Lycan

by Miss. RoseGold

AU, 19th century Townsville. When the Professor's brother is murdered, the esteemed Utonium family returns to Townsville, only to discover that the town is terrorized by unseen horrors. Nothing is as it seems, and to figure out the dark web of secrets that the town is hiding, the girls are going to have to break the one rule the town has: "Stay out of the woods."

11. Secrets

Lycan

Authors note: The rating of this story is a High T for violence, gore, language and possibly some suggestive material in later chapters. You have been warned.

Any themes relating to the Wolfman, Van Helsing or Red riding hood do not belong to me and belong to its respective owners.

The Powerpuff girls do not belong to me either and as always, they have human appendages.

Hello everyone, as this was always the plan – the new chapter is here! Hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

*Due to a particularly rude guest (who I am 99.9% sure has an actual account on Fanfiction) I am moderating guest reviews on my works for a certain amount of time. The review I received from said guest was rude, disrespectful and just uncalled for. I've left a more detailed description of what happened and what was said on my profile for those who are interested, because I'm not going to get into it here. It's really just a classic example of how all it takes is for one person to ruin something for everyone else. Once again, I'm very sorry to all of my guests who leave such wonderful, positive comments on Lycan – I'm dedicating this chapter to you as an apology. Thank you again

- Mrs. RoseGold

(Also to the person who left the comment on Lords: I hope you see this, and if you haven't looked at my profile already, I want you to unfavorite any and all of my work – especially this one – and never leave a comment on my stories again. I WILL NOT be talked to in such a demeaning manor. If you have a problem with me or my articles – you log onto an account and talk to me that way – not by leaving a snide anonyms review, insulting me and my other stories. This update is NOT for you. It's for everyone else who was understanding, and waited patiently for the next chapter. Something you clearly cannot do. Good day.)

**Aussi à mon adorable critique français: Merci beaucoup pour vos aimables mots, mon cher! Je suis ravi d'entendre que vous appréciez Lycan, et merci de prendre le temps de laisser une belle critique sur mon histoire. Merci beaucoup!

---

Chapter 11: Secrets

Blossom fought to keep her grip steady on her sister's arm as Buttercup collapsed to the floor, nearly dragging her sisters with her.

"No…" the dark-haired girl croaked. "No… he… he can't be… I just saw him not to long ago. He was still recovering from the last full moon, but he was alright… Now you're telling me that he's gone?"

"Not gone miss." The young police man corrected quietly. "He's in an intensive care hospital a few miles away from Townsville, and there are several doctors attending to him as we speak, or so I was told. Those things managed to tear off his left arm, and from what I heard, the doctors don't think that they'll be able to reattach it… He's not dead, but it doesn't look like he's going to be getting up anytime soon… I'm sorry."

He paused for a moment before adding softly, "Because of the seriousness of his condition, we're opting to keep his current state privet from the rest of the town – aside from Mrs. Michelson, your family is the only one who knows about his current condition."

"You said he's in a coma?" Bubbles sniffed as she gently tried to hoist Buttercup up off of the floor with little success. The man nodded. "Yes. He lost a substantial amount of blood. He's lucky to even be alive."

"My god…" Sara murmured from beside John, "How did he even manage to make it back to town? The asylum is a good ways a way."

"He didn't ma'am, he was already unconscious when they found him." The police officer informed her, causing a range of confused looks to appear on the family's faces.

"They?" John asked, "Who's they?"

The young man at the door give him a half shrug. "Well, we didn't quite catch the other four's names, but we recognized one of the men who brought Mitch to us, and I believe you know him as well – it's the Jojo's new grounds keeper, Ace, I believe his name is."

"Him? Blossom frowned, narrowing her eyes in confusion. "What was he out so late? Surly he's heard of the were- I-I mean the beasts that have been running about." She corrected herself quickly, catching a panicked look from her father.

The police man averted his eyes from the auburn-haired beauty. "He… he didn't say." He muttered. "That's all I can tell you on the matter. We're still looking into it and collecting statements. As soon as we've figured out more on the matter, we will inform you immediately, but for now, this is all I can say."

"Well, thank you very much for letting us know." John told him sincerely as he helped pick Buttercup up from off the floor. "Will you let us know if… if Mitch gets any better?"

Or worse. The older man thought darkly to himself, but didn't dare say it out loud as he gently passed Buttercup's limp form off to Blossom to help steady her.

The policeman nodded. "Of course, your family and Mrs. Michelson will be the first people we alert if anything with him changes." He looked down at his pocket watch with a small grimace. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to the station and see if I can manage to get some statements out of the group of men who brought him in – provided that they're still there that is. I'll bid you good day, and for what it's worth: I am truly sorry."

And with that, the young man turned on his heel and made his way back to his waiting horse, as John closed the door. Turning around stiffly, he was met with the pale, sick looking faces of the rest of his family. Casting a concerned look at Buttercup, who was still limp in her sister's arms, be nodded towards the dining room.

"Right, girls? Bring your sister back to the dining room. I think that eating something might help her."

"M'not hungry." Buttercup mumbled, as she finally pushed herself off of Blossom to stand on her own. "See, I'm fine." She muttered as she wiped a hand across her eyes, in an attempt to get rid of the unsheathed tears within her blazing lime green irises. "I'm just a bit shaken up that's all. I'm okay."

"Well I need to eat something." John replied. "We all do, and breakfast is done anyways so we might as well eat."

"Truthfully, after hearing that, I'm not very hungry either." Bubbles sighed as she moved to stand with her raven-haired sister.

"Well then you and your sisters can sit at the table with your Grandmother then." Their father sighed as he rubbed at his temples. "Sara, if you don't mind, I think I need to have a word with you privately – If you don't mind – we'll join you girls in a few minutes."

Sara nodded and followed him down the hallway towards her father's former office. The girls watched as their parents disappear from sight, only to hear the door leading into the study close and lock behind them. A moment later, the girls heard muffled voices echoing from behind the closed door, but couldn't determine what their parents were talking about.

Blossom sighed. "Well girls, let's just go sit at the table and try to relax. We should also keep an eye on Grandma and make sure she hasn't taken off again."

"Sure, great." Buttercup muttered as she turned and walked stiffly back towards the dining area, leaving her sisters to follow behind her.

All three girls entered the dining room, where they found their elderly Grandmother still sitting at the table where they had left her before, mindlessly eating a piece of toast. Blossom forced Buttercup to sit next to the older woman along with Bubbles, before heading into the kitchen. The auburn sister reappeared moments later with three plates of eggs and toast. She placed one plate each in front of her sisters, before sitting down across from them with her own.

Buttercup started to protest before Blossom cut her off with a look. "Papa's right Buttercup, we all need to eat something – don't argue, just eat if for me. Please?"

Something about her tone made the slightly jaded look fall off the ebony haired woman's face, as she relented and poked at her eggs, causing a relieved look to pass over her face. "Thank you, Buttercup." The pale woman sighed as she began to dig into her own plate, prompting Bubbles to do the same.

The girls chewed their food quietly and a stiff silence settled over the room, only to be periodically broken by their Grandmother's absent-minded humming. Bubbles leaned back in her chair to peer past Buttercup and look at the tiny woman. "Is she alright?"

"I don't think she's here at the moment Bubbles." Buttercup mumbled around a piece of toast. "She's been spacing out a lot more lately."

"And worrying mama even more." Blossom added. "Once nanny comes back she'll be easier to look after but until then, we'll have to keep a close eye on her."

"Do you think that she'll ever go back to being her normal self?" Bubbles asked timidly. "I don't think so." Buttercup replied bitterly. She tried to ignore Bubbles's downcast face as she swallowed her mouthful of food before continuing. "I think she was going senile even before we got here, and when Grandpa died… I think that pushed her over the edge."

"I guess…" Bubbles mumbled as she sipped at her tea. The room lapsed back into silence for what seemed like hours, as the girls tried to come to grips with what the police officer had told them. Finally, Buttercup began to stab at the eggs on her plate more and more aggressive, muttering curses under her breath, until Blossom decided to cut in.

"Buttercup? Is there something that you would like to share?" she asked calmly, already knowing what her green-eyed sister was going to say.

"It's Mitch." She murmured as she poked at her remaining eggs. "I just really have no idea what to think… I mean… we just saw him a few days ago… he was fine. A bit torn up but fine… I just don't understand how he could be so careless…"

"He went out into the woods on a full moon despite knowing what exactly was out there." Blossom said softly as she turned her action to her plate. "I don't understand it either – I don't know what would possess him to go out into the woods knowing full well that there are Were-"

"Shhh!" Bubbles interrupted as she pointed to their Grandmother, who was still absentmindedly humming in her chair beside Buttercup. "She'll hear you!"

Buttercup snorted unkindly. "Please Bubbly, I don't think she can. Watch." She snapped her fingers in front of the older woman's face. "Oi, Gran, you here?" when she didn't get a response from the white-haired lady after a few moments, she shot Bubbles a look. "I don't think we have to worry about whether she hears us or not." Bubbles winced slightly and shot the small woman a pitying look, before nodding and redirecting her attention back on the topic of Mitch.

"Well, that still doesn't explain why Mitch was out last night." Blossom said as she sat back in her chair, tapping her fingers against her chin as she thought. "I'm just as baffled as anyone here – why was he so far away from town? Better yet, why was he found near an abandoned asylum?"

"What was he even doing out there in the first place?" Buttercup hissed as she stabbed at her eggs, causing the yoke to explode – sending a river of yellow goo down the side of her plate.

"He's fought those things once before already – and he was the one to finally convince dad that they're actually Werewolves in the first place! I know he's a good hunter, and I know that he wants to help – but he's not stupid enough to go out in the middle of the woods at night and take on those things alone!"

Maybe he wasn't alone though." Bubbles spoke up softly. Blossom and Buttercup turned to look at their youngest sister incredbolsly. "You… what?" Buttercup croaked, shocked.

Bubbles shrugged. "Maybe he wasn't alone when he went out there. It's like you said: He's smart, and he's already dealt with those things once before, so if it were me, I wouldn't be going out there unless I had some help."

"If that's the case, then who was with him?" Buttercup asked as she furrowed her brows – tying to think of people that would have willingly gone out into the woods with Mitch, despite knowing what was out there.

"IF this is in fact what happened," Blossom cut in, "My best guess is that it would have to be someone that he trusts, or at least knows well enough."

"That could be anyone though!" Buttercup argued. "He lived in town when he was a kid too, he knows basically everyone here, so that doesn't help much at all!"

The sisters lapsed into silence as they thought about who in town would have gone into the woods willingly with him during a full moon. Suddenly Bubbles snapped her fingers.

"Remember when we went out into town with Boomer, Brick and Butch?" she asked, causing her sisters to nod slowly, "Well remember how we also happened to run into Mitch when we were getting ready to head home?" Again, her older sisters nodded. "Well, when the boys were talking to Mitch, I think that I overheard Brick mention that he and his brothers would be willing to help Mitch track down the beasts."

Blossom narrowed her rose colored orbs. "Are you sure about that Bubbles?" the blonde-haired girl nodded quickly, as she fixed her baby blue eyes on her pale sister.

"I definitely overheard them talk about tracking something in the woods." She said firmly. "I can't say what it was for sure, but let's be honest: what else could it be at this rate?"

Buttercup's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You think that maybe they had something to do with this?"

Bubbles shook her head frantically. "Oh god no, I didn't say that! I hope they didn't! I just remembered that Brick Butch and Boomer had offered their assistance in finding the beasts when we ran into Mitch when we were out on that… date, with them. It just stuck out in my mind is all."

"She does bring up a good point." Blossom agreed. "They did offer to help him… maybe they know something- Not saying that they're involved-" she added quickly, catching Buttercup's look, "But maybe they know something about what happened to him."

"If they do, when why haven't they said anything?" Buttercup growled dangerously. "There's a high likelyhood that Mitch could die from his it turns out that those three know what happened to him and don't say anything, then I will hold them personally responsible… if he dies then I swear to god-"

"Let's not think about that." Blossom quickly interjected. "They managed to get him to a hospital just in time and that's all that matters. He's in a coma, not dead. Let's just hope that he manages to wake up soon and then tell us what happened himself."

She reached across the table to squeeze Buttercup lightly tanned hand in her pale one. "Besides, there's also a good chance that the Jojo's don't know anything. Just because they offered to help him, doesn't mean that they actually did."

Buttercup sucked in a breath and released it quietly, pulling her hand back from her sister's grasp. "You're right… it's just.. we've lost so many people who are close to us over the last couple of months. I don't want to lose him too…"

"You and him were very close as children, it's understandable." Blossom soothed her gently. "But that doesn't mean that we can go around accusing people of withholding information about what happened to him – we don't even know if that's the case yet."

"I know, I know." Buttercup sighed as she slumped in her chair. "But things still don't add up. He knew what was out there – so what was he doing so far away from town? It's not like him at all."

