Coming Down

Part 10: Red Colored Rage

Chapter 1

The clouds conducted a deep rumbling sound and a flash of light as water began to sprinkle from their dark grey, almost green colored depths. Blossom snuggled deeper into the blue beanbag that she sat on in the corner of the library. Her earphones played her music softly in her ear as she read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. She sighed with content. The library was her favorite place to go on a Saturday afternoon.

Just then, Blossom felt sudden warmth come from the underside of her bottom. The heat was subtle at first, but became more noticeable within a just a few seconds. The red head frowned and squirmed in her seat to see if it was just the way she was sitting. She then moved and lifted the beanbag to check if she accidentally sat on a heating vent. She shook her head once she found nothing and set her seat back down on the carpeted floor.

Suddenly, the warm feeling sprinkled its way up her legs and to her stomach. It prickled at her fingers and up her neck. Blossom's eyes widened at the sudden sensation. What was happening? The red head pulled off her red sweater just as she began to sweat from the heat. She threw the garment off to the side by her bag. She lifted up a hand and fanned herself. She looked to the ground and saw a small speck of light on the carpet.

The red head lowered herself to her hands and knees to look at the small speck closer. She turned towards the window to see if the sun was coming out but the clouds were just as dark as they were. She glanced back down and jumped back. The speck grew to the size of a softball. She realized what it was right away. The way it flickered gave it away. It was fire. A softball sized spot of fire.

Just then, Blossom heard a snicker come from the other side of the bookshelf. The red head frowned and pushed some books away from one of the lower hanging shelves. She rolled her eyes once she caught sight of two very familiar, very unwanted pair of blood red eyes staring right back at her. She huffed and shoved the books back into place.

Brick came from the other side of the shelf and walked up to the Powerpuff. He pushed the other blue beanbag over to where Blossom was sitting and plopped down on top of it. Blossom brought her book farther up so it was covering most of her face. She shoved her earphones back in her ear and readjusted her position on the beanbag. Brick smirked and stared at her. How he loved to see her squirm.

"Blossom." Brick called in a singsong voice.

"Hey, Blossom." He waved his hand in under her book so she could see it. Blossom huffed and continued to read her book. Brick grinned and sat back in his seat.

"Pinkie. Red. Carrot Top," He had to chuckle at that one.

"Leader bitch. Miss Priss. Sugar Queen." Blossom could feel the rage and even a little hurt boil up inside of her. She scoffed to herself and pushed the hurt away to let the rage have a little bit more room to grow. As Brick continued to berate and call her names, she yanked out the earphones out and glared at him. Brick stopped midsentence and grinned at her.

"Your face matches your hair." He chuckled. Blossom's nostrils flared and she shot up out of her seat. She pointed to the entrance of the isle.

"Leave. Go, leave me alone. The one day I get to be alone…I'm not going to let you take that away from me." Brick sneered and shot up out of his seat. He stepped up to her to get in her face. His bangs casting a shadow over his blood colored eyes.

"What are you gonna do if I don't, Leader Girl?" He said with true malice. He gave her shoulders a good shove to prove his point further. Blossom tried to contain herself as he did it again. She wasn't going to let this brute bully her on her one good day. At the same time, she didn't want to cause trouble in the library. This town saw enough damage as is.

"Brick you don't want to do this. Just leave like I asked. No one has to get hurt." Authority swam in her words. Brick's eyes flashed in anger. How dare this bitch tell him what to do? He gave her a harder shove. Blossom stumbled back and slammed into the bookshelf behind her. The whole thing shook with her impact.

"Goddamnit, Brick! Stop, stop and leave me alone, gosh!" Brick huffed and his eyes grew even darker. The red swirled and sparked his pupils shrank in size. The red took over the white in his eyes until they resembled rubies. Blossom had never seen this before. What was happening?

Suddenly, Blossom felt the air become hot and thick. She lifted up her nose to smell a sharp, eye watering smell. The lights flickered above her. She whipped her gaze towards Brick. The last thing she saw were his eyes before everything went black. The power went out with a defined buzzing noise and the library went dark. A crack of thunder added to the eeriness of the building. Children screamed for their parents as librarians tried to calm everyone down. Blossom picked up her phone and book and moved from her spot. She looked down the long hallway between the bookshelves. Nothing could be seen except the eerie shadows the light outside cast on the trees and water drops. Blossom set her book down on one of the counters. She wrapped her arms around her. No lights meant no heat.

A light scratching came from a corner. Blossom quickly turned her head to the corner but caught sight of nothing. Her breath came in quick spurts as the feeling of being watched overcame her. Blossom grabbed her book and moved from the counter. Her glowing pink eyes darted from one side to the other, trying to catch whatever moved in the dark. A flash of lightning illuminated a smirking figure that was a few paces in front of her. The teen gasped and jumped back. Another flash of lighting flashed in the building but the figure was gone just like a speck of dust. Blossom cradled herself tighter and continued to find an exit.

