A/N: This is WAY late. I know. I'm sorry. Long story short, a friend who lives across the country came to visit me and I found two stray dogs meandering about in my apartment complex. So I guess I have two new doggies. On top of an old doggie, two cats, a snake, and a tiny infant human cause I don't need a life, right?
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While Mojo's Away
Chapter Seven: That Went Well
Brick had nervously asked if they could hang out in their bedroom before the girls arrived to which both adults agreed was a good idea. The plan was for Professor Utonium to go downstairs when he heard them come home (he had mentioned school let out in a few minutes and it shouldn't be too much longer), explain the situation to them, wait for the cool down, and then start/eat dinner. It was earlier than normal, but he wanted to get a head start on preparing a meal for three extra mouths. It was a straightforward plan in theory, and it was going to work flawlessly in theory, but despite Utonium's confidence, everyone in the room was on edge.
To pass the time, the boys had rummaged through the remaining boxes Ms. Bellum had brought over for them and sorted the contents out into their own separate duffle bags. It was a fruitless attempt at trying to stay organized as even the boys knew their stuff would be scattered everywhere in a matter of days, but it was uplifting to see recognizable clothes and toys.
Now they were all sitting on the bed, listening intently for the front door.
"They're going to be pissed," Brick mumbled, more to himself than anything. Anxiety was such a foreign feeling to him.
"It'll be okay, honey," Ms. Bellum tried to reassure as she rubbed his back soothingly. She was right, it would be. The girls didn't really have a choice. If the Professor said the boys were staying, the boys were staying, but that obvious fact did nothing to calm their nerves.
"Ugh! This is gonna suck!" He pulled his hands down his face, stopping for a moment to rub his eyes. He was so tired. His brothers were too. The medicine the Professor had given them this morning was starting to wear off and he knew he wasn't the only Ruff that felt that. Lethargy was coming back quick.
Butch shrugged at his brother's comment. "It's better than sleeping in mud."
"Or the cold rain…" Boomer absent-mindedly added.
"Or the bugs." Butch shuddered.
Ms. Bellum tried to hide her wince with a lighthearted giggle, but it came out too forced and awkward so she faked a cough instead. Even the Professor found the memory difficult to relive. He remembered pulling bugs and clumps of mud out of their hair. The thought made him shudder.
"Well, you don't have to do that ever again!" Ms. Bellum was quick to add. Or maybe it was to kill the conversation. If it didn't, the undeniable sound of the front door opening and closing came from downstairs followed by muffled voices sure did. Everyone in the room froze.
"Wait here," the Professor ordered as he hurried out of the room. The Ruffs nodded, their hearts thudding a little harder in their chests. They remained quiet. Something Ms. Bellum felt didn't suit them.
"So, what do you think of the game, guys?" She wanted to break the tension. Boomer perked up.
"Oh! It's amazing!" He grinned gleefully. "The graphics are super awesome! Much better than last gen. No lag either—which is super cool!"
"No lag yet," Butch corrected. "Wait 'til we can go online. That's usually where everything gets messed up."
"Are you kidding?! I can't wait to play the MMOs! I'm going to destroy everyone!"
Brick laughed, joining the conversation. "Nah way, man. Me and Butch are gonna tear you apart!"
Butch snorted and rolled his eyes. "No, we aren't. Boomer is stupid good."
"You guys don't play together?" Ms. Bellum asked.
"Boomer doesn't like to be on our team," Butch informed the secretary. "Which is funny 'cause it's the only team we want him to be on." He glared at his brother, but there was a smirk on his face that defused any maliciousness. Boomer stuck his tongue out at the green Ruff who responded by playfully shoving him. Ms. Bellum giggled.
"I don't play well with others," Boomer giggled.
"Booms is really good at video games," Brick informed her. The blue Ruff blushed, not quite sure where the compliments were coming from.
"Do you play them often?" Ms. Bellum asked, honestly interested. Boomer's gaze dropping to the mattress as he picked at a loose thread on the comforter that was crumbled up by his folded legs. He shrugged.
"Nah, not really. Mojo says they're a waste of time." At the mention of the chimpanzee both Brick and Butch noticeably tensed. Ms. Bellum's eyebrows crinkled on her forehead.
"Are you guys mad at him?" She asked, referring to Mojo. All three Ruffs dropped their gaze. They stayed quiet for a minute before Butch finally shrugged.
"I dunno... I don't know what I am."
"I don't want to talk about it," Boomer mumbled.