"Well, maybe someone tipped him off about the beasts? Maybe somebody knew where the beasts were hiding… or maybe they knew who the beasts are… that might have prompted Mitch to go out." Bubbles supplied.

"That's a possibility," Blossom agreed, "but who would know that? I doubt that anyone would be willing to confess to knowing that information – especially after news of what happed to Mitch gets around town."

"You're right." Buttercup spoke up quietly, causing Blossom and Bubbles to look at their middle sister. "No one in their right mind would confess to knowing that, and we won't get answers by asking around – look how well that happened the last time."

Blossom and Bubbles frowned as they thought back to the last time they had tried to get information out of the townspeople. It had been next to impossible to get any shred of information from them – the boys had been the same way.

"… Which is why we need to go straight to the source."

The girls looked at Buttercup confused. "What do you mean?" Bubbles asked, as she quirked blonde eyebrow at her older sister. Buttercup shrugged lightly as she sat back with an almost pleased smirk on her face.

"You said that you overheard the boys mention something about hunting to Mitch. I'll bet you anything that they know something. I'd also like to know what the hell Ace was doing in the middle of the woods in the dead of the night. Maybe the boys don't know how Mitch ended up in the shape he was found in – but they have to know why Ace was out that late." Buttercup pointed out.

Bubbles mulled it over for a minute before shooting a look at Blossom. "She's got a point – I'd kinda like to know what Ace was doing so far away from town – he's not a hunter like Mitch is…"

"But even if they know what's going on, the real question is would they tell us?" Blossom countered as she massaged her temples. "Buttercup, you of all people know how reluctant they are to tell us anything. You could hardly get anything out of Butch the first time you asked."

"But this time we have something on them." Buttercup pointed out slyly. Blossom raised an arched eyebrow, signaling for her to explain farther. Buttercup motioned between her and the rose eyed woman for a moment, before Blossom's eyes widened as she finally understood what her raven-haired sister was implying.

"Oh, god Buttercup no. You can't be serious. I thought you said that it didn't mean anything to you-"

"That was before I realized that I could use it to my advantage, and Blossom that applies doubly for you."

Bubbles's baby blue eyes widened as she finally caught on. "Oh, are you two going to try and use the proposals against them?"

"Not try, we are." Buttercup corrected. "I'm sick and tired of being kept in the dark or being told things too late. Now Mitch is on death's door, and I'm not going to stand for it any longer. If I have to play Butch to get information then I will. If he wants his future wife to stay safe, then he should be more than willing to tell me something – same applies for Brick."

Blossom fell silent as she considered the outcome. Buttercup sighed. "Blossom, two of our family members are dead, along with a god portion of the town, and the only person with any real sense around here – who also happens to be my best friend – is in a coma with a missing arm. Please do this… for me…"

Blossom sighed tiredly. "I… Alright… I'll see what I can get out of Brick, I can't make any promises though – It might turn out that they don't know anything."

Buttercup snorted. "Doubtful, but alright. We'll see what we can get out of them."

"Well good luck with that." Bubbles smiled wearily, "Hopefully they'll be able to tell us something-"

"Oh no, you're coming too." Buttercup in formed her light-haired sister. "Butch and Brick have proven to be tough nuts to crack, but Boomer? I feel like it might be easier to get something out of him. All you have to do is bat your eyelashes at him and he'll be putty in your hands."

Bubbles flushed. "I… I don't know about that… who even knows when we're going to see them again."

"Something tells me sooner than later." Blossom admitted. "Papa already had plans to meet with Sir. Mojo with Mitch to try and convince him that the beasts are actually-" she lowered her voice as she leaned forward, "Werewolves." She frowned sadly after a moment.

"I hope that papa manages to convince him – the sake of the town depends on it. and I hope to god that Sir. Mojo believes him… all he needs to do is look at Mitch for proof…"

Buttercup grimaced and looked away, not wanting to be reminded of the state that her childhood friend lay in. "Yeah." She hummed softly. "I hope that he does too. If not, dad will have to convince the townspeople himself. God forbid those things do the same thing to someone else-"

"Bad things always come in three."

The frail, distant voice of their Grandmother suddenly cut across their conversation. All three sisters turned to look at their frail Grandmother with wide eyes. "Come again Gran?" Buttercup murmured uneasily. "What did you just say?"

"Bad things always come in three." The old woman repeated in a mumble as she nibbled on her toast. She pointed to the window, out into the woods that surrounded the manor with a far off look in her clouded blue eyes.

"Bad things always come in three."

---

Jojo Estate

Ace heaved a sigh of relief as he made his way of the front stairs of the Jojo mansion, his feet dragging with every step he took.

After he and the rest of the gang had delivered the more dead-than-alive hunter to the authorizes, he and gang had hightailed it out of there – not wanting to be questioned on why they were bringing them a boy who had been brutally mauled, and missing an arm.

After passing the boy and his severed arm off, he had herded his gang back to the town's hotel, where he had them set up for the next several weeks until they were ready to proceed with the plan that he had in store. After he had made sure they were settled in, he had all but sprinted back to the estate – knowing that he was beyond curfew.

He had no doubt in his mind that the residents of the estate would be up by now, and would more than likely be wondering where the hell he was. The shade wearing man knew that there was no way that he was going to be able to sneak back into the mansion unnoticed and without being asked questions – what with his clothes being covered in splashes of blood.

He looked down at himself and cringed. That fucking hunter kid had bled everywhere on him. There was no way these clothes were salvageable.

Pulling out his spare key from inside his trench coat pocket, he unlocked the front door and opened the door soundlessly before sticking his head in. He glanced around the main foyer for a minute before determining that there was no one around. Good. He thought to himself, maybe I can just sneak in without anyone finding out. Ace stepped into the foyer soundlessly as he turned around to shut the front door behind him, locking it tightly.

"Well you're a little bit late, aren't you?"

Ace almost couldn't stop the surprised shriek from leaving his mouth as he whirled around, only to come face to face with an irritated Brick Jojo, wearing only a simple shirt and dark sleeping pants.

The first thing that he noticed about the young man was that he looked awful – almost as if he hadn't slept at all the past night. His cropped red hair was disheveled and sticking up in multiple directions, and his crimson eyes had dark, almost black circles around them – indicating to Ace that his first assumption was indeed correct and that the boy hadn't slept at all.

But the thing that he found most interesting about the younger man's appearance was that, if he squinted – he could see splotchy dark marks on the skin that his shirt didn't cover. Giving him a quick once over, Ace could see that the bruising wasn't limited to only his arms – but also his upper chest and neck. Almost as if he had gotten into a fight with someone.

Got into a spat with one of your brothers last night Bricky? Ace thought to himself unkindly as he continued to look for more signs of bruising on the crimson eyed man. Is it too much to hope that you offed one of 'em?

He was so preoccupied with staring at the odd bruising that the tired looking boy was sporting, that he almost didn't realize that Brick was speaking to him until said boy snapped his fingers – bringing him out of his trance. Brick narrowed his eyes at the greasy haired man standing in front of him, before crossing his arms over his chest irritably.

"Where were you last night Ace?"

Ace fought the urge to roll his eyes behind his shades. "Good morning young master, nice to see you too – I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"Don't get smart with me Copular. I asked you a question and I want an answer: Where were you?"

Ace cringed slightly at the tone. Shit the boy was pissed. He already knew what the middle brother was capable of when provoked into a violent rage – he didn't exactly want to see what the eldest Jojo could do. "I was out and about, a few buddies of mine happened to be in town and I thought I would go say hello and catch up for a bit-"

"Buddies eh? Do I happen to know said buddies?"

Ace felt his heart drop into his stomach as the deep, threatening voice that belonged to the middle brother, echoed from farther down the hallway. Heavy footsteps walked down the main foyer until Butch's massive form appeared beside Brick's. The charcoal haired male crossed his arms – making his biceps appear even bigger – as he flashed Ace a cruel smirk.

"Because if it's the same friends that I think you're talking about… well I'd hate to miss out on a little reunion…"

Jesus Christ no. Not him. Ace thought as he began to panic. Butch could never know they were here… Not until they were ready to make their move, that is. He had done enough damage to them for the time being.

But soon they would get their revenge.

Ace narrowed his eyes at the brute of a man. "No. It's not them." He lied. "and shit what happened to you? You not sleep well last night either?"

Sure enough, just like Brick, Butch looked as if he hadn't slept at all.

Butch stiffened under his assessment and rubbed at his jaw, which Ace could see a decent sized bruise starting to form. "Rough night." He mumbled, his tone indicating that he wasn't going to say any more about the matter.

"I'll say." Ace snorted unwisely. "You both look like shit. What the hell were you boys up to last night? Did you get into some sort of fight with each other?" he smirked suggestively, "or were you doing something a little more illicit-"

Brick's searing red eyes bore into him, and the lanky man felt his throat close off and a shiver run though him under the intensity of the red, scorching gaze. Ace shuddered. Those eyes weren't natural. People could say what they wanted about his own pink tinted sclera – that was a genetic flaw that ran in his family – but red eyes? On a person who wasn't albino? No, that was wrong.

"What the hell happened to your clothes?"

Ace snapped himself out of his thoughts as he realized that Brick was speaking to him again. How the hell could he have just noticed all the blood now? He thought to himself amazed. The greasy haired man sheepishly held up his red stained hands. "Shit boss man, you would not believe the fucking night I had last night."

"Try me." Brick growled, crossing his arms.

"Oh man, where do I start with this one – okay, hand to god what I'm about to tell you is all true – I can't lie about this shit." He started off, as Brick merely raised an eyebrow.

"So, you know that one kid that the town called in to deal with the… whatever the hell those things are in the woods? Well I fucking ran into them last night."

Brick and Butch stilled at his words. Both men were silent for a moment before Brick nodded for him to continue. "Go on."

"Right so, my friends and me was out for a walk in the woods – nice night at all – and then we hear this screaming right? So, my friends and I make our way thought the brush and we come across this clearing, right? And we see this big fucking building a few yards away and we was like: what the hell is this place? So we-"

"Can you get to the point Ace?" Brick barked gruffly as he massaged his temples. "What the hell were you doing at the Asylum?"

"Oh, so that's what it was." Ace mused. "We's couldn't figure it out."

"The asylum is a good bit away from the town… why were you out walking that far away in the first place?" Brick asked as he narrowed his eyes at him. Ace swallowed thickly as he tried to think of an excuse. For some reason, he didn't think it was a wise idea to tell his employers about the beautiful lady he had followed out into the woods.

"I ah, they wanted to see the woods and we found a path and followed it." he replied quickly as he waved his hand dismissively as both Brick and Butch narrowed their eyes at him.

"Don't matter, anyways, we hear this screaming coming from right in front of the building and low and behold we see this kid right? But he's not alone – he's got these three… actually, I don't know what they fuck they were…" Ace trailed off as he contemplated what the three creatures he had seen tearing into the young hunter were, only to continue on with his story when he heard Butch clear his throat – an indicator that the ink haired man was growing agitated.

"Anyways." Ace quickly pressed on. "We get closer, and realize that it's that hunter from the town – Mitch I think you said his name was right? and he's getting his innards ripped out of him by these… I don't know… massive wolves or something. His one arm is torn clean off and there's blood everywhere, and it's clear that this guy is close to death. Now because I am a decent person," the glare was directed at Butch. "I thought to myself, 'we have to save this guy'."

He glanced between the two brothers to make sure they were following him before continuing. "So, we start yelling at those things – hoping to take the attention off of the kid, and those things look up and…" Ace shuddered, "They… they weren't normal… you should've seen their faces… the blood dripping from their mouths… their teeth… they was as big as a damn grizzly, but they're faces were wrong, just wrong. Their eyes was almost… I dunno… human, I guess."

Brick and Butch cast a look at each other as Ace continued to ramble on about the beasts that he had encountered. Butch furrowed his brow and shook his head slowly, causing Brick to nod understandingly as he looked back at Ace.

"So… you're telling me that you witnessed Mitch Michelson getting mauled by three… monsters, is that what you're telling me Ace?" Brick clarified. "That still doesn't explain all the blood that's on you though." Butch added with a growl.

Ace waved him off. "I'm getting to that, believe me, this is where things get interesting." The pale man rubbed his hands together and lunched himself back into the story.

"So anyways, we was yelling that these things, trying to get their attention offa Mitch, and then the bastards start coming at us!" Ace exclaimed. "So I'm thinking to myself: shit, we's gonna end up in the same shape as poor Mitchy there, and wanted to get out of there, but I thought: there's no way we's gonna be able to outrun these things so-"

"Get to the point Ace!" Butch snapped as he began to drum his fingers on one of his crossed arms, clearly annoyed by how long the story was taking. Ace flinched but kept going.

