10: Typical ~
"It's nice to see your face, Butch." Joey smiled a crooked smile as he stood above his seated sons. The middle child scoffed and folded his muscular arms in his lap. "Dad, why are you making us do this?" Brick wasted no time, he'd never been a chit-chat then business kind of guy. It was always straight to the point with him. His father's smile dropped and he glowered at the three of them. "The reason is quite simply actually." Joey adjusted his glasses and waved over to his partner. Boomer snapped his head upwards, his eyes lighting up as the smiling Professor Hardly made his way next to Joey. He looked at each of the boys, his eyes lingering on Boomer for a second longer as he friendly waved to him. The blonde teen stared meekly in response.
Mr. Ryuuko adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. "Professor Hardly here was stopped by the police, brought down to the special investigative unit and given some...options," Professor Hardly picked up from where Joey left. "At first I thought I was being held for break and enter charges. But when they failed to bring out handcuffs and placed me right up front with the driver, I realized that they needed something." He paced absent mindedly.
Butch perked up, listening more attentively as the story progressed. He had never heard of the police taking such nonchalant actions, especially with a sneaky crook like Dick Hardly. Whenever he got busted, it usually ended with his face being slammed on to the hood of a car and cuffs chaining his arms behind his back as soon as eye contact was made. He felt his face redden as a sudden feeling of jealousy washed over.
"You guys do know about this... Saviour the citizens keep hollering about, right?" He rhetorically questioned as he continued to pace with his pointed polished shoes. "This guy has taken out some of the well-known hooligans. This HQ is losing members more than Buttercup loses her temper." Butch snickered at that as expected, knowing that Dick Hardly had directed that to him. Brick nudged him, wiping the smile off of his face along with the Professor's.
"The police are doing things that I've never seen in Townsville history," He drew a breath as the three boys looked on anxiously.
"In order to catch this criminal, they need a criminal. And not just any criminal; they need you three boys specifically." Butch shot out of his seat, panting like a dog. His green eyes glared into the men standing in front of him and he stormed up to Professor Hardly. Taken back by his actions, Hardly stumbled a bit before regaining his composure.
Butch's tone was deep and harsh, almost a strong and dark whisper. No one moved, waiting to see what his next move was. He only spoke.
"I didn't fucking kill those guys, Dick Hardly." He was stern and in his face, their noses almost touching. Dick Hardly only smirked, a perfect lopsided grin.
"I never said you did, Butch Ryuuko." He cooed. "But on the body of one of the victims from that night... Your names are carved in his arm." He turned to the others as he gave the last bit of news. The whole room seemed to light up as all the RowdyRuffs were now on their feet.
"What!?" Boomer shrieked as Brick extended his hand across his stomach to held him back. "I'm afraid it's true, boys. The police have deduced two solid ideas." He adjusted his Ray-Bans once more before proceeding.
"Either you're the killers, or you're the next victims."
"My ass!" Butch tossed a chair to its death. "Like hell I'm gonna spend my damn time with the PowerPuffs in some dingy ass hotel!" He smashed more things. "Calm down, son." Joey grabbed him firmly, only to have him rip his arm away. "Why do we have to go?! You haven't told us anything!" Boomer yelled. Joey sighed and began to explain as Brick sat calmly on the bed. He glanced on as his eldest son glowered at the floorboards and continued with an exaggerated sigh.
"They said if you do this, your names will be cleared. If you deny it, they have more reason to suspect you, and you will be serving a lot of time in prison. The plan is simple and determines everything. If you show up and the killer doesn't, you are jailed. If you show up and the killer shows up too, you and the rest of us are free. If you deny you will be jailed for at least a month. If someone dies you are released and all charges are dropped," he took a deep breath before continuing. The man struggled to choke out the last words as he backed away slowly out of the room. Boomer looked at him- a number of questioning gazes from the eyes if his brothers as well.
"Nobody dies during that time; you can kiss your freedom goodbye." Joey closed his eyes and shut the door, leaving the trio without another word.
"Guys, this is crazy." Bubbles dropped on to her bed, utterly exhausted from all the packing and work. The professor chuckled and sipped away his coffee. The aroma of fresh ground coffee beans clouded the room, along with the bitterness of black coffee.
Blossom wheeled her suitcase closer to her high heeled feet before tucking her cell phone into her back pocket. "Tell me about it." She groaned as she stood to march over to her computer desk.
"You girls will manage, I'm sure of it." He cooed with a soothing fatherly voice. Despite the going away of his three girls, the atmosphere was one of bliss. Despite the rhythmic clacking from Buttercup as she tapped away at the screen of her cell phone, the house was relatively quite for once. Only the sound of breathing and a short lasting slurp every now and then could be heard.
The annoying chime of an alarm clock timer broke the silence, and Buttercup didn't hesitate to break it further.
"Robin said she's supposed to be in town in little over a month from now." She announced as she bounced off her bed and grabbed her shoes. Bubbles clapped giddily upon hearing the news. Blossom's smiled widened. "I can't wait!" Her smiled flopped as she switched off the alarm clock. "But it's 1:30. We gotta leave now." Bubbles reached for her luggage and the girls all turned to John with unsure faces.
He beamed bitter-sweetness as he took the time to embrace them all. "It's only for a little while, dad." Buttercup strained to say with strength as she bit back a few tears. He couldn't help but develop watery eyes as he watched his toughest fighter swell up with tears. "I know. I know you'll be safe. You'll do just fine." He assured them all as they walked in a group towards the front exit. "It's only for a little while." He repeated as they all said their goodbyes and left into the violet sky of morning.
As the house stepped back into silence, his heart sank. He remembered the time he spent wandering the house and viewing his daughters as they soundly slept. He recalled the thoughts he had on that day, and smiled grimly into his refreshing mug of bitter black coffee.
"Gone into the world by themselves."
Three boys walked along the solid pavement, the rough sandpaper sounds of tiny luggage wheels driving over rock and gravel.
Boomer was in front, with his brothers behind. He was in dire need of fresh air. They walked in silence to the airport where they would silently wait for their plane and silently get aboard for a soundless flight.
Their cellular phones buzzed at the same time. Butch pulled his from his pocket and flicked his thumb across the screen. In the dark of the late morning the whiteness of his screen lit up his face and he scoffed, roughly shoving his phone back into his pocket. The reactions were the nearly same for the other two. They shut away their phones in silence and progressed further.
"-Have a safe flight, boys."
-Joey R.
Butch snickered and smirked, glaring darkly at his feet as he and his brothers trudged onwards.
"Typical."
I'M BACKKKKKK. Yeah it's been a nice damn long time now hasn't it? Sorry if this chapter is short, too. :(
To make up for the long absence HERE'S A FUN GAME WITH REWARDS!
HARD CHALLENGE #1 : A few chapters back, a woman by the name of Catalina Ibachi was mentioned. She is a fair-haired woman in her twenties. Hint: She loves jumpsuits. Her favourite one she loves wearing is white and blue, and she sat furthest away from the men in the CDA room. Which character from the PowerPuff Girls is she?
EASY CHALLENGE #1: A girl named Robin was mention in this chapter. She is coming back to town in a few weeks. The girls seemed anxious for her arrival. What is her full name and what is the title of the episode was she in? (Bonus Reward if you can tell a little of her story!)
The First TWO people to answer correctly will have their OC (or themselves) put into the story with a choice of being a VICTIM with their own chapter or a WITNESS with their own chapter!
GOOD LUCK! And much thanks!