Chapter 10
The prison is quiet all except for the sound of someone playing the harmonica, even though there are plenty of criminals inside their cells being driven crazy by the harmonica music coming out of the back of the hall of cells. This room was designated specifically for the three Rowdyruff boys; they were separated from the other prisoners to avoid any major problems. The room itself is large enough for three separate cells made of specially crafted antidote x titanium metal. Brick has been trying to ignore his harmonica playing brother, but it was starting to get on his nerve "BOOMER, DO YOU FUCKING MIND?!"
Boomer stops playing his harmonica and looks up at Brick in the cell across from him "sorry, the time seemed right for it". He gets up and looking down the end of the hall where Butch's cell is and sees that the raven haired male is just starting to wake up "he's going to be really mad when he wakes up".
"Yeah no shit" Brick says leaning his back against the prison bars. Suddenly the door to the other prisoner's cells opens and Professor Utonium along with around 5 police officers walks through the door. Brick looks over at them and grimaces "and here comes the rest of our party".
The Professor frowns at him "hello to you too, it's been a while".
"Not long enough" Brick says.
Boomer looks over at the professor "hey there professor box head".
The professor glares at boomer as Brick snickers in the background "I've asked you not to call me that, boomer".
"Then how about professor cube noggin?" Boomer says grinning at him.
Brick chuckles again and chimes in "how about professor square skull?" the two burst out laughing hysterically.
The professor sighs "always a pleasure boys", the officers open boomers cell "I'm just going to fine tune your collars, there was a minor disturbance since butch's collar was broken".
"Oh I get it" Boomer says innocently "you want to make sure that we don't rip our collars off and kill you".
"Yeah…right" The professor circles behind him and takes out a tiny screwdriver "bend your head forward boomer". Boomer bends his head forward and the professor tightens a few screws in the back of the collar. The collar beeps twice signaling that the collar is activated again "there, it's not too tight on you is it?"
"Nope, it's fine thank you" Boomer says wiping the saliva off his harmonica with the end of the Professors Lab coat.
Professor gets frustrated and pulls away from Boomer" if it's not one thing with you it's another", he digs in his pocket and pulls out a handkerchief, he then gives it to boomer "here, my lab coats not a dish towel, I would appreciate it if you didn't treat it as such".
Boomer accepts it and smiles at him "thank you professor Uranus".
The professor grumbles and walks out of boomers cell, slamming it close behind him. He looks over at brick whose back is turned to him "Brick? You going to be a buddy today and cooperate with me?"
"He asks me as if I have a fucking choice" Brick says annoyed while his back is turned.
"We all have choices son" The professor says entering Bricks cell "it's not my fault you decided to make the wrong ones".
Brick glares at him "I'm not your fucking son, so stop calling me that", he sits in a chair and waits while the professor tunes his collar, The professor simply grins and tunes the back of the collar.
Boomer looks over at them "so Professor Ukrainian, how did you get here so fast?"
The professor gets annoyed "I was called in after the signals on your collars were set off". The quiet moment in the room is interrupted by a crashing sound coming from Butch's cell.
Butch was fully awake and pissed "FUCKING SHIT"; he throws his bed at the wall and punches the wall in sheer anger and fury "I'LL FUCKING KILL THAT BASTARD, I'LL FUCKING KILL HIM. WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON HIM, JUST WAIT. AAAAAAAARGH THIS IS FUCKING BULLSHIT".
The officers there nearly shit themselves in fright keeping tight grips on their guns and praying that the bars on Butch's cell hold up. The Professor calmly finishes his work on Brick's collar but addresses Butch "you ok over there Butch? I'll be with you in a second".
"FUCK YOU" Butch continuously kicks and punches the bars of the cell.
The professor calmly finishes up with Brick and leaves his cell closing it behind him. He then walks up to Butch's and stands there outside of the bars "Butch I fixed your collar".
Butch runs up to the bars causing everyone but the professor to dash away "FUCK OFF, YOU CAN STICK YOUR FUCKING COLLAR UP YOUR FUCKING ASS, YOU SQUARE HEADED SON OF A BITCH". He angrily bangs and rattles the bars "GET ME OUT OF HERE, FUCKING PIECES OF SHIT".
Boomer looks over at Butch's cell concerned "hey Professor Utopia, why is Butch being so aggressive?"
Brick chuckles "yeah Professor pain in the ass".
"Ok, now you two are just being dicks" The professor instantly puts his hand to his mouth, he rarely ever cursed before, but these three were the only ones who would provoke him enough to do so.
"Oh my" Brick says "someone is being a little potty mouth today".