"So these monsters look like they're about to charge us right? And we all kinda knew that they're no way we's gonna be able to outrun them… but…" He paused for a moment as he thought back to the odd behavior that the monsters had displayed.

"-But the weirdest fucking thing was that before those things could run at us, the sun came out and they… stopped. I don't know why, but they stopped." Ace continued to ramble on, not noticing the sinister looks that the brothers were exchanging. "Then they took off like hell on wheels – I dunno why, maybe they don't like sun or something – and then me and the boys managed to run the hunter kid back to town where apparently, they shipped him off to some sort of emergency care hospital outside of town, or something along those lines."

The lanky man shrugged uncaringly. "and that's the story about why I have so much blood on my clothes, true story, I swear to god."

"Riiiight." Brick drawled. "So these… monsters that you were mentioning, do you mean bears? They are native around these parts, and have been known to come out of the forest from time to time when they get hungry enough."

Ace shook his head, his greasy hair hanging limply around his face. "No, they were as big as a bear, but they weren't a bear. Bears don't have jaws like a dog, or eyes like the ones that these things had for that matter."

Brick snorted. "Ace you probably saw some bears ripping into Mitch. Why they're out now I can't say, but they can get pretty savage if and when they are disturbed by someone."

"No boss these things ain't no bear! I think those are the things that everyone in their mother is terrified off around here!" Ace protested. Before either of the brothers could shoot the idea down, he launched himself into an explanation.

"I've never seen anything like those monsters before! They were as big as damn bears, but they didn't look like any bear I've ever seen before… The body and face were all wrong" Ace listed off quickly as he thought back to the fleeting glimpse he had gotten of the creatures before they had taken off. 'sides I've never heard of bears grouping together like that. But that don't matter – something is seriously wrong with whatever they are! I think they might have rabies or something."

"Well I think that any creature who is mauling a man to death has something wrong with them – thank you for your cleaver observation." Brick responded dryly.

"No you don't get it! I seriously think those are the things that everyone is so terrified around here! It all makes sense! Mitchy must have been out hunting them, and they got the jump on him somehow and tried to finish him off, only for me an' my boys to stop 'em" Ace said triumphantly.

Butch shot Brick a glare from the corner of his eye and the elder Jojo fought back a sigh. Shit this wasn't good – it seemed like Ace had seen far too much for his own good. Worst part was what he seemed certain of what he saw – if he had been doubtful, he would have been able to convince him otherwise, but Ace didn't seem too keen on buying his bear excuse.

Brick looked back at Butch casually. Just play along for now. Let him believe what he wants to believe – we'll take care of him with the time is right. His look conveyed to his younger brother. Butch seemed to get the message as he nodded back, a bit unsurely.

"So you think you saw the… monsters that Mitch was called in to take care of?" Brick asked coolly, careful not to give anything away with his tone. Ace nodded, seemingly oblivious to what was going on. "That's exactly what I'm thinking, what else could they be? They definitely seemed like they could kill a ton of people without even breaking a sweat – you should have seen what they had done to that Mitch kid!"

"Interesting… and you said that he's still alive correct?" Brick asked as he watched Butch stiffen out of his peripherals. He bit back a snort at his brother's reaction to the news. Oh yes Brick, he's definitely dead – I bit his arm off, didn't matter that I didn't see him die, he must have bled to death – well so much for that Butch. The crimson eyed man mimicked with a snort.

Ace shrugged as he picked at some of the blood that was starting to harden on one of his coat sleeves. "Well… I mean, he was when we brought him into town – just barely though. He was losing a lot of blood from the stump where his arm used to be, and the poor kid knocked himself into a coma just before we dropped him off to the medics. Apparently from what I overheard, the doctors aren't sure if he's ever going to wake up."

He looked at the brothers from overtop of his shades. "You two used to know 'im when you were younger didn't you? Sorry about what happened to 'im."

"It's fine." Butch muttered as he pressed his arms tightly against his chest, all while avoiding eye contact with the two other men. "Just glad to hear that he's… still drawing breath I guess." He grumbled lamely. Ace cocked an eyebrow at the strange behavior, but before he could comment on it, Brick spoke up. "Is there anything else you can tell us about either Mitch or the monsters you encountered?" Brick asked.

"I know that the Professor is looking into these creatures, and that he and my father are working together on the matter, so I'd imagine that he'll be paying our father another visit sometime soon – it would be nice to give him some useful information on the matter." The red eyed male continued, watching as Ace shifted uncomfortably under his assessment.

"Well… there is one other thing." Ace muttered as he looked down at his feet. "Right before they took off… One of them looked right at me and I think… I think it spoke to me."

Brick and Butch shared a disbelieving look, before Butch chuckled. "What kind of substances are you taking right now?"

Ace felt his mouth drop open. "You don't believe me!"

"Of course not." Brick snapped as he scratched at his chest. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, I have to draw the line somewhere with this insane story. Talking beasts… what's next? Flying pigs?"

"No I swear, this thing said my name! I can't make this shit up! I've been sober since they threw me in the damn penitentiary. Those things are the real deal!" Ace protested.

Brick snorted, amused with the tale. "Last time I checked animals – even ones that are so called 'monsters' – can't talk. If you're going to show up well past curfew, you might want to think of a better excuse."

"I told you, I ran into those beasties – fuck I would've rather been here, but my friends and I had to take the hunter back into town before he died! I couldn't just leave the fucking kid to bleed out into the snow – where else do you think all this blood came from?" he asked as he gestured to himself.

"Some unfortunate victim you ran into." Butch supplied without missing a beat. "I know you've got a history for slicing up people who rub you the wrong way." Ace only sneered at the powerful man. "Very funny Butchie, but I could say the same thing about you-"

"You better shut that damn mouth of yours before I shut it for you." Butch snarled, as he took a threatening step forwards towards the lanky, blood splattered man, only to get held back by Brick, who shook his head at his brother, before redirecting his attention back to Ace.

"Despite your… heroic's – you still disobeyed the curfew that was put in place. If it happens again, we won't hesitate to send you straight back to that hellhole penitentiary that you called home for the last four years or so." Brick threatened, grinning to himself as he watched the colour in Ace's face drain. He forced the sick smile back down and cleared his throat before addressing the pale man again.

"But lucky for you, I believe in second chances – so I'm going to let you off easy this time. You're going to clean our family crypt as punishment for ignoring curfew – no one's been in there for a while and I think that it could use a good cleaning." This time, he didn't hold back the grin that spread across his lips as he watched Ace's mouth drop open.

"You can't be serious."

"I am. Very serious in fact. I don't even want to think about how much dust is in there."

"I just got back from dropping that bleeding hunter guy off in town, had a run-in with those monsters that everyone's been going on about – and now you expect me to clean your damn crypt? I don't think so, look at me for Christ sake! I'm still covered in blood!"

Brick's red eyes flashed sinisterly and Ace instantly fell silent, his throat drying up as the muscular redhead stiffly made his way over to him. He stopped less than a foot away from the shade wearing man and glowered at him before muttering:

"I don't really give a damn if you're covered in blood or if you nearly got your head ripped off by those things in the woods. If I tell you to do something then you do it. I don't care how long it takes you to clean up that crypt, but you're going to stay there until it's done. Am I understood?"

"But-"

"You're dismissed Copular." Brick growled. "If you don't get out of my sight in the next two seconds, I'll find something else for you to do on top of cleaning the crypt"

The shade wearing man sighed as he gave the brothers a slight bow, before turning on his heel and taking off to the part of the mansion that led out to the outside terrace, near where the Jojo family crypt was located, muttering profanities under his breath the whole way.

Brick and Butch watched him go with narrowed eyes. Once they were sure that he was gone, Brick popped his neck ominously, and without taking his eyes off of where Ace had disappeared to, he murmured: "He's starting to ask too many questions."

"Yes, yes he is." Butch agreed with a hint of a smirk on his face.

"You know we'll have to kill him soon at this rate."

"Obviously – that's why I brought him here in the first place. He's expendable… and I hate him. Kill two birds with one stone."

Brick snorted at his raven-haired brothers reasoning, before he sobered up with a stern frown. "and of course we have another problem now: Mitch is still alive." Butch simply chuckled disbelievingly, "I can't believe it… half mauled, missing an arm and he's still alive… I gotta hand it to him, he's a resilient fucker."

"Yes but he's still alive." Brick repeated, only for Butch to pat him on the shoulder. "For now… you heard what Ace said: he was in pretty bad shape, and there's a good chance that he won't make it."

Brick sighed and scratched at his chin. "Well then let's hope he stays in critical condition then. If not – well… We're going to have to get to him before he says anything." He was quiet for a moment before he turned to Butch.

"So… those friends of Ace's, are they the part of the same gang that you dealt with before?"

"Without a doubt." Butch replied instantly. "I wasn't sure before because I didn't get a good look at them, but you saw how scared he got when I asked – it's definitely them."

Brick hummed, "Interesting. Still doesn't tell us why he was out so far away from town last night though – I don't buy his bullshit excuse for a second."

"I'd be more concerned about the rest of the gang." Butch muttered as he raked a hand though his thick, black mane. "They're around here somewhere. I have no idea what Ace is up to, but if he's called the whole gang here, then it's for something big. I don't like it."

"We'll have to keep a very close eye on him for the next little bit and see what he does." Brick agreed. "I'd have you do it, but then he's probably expecting that. Boomer's always been more subtle then you or I – I'll have him keep an eye on him for the next week or so – but for now, he's going to be too busy cleaning out that crypt to be able to go anywhere."

The brothers lapsed into silence as they continued to stare down the hall where Ace had disappeared down, nether moving, until Butch gently nudged Brick from behind. "How's your shoulder and chest?"

Brick winced as he stiffly moved his shoulder where Mitch had stabbed him, before peering down his shirt, only to cringe at the massive burn mark that was forming in the center of his chest from the silver. "Fine I guess. It burns but I'll live – the shoulder is going to take longer to repair itself – fucker just had to nail me in the same spot that he did last time." He grumbled sourly. "What about you? How are you holding up?"

"Fine. He didn't get the chance to throw silver at me. I feel like I'm in the best condition out of all of us." Butch replied. Brick hummed in agreement as he bitterly rubbed at his chest. Butch was quiet for a moment before he nodded his head in the direction that Ace had gone.

"So do tell, why are you getting him to clean up the crypt?" Butch asked, cocking a dark brow at his irritated older sibling.

"Because you heard dad: we have to lay low for the next few moons, and that means we're getting locked back up in the crypt again, just like we were when we were teens." Brick snapped back, watching as Butch's face darkened at the mention at their years of imprisonment.

"and if we have to get locked back up in that place again – I want it to be completely spotless." Brick finished with a huff, his lip curled slightly. "Also, I want to make him suffer for giving me lip."

"I don't get why he wants to lock us up in that place. We're not exactly the mindless beasts we were before… even if he doesn't know that yet…" Butch growled under his breath irritably.

"Because it's the last place where people will look if they decide they want to go searching for us." Brick sighed. "And I'm sure that at least one or two people will try… some people never learn."

"Are we ever going to tell him about… you know." Butch made a circle in the air with his fingers. Brick laughed, and Butch swore that he saw his brother's red irises flash black for a moment, before returning to their normal red.

"I think we'll let him figure that one out on his own." Brick chuckled darkly. "There are so many things about us that he doesn't know, it's almost comical."

"Yeah, like the real reason he was given us."

Brick stopped chuckling immediately and turned to give Butch a sharp glare. "Yes, well, he should have known that there would be certain drawbacks in playing God and making deals with the devil in order to do so. He'll reap what he sows soon enough – he knows that much at least."

"and the rest of the town?"

"Will suffer alongside him. Those miserable creatures deserve nothing less – besides, we're so close to accomplishing our mission here – what's a few more moons of waiting?"

"I'm pretty sure that dad knows about that Brick, how could he not? He supposedly made that pretty clear when he gave him us."

"Oh definitely. But I don't think that he cares. If he did, then he wouldn't have let us live past the age of eleven." Brick agreed with the hint of a smirk. "He wants to be hailed as a God of sorts. Too bad that's not going to happen."

"You know Boomer still isn't alright with this." Butch informed his older sibling as he crossed his arms over his barrel chest.

"Boomer doesn't have a fucking choice. This is what we were born for – we can't go against that." Brick sighed as he rubbed at his temples with one hand. "He just has to accept that. Besides, after our little 'pow-wow' in the basement – there's no going back – we're in it until the end."

"I think he's more concerned about what the girls are going to think of us." Butch muttered softly as he glanced up the massive staircase that led up to their bedrooms where Boomer was currently sleeping. "He's afraid that they'll hate us."

"They'll… they'll learn to accept it in time." Brick finally said after a pause, though he sounded uncertain. "Are you saying that because you know, or are you trying to convince yourself?" Butch asked in a low rumble.