"Me either," Brick added, just as quietly.
"That's fine. So, what else are you good at Boomer?"
The boy blinked for a moment, not quite ready for her immediate switch of topic. When he recovered, he shrugged. "I dunno. Just video games, I guess."
Brick snorted. "That ain't true. He can draw."
Boomer's cheeks turned a deep shade of red and his eyes widened.
"Huh?" He squeaked. "No, I—"
"Oh, yeah! He can! He's really good too!" Butch added, completely cutting Boomer off as well as missing Boomer's obvious embarrassment.
"Really?" Ms. Bellum asked. "That's awesome, Boomer! I would love to see some of your drawings."
Boomer was not-so-successfully trying to hide his beat red face. When exactly did this conversation become all about him anyway?
"Really?" He finally asked. Ms. Bellum nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh, most definitely."
"I… uh…" Boomer looked skeptical, still trying to determine if he was being set up for a joke. It wasn't likely the secretary was going to make fun of him, but he wouldn't put it past his brothers.
"He can show you now. I saw your book in the bag, Boom." Butch pointed to the bags on the floor.
"You don't have to show me if you don't want to," Ms. Bellum smiled. It was obvious the boy was self-conscious about his little pastime. After a moment, though, he seemed to perk up.
"Uh… sure… I don't mind," He scooted off the bed and disappeared behind the bedrest as he dropped to his knees to dig through the bag. His head soon popped back up from behind the baseboard. "I don't see it."
"I saw it under your t-shirts."
"Wait, mine?"
"Yes, yours."
"Under my—in this bag?" He held up a black backpack.
"No, the duffle bag."
"The…?"
"Dude… no. The freakin'… Oh. My. God, Boomer." Butch rolled his eyes as he crawled to the foot of the bed to better bicker with the blue Ruff on the floor. "It's right there, stupid!"
"Where?!"
"There!"
"I still don't see it."
"Are you blind?"
"Are you?! It's not—oh, no, wait. Found it. Shut up."
Butch rolled his eyes and shook his head as his brother stood up and looked over the sketchbook. He quickly flipped through several pages before deeming it worthy and began making his way back towards the bed but stopped short at the sight of the open door.
And Buttercup standing in the doorway.
Clutched tightly in her hand was a red baseball cap that had to be Brick's as the red Ruff was still hatless. Ms. Bellum rose from the bed, an uneasy feeling in her chest.
"Buttercup…" She started, but the green Puff was already in motion. An angry scream erupted from her throat and she chucked the cap on the ground to free up her hands and tackle the closest Ruff. Boomer yelped as he was flung forward and slammed against the adjacent wall. The blue boy's head whipped back, cracking against the hidden support beam behind the drywall, breaking it and leaving a gaping hole behind. Buttercup then twisted around and threw Boomer over her shoulder and straight into the carpet with almost enough force to send him to the first floor. She saddled him, hands around his throat as she angrily shook and strangled him.
"NO, BUTTERCUP! STOP!" Ms. Bellum shouted, rushing towards her. Butch was faster.
The green Ruff leaped on top of the bedrest to push off of it and tackle Buttercup off his brother. The two tumbled forward awkwardly in a mess on the floor before Butch recovered first and snatched the green Puff by her hair, causing her to yelp before he yanked her towards him and kneed her in the stomach. It was unusually weak to the green Puff, but she was too angry to analyze the hit.
"BUTTERCUP! STOP! PLEASE! STOP!" Ms. Bellum ran to the two in panic; her targets changing from Boomer to Butch. Butch could get seriously hurt: a fact he was very much aware of but paid no mind too. Brick ran over to Boomer, narrowly avoiding his thrown brother on the way. He slid next to the blue Ruff who was wheezing for air.
"Boomer?!" Brick called. He was very much aware of how close they were to the fighting greens. Ms. Bellum was hopelessly chasing after them.
Boomer moaned and slowly cracked open his eyes. Black, starry wisps darted throughout his vision and a ringing buzz hummed loudly in his ear. It drowned out a panicked voice that was calling out to him, but it was slowly growing clearer as if he was resurfacing from being underwater. He felt sick. The spinning room wasn't helping with that. He let out another moan, eyelids fluttering and hand to his forehead in hopes of easing his dizziness.
Brick clasped onto his shoulders trying to gain his attention and support the wobbling boy.