"Oh dear" Boomer says smiling "my poor innocent ears, they are being subjected to such filth", the two brother start laughing.
Butch growls in anger "WILL YOU MORONS STOP FUCKING AROUND, WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT SHIT".
The professor rubs his temples "is it too much to ask to have one visit where you three are not driving me up the wall?" He then looks over at Butch "I have to get this collar on you so try to calm down".
"GET OUT OF MY FACE WITH THAT SHIT" Butch paces back and forth in his cell like a wild animal looking for an escape "I don't want your stupid collar, I want out, you people are wasting your god damn time on us when you should be out there looking for Jack".
Surprisingly Brick is the one who responds "they are looking for Jack, which is why he has gone into hiding. He's not going to make a move knowing that the heat is on, now quit flipping out already".
"He can't help it" The professor says "you boys have been without powers for a long period of time, so when Butch's collar was broken all of his power came rushing in all at once. Because of the drastic change in his body, plus the excelled amounts of power coming in, it will take its toll on his emotions and his behavior".
Brick understood what the professor was saying; it's the whole reason why everyone is so scared to take the collars off of them. They might get high off the sudden power rush and flip out at anyone around them "still that's only a possibility; it might affect each of us in different ways".
"I suppose" The professor says, he then looks back over at Butch "I'm coming in Butch"; the raven haired teen glares at him and continues to pace the cell.
One of the officers comes up to him with the cell key "a…are you sure about this Professor? It doesn't look safe".
The professor looks at them sternly "well you guys did shoot darts at him and wrongfully locked them up in prison cells while at the same time allowing the real criminal to escape. So I'd be pretty pissed off myself". He holds out his hand and the officers now have guilt ridden looks on their faces as they hand over the cell key. The professor gives them a reassuring look "its ok, he's angry at the situation and needed to vent", he has dealt with the temper tantrums of a super powered child before. Dealing with Butch will be no different from dealing with Buttercup. He unlocks the cell and walks inside, he then notices butch immediately storms away from him and leans both hands against the wall as if pushing against it will make it shift out of the way or break. The professor stays where he is and shuts the gates behind him "I'm going to need you to corporate with me here".
"He's out there" Butch says seething "godammit he's out there, how can you people be so calm about it?"
"You need to calm down" The Professor says.
"DON'T TELL ME TO FUCKING CALM DOWN" Butch floats towards the older man and gets in his face, the officers outside the cell freak out raising their guns "you're not my fucking dad, so don't tell me what to do". Butch circles around the professor and the other officers were afraid he might attack, so they readied their guns. This makes Butch even more pissed "Besides, what the fuck do you care, you got your three precious guard dogs out there doing the work for you. You're not even worried about anything as long as your perfect little mistakes are out there saving your ass". He closes in dangerously at the professors face "don't tell me to calm down, you have no idea how I'm feeling right now".
To everyone's surprise, the professor stares back at him angrily and they look at each other in the eyes "how dare you?" He hears the officers readying their guns behind him, he glares at them " LOWER YOUR GODDAMN WEAPONS, NOW". The officers are shocked into complying with his wishes, he then turns back to Butch "as for you, don't you dare stand there and accuse me of not knowing what you are going through. The worrying, feeling powerless, not being able to do anything for the ones you love, you've only felt that for one day. I have been feeling that for 10 whole years, I felt it when the girls first came into my life, I felt it when this very same town called them freaks and had me thrown into prison, I felt it when your father first used the girls to take over the city and through it all I could do nothing. The difference between you and me in this situation is that I never had the benefit of throwing stuff around and destroying everything around me. I had three little girls who needed me calm, rational and most importantly supportive, WHICH IS WHAT YOU SHOULD BE RIGHT NOW". The Professor takes the collar from his lab coat pocket and shows it to him "Throwing a tantrum and breaking things solves absolutely nothing, it's a waste of energy and time that could be spent figuring out a plan to get Jack. Your own powers are making it impossible for you to think clearly, you have to put this collar on". Butch backs up a little and stares defiantly at him, the professor's frown get deeper "the collar will bind your powers and enable you to think straight without all of this needless aggression". Butch looks off somewhere else, the professor get mad "Butch stop being so stubborn, we both know that this is for the best, now SIT DOWN, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET ME PUT THE DAMN COLLAR ON YOU".
Butch stares at him for a while as the whole room grows quiet, after a few moments he grabs a chair and sits on it "just get it over with".