"They'll accept it in time – we'll break it to them gently – just like we will about our current condition… We'll worry about that closer to the date…"

"It's probably going to be a lot sooner than that." Butch mumbled. "You know they've been looking desperately for answers… I wonder what their father's told them…"

"They'll find out when we're ready to tell them." Brick snapped. "Again, we'll do it gradually… so they don't have to take all of it in all at once."

"But will they really accept it?" Butch muttered as he glanced wearily at the front door.

"They'll have to, we're not giving them another alternative. They came back to us almost by coincidence and we're not going to let them go that easily, because let's face it: you and I both know that they're never leaving here again." Brick growled.

"and you're alright with that?" Butch questioned. "Are you going to let Buttercup go?" Brick fired back, watching as Butch's darkened to an inky black. "No." he answered curtly as the muscles in his jaw twitched.

"Though not." Brick grumbled, "Besides, they'll be safe with us… they were promised to us after all, we'll keep them safe from whatever comes."

"Brick-"

"I'm not going to talk about it anymore." The crimson eyed man shut the brutal male down. Glancing up the stairs he nodded towards them. "Go wake Boomer's ass up – we need to get him caught up on our Ace issue." Butch opened his mouth to protest, however the look his older brother shot him told him that he was leaving no room for arguing.

Butch slowly made his way up the stairs, only to turn around halfway up to face his weary looking brother. "You know Brick, we are going to have to talk about this at some point. We don't have much time left."

Brick only snorted as he slowly made his way towards the living room. "Trust me Butch, I know. Time is one thing that has never been on our side."

---

Bellum Manor – three days later

The girls sat in the manor's living room quietly – each focusing on a different activity.

Blossom had decided to pick up playing piano again, and was currently seated at the glossy black piano, playing a gentle melody on the polished keys – not wanting to disturb her sisters from what they were doing.

Bubbles on the other hand was absentmindedly playing a game of chess with herself – claiming that it helped her concentration, and that she wanted to beat Blossom the next time they played – but both of her sisters knew that the normally bubbly blond was desperately trying not to think about the horrific news that they had received earlier in the week.

Buttercup had barely said a word to anyone since the news about Mitch, and had instead, buried herself in the books she had read about Lycan's and other legends that were associated with the town – something that she normally did not do.

Usually, if she was stressed about anything, she would take her mind off of it by exerting herself physically with a solo game of soccer in the privacy of her fenced-in backyard in Citysville – away from prying eyes – however the severity of their situation had not put her in the mood to find a ball and play like she would normally. No, finding answers was far more important than her love of sports.

She flipped idly through the pages of her current book, all while listening to the soft chime of piano keys in the background. Normally the sound of Blossom playing had a relaxing effect on her, but it was currently doing nothing for her nerves. All she could think about was Mitch.

With a barely audible sigh, she shut her book and set it on her lap as she tried to recall what she had read. She had barely been able to concentrate on what the book's material was about while she was reading it, and shut her eyes momentarily as she tried to remember what it was that she had read on the tomes pages. When it didn't come to her, she let out an irritated snarl and flipped back to the page she was on – intent on reading it all again.

The sound of her sister's frustrated sigh made Bubbles pause from her solitary game of chess, and look up at her. She watched as Buttercup silently fume to herself as she aggressively flicked through book before settling on a page, and began to mutter angrily to herself as she skimmed through the text again. She sighed as she watched her raven-haired sibling infuriate herself further, before putting the chess pieces away, and stood up from her spot at the table so she could move towards the couch that Buttercup was occupying.

She placed a gentle hand on her shoulder – causing the darker girl to flinch at the contact, and whirled around to face her – an almost blank look written on her face. "Can I help you?" Bubbles shook her head. "You've been on edge today… more so than usual always." She stated nonchalantly as Buttercup opened her mouth to protest. "Your muttering to a book that can't respond to you, so I know that something is irking you."

At that, the soft sounds of the piano stopped as Blossom turned around on the bench to face her younger siblings. "Bubbles has a point." The elder Utonium pointed out gently as Buttercup scowled at her. "That and you never read when you're in a mood – not that I mind the change," she added quickly, "It's just, whenever you're stressed about something, you're usually kicking a ball around, and I haven't seen you do that yet."

Buttercup grumbled to herself as she sat up straight on the couch and tossed the book she had been trying to re-read to the side, as she put her head in her hands, running her fingers through her thick dark mane. "I'm a little too preoccupied to find a ball right now." She admitted. "I'm more concerned about finding out answers to what the hell those things are and what they want with you two."

"and you think the answers lie in there?" Blossom asked as nodded at the book that Buttercup had tossed aside. She stood up from the bench and picked the book up gently from its spot on the couch. Studying the cover, she opened it and flipped through a few pages. "Tales of Mythological Beasts and Lore", where did you even find this?"

"It was mixed in with the miscellaneous novels in here." Buttercup shrugged uncaringly as she gestured to the wall of books on the other side of the room. "It's the only one I could find pertaining to… Well… Werewolves and the like. Figured it would be a good as place as any to start there and see what I could find."

"You don't say." Blossom muttered as she skimmed through the pages. "I don't suppose this is where you found that rhyme is it?"

"Page two hundred and eight." Buttercup responded automatically as she leaned back into the couch. "The whole chapter is dedicated to Lycan's. it compiles a bunch of different lore's surrounding them… It's helpful… somewhat, but it's also incredibly cryptic and vague. It doesn't go into detail and explain any of the lore behind the stories or how they came to be, so it's anyone's guess as to what's supposedly real and what's not."

"I see." Blossom relied distractedly as she came across an illustration of a massive bipedal wolf depowering a horrified man. She delicately traced the picture before shuddering and turning the page.

Those wolfish features… the massive teeth… the claws… those eyes… those eyes burned into her very soul. They were red… so red… red like blood…

Blossom closed the book and set it down next to Buttercup on the couch. Any doubts that she had had previously about what the creatures were had been eliminated. She now had no doubts in her mind: Those were the same creatures that at stalked her and her sisters that night in the woods.

The same beast that had pinned her down and had sunk its teeth into her-

She shook her head frantically and crossed her arms across her chest so her sister couldn't see her hands shake. She couldn't think about that. She had to be strong for her sisters. They had to get to the bottom of how to stop those things and what they wanted with them.

Buttercup looked up at her older sister, and observed her as she chewed the inside of her cheek. "Blossom, are you alright?"

"Fine, just thinking." The auburn-haired girl replied distractedly. "… those things… they are not natural creatures… Did the book say anything about… well, the curse they have? Or what hurts them?"

Buttercup shrugged. "Aside from the one that we're all familiar with? The one about the bites turning you into a werewolf? No – that's the only one I could find that was associated with them. However, some of the legends that I read about in there mentioned that silver burns them. Something about the similar qualities of the moon reflected in the silver that burns them, or something of the like."

"Truthfully, I'm still worried that Blossom and I are going to turn into… you know." Bubbles whimpered as she clutched at her healed arm, before her eyes widened in horror. "Oh god, what if Mitch turns into one? He got bitten so many times! What if he turns into one while he's still in the hospital, and they kill him!?"

"I don't know if the legend about the bites turning you into a werewolf is true or not." Buttercup finally sighed. "I mean, you two didn't turn into werewolves and that was more than a month ago." She glanced out the window, "I don't think we have to worry about Mitch turning into one… providing that he actually makes it to next month."

She hung her head, almost as if it weighed too much for her neck to support. Bubbles gaze softened as she took in the sight of her normally hard-headed sister looking so worn out. She gently reached out and cupped her sister head in her hands, cradling it softly, as she made the lime eyed girl look her in the eye.

"He will Butters, have faith. He's strong. If he could survive the initial attack then he can pull though this. He's got the best doctors around these parts looking after him. He'll make it, you'll see."

Buttercup shot the blonde girl a weak smile. "I know, thanks Bubbles." Something in the dark-haired girls lime eyes hardened, as she shifted her gaze away from Bubbles. The blonde frowned and tried to meet her eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked worriedly. "You can talk to us Buttercup, we're all in the same situation – there's no need to hide anything. If something is bothering you, you can tell us. We're in no position to judge."

Buttercup flicked her gaze towards Bubbles and saw the sincerity in her sister's eyes. The blonde shot her an encouraging smile and Blossom gently squeezed her shoulder. "Let us in Buttercup." She murmured firmly. "It's not healthy to keep all of it bottled up." That seemed to be all the encouragement the girl needed before she let out a defeated sigh.

"I don't know Bubs… it's just that nothing makes sense anymore… everything we think we know is wrong. We have more questions then we have answers and I-" she paused, before letting her head fall again. "I'm just so lost… I want to find answers for us, but it's proving next to impossible. I don't even know where to start…"

Her eyes became flinty as she stopped herself. "Actually, yes I do." She looked up at her sisters and both girls looked at each other briefly before sighing in sync. "The boys?" Bubbles asked her, but it sounded closer to a statement then an actual question. Buttercup nodded, confirming what both girls were thinking.

"Exactly. They have to know something. It's unlikely that they don't. How could they not? Bubbles, you overheard them mentioning that they wanted to help Mitch track down the Lycan's – they have to know something about where those things are hiding!"

"I mean… maybe." Bubbles shrugged helplessly. "I'm pretty sure I overheard them saying something about helping Mitch hunt them down – but say that you're right, and the boys do actually know where they're hiding… it makes me wonder what else do they know-"

The sound of someone hitting the door knocker against the front door ricocheted through the house, and made her stiffen where she was standing. "Oh, now who could that be?" She muttered as she slowly turned in the direction of the hallway, twisting the ends of her hair worriedly. "… I don't want to answer it." she whispered, as the sound of their father's footsteps echoed throughout the house – more than likely heading for the door. "The last two times were bad enough…"

Blossom nodded tensely before moving towards the door. "We should still see who it is – it could be important." She tacked on as she noticed her sister's hesitant expressions. Bubbles cast a look between her and Buttercup before nodding in defeat and shuffled towards Blossom, who nodded encouraging, before looking expectantly at Buttercup, who took it as her cue to rise off of the couch.

Buttercup nudged them towards the hallway. "Go, I'm going to put this away so that dad doesn't find it." she gestured to the heavy tome beside her. "I'll catch up with you two in a second." Blossom nodded as she took Bubbles by the hand. "Alright, come on then Bubbles – let's see who it is this time."

"Not another policeman I hope, or a half-dead boy." Bubbles muttered as she allowed Blossom to escort her out of the living room, leaving Buttercup behind to put away the book she was reading. Blossom winced at the blonde girl's statement and shook her head. "Something tells me it won't be the case this time." She looked at Bubbles with a tiny frown adorning her lips, and gave the blue-eyed girls thin wrist a gentle squeeze, catching her attention.

"What you were saying back there… about the boys possibly withholding information on where the beast's whereabouts are… was there something else that you wanted to say?" she asked as she lead them towards the front door.

Bubbles looked unsure as she and Blossom headed to the front door. "All I'm saying is that, if the boys know things about the Lycan's, and they haven't disclosed that information yet, doesn't that make them… I don't know… suspicious to a degree? It just makes me nervous… I don't know if I'd be up for seeing them again so soon if that ends up being the case." She admitted softly. "I'd like to see Boomer, don't get me wrong – but what if Buttercup's suspicions are correct and they were somehow involved in what happened to Mitch?"

She brought a hand up to trace the hidden bite mark underneath the sleeve of her dress. "I just don't know if I could be around someone who was possibly partially involved, or at least knew of information that could have prevented an attack of that caliber."

Blossom shrugged as she guested behind them where Buttercup had re-appeared, and was now trailing slightly behind them. "I don't know Bubbles, but Buttercup does bring up a good point – right now, they're our best shot at getting some form of answers." She reluctantly admitted. "Because I won't lie, I'm getting sick and tired of everyone withholding things from us. We have a right to know what's really going on around here."

Bubbles nodded finally as all three girls entered the foyer, only to see their father ushering in a burly man, clad in an expensive white suit and a fur coat – who they immediately recognized as Kingston Morbucks.

"Ah Kingston! What a surprise, I wasn't expecting to see you today, how are you? What can I do for you?" the girls heard they father ask, as he ushered his patron into the house and out of the biting cold outside.

"Well John, I was just taking a stroll around town, and was overseeing the work that was being done on that property I purchased on the other half of town, and I thought that I would drop in and see how you and your family was doing." The larger man rumbled as he kicked some of the excess snow off his boots, before looking around him and noticing the girls standing behind him.

"Ah hello girls! Hope you don't mind me dropping in uninvited, do you?" he asked as Blossom shook her head, giving him a polite curtsy. "Not at all Mr. Morbucks. We're honored to have you in our home." Kingston nodded, pleased with the response, as he jerked his thumb at her while addressing John. "I've always liked her, she's always had the best manners out of any young lady her age that I've met."