"Boomer? Boomer?! Come on, man! Answer me!" His voice was cracking at the end slightly as concern and panic began leaking into his tone. Dazed and absent-minded expressions were not new looks on the blue Ruff, yet something about the way Boomer was looking at Brick made the leader uneasy. It was almost like he didn't recognize him. He leaned in closer, trying to get his entire face in front of his blue brother.
"Boomer? Boom Boom, what's wrong?" What did that Puff do to him?! Boomer stared into his brother's crimson eyes for longer than the Rowdyruff leader felt comfortable with before he finally blinked away his double vision.
"Brick? Wha' happ'n..d?" It was slurred as if he was intoxicated. Brick's brows furrowed. He snapped his attention the group behind him, searching for help, but Bellum was far too occupied.
The commotion they were making didn't take long to alert the other two Puffs and at some point, both had zipped up the stairs and dashed into the room to aid their sister, leaving their much slower father tailing after them in a panic. Brick could hear him shouting for them to wait and stop.
Ms. Bellum had snatched Buttercup's arm once, but she easily tore it away; knocking the secretary down on the floor in the process. The Puff charged at Butch who dove out of the way and expertly rolled on the ground to break his fall. He landed in a crouching position, ready to pounce. Butch's eyes darted towards the pink and blue reinforcements that zipped over to help up their sister before his attention shot over to his brothers, specifically Boomer. Attention back on the Puffs, he ran his tongue across his lips, leaving behind an excited, maniacal grin on his face.
"You throw lame parties, Butterbrain!" He mocked, trying to keep the attention on him and off his siblings. "Lame punches too!"
Buttercup growled and dashed towards him. He just barely managed to dive out of the way, giggling madly the whole time.
Brick had to hand it to his brother. He was doing rather well without his powers.
The red Ruff had backed Boomer towards the far corner in hopes of staying out of view. All focus seemed to be on the fight, but he still stood in front of Boomer protectively, his heart ramming painfully in his chest.
Ms. Bellum scrambled to her feet after recovering from being knocked down. She quickly got between the greens and the remaining Puffs to stop the other two girls from assisting Buttercup.
"Wait! Stop! Girls, stop!"
"What are they doing here?!" Bubbles shouted.
"They're okay!"
"They are not okay!" Blossom screamed back. The Professor stumbled into the doorframe, having finally caught up with his daughters. His attention immediately went to the Buttercup and Butch.
"Help! Please! I can't stop her!" Ms. Bellum shouted at him, pointing to the fighting Puff and Ruff.
Buttercup swung once more and Butch tried once again to dodge it, but he wasn't quick enough, and the girl finally made contact; her knuckles meeting his cheekbone just below his left eye. The force from the hit caused the boy whip around in a full circle. He fumbled for balance on twisted legs, but immediately lost the battle and toppled to the floor in a stupor. When he recovered, Buttercup was charging at him again; her fist pulled back in preparation for another punch there was no way he could avoid. He panicked, arms shooting up in a pointless attempt to cover his face, but he knew he was done.
"BUTTERCUP! STOP!" Professor Utonium shouted. He appeared right in front of her, causing her to come to a screeching halt that didn't work in her favor and she crashed straight into him. Utonium wrapped his arms around his daughter, but the momentum from her charge made him stumble backward. He awkwardly held out his hand to catch himself on the wall so he wouldn't fall on Butch. Ms. Bellum was quick to snatch the dazed Ruff from underneath of them, her arms clamped around him protectively. He yelped at the sudden, unexpected contact and struggled for a moment in her grasp before recognizing her.
Buttercup was quick to recover. She shoved herself off her father and hovered right in front of him.
"What are they doing here?!" She demanded, pointing to the Ruff in Ms. Bellum's arms. He was trying to pull away from the secretary who had his chin in her hands to better see his face. He gave in to the redhead at the sound of Buttercup's voice, shooting her a glare and sticking out his tongue. She clenched her teeth and snarled.
"Girls, I told you this morning that three boys were going to be—"
"We didn't think you meant the Rowdyruff Boys!" Bubbles shouted, cutting him off.
"I tried to tell you when you got home but you told me you knew!"
"That was for…" Blossom stopped herself, blurting out a stupid cover instead. "That was something else!"
"YO! Science-man! Fight later! I need you!" Brick shouted from the corner. The girls looked over at him, annoyed for the interruption. He was instantly mad. "Screw off, Puffs."
"Excuse me?" Blossom growled, hands on her hip. "You're in our house. With our family. And you think you can tell us to—"
"Girls, go to your room. I will meet you there in a moment." The Professor ordered. Blossom whipped around, face completely horror-stricken. Did her father really just take Brick's side?