The professor walks around him and puts his collar on, then takes out his small screwdriver to fine tune it "I understand your frustration over this, because I feel the same way". Butch glares at the ground in silence, the officers and the other two Ruffs stare at them completely amazed by how the professor was able to get butch under control. The professor gives the screwdriver a few more turns before the collar starts to beep, activating it. Instantly butch's tense body relaxes and he slumps over a bit, the professor grins "there, isn't that better?"He then looks over at the police officers "ok guys, I need to talk with the boys a little more in private, could you please leave?"
One of the officers blink at him for a moment before turning to the others "come on, you heard the man, lets go". They all turned away and leave the room; only the professor and the Ruffs are left alone.
The professor then puts his hands on butches shoulders and addresses all of them "ok, I want complete and total honesty from you three. How did Jack get the Chemical X?" the room grows quiet again.
Butch speaks first "we had a party a couple of weeks ago; so we know he stole antidote X from our basement. He must have gotten the Chemical X from Mojo's lair".
"I see" Utonium says "and why do you think he stole it? It couldn't have been just to fight you".
"It wasn't" Boomer says while cleaning the saliva out of his harmonica "he's actually after bubbles" Both Butch and Brick glare at him but he doesn't really pay attention.
The Professor gives them a confused look "why would he be after bubbles?"
"He's just some pervert" Brick says trying to divert the conversation "he stalks girls all the time, Bubbles is no different. He's not specifically after her".
Boomer looks over at Brick confused "what are you talking about? he's been obsessing over bubbles for the past month in a half. That's the whole reason why he took that antidote X and tried to rape her".
"WHAT?!" The professor freaks out "when? Where? How?"
Brick glares at Boomer "if I had a lead pipe, I would crack it over your fucking skull".
"What?" Boomer says confused "what did I say?"
"Boomer" the professor says looking at him sternly "what happened?" It was then that Boomer realizes his mistake and clams up.
Butch rolls his eyes "you might as well tell him moron".
Boomer sighs for a moment and tells him "well, I just know that at first we thought that all he took was the antidote X, we had no idea at the time that it was even happening until the next morning when Brick told us about what happened to Bubbles. Brick was the one who was there; he saved her from being raped".
"Brick?" The professor's eyes widened as he looks over at Brick, the other male doesn't look his way at the moment.
Brick leans his back against the bars of his cell and sighs "Jack and a couple of his football goons stalked her, doused her with antidote x, then tried to rape her. Course I was just passing by doing my own shit when I heard her scream. Long story short, I chased them away and took her home".
"I see" The professor has a serious look on his face and doesn't address them, he was angry, the boys knew it. They kept quiet allowing him to contemplate what they said.
Butch tries to stand but wabbles a little, he then braces himself against the bars of his cell "ugh….what the…."
"You exerted too much energy" The professor suddenly says "since you destroyed your bed; you will need someplace to sleep tonight". He walks out of the cell leaving it open and he goes by Bricks cell "thank you, for saving my daughter, you boys deserve to sleep in your own beds tonight".
Boomer looks over at the older man concerned "Professor Utonium, are you ok?"
The Professor looks over at Boomer surprised, he then grins a little "so you do know my name, Boomer?" The blonde male blushes a little from the sudden attention, the professor gives him a kind smile "I'll be ok, I just thought I'd never see the day where my own daughters would start keeping secrets from me", He then looks away from him sadly.
Boomer looks at him sympathetically "well professor, we're teenagers; we're supposed to lie to our parents. It's all part of growing up, right?"
The professor sighs "I know in your own uncomforting way you are trying to make me feel better and I appreciate it". He continues onward toward the end of the room towards the door "I'll tell the chief to release you guys so you can go home". He walks out without another word.
Later at the Utonium House
Professor Utonium sits in his kitchen at the table, he was deep in thought, and he had a whole slew of questions swarming through his mind. He hears the door open "girls?" The powerpuffs walk in through the door, the last of them being Bubbles.
Blossom walking in first notices the professor sitting there "professor, why are the lights dimmed down so low? You're practically sitting in the dark".
"Am I?" The professor says looking at her confused, he was so immersed in his thoughts that he honestly didn't notice he was sitting in the darkened room "I didn't even notice". He then notices Bubbles floating in and frowns, "girls please sit down, I have a bone to pick with you three". All three girls hesitate for a moment wondering what they did this time. They then slowly take their seats at the table opposite their father. The professor looks over at Bubbles sternly "is there something that you have neglected to mention to me Bubbles?"
Bubbles stares back at him for a moment, she fiddles with the end of her pigtails a little trying to think about what exactly he is talking about "um…..well…"she smiles at him nervously "I got nothing".
The professor frowns deeply and bubbles smile quickly fades and is replaced with a worried look "I'll give you a moment to think long and hard about what you are keeping from me". The professors agitated tone made the girls anxious, the professor rarely ever got angry but when he did, it was certainly something to pay attention to.