The teen came up to the children center and tried to open the doors. To her shock, the doors were stuck closed. That was odd. The doors were never locked. She shrugged to herself and moved slowly away from the doors. She turned and was just about to walk away when she noticed a defined red-orange glow on stretched out on the floor in front of her. She heard faint screams come from behind her. The teen turned and gasped. Inside the room was flashing sparks of red, orange and yellow flames. They engulfed the books that were on the shelves and the bookcases that sheltered them. She looked closer and saw children and their mothers gripping on to each other for dear life. Their faces covered in soot that came from the smoke. Some were even slightly burned. Blossom ran to the door and shoved her shoulder into it. She did it once more and the door flew open.

"Come on! Hurry up!" Blossom called. The children and mothers all looked to the teen and ran passed the roaring flames out the doors.

Once they were out, Blossom ran in the center. She held up her hand and focused all of her power on getting the temperature to fade the flames. For some reason when she tried, it only seemed to make the flames more enraged. They roared and spread to the doors full force. Blossom moved out of the way as they exploded passed the doors and into the main part of the building. They quickly engulfed the bookcases and burned every single book in its path. Blossom gasped as the flames gobbled up the desks and computers bursting them into flames with small explosions.

Blossom glanced at the flames wide-eyed as they climbed up the walls and burned the wallpaper. They made their way to the ceiling and spread to each and every light that made a spot in its way. Soon, Blossom was looking down a tunnel of fire. She backed up a bit once she realized that it was coming right for her. She then turned tail and ran for the entrance.

On her way out she stopped every time she caught site of a stranded civilian. She dashed towards them and told them to get out. She ran all the way back to the entrance dodging flames and jumping over burning columns. A group of all of the people she found was standing together backing away from the entrance door. Burning debris blocked off the door. She yelled at them to stand back. They moved out of the way to give her room. Blossom calmed her breath and raised her hand. She outstretched her arms and shot a hot pink colored laser at the debris, which exploded them and the door. The civilians ran out to the cool wet, air. A flash of lightning sounded as Blossom ran out into the onslaught of high-pitched sirens and crowded townspeople.

Blossom looked back. The whole library was engulfed in flames. A thick black cloud danced into the sky. A loud, booming cackle filled the ears of everyone near. Blossom looked up and saw Brick floating above the building. Flames crackled behind him as he continued his laughter in time with the cracks and booms of the storm. That was the last thing she heard before an inky darkness slipped over her.

Chapter 2

Blossom woke up to a sharp, bright light coming from above her. What happened? Where was she? The teen moved her hand to her forehead.

"She's awake." Blossom looked over to her left side and saw her blonde sister sitting on a chair next to her clutching her hand. Blossom looked around her and realized that she was in a hospital bed. Buttercup and the Professor were all gathered around her with concerned faces.

"What's going on? Why am I in a hospital? What happened? Is everyone alright?" She asked frantically sitting up in her bed. The Professor gently pushed her back down.

"Everyone is okay, Blossom. You blacked out once you were outside the library. You've been asleep for nine hours, sweetie. The firefighters, with the help of your sisters, finally put out the fire about three hours ago. You're fine now." Blossom sighed.

"What happened to Brick?"

"He's currently in solitary confinement. We put him in there as soon as we got to the library before he could try something else. I'm not surprised that it would be him to set the library on fire, the bastard." Buttercup explained. Blossom nodded in approval.

"Good job, girls." She placed her hands to her face.

"God…I feel like this is all my fault. I never should've provoked him. For the 'smart one' of the group that was a pretty stupid move." Bubbles stroked her hand.

"It's not your fault, Blossom. Don't you think that for a second! You're not the one who decided to go, excuse my French, batshit crazy and blow up the library."

"Bubbles!" The Professor scolded. The blonde giggled and apologized.

"You only tried to help." Blossom lifted her hands and smiled at her sister.

"Something else happened," The three others leaned in to hear what the redhead had to confess.

"When I tried to use my ice powers, I couldn't regulate the temperature at all. No matter how much I tried it just wouldn't work. It was like a force was blocking me from using it. Some with most of my other powers. I couldn't fly; I had a hard time saving people. I couldn't even breathe well at points. Something in that fire prevented me from using my powers. Who knows what kinds of powers the boys posses without us even knowing!" The rest of the family looked to one another and stayed quiet.

"From know on, we're going to have to be extra careful."

Chapter 3

"Mama?" Boomer knocked on his mother's bedroom door softly.

"Come in." her voice broke as she called back to her son.

Boomer walked in and shut the door behind him. Rachel was sitting on her bed with an almost empty box of tissue next to her. Scattered used papers were spread out among her. Boomer sat next to her and looked at her face. It was red and her eyes were puffy from the tears. She looked out at the sprinkling rain and sniffed.

"How could he do this? How could he mess up the one chance we have at an actual home? Dose he care about my feelings at all?" Boomer pulled Rachel into his chest.

"He's just lost mama. He'll get better. I promise you." Boomer kissed the top of her blonde head and let her weep into his shirt.

Boomer hoped he was right. Brick might have been lost but he was a danger to Rachel. And he'd be damned before Brick put Rachel into danger. Over his dead body.

End of Part 10…