"Yeah, Princess could do to learn a thing or two from you." Buttercup muttered behind Blossom, causing her to elbow her sister in the ribs as Kingston looked over at them again. "Ah there you are Buttercup, I didn't see you back there, did you say something?"

"No sir, nothing." Buttercup quickly responded as she flashed him the fakest looking smile that Blossom and Bubbles had ever seen, only to roll her eyes sarcastically as Kingston redirected his attention back to John.

"Speaking of, how is the construction on that manor that you purchased going?" John asked politely. "Slower than I would like, however it is the winter season and I will admit that the conditions here are for worse than they are back home in Citysville." Kingston admitted. "That and it doesn't help the fact that the manor was quite decrepit. It looks like no one's lived in it for a very long time." He mused as he stroked his beard.

"If you're referring to the one on the North side then no – that manor's been sitting empty for years. It was abandoned back when the girls were first born, and I don't think that anyone has lived there since." John informed him. "But good for you for cleaning it up – it was a beautiful property, and I'd like to see it restored back to its former glory."

Kingston nodded good-naturedly. "Yes, it will look much more desirable once it's fixed. I think it will make a fine summer home for me and my family. Living in the city can be so stressful sometimes, you know John?"

"Fantastic, I suppose we'll be seeing Princess around here a lot more often if that's the case then, huh Blossom?" Bubbles whispered into her ear, as the rose eyed girl winced, but said nothing in response.

"-Actually John there was a reason that I came here today." Kingston said abruptly as he snapped his fingers, causing John to raise an eyebrow. "Oh? Well then by all means, what can I help you with?"

"Lord Mojo." The red bearded man said curtly. "As you know, I've been meaning to meet with him for a little while now – ever since you mentioned to me that he was your former lab partner, actually." His rounded face darkened for the briefest of moments, catching the girls by surprise. "I heard that my darling Prinny didn't have a very good time when she went up there last time with you and miss Blossom."

"Oh… yes… Princess mentioned that something had happened on the way back…" John muttered. "I wasn't quite sure what exactly had transpired though-"

"Well according to my Prinny, one of Mojo's sons insulted her, or something of the like." Kingston informed him gruffly. "Simply unacceptable behavior from a lord of his status I say. I'd like to talk to his father concerning an apology if you don't mind."

"She probably deserved it." Bubbles muttered lowly in Blossoms ear, as the ginger haired girl stiffed a tiny snort in agreement.

"Well, I agree, it was out of line for him to do that." John nodded slowly as he brought out his pipe and lit it – a nervous habit he had developed when he was put on the spot. "I suppose the next time I go up to see him I could mention to him that you want to have an audience with him, I'm sure he wouldn't mind much-"

"Why don't we all take a little trip up there to this estate of theirs?" Kingston supplied, a little too cheerfully. "I'm sure that your daughters wouldn't mind getting out of the house for a few hours, and I've got nothing better to do today. I'm rather interested in paying this elusive man a visit myself."

Blossom and Bubbles visually paled at the suggestion.

"O-oh… do you mean today at some point?" Bubbles laughed nervously as she began to twist the ends of her hair again. "I don't know Mr. Morbucks, I don't really think my sisters and I are exactly… wanting to go up there today-"

"Actually, I think that a trip to the mansion would be a good idea."

Blossom and Bubbles both whirled around to look behind them at Buttercup in astonishment. "Are you feeling alight Buttercup?" Blossom finally managed to choke out, only for Buttercup to raise a dark brow at her in response. "Perfectly fine Bloss. I mean it – I think a trip up there is a good idea. Kingston is right: it'll get us out of the house for a bit."

"But you don't even like going up there because of the boy-" Bubbles started to protest, only for Buttercup to shoot her a sharp glare that caused the words to die on her tongue.

"Normally yes, but I think that they might have something for us." Buttercup flicked her eyes towards the concealed bite on Bubbles's upper arm. The golden-haired girl followed her sister's gaze to her arm before looking back at her older sister with a small amount of panic in her sky blue eyes.

"What are you doing?" she mouthed as she shuffled slightly closer to the ebony haired girl, so that their shoulders were brushing. "We're getting answers, and the boys have them." Buttercup muttered lowly back before looking over at Blossom, seeking confirmation. After a moment of hesitation, the rose orbed woman slowly nodded – silently agreeing to go along with whatever Buttercup was planning.

Bubbles hesitantly looked over at her lime eyed sister before turning back around to look give their father a weak smile. "I think Buttercup has a point papa. It would be nice to leave the house for a little while… it might take our minds off of… what happened to Mitch…"

John shot his youngest daughter a surprised look. "Are you sure darling? A minute ago you seemed opposed to the idea-"

"What's this I hear about Mitch? That's the young lad whose job is hunting big game correct?"

The girls and John turned towards Kingston who had raised an eyebrow expectantly. John sighed and ran a hand though his slightly disheveled black mane. "That would be him yes."

"You'll have to forgive me John, it would appear that I'm slightly out of the loop on this matter, what exactly happened to him?"

John stiffened. He still hadn't told his employer about the horrors that were happening to the small farming town and its inhabitants. Casting a fleeting look at his daughters, he quickly made up his mind that he would have to let the large, red-bearded man in on the madness.

"Well, you see Kingston-" he began nervously, unsure of how his employer would react to what he was about to tell him. "The reason why my family and I came back to Townsville in the first place was because of my brother's murder, but after we arrived… I found out the nature of his death and how he died…" John's face became somber as he looked Kingston in the eye. "This may seem farfetched or hard to believe, but there is something lurking in the woods around Townsville that is responsible for my brother's death, not to mention quite a few others too."

"Oh I already know that there's something causing mischief around this town." Kingston waved away the salt and pepper haired man's meek explanation away. "I've read the papers, I could figure that much out for myself. The murders that this town has seen are quite… gruesome. The question is what are they?" He swept his dark gaze over John's lanky form. "You're the smartest man of them all John, I would imagine that you must have some sort of idea about what they are by now."

John paused as he considered whether or not to tell Kingston about the Lycan's. He knew that he would have to hell his business partner about them eventually, but he had been hoping to tell him when Mitch was with him – so that the young man could act as a witness who could back up his wild claims.

John sighed. Kingston was bound to find out eventually anyways. If he was going to tell the large man the truth, he wanted to do it in the privacy of his own home – away from listening ear – that way no one would be able to call him a lunatic. After all – he was well aware of how insane his explanation was going to sound to an outsider like Kingston. The only bright side was that at least his daughters were here with him, and they already knew the terrible truth. Since Mitch was unable to help him explain the truth, maybe his daughters could persuade the red-bearded man if he didn't believe him.

"I… Well, yes, you could say that." The old scientist muttered. "I started to compile evidence after I saw my brother's body. The wounds that the creature- or should I say creatures inflected on him, were unlike any normal animal that was common around these parts. The wounds were unlike any animal attack that I've ever seen before – canine in appearance and shape, but far too large to be a regular wolf – and yet too sharp and deep to belong to a bear."

"My word John, these beasts sound monstrous." Kingston muttered as he adjusted the fur cape around his shoulders. "Perhaps we shouldn't discuss the matter around these lovely young ladies-"

"It's quite alright Kingston, they already know." John said, as he cast his daughters a sad look, as he puffed on his pipe. "I couldn't keep it from them forever. They deserved to know… actually it was Mitch himself who finally convinced me to tell them." He let out a groan. "All the more reason why I wanted him with me when I finally told Mojo – one could say that he's the 'expert' on what these things are."

"Well what exactly are they?" Kingston asked as he stroked his beard. "I could gather from what I've read in the newspapers that they… well... aren't exactly your regular animal, so what are they?"

John sucked in deeply on his pipe and blew out a cloud of blue-tinted smoke as he tried to calm himself. This was it: the moment of truth. It was time to see if Kingston would truly accept his insane claims.

"Well, ah… it's kind of unbelievable, what I'm about to tell you – but hear me out, because I do have evidence to support my claims – Mitch has provided me with plenty of that…" John coughed nervously as he inhaled too much tobacco, prompting Kingston to roll his beady eyes and slap him repeatedly on the back.

"John, I'm starting to grow a little tired of you beating around the bush here. Just come out and say it man, how bad could it possibly be?"

"IHAVEREASONTOBELIEVETHATTHEBEASTSTHATAREATTACKINGTOWNSVILLEARELYCANS." John blurted out in one breath, breathing heavily as he inhaled a minute of Tobacco and oxygen. Kingston was silent for a few moments as he struggled to process what his scientist had said.

The girls waited anxiously for his reaction, as their father shifted his weight from one foot to the other – nervously fiddling with his pipe as he waited for the white clad man to digest the rush of information.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Kingston raised his index finger as confusion spread across his rounded features. "I caught Lycan? As in… werewolf Lycan?" he narrowed his eyes. "You're not suggesting that it's a werewolf, are you John?"

John hung his head in shame. Of course it would have been too much to expect for Kingston Morbucks to believe his wild claims. He even knew how insane they sounded. He didn't know why he would have thought that the most wealthy and prominent businessman in the city would believe him-

"Well… that's a bit of a stretch, but if you and this Mitch lad truly believe that those creatures are what the beasts really are… Well… I suppose I can get behind it."

John's head shot up at Kingston's words. He searched the larger man's face to see if he was kidding, only to see that he looked surprisingly sincere.

"Wait, you believe me?!" John sputtered around his pipe – almost dropping it as his jaw went slack.

"Well I know you John, and I know that you are a man who sticks to the facts, and only facts. So, for you to come out and say that you think it could be a creature that technically shouldn't even exist… well… I'm sure you have valid proof to back up what you're saying. I doubt you would just pull something like that out of thin air."

"I do, I do – Mitch helped me bring some of the facts to light!" John agreed. "I don't suppose you've heard of the gypsy massacre?" Kingston nodded. "I was there the night it happened… I saw those things, and witnessed firsthand what they were capable of doing – but I wasn't sure what exactly they were… It was only when Mitch ended up fighting them face to face a month later, that I finally got some insight as to what they were."

"I see." Kingston nodded his head thoughtfully. "So then how did the two of you come to the conclusion that the monsters were… werewolves?"

"When Mitch took a group of hunters into the woods in an effort to kill them last month, he got a very good look at them." John admitted as he snuffed out his pipe. "He could tell immediately that they weren't normal creatures… obviously… in fact-" John paused. How much did he tell Kingston about the gypsy's that he went to see? For now, the less he knew about them, the better he deemed.

"Ironically enough, Mitch actually went to see the same gypsy's that I did, and they both told us the same thing." John shook his head. "I should have listened to them the first time, but could you blame me? It sounded too surreal… I don't know how they knew exactly, but they did…"

"Interesting…" Kingston mused thoughtfully. "Does Mojo know?" John cringed.

"No… Not yet, I planned on telling him next time I went to see him – which would have been this week at some point. But to be quite honest with you, I'm dreading it." he admitted. "Mojo is… difficult to handle on a good day, and well… he isn't the most agreeable person to work with. I know that he won't believe me when I tell him this, which is why I wanted to take Mitch with me – to help me explain it to him. Honestly I'm surprised that you're even taking me seriously on this." Kingston merely waved him away.

"Like I said: I know that you're a credible man John. I know that you would only come up with an answer like that if there was no other explanation. I'm willing to believe in you for that account."

That and if you are indeed correct – then I wouldn't mind taking a little look at these beasties myself. The larger man thought to himself as he rubbed his hands together gleefully.

"Besides, that's all the more reason that we all take a ride up to this estate right now! This is important news after all – and while we're there, you can introduce me to this former partner of yours." Kingston beamed. "I've heard so much about him recently and I'm just dying to finally meet him."

"O-oh, you mean… go there… as in right now?" John squeaked, copying Bubbles's reaction only moments ago. "I don't know about that, usually I write to him and inform him that I'm coming to pay him a visit… he might have plans today-"

"Based on what you've told me, I'm going to assume that he doesn't leave his estate very much." Kingston cut in unapologetically. "My guess is that he's still there, and its only early afternoon now anyways. What could he possibly be doing that's of importance right now?"

"Well I mean, I suppose we could go see what Mojo is doing…" John sighed. "I'll have to go to the sables and tell the barn keeps to get a coach ready for us though-"

"Nonsense John we can just take mine, how do you think I got here?" Kingston boomed, as he stepped aside, allowing John to see out on the walkway. Sure enough, there was a massive ornate carriage, pulled by a team of four horses, complete with a driver. John shook his head inwardly – leave it to Kingston to arrive in style regardless of where he was.

"Ah… well, alright then. Girls? Would you like to come along?" John asked. Bubbles sighed lightly as she caught the look that Buttercup was giving her. "Well… I suppose so yes-"

"Perfect, grab your shoes and coats loves, we don't want to keep the coachman waiting then." John replied as he dug into the closet adjacent to the door, and began to pass them their coats. Kingston chuckled at his scientist's flustered disposition. "I'll be in the carriage waiting then." He winked as he slipped out of the house.