"You can't be serious! Professor, they—!" Buttercup started.
"Now."
It wasn't up for debate.
Blossom scoffed and floated out of the room, Bubbles not too far behind her. Buttercup glared at her father in disbelief, slack-jawed, as if waiting for him to say he was joking. Her eyes darted over to Butch who gave her a smug grin and mockingly waved to her.
"Mmmm, bye bye!"
She screeched through clenched teeth, but flew out into the hall, slamming the door behind her.
After ensuring that none of his daughters were going to try to reenter, Professor Utonium finally turned his attention to the boys.
Brick had gone back to Boomer in hopes of getting his brother's attention and diagnosing the problem, but he was getting absolutely nowhere. Brick and Butch teased Boomer about being stupid all the time, but the blank, absent-minded look Boomer was giving the red Ruff was causing Brick to worry a bit. He jumped when the Professor squatted down next to them. The man put a reassuring hand on Brick's back.
"What's wrong?"
"I… I dunno. He's acting really weird."
"What happened?"
"Butterbrain shoved him into the wall. That's what happened," Butch answered. He pointed to the gaping hole in the drywall. Ms. Bellum carried the green Ruff over to the three in the corner and sat him down. The Professor turned to the red Ruff who was still shielding his blue brother. He gave a soft, understanding smile to the leader.
"I need to check something. May I?" He asked Brick. The boy stepped aside.
"Boomer?" Professor Utonium called out to the boy. He held out his palm and slowly wiggled his fingers in an attempt to gain the blue Ruff's attention. "Hey, can you see me?"
"Huh?" Boomer asked, turning to the Professor. A response. Good. Very good.
"Can you see me?" He repeated. The boy's brows creased together.
"Yeah. I see you."
"Good! That's good." He stated, then pointed toward Brick. Boomer stared at the scientist's hand for a moment before following it to meet red, worried eyes. "Can you tell me who this is?"
Brick's head whipped to the Professor, eyes wide before snapping back to Boomer and waiting for his response. Boomer stared at his brother completely blank-faced before he finally broke out into a huge, toothy smile.
"That's Brick," he giggled. "He's my brother."
Brick exhaled some of his anxiousness, but the scientist didn't look relieved. He stood up and looked at Ms. Bellum.
"Watch them for a minute, please. I need to get something."
She nodded in understanding and the man left the room.
Butch nudged his red brother's shoulder, gaining his attention. When Brick looked over, the green Ruff was holding out his red baseball cap, offering it to him. With all the commotion, he had completely forgotten that Buttercup had walked in with it. He murmured thanks and then placed it back on his head. It was still a little damp, but tolerable. He had been having weird phantom feelings all day and was constantly going to readjust it when it wasn't there so it felt right to be back on his head. Now all he needed was a hair tie.
Butch looked up at Bellum.
"What's wrong?" He asked. It was obvious he was worried. "Is he… is something wrong?"
"We need to see how badly he hit his head," she informed them. Brick turned back to Boomer who was playing with his hands.
"It was pretty bad. There's a hole over there." Boomer pointed. Brick hesitantly took a step towards him, trying to subtly grab his brother's hand. Whether it was because he wanted to gain Boomer's attention or reassure himself that Boomer would be okay by making physical contact with him, he didn't know. It didn't matter. He just wanted his brother near him. He stopped his attempts when the Professor walked back in the room.
On his way over, he addressed Ms. Bellum.
"Sara, I hate to ask, but do you mind checking on the girls for me?"
"Not at all!" She smiled and turned on her heel, giving Brick and Butch a supportive look before she left. "He's going to be okay, boys. Please don't worry."
The Professor was leaning in front of Boomer again. The item he had fetched was a small, black laser pointer. The scientist shifted through the settings on the device, finally deciding on one, and quickly clicked it several times to verify that it worked, flashing a white light in doing so. He then rose the flashlight to shine it in Boomer's eyes. The blue Ruff responded by immediately shutting them. His face knotted and he turned away, releasing a small, painful moan.
"Sorry, Boomer, but I need to see something. Can you look at me?"
"Listen to him, Boom Boom." Brick nudged his brother in an effort to encourage him. Boomer groaned again, but slowly peeked at the Professor. The scientist gently lifted the boy's chin up to get a better view of his face and brought the light once more to his enormous orbs. He darted between the two of them while Boomer tried not to squint.