Bubbles gets even more nervous and after a while of silence finally cracks "OK, fine, I'll admit it, I AM IN LOVE WITH BRICK JOJO". Everyone in the room looks at her shocked, she continues "I've been stalking him for the past 3 weeks, I hacked into the schools computer and got a hold of his schedule so I'll always know exactly where he is at all times. Each night, just after I come home from our night patrols a fly up to his window to watch him sleep or change for bed, I have fantasies and wet dreams about him and I follow him practically everywhere". She pants feeling out of breath and scared of what her own father might think of her "dad I promise you, I'm not sick or possessive or twisted in any way, I'm just in love and I only want him to love me back, that's perfectly normal right?" after a moment the professor doesn't say anything and bubbles eyes begin to tear up "please don't stop me from seeing him, I feel like if I can't see him anymore I'll die".
"Wow Bubbles" Buttercup says sympathetically watching her sister on the brink of tears.
"We had no idea" Blossom says, putting a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
"Bubbles, you can relax" The professor says looking at her seriously "in fact I believe it's a good idea for you to be around Brick". He then glares at her "seeing as how he was the one who saved you from being raped a couple of weeks ago". Blossom and Buttercup were stunned for the second time that night as they looked at Bubbles.
Bubbles looks at the professor shocked "but….how did you….?"
"The better question is why didn't you tell me?" The professor angrily scolds her "why did I have to find out that my own daughter was nearly raped from someone else?"
Bubbles wipes the tears from her eyes and her gaze casted downward at the table "I didn't want anyone to worry, I didn't tell anyone".
"Wait a minute" Blossom says "you mentioned that brick saved Bubbles. What was he doing there in the first place?"
"What does it matter?" bubbles says frowning at her.
Blossom frowns back "what was he doing outside late at night in the first place?"
"Blossom" The professor says in a warning tone, he knew that question would start a fight, and he was right.
"I knew you would do this" Bubbles says glaring at Blossom.
"Don't jump down my throat over this" Blossom says defensively "I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this".
"Yeah right" Bubbles says "by implying he had something to do with my attack".
"That's not what she is saying Bubblehead" Buttercup says agitated.
"she doesn't have to" Bubbles says "this is why I never told you guys, I didn't want the professor to worry, he flipped out the first time he heard I lost my virginity, I didn't want to think of how badly he would react in this situation". The professor was silent, he remembered that day, he fainted and spent a week in the hospital slipping in and out of coma at the mere thought of his sweet little bubbles or any of his girls for that matter having sex for the first time. Bubbles continues "I didn't tell Buttercup because then all hell would break lose with her temper and I didn't tell you Blossom because you would have blamed it on Brick".
"No I wouldn't" blossom says outraged.
"YES YOU WOULD" Bubbles yells at her "you blame him for everything, I bet if the world ended tomorrow, you would blame him for that too. I bet if he even so much as came to you with this problem you would have had him arrested, assuming he was involved".
"That's not fair bubbles" Blossom says angrily "when one of my sisters is in trouble; I'm always there for you". She then calms down a little while still looking at her "there's no reason for Brick to lie about something like that, I would have at the very least listened, especially if he was the one that saved you". Bubbles is silent for a moment, it was true, if Blossom knew of what Brick did for her then she would have been more inclined to hear him out.
"Bubbles" everyone's attention is back on the professor "the truth is this; you were in a very horrible situation. First of all, you were out past curfew on a school night and all alone for that matter, you were lucky that brick got to you when he did, otherwise what would have done if those boys had gotten their way. Second of all you kept this from me for weeks, while walking around pretending that everything was ok when it wasn't. You had plenty of opportunities to come to me with the truth, but instead you hid it from me and in my book that's the same as lying". He gets up and glares at Bubbles disapprovingly "I won't stop you from seeing Brick, however you have to own up to how you've been behaving lately, the stalking, the lying, and the sneaking out, I'm surprised and disappointed in you. You need to think about how your actions have affected this family" he sternly walks away from the table "you are grounded young lady".
"Un…until when" Bubbles says stuttering a little.
"Until I say otherwise" The professor says before leaving the room. The other two girls look over at her sympathetically, neither of them had any idea that Bubbles feelings for Brick ran so deep. They each tried to think of something to say to her but couldn't think of anything.
Blossom touches Bubbles shoulder "its ok bubbles, he's mad right now, but he'll get over it in time". She then walks away from her "come on girls, let's go to bed", Bubbles grudgingly gets up and follows the girls to bed.