"I hope you know what you're doing Buttercup." Bubbles muttered as she bent down to lace up her boots beside her sisters. Buttercup only sighed as she fastened her traveling cloak around her shoulders.

"Me to Bubbles, me too."

---

Jojo Estate

"Good lord! So, you're telling me that Mojo owns all of this property?"

"Yes, everything past this point belongs to Mojo."

"Unbelievable! The man might own just as much land as I do!" Kingston boomed as he pressed his face up against the frost covered glass of the carriage – taking in the barren, snow-covered hills that surrounded them on both sides, as the carriage made its way towards the ice-covered mansion.

The girls sat in silence beside their father in the carriages plush interior – neither of the three truly looking forward to this visit. Finally, Bubbles tapped her father on the shoulder, resulting in him lowering his head down to meet hers. "What if Mojo isn't home?" John sighed. "Unfortunately, Kingston had a point when he said that Mojo doesn't leave his estate much." He told the platinum haired girl softly. "He's more than likely still there."

Bubbles hummed as she watched the decrepit mansion slowly come into view. She flinched as the carriage passed the stone wolf statues. When she had first seen them, she thought that they had looked amazing – now… they looked downright terrifying.

The carriage pulled up in front of the massive double door and the group exited the carriage one by one. Kingston cracked his back and chuckled as he took in the sight of the mansion looming above them. "Extraordinary. This must have been in his family for a fair amount of time." He gestured to the mansion and the gardens surrounding it. John nodded.

"I believe Mojo told me at one point that it has been in his family for the last five generations. It got passed down to him with both of his parents died." Kingston nodded approvingly as he began to climb the icy stone steps. "Well he's a lucky man then. I'm very interested to meet the man who owns all of this."

"Yes well, I need to warn you again that Mojo is… well, foreign… and… just… don't comment on his height, whatever you do." John muttered as he reached for the door knocker. Kingston eyebrow rose. "Alright, whatever for?"

John bit the inside of his cheek. "You'll see." He muttered as he knocked on the door. There was absolute silence from inside the household and John frowned. "That's odd, normally he's very good at answering his door." He muttered as he tried the handle, only to find that the front door was unlocked. Kingston clapped him on the back. "Well done John my boy! Now let's go inside before these nasty winter winds carry us off."

"I don't think we should just walk in there uninvited." John protested as Kingston entered the household. "Mojo is very peculiar about-"

"Nonsense John, he knows you, we'll be fine. Besides, do you want your daughters to freeze out there?" Kingston asked from inside the house. John sighed as he looked back at his daughters, who were shivering from the cold as the winds blew their cloaks around their slender frames.

"Girls, in the house." The three didn't need to be told twice as they bustled in past their father, leaving John to close the door behind them with a loud slam that rattled the insides of the house.

"My god this place is fantastic." Kingston commented as he took in the grand interior, while John and the girls put away their cloaks in the large closet next to the doors. "All of this ornate design must be from the 1700's or possibly late 1600's since you said that this has been in his family for five generations. It's absolutely extraordinary-"

"INTRUDERS! HOW DARE YOU ENTER THE HOUSEHOLD OF MOOOOJOOO JOJO WITHOUT PERMISSION! YOU ARE TRESPASSING ON PRIVATE PROPERTY, NOW GO, SCRAM, VAMOOSE, BEFORE I SICK THE HOUNDS ON Y-ou?"

Mojo barreled into the foyer, waving what looked like a fencing sword in his hand, only to notice John and the girls standing in front of him – looking alarmed. The shorter man coughed in embarrassment as he trailed off and gently put the sword on a nearby table. "Oh… hello everyone. I wasn't expecting to see any of you today." He greeted them as he calmly strode towards them.

"That's Mojo Jojo?" Kingston hissed as he elbowed John in the ribs. John nodded. "I warned you that he probably wasn't going to be anything like what you were expecting." John muttered back as he moved forward to greet his old lab partner.

"Well I can tell that he's ah... foreign." Kingston hissed under his breath as he took in the short little man with a thick accent, who looked more like an ape then a man.

"Well John, I will admit that this is quite the surprise." Mojo said as he shook hands with the taller man. "But it's not unwelcome I suppose."

"Sorry Mojo, your door was unlocked." The salt and pepper haired man replied with a slight shrug. "Why didn't you answer your door?"

"If you really must know, I was using the washroom, but it would appear to me that I can't even do that nowadays without people letting themselves into my home." Mojo grumbled under his breath, as he retracted his hand and looked behind him at Kingston. "Who might this be?"

Kingston suck out his ring encrusted hand for Mojo to shake. "Kingston Morbucks – John's patron back home, at your service." He smiled far too broadly, as he all but towered over the ape-like man. "I've been wanting to meet you for quite some time now actually."

Mojo looked at the hand that was offered to him, but didn't make any move to take it, causing Kingston to pull his hand back after a moment with a slight frown. "Ah yes… I had heard that a man by the name of Morbuck's had come to town not too long ago, and had purchased property in town. I had a feeling we would meet soon enough."

Kingston nodded, "Well yes, but how did you know-"

"My sources around town tell me these things." Mojo interrupted with a cool smile. "I am the reigning lord of Townsville after all, I know much."

John sucked on his teeth as he watched the exchange between Mojo and Kingston take place. He could already feel the ice slowly start to build up between them, and could already tell that neither powerhouse would get along with the other. Just as well though, he had expected it.

"So now then, John." Mojo turned to him, looking up at his expectantly, "Why exactly have you and your patron come to pay me a visit on such short notice?"

"Well, I have some new to share with you about the attacks." John said, doing his best not to break eye contact with the shorter man. "It news I've been meaning to share with you for a while now, I just haven't been able to… find the proper way to tell you-"

"and I also have some thing's I want to discuss with you about." Kingston cut in. "It's concerning the time that my daughter came to your household with John and Miss Blossom over there."

Mojo regarded the fur clad man for a moment before a secretive smile speak across his lips, revealing teeth that looked too sharp to belong in a human mouth. "Yes… I remember her… such a… charming girl she was… I have things I wish to discuss with you on that matter as well then."

Mojo peered past him to look at the girls – as if he had just noticed they were there. "Hello my sweets, it is always so nice to see your smiling faces around this household." Blossom quickly curtsied as he addressed them. "Oh no, my lord, the pleasure is all ours. Thank you for inviting us in on such short notice." Mojo cracked a small smile at her as he returned her bow.

"I doubt that you will want to hear us old men talk, I shall call my sons for you." He told her as he turned his head to call over his shoulder to call up the stairs, "BOYS! COME DOWN HERE AT ONCE – YOU HAVE SOME VISITORS."

There was a slight shuffling sound from the floor above them, followed by the sounds of pained groans, as the sound of heavy footsteps slowly dragged themselves towards the grand stairwell, before three different sets of legs slowly made their way down the stairs – their top halves becoming visible a second later. A massive man with ebony hair descended the stairs first, rubbing at his eyes tiredly with one hand, followed closely by two other boys – one with freshly cut auburn hair, and the last one with soft blonde hair.

"God, dad, what do you want? I swear to god if it's one of those merchants from town again, I'm going to- Oh, Butterbabe… what are you doing here?!"

The man stopped in the middle of his rant as he caught sight of the middle sister. Blossom turned around just in time to see a bright red flush spread across her sister cheeks like wildfire, before it disappeared as quickly as it came. The brute quickly descended the stairs along with his brothers and came to stand just behind his father – not bothering to try and hide the wild grin on his face as stared at the smaller girl across from him along with his brothers.

Kingston's eyes lit up as he saw the boys. "Ah… so these must be your sons." And the brats who had the nerve to insult my daughter. He added to himself with a growl, only for his dark eyes to widen as he took in the sight of the boys standing next to their father.

The first thing he noticed was that the boys… really looked nothing like their father. Mojo was stout – barely reaching five feet – and had long, large arms much like an ape, while his sons all stood at well over six feet and were incredibly well built – if not dead looking.

"Kingston, meet my triplets: my eldest Brick," he pointed to the man with the… most unnatural red eyes that he had ever seen in his life. "my middle son, Butch," the tallest and broadest of the boys with midnight black hair grunted at him. "and my youngest, Boomer." The lean blonde with the darkest blue eyes that he had ever seen on another person at least had the decency to offer him a small wave.

Mojo caught the baffled look on Kingston's face, and rolled his eyes. "They take after their mother's side in appearance before you ask… thankfully."

"You're triplets, you say?" Kingston asked hesitantly, as he received nods of confirmation from the three boys. "My goodness, you really don't look anything like each other."

"Well neither to the girls, but you don't see anyone giving them shit about it." Butch responded gruffly as he jutted his chin out at them with a sarcastic smirk on his face, which only grew bigger as Kingston recoiled slightly from his word choice.

"Well… I suppose not… I'm just used to seeing them…" he sputtered. "I know that they have a rare condition, I just didn't expect to find another set of triplets with the same… condition, I suppose."

"We're one of a kind." Boomer replied with a hint of a grin, as Kingston shuffled his weight from one foot to the other. He didn't like the look that the blonde man was giving him… it looked… hungry…

"Well then, I will let the six of you catch up, or whatever it is that you children do." Mojo huffed, beckoning for John and Kingston to follow him as he took off down one of the dark hallways behind him. "We can discuss these matters in my office. We won't be disturbed there."

John followed after Kingston as the shorter man led them away from the young adults. "If you need me, don't hesitate to call for me." He told them sternly as he walked off, leaving the girls alone with the boys. As soon as he was gone,

"I'm glad you three could join us this afternoon." Brick addressed the girls politely – redirecting their attention onto him. "You'll have to forgive us if we're slightly sluggish today, we're still recovering from a fever."

Buttercup's eyes narrowed slightly. "Another one?"

Brick paused slightly as his blood red orbs shifted in her direction, before nodding stiffly at her. "Yes unfortunately so. This winter is a particularly cold one this year and my brothers and I don't have the best immune systems I suppose one could say." Somewhere behind him, Brick heard Butch snort from his poor excuse.

"Odd, you and your brothers seem to get sick once every month." Buttercup stated nonchalantly as she briefly examined her cuticles. "Are you sure that it's just bad immune systems?"

Brick felt himself stiffen with the ravenette's monotone question, and didn't have to look behind him to see that Butch and Boomer had frozen too. Just what was the feisty ink-haired woman playing at…?

"Yes, I'm sure, we've had multiple doctors tell us so." Brick lied smoothly. "It really is a pain however. It hinders us from having company such as you three over more often. We wouldn't want you three to catch what we have." Brick responded, watching as Buttercup's face remained impassive before nodding once and redirected her attention back down to her feet. The redhead frowned. Something was bothering the normally fiery green eyed woman. She wasn't normally so withdrawn.

He shot Butch a look out of the corner of his eye: Find out what it is. Butch nodded his head slightly in response – letting him know that he understood.

With a grin, the barrel-chested man strode forward and grasped one of her smaller hands in his larger one. "Come on Sunshine, let's go for a walk. I haven't seen my favorite girl for almost two weeks, I missed you!"

"What the- release me you giant!" Buttercup screeched indignantly, as Butch all but yanked her away from her sisters. Butch only smirked back at the remaining four siblings. "We're going to go for a walk – catch up on a few things – we'll be back later."

"God, why must you drag me everywhere every time we meet up? I'm more then capable of following you without your help." Buttercup snapped only for Butch let out a laugh in response as he tugged her down an adjacent hallway, and out of her sister's sights – her protests becoming fainter and fainter the farther down the hallway they went, until they couldn't hear her at all.

Boomer sighed as he shot the remaining girls an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, he gets overly excited sometimes, but he means well." He turned to Bubbles with a soft smile as he extended his arm to her. "Well milady, would you like to take a walk with me?" Bubbles couldn't help but giggle at his antics as she laced her arm with his. "Why yes, don't mind if I do." She looked back at Blossom. "You don't mind if I do, right Blossom?"

"No that's fine, go ahead." Blossom nodded, granting her permission to leave with the taller male. "I'm sure Brick and I will find something to do here in the meantime. Go have fun."

Besides, out of all of all three of them, I'm pretty sure that Boomer is the least dangerous. Blossom thought to herself privately. Truthfully, Boomer was the Jojo brother that she had the least issues with, and didn't necessarily mind her youngest sister going off with him. Brick and Butch were a little more troublesome.

Bubbles smiled at her. "I doubt we'll go far, right Boomer?"

"Right, I was thinking that I could show you some of the drawing rooms this time around. You still like to draw, don't you?"

Blossom noticed a change in her blue eyes sister's expression at his words, and she nodded. "Actually, about that, there's something I've been meaning to ask you, and I'm hoping that you'll be able to give me an answer."

Boomer nodded as he began to escort her way from the reds. "Of course, hopefully I'll be able to help." He nodded at his brother. "I'll see you later."