"No eye malposition nor eye convergence… pupils are responsive, though photophobia evident…" The Professor mumbled to himself. On either side of him were the other two Ruffs, not even pretending they understood what the Professor was saying. Occasionally, they would look at him to try to read his facial expressions or look to Boomer in hopes of figuring it out themselves. Neither helped.
Finally, the Professor clicked off the light and sighed. His free hand raked through his hair.
"Great," he mumbled sarcastically.
"What?" They asked in unison, both panicking.
The Professor turned to the remaining Ruffs. "I'm almost positive he has a concussion. He must have got it when he hit his head."
"You mean when SHE hit his head," Butch growled, crossing his arms in irritation.
"I don't…" Brick's eyes darted between his blue brother and the scientist. "I don't understand what that means. What does that mean? Is that bad?"
"Well, it's not good, but he'll be okay. It's a minor head injury. We'll have to keep an eye on him for a little bit, although his powers should help the recovery process."
"I thought we didn't have our powers," Boomer asked. The Professor smiled, mentally adding can hold a conversation to his concussion symptoms list.
"You always have your powers. They're just weakened. Your body is trying to focus energy on recovery since you're sick. If it wasn't busy doing that, your concussion would be healed by now, assuming you would have gotten one at all. But since the healing process is delayed, I'd say you should be back to normal by tomorrow. Afternoon at the latest."
"Oh," Boomer nodded, although it didn't look like he followed much of that explanation.
"So, wait! I could have used my powers against Buttercup?" Butch asked, a little annoyed. That would have been good to know a few minutes ago. The Professor shook his head.
"No, no, no! That is not what I meant. You have your powers as in you still have Chemical X in your bodies, but instead of it aiding your abilities it's trying to speed up the recovery process. However, you three are sick. Which severely weakens your system already. Your weakened system is trying to use your weakened Chemical X to heal your bodies instead of giving you your powers. If you had tried to push through that, if you had tried to use your powers when fighting Buttercup, it would have…"
Oh, God… he didn't know! It could very well have killed the boy.
"It would have what?" Butch asked.
"…It would have probably knocked you unconscious." He decided against voicing the other theories that were flooding his brain.
"Hey, what are we going to do about the wall?" Boomer asked. He took a few steps towards it, stumbling slightly before correcting himself and the Professor mentally added unsteady gait to the list.
"We can worry about the wall later, Boomer. I'll fix it up. It's not a problem." The scientist said.
Brick watched his brother's every movement.
"This is going to be annoying. I can tell already." Despite the context, Brick sounded more worried than annoyed. Boomer's voice was entirely background noise.
"Guys! Seriously! That hole is a huge problem."
"I know he hit his head, but do you mind telling me what happened exactly?" The Professor asked, eyeing the hole Boomer was yammering on about before looking to Butch.
"I think it goes to Narnia or something."
"Buttercup came in and tackled Boomer," Butch shrugged. "She smashed him into the wall there."
"Some Terabithia world or..."
"Then threw him on the floor, and then that's when Butch jumped her," Brick finished.
"Hogwarts maybe?"
"How are you? I saw you get hit." The Professor turned to Butch. The green Ruff blinked, mildly confused. He looked away.
"I'm fine."
"Jumanji!"
"She got you pretty good, dude…" Brick muttered. Under different circumstances, he would be teasing his brother, but the stress and adrenaline from the event hadn't quite worn off yet. Butch must have taken it mockingly though as he frowned and crossed his arms.
"It was nothing. It didn't hurt." That was a lie, but he wasn't about to admit to being a sissy.
"You know with like the animals and the tigers and the lasers…"
Brick finally looked over at Boomer, eyes narrowed in annoyance. Boomer had a goofy grin on his face. His hands were laced together, index fingers and thumbs extended to make a gun. He pointed at Brick.
"How long did you say he'd be like this?"
"Pew! Pew!"
Ironically, I've had to check my tiny human three times to make sure he didn't have a concussion during the duration of the last chapter and this one. Mobile infants are faster than you think (he's totes fine by the way). As for concussion experience, I personally have never had one, but I have had many a friend who has. They don't always speak gibberish and nonsense, but when they do it's hilarious!
Well... I mean... as hilarious as mild head trauma can be, I suppose. It's okay to point and laugh. I do.
As always, I apologize for any spelling errors, grammatical errors, or overall confusion you may have experienced thus far.
I don't want to make any promises on the next chapter update as I missed this one TERRIBLY, but my goal is sometime next week; specifically Monday, hopefully sooner! Until then, thanks for reading!
- Redd
