinguishable from the red filter covering his eyes. Brick turned forward relieved to see Butch still standing in the front lawn, his brother's eyes wide.

Kill. Slaughter. Destroy.

Brick quickly landed in front of Butch as he almost ran him over and handed Blossom to him, "TAKE HER INSIDE!"


Okay! Okay! Redhead girl in his arms! Redhead girl in his arms! What should he do! What should he do!

Butch rushed back into the house, searching frantically for somewhere to put the Powderpuff. Uh… Uh… Oh, the basement!

He flew back downstairs, relieved to find the Professor closer to the stairs than Buttercup.

"Special delivery!" he shouted, hurling the deadweight at him. He didn't wait to see if he had caught her or not, guessing from the sounds he heard as he raced back outside that it had been a close save. Butch darted back out the door, searching frantically for Brick who was now performing an interesting light show above the house that consisted of multiple loop-de-loops and circles.

What the heck?

Butch flew up towards Brick, but he was moving too fast and would instantly fly off in some other direction.

"Hey!" Butch shouted and Brick zoomed past, "Would ya give it a rest already? You're like a house fly on steroids!"

With that, Brick stopped and turned to face Butch with two flaming hands and a death glare to match. Oh geez…

"BUTCH!" Brick yelled, his hand turning palms out towards him, "Use a force field!"

Butch crossed his arms together in front of his face as a green sphere surrounded him. Idiot probably went nuts again, nuts times 10.

Brick shot towards him, striking the barrier with his flaming fist and making the barrier shake. Both him and his brother shared a look of shear shock as their red and green auras dimmed and a white light engulfed them both as well as the town surrounding them.

Butch opened his eyes just in time to see the fast approaching ground below.