"Behave." Brick snorted as Boomer sneered at him in response as he led Bubbles through the same set of doors that their father, Mojo and Kingston had gone through, and disappeared from sight.

Blossom couldn't help but stiffen as they left her alone with Brick – the conversation that she had with Bubbles before they came here had put her on edge. She turned to face the crimson eyed man – carefully searching his handsome face – looking for any cracks in his façade – if he even had one, that is.

No, he and his brothers couldn't have known about what was going to happen to Mitch. Could they?

Brick smirked at her and Blossom couldn't help but feel her insides twist. Whether it was from the slight attraction that she held for him or nerves – she couldn't tell.

"and then there were two babe, and then there were two."

---

"You know I'm all for surprises, but I wish that you've have given me a little more warning that you were going to come for a visit today – otherwise I'd have tried to look a little more presentable." Boomer laughed lightly as he guided Bubbles down the hallway where the three adults before them had gone.

"Sorry about that." She reasoned airily with an apologetic smile. "We… weren't going to come up today, so this came as a bit of a surprise to us too. Mr. Morbucks decided that he wanted to take an impulse trip up here and meet your father in person, and daddy can't say no to him per say."

"Right, because he's your father patron, right?" Boomer asked. Bubbles nodded. "He funds my father's experiments, so we try and be extra polite to him – that includes his daughter, Princess."

"I figured as much. I only saw Princess for a few minutes when she came here with your sister and father last time, but I can honestly say that I'm not a fan." He laughed. "Don't tell her father I said that though." That got a genuine laugh out of her. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me – we're not either."

Boomer barked out a laugh as they passed a large set of double doors. Bubbles strained to hear what they were saying, only to make out the words "Completely unacceptable behavior coming from him-" coming from within the room. She winced sympathetically - already figuring out what the issue they were discussing was, and who Kingston was talking about. Boomer nodded to the doors."That's my father's study, there's a really nice drawing room just past it. We can talk there."

Bubbles nodded silently as they came to the end of the hall and stopped in front of the last door on the left. She was still a little nervous about being on her own with him. After what she and her sisters had discussed earlier, she felt uneasy about coming to the estate – much less trying to find answers to the nagging questions that had been bothering them after hearing what had happened to Mitch.

She shook her head as Boomer released her arm to open the door. It was too bad about what had happened to Mitch, but she had some questions of her own that she wanted answers to.

Like that dream that she had the last full moon.

Bubbles frowned. Was it a dream or a memory from her past? She couldn't be sure. All she knew was that she couldn't stop thinking about it ever since, and if anyone had the answers – it was Boomer.

She entered the room and let a small gasp escape her as she took in her surroundings. The curtains that lined the tall bay windows were completely open – letting pale light stream into the open room. Drawing boards and easels were scattered around the room and vibrant paints lined the walls – bringing colour to the otherwise dull room.

Bubbles gently touched one of the easels that was close to her, making Boomer smile. The drawing room that she had in her house back at home in Citysville paled to this one, and the manor here didn't have one. Her finger were itching to grab a blank canvas and paint, but she had questions that she needed to ask beforehand.

"It's beautiful." She whispered as she spun in a slow circle – taking in the whole room. "It's my favorite room in the house." Boomer informed her softy as he moved behind her. "It nice to see that it's bright in here." Bubbles mused as she stopped spinning to face him. "The rest of your house is so dark in comparison." Boomer scrunched up us nose.

"I hate the dark." He muttered. "Always have, always will. I'm-" he paused as his face seemed to pale slightly. "-not a fan of dark, crowded places." He admitted after a brief pause. "Oh?" Bubble cocked her head, "Why is that?"

"Too many bad memories associated with both."

Bubbles didn't have the heart to elaborate on what he meant. The discomfort that was written across his face was enough for her. Taking the pity on him, she offered him a small smile.

"I'll tell you a secret: I hate the dark too." She said as she watched him perk up slightly. "In fact, when I was little, I remember having this little purple octopus doll that I carried with me everywhere. He helped me sleep at night when I got scared. His name was Octi I believe." She frowned.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen him in years… I can't remember if he came with me to our house in Citysville… I have no idea where he went."

"I know. I'm sure he's around here somewhere." Boomer blurted out, looking as if he wanted to slap his hand over his mouth the moment he said it.

Bubbles looked up at him, confused. "What-"

Boomer shook his head. "Nothing. Anyways, you mentioned that there was something that you wanted to ask me earlier?"

"Oh yes," Bubbles nodded, tracing the ornate easel. "I had a dream close to a week or so ago… well, dream isn't exactly the right word… it was more of a memory I think." She turned around to face him, seeing that he remained emotionless as she spoke – giving nothing away. "and since you seem to recall more about out childhoods then I can, I was wondering if you could tell me whether it happened or not. For all I know, I could've just dreamed it up."

"That depends, what was it that you dreamed?" Boomer asked tightly.

"It was of you and me." Bubbles began as she shut her eyes – trying to call the foggy dream back to her. "We couldn't have been any more than five I think, and we were here." She opened her eyes and looked around. "Not in this room, but we were here somewhere in the house." Boomer nodded, "Go on." He urged her.

"Well I guess I was drawing a picture of you and me." Bubbles suddenly felt heat rising up into her cheeks. What was she doing, telling him about some silly dream that she had? It sounded ridiculous now that she was saying it out loud.

"Sorry, it was a really random dream – if you don't want to hear about it I completely understand-"

"No, this is interesting, please go on." Boomer encouraged her kindly. "Dreams can be weird sometimes, but this almost sounds vaguely familiar."

"Um… well..." Bubbles coughed out sheepishly as she looked down at her dress. "I was drawing this picture of us and well… I think I made you promise that you would always stay with me, or something along those lines." She felt herself flush a deep red as the words left her mouth, and kept her eyes trained on the floor below her as she struggled to control the blush that was wildly spreading to her entire face.

She looked back up at him only after she was sure that the worst of the blush had passed. "We were very close when we were younger, weren't we?"

At her question, Boomer suddenly looked very sad. After a moment, he let out a deep sigh and nodded slowly. "Yes we were. We were very close." He confirmed as he ran a hand through his slightly messy hair.

Bubbles nodded. "I thought so…" she took a half step towards him. "So… can you tell me… if that really happened or not?" she asked him gently. Boomer flinched, but nodded stiffly. "It's real, or at least, from what I can remember, yes – it happened… at least to my knowledge." He confirmed.

Bubbles let out a tiny sigh. "Well… it's good to know that I didn't just make it up." She let out a nervous laugh. "What an odd thing to dream about, I'm sorry if that caught you off guard or-"

"I did promise that I would always stay with you." Boomer muttered almost to himself, stopping her. "You made that kind of difficult for me when you moved away though."

Bubbles didn't know what to say to that. It was becoming more and more clear to her that the boy in front of her still held some sort of deep devotion to her from when they were children. She didn't know the reason why, but she still found it oddly touching regardless.

"Well… I'm here now, aren't it?" she asked quietly. Boomer looked up at her and gave her a soft smile.

"Yes. Yes you are."

---

As soon as Bubbles and Boomer had left Brick turned to Blossom with a neutral expression on his face.

"So… that was Princess's father."

"It was indeed."

"Is he here about what happened when Princess was over?"

"That's one of the reasons why, yes."

Brick snorted. "What a brat." Blossom slapped his arm gently as she tried to bite back a laugh. "That's not very nice Brick, you hardly know her."

"Am I wrong though?" Brick asked with the hint of a grin on his face. "Well no-" Blossom started off, only for the crimson eyed man to grin at her admission. Blossom sighed. "Alright fine, I'll let you have that one, but don't let Kingston hear you say that-"

Brick snorted in amusement. "Kingston? Princess? God, snobbish family much? Who does the naming in their family?"

"Her mother's name is Queenie if that helps." Blossom added as she started to crack up. God, what was wrong with her? This morning she and her sisters were discussing the seriousness of their current situation, and how it was possible that the boy's might know what had happened to Mitch… Blossom shook her head tiredly as the thought sobered her up almost immediately. It had to be the stress finally catching up to her. She figured that it was only a matter of time.

"Oh good, we have the whole royal family." Brick rolled his eyes as he smoothed a hand through his disheveled red locks. "Unbelievable." He muttered to himself as he turned and beckoned her to follow him. "Well come on then, we can relax in one of the living rooms – it would be impolite of me to keep you here at the door."

Blossom let out one final laugh before she tailed him out of the foyer. The broad-shouldered man led her in the opposite direction from where her father an siblings had gone – this time, taking her down a hallway that she hadn't been down before. Brick began to make idle small talk as they passed by several different rooms, but Blossom wasn't paying attention as a small, forgotten door at the very end of the hallway they were passing caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.

For reasons that escaped her, she suddenly became very interested in knowing that was behind it. She had taken a step away from Brick and towards it before she caught herself.

She shook her head slowly. This wasn't what she came here to do. Buttercup had wanted to come for the sole reason of getting answers about what happened to Mitch – she couldn't let herself get distracted by a door of all things…

And yet, for some reason, she almost seemed to be drawn to the small door at the end of the hallway.

Brick's voice sounded far away as her feet began to move down the hall towards the door – almost as if she was hypnotized – and before she realized it, she was standing just in front of the old wooden door.

She slowly put her hand on the old black doorknob and twisted, finding it to be unlocked. She slowly pushed the door inwards only to find herself staring into what appeared to be an old storage room, that looked like it hadn't been cleaned for years.

She hesitantly stepped into the room, carefully maneuvering around several pieces of furniture that were covered by dusty white sheets. She coughed as she bumped into what she assumed to be a chair, sending dust particles into the air around her. She swatted away floating pieces of dust away from her face irritably, as she fought back the urge to sneeze. The dust that had settled on every surface had to be at least 2 inches thick. She mused. Had anyone been in here at all in the last several years?

"What are you doing in here?"

Blossom gasped and whirled around as Bricks voice snapped her out of her trace, only to see the taller man standing in the middle of the open doorway – looking a strange mix of terrified and irritated.

"Oh Brick, I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me, I just saw the door out of the corner of my eye as we were walking past, and for whatever reason I just wanted to see what was in it-"

"I turn around for one minute and you take off." Brick shook his head as stepped into the room behind her. "There are certain rooms in this house that you shouldn't go into. This one happens to be one of them. There's stuff in here that you don't need to see-"

He broke off as his eyes locked on something behind her. Blossom followed his gaze only to see that he was focused on a massive painting that half covered by a white sheet, leaning up against the wall. He gently brushed past her and tugged the sheet completely off the painting – revealing a full-body portrait of a woman.

Brick stood in front of it – frozen and unmoving as he gazed up at the person in the painting, leaving Blossom confused. Shuffling closer to the painting, Blossom could make out that it was a beautiful woman with long black hair, pale skin with light freckles dotting the tops of her cheeks, and vibrant green eyes.

She narrowed her rose orbs at the woman depicted in the painting. She knew her from somewhere. She felt as if she had possibly seen her before, once a long time ago.

She looked at Brick out of the corner of her eyes only to see that he looked distinctly uncomfortable as he gazed up at the painting beside her. It was then, she placed who the woman was.

Lady Sudusa.

"This is your mother, isn't it." she asked him quietly. Brick flinched slightly at her question, before squaring his shoulders and nodded in conformation – not bothering to look at her. "Yes. It is."

Blossom nodded. "I thought so… I think I saw this painting once as a child a long time ago, but I don't remember if I ever met her face to face." Blossom mused quietly, as she reached out a tentative hand to touch the old painting. "Probably not. She hardly ever left her room, even when my brothers and I were children. You more than likely saw this during one of your visits here. Hell, I saw this picture of her, more than I ever actually saw her in person." Brick informed her with a snort.

Blossom glanced over at him – shocked, but Brick didn't acknowledge her baffled stare. Instead, he kept his blood red eyes trained up at the painting of his mother. There was something in his eyes, and the way he looked up at the pale woman that made Blossom hesitate.

She needed to know… she needed to know just where the mysterious Lady Jojo had gone. Brick had to know, or at least have some indication of where she had gone. She only hoped that Brick wouldn't dismiss her question like he had some of her other ones.

"Brick?" Blossom asked hesitantly as she tried to keep her voice from cracking. "Hrm?" Brick grunted, his eyes were still closed as he promptly refused to look at her. Blossom swallowed thickly.

"What happened to your mother?"

Brick's blazing red orbs snapped open at her timid question, as he whipped his head to the side to look at her. Blossom felt herself shrink back slightly from the intensity of his stare, as she watched a variety of raw emotions swirl around in the deep pools of red.

After a long pause, Brick let out a sigh as he gently closed his eyes again and allowed a small chuckle pass his lips.

"Now that, is a good question." He responded after a moment. Blossom frowned. "You don't know?" she asked gently. Brick shook his head.

"I didn't say that. All I know is that she's not here, and she has no plans on coming back anytime soon. Not that she'd want too." He added under his breath, causing Blossom to tilt her head in confusion.

"I thought your father said that she was in Europe-"

"My father says a lot of things Blossom. Some of them are true, some of them are not. You'll come to find out soon enough that he's full of shit on a good day."

Blossom recoiled slightly from his course choice of words. She had figured out from the frosty interactions between father and son that they didn't have the best relationship, but she hadn't realized that it was so bitter.

Brick flinched slightly as Blossom winced at his word choice. "Sorry." He murmured gently, as he gestured for her to move closer towards him. "He just has a way of bringing out the worst in me sometimes."

"I… I take it that you and him don't see eye to eye on many things…" she finally managed to get out after realizing that she had been silent for too long. Brick smirked darkly at her observation. "You could say that." He agreed. "Things have been tense between him and my brothers for years now, it's nothing for you to worry about though." He added quickly, seeing her expression become worried.

"Why?" she breathed gently as she rested a hand on his broad shoulder. Brick flinched at the contact, but made no move to shrug her off. He glanced up at the picture of the pale woman for a minute before setting his jaw firmly.

"Let's just say that he was a big part of the reason why my mother lost her mind and took off when I was a child." He muttered dryly. Blossom's eyes widened at his confession.

"Why-"

"Just forget that I said anything." Brick interrupted with a slight growl. "It's old history Blossom, nobody needs to know because it doesn't matter anymore. She's not coming back ever, and it's probably better that way to be honest."

Blossom was silent as she mulled over what Brick had just said. Buttercup was right. She realized with a start. Something was very off about the family.

She looked back over at Brick, only to see that he was watching her intently, and knew that she was talking too long to come up with a response. She coughed lightly, and shot him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry to hear that Brick… truly I am… I'm sure you must miss her terribly."

"Not particularly, but thank you for your concern Blossom." The red eyed man must have seen the poorly disguised shook written across her pale features, because he only shook his head with a slightly ruthful smile. "I was very young when she left, so I don't remember her too much. That and I didn't have the best relationship with her while she was here anyway."

"Why?" Blossom whispered, unable to stop the word from leaving her lips. She knew that she shouldn't ask, but Brick's cryptic answers was leaving her with more questions then answers, and now she was intrigued by the ever-elusive lady, that no one seemed to want to talk about.

Brick was silent for a while as he tried to think of a way to respond to her question. Finally, he sighed set his lips in a firm line.

"I suppose it was because she was afraid of me and my brothers, but mostly me."

Blossom froze at his confession. A mother afraid of her own children… that was almost unheard of. If anything, it was children who feared their parents, not the other way around, and certainly not their mothers of all people. But then… what could she had been so afraid of in the first place?

"Your mother was… afraid of you?" she echoed softly. Brick nodded once. "Yes."

"But how could she possibly fear her own children-"

"Because sometimes we could be a little too much to handle at times – I don't know Blossom." Ground out, almost as if he were in pain. He gave her a pitiful look as he turned away from the portrait. "If it's alright with you, I wish to leave. Maybe I'll tell you more about her in the future when I'm feeling up to it."

"Oh, yes of course Brick, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. It must be hard for you to talk about her." Blossom apologized, only for Brick to shrug. "I guess I should have known that you'd ask eventually. You always asked a lot of questions, even when we were children."

"I suppose it's one thing about me that never changed." Blossom sent him a sheepish smile, as Brick returned it with a weak one. "It's endearing." He assured her as he turned and walked out of the room, gesturing for her to follow him.

Blossom shot the painting of the pale woman one last look, before she followed him out. As soon as she left, Brick shut the door behind her and locked it firmly as he strode back down the hallway – motioning for Blossom to follow him back to their original destination. She didn't question him, unwilling to frustrate him anymore then he already was, and followed silently behind him, her mind still buzzing with questions.

She still had no idea who Lady Sudusa really was, or what had happened to her – and going off of what Brick had told her – it didn't sound like she was in Europe like Mojo had originally said she was. If that was the case, then where exactly was she? Brick certainly didn't seem to know, and she doubted that the other members of his family knew.

Blossom frowned as she followed Brick back towards the main part of the mansion. She still had so many questions, and the only person that she felt comfortable enough asking had made it clear that he wasn't going to be discussing it with her anytime soon-

Suddenly, a thought stuck her, interrupting her train of thought. Mama knew Sudusa from when they were children. The lovely red-head thought to herself as she followed Brick back towards the main living room. She mentioned that they grew up together once or twice. She could tell me more about her, since Brick doesn't seem inclined to talk about her anymore. She thought privately to herself as she kept her eyes trained on Brick's back.

The rose orbed woman made a mental note to ask her mother about the wild-eyed woman when she got a free moment, just as Brick shot her a hooded look over his shoulder. "Pinky? You alright? You got awful quiet back there."

His rasp snapped her out of her thoughts and she nodded quickly. "Yes, yes I'm fine. I was just thinking about how your mother was an extraordinarily beautify woman." She lied. You're not the only one who can act.

Brick stopped in his tracks for a fraction of a second at her abrupt statement, only to start to walk briskly towards the more familiar sections of the house – almost as if he was intent on putting as much distance between himself and the painting of his mother as he possibly could.

"…Yes… Yes, she was." Brick finally sighed as he gently reached back for her hand, which she let him take after a slight pause.

"Yes she was."

---

"Where are you taking me?" Buttercup growled as she unsuccessfully tried to pry her arm out of Butch's hold, but the well-built man refused to relinquish the grip he had on the dark woman's wrist as he led her down a dimly lit hallway and away from their siblings.

"Just a place where we can talk uninterrupted." He rumbled coolly. As he sent the exotic looking girl a fond look over his shoulder. "You look more upset then you usually do, and as attractive as you look when you're mad-" he grinned inwardly as a light pink dusting covered the tops of Buttercup's cheeks. "I don't like seeing you as upset as you are now. I don't know what's wrong, but you look like you need someone to talk to."

"…And just why would I want to talk to you exactly?" Buttercup muttered as she discreetly tried to yank her arm away from the tight grip Butch had on her. "Last time we met up, you practically proposed to me in an alleyway – which was hardly appropriate by the way." she lifted an eyebrow at him, only for Butch to snort and wave her accusations away with his free hand.

"Oh please Sunshine, I already told you: that was hardly a proposal. I was just letting you know where we stand."

"Well I hardly agree." Buttercup argued as Butch dragged them into one of the unoccupied sitting rooms before shutting the doors behind them, finally relinquishing the bruising hold on her wrist. "I barely know you aside from what I remember from when we were children, and you certainly don't know me. I don't know why you'd want me for a wife. We hardly seem like we could make each other happy. All we do is fight."

"Oh but that's where you're wrong." Butch informed her with a dark grin as he turned around to face her, causing her to unconsciencly take a step back in response. "We have so much history together, you and I. You've just forgotten it for the time being."

"You've already said that." Buttercup muttered as she rubbed her sore wrist. "Just what exactly is it that I'm supposed to remember? I'm actually quite curious myself."

Butch shook his head much to her disappointment. "I'll tell you, if you tell me what's bothering you." He promised. He moved past her to sit down on one of the plush leather couches that occupied the room. He sat down with a sigh and patted the space beside him with a tiny grin. "Come tell me about what's making you so miserable love."

"Don't call me that." Buttercup hissed, but reluctantly moved towards the sofa – taking a seat on the spot farthest away from the beast of a man. Butch rolled his dark green eyes and scooted closer to her, causing her to flinch as he draped his arm around the back of the sofa, near her shoulders.

Buttercup inhaled and exhaled deeply as she contemplated what to do.

"If I tell you what's bothering me, you have to tell me about this… history, that we seem to have together. Deal?"

"Fine." Butch laughed lightly, as he nudged her shoulder that was closest to him. "Now, what's making my pet so unhappy?"

Buttercup fought the urge to slap him at the pet name, but realizing that he was seriously waiting for her to tell him what was wrong with her – she felt the fight leave her as memories of the policeman who had told them the news about Mitch from earlier that week flooded her brain.

"It's Mitch…" she finally got out after a moment of silence. "During the last full moon he apparently went out hunting the Ly- I-I mean the beasts in the forest on his own, and they… and they…" she chocked as she grabbed fistfuls of her dark dress in her hands in an effort to calm herself down. "They got to him… and they hurt him… they hurt him really badly… If Ace hadn't found him when he did…"

He probably wouldn't be alive. Buttercup thought bitterly to herself, but she simply couldn't bring herself to say it out loud.

"I heard." Butch sighed as he gently pulled her closer to his massive form. "Poor bugger got his left arm ripped clean off didn't he?"

Buttercup stiffened as his words washed over her. For whatever reason, something about that sentence seemed off to her, she just couldn't place what it was. Suddenly something clicked in her brain – any interest in finding out about their shared history together long forgotten, as she turned to face Butch with wide eyes.

"How did you know that?"

The intimidating man frowned slightly at her question. "Ace told me of course, he was the one who brought him back into town, said he was amazed that the guy was still alive to be honest-"

"No about his arm. How did you know exactly what arm got ripped off? Only my family and Mitch's Grandmother know that."

Buttercup watched as Butch's facial expression changed in a heartbeat. The sympathetic look slipped off his face and suddenly, he looked as if he wanted to hit something – preferably himself.

Shit. Butch thought to himself wildly as he struggled to think of an excuse. Ace hadn't even told him what arm had been bitten off. Of course, he already knew as he had bitten said arm off in the first place, but clearly no one else knew about the extent of the hunter's injuries for the time being.

The gears in his head turned wildly, as he tried to think of an excuse to cover his slip of the tongue. He knew he was taking too long to respond as he watched Buttercup's brows knit themselves together as she glared at him suspiciously.

"Oh, did I say the left? I don't think I did." He finally sputtered lamely, knowing that she wouldn't buy it. Judging from the way Buttercup pushed herself away from him a second later, she didn't believe it either.

"No, you said his left arm." She insisted. "I heard you quite clearly. So how did you know about that?

"It was a slip of the tongue? I was thinking about something else and the two got mixed together-" Butch trailed off weakly as the lean woman stood up and backed away from him, as she shot him a harsh glare.

"You're a pretty awful liar." She informed him snidely as she backed away from him slowly, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable around the titan of a man. "How in the hell do you know the details about what happened to him?"

"I don't, I guessed-"

"You're a damn liar! You know exactly what arm he lost, so how do you know about that!?" Buttercup near screeched as she backed father away from him.

"Bubbles told me that she overheard you and your brothers talking about helping Mitch trapping the beasts when we were in town together, and I know that Mitch would never go out hunting big game like that alone! If you know something about that happened you need to tell me!" Her eyes blazed as she glared agitatedly at him.

"I don't know what to think about you brothers, but I know that you three are hiding something! I don't know what it is, but I'm going to figure it out myself if you don't come clean and tell me what is going on-"

Before she could even blink, Butch jumped up from his spot on the couch and had closed the space in-between them. He towered over her ominously, causing her to fall silent. He bent down slowly so that his head was level with hers, before moving forward slightly to whisper in her ear.

"Careful little one. There are things going on here that you don't understand. I wouldn't be jumping to conclusions if I were you – considering that you don't know the half of what's really going on around here."

Buttercup trembled as he pulled away and drew back up to his full height. She looked up at him, and for the first time, she scared of him.

Her eyes must have betrayed her fear, because he stiffened and suddenly looked very unsure of himself. He reached out a hand, almost as if he was going to touch her, before his fingers curled and he pulled away, almost looking ashamed.

"I… Just… Just don't go looking for trouble Buttercup. Things are tense enough as it is." He muttered finally. Buttercup snorted bitterly as she began to count off on her fingers.

"My childhood friend is in a coma and no one is sure if he's ever going to recover, two of my family members are dead, and a large portion of gypsy's have been slaughtered all within the last four months. I think it's a little late to be saying that." She snapped as Butch looked away.

"Ever since my sisters and I came back here, it's been nothing but death and misery, and no one's willing to tell us anything about what's really going on around here. Hell, our own father wouldn't even tell us about his findings until recently!" Her harsh gaze turned into an almost pleading one.

"Butch if you know something about what happened to Mitch that night, or anything about the other attacks, I am begging you: please tell me! I don't want to be left in the dark any longer!"

The obsidian haired adults entered a staring contest with each other, unwilling to blink, unwilling to submit to the other – light green eyes bore into dark green – asking, almost pleading with their owner for an answer. Finally, it was Butch who looked away first. The muscular male looked to the side with a tired sigh.

"I can't."

Buttercup's eyes widened and she took a hesitant step towards him. "You can't or you won't?"

"I can't. I can't tell you what's going on anymore Buttercup, because if you want the honest truth… I don't even know anymore."

The tall ravenette narrowed her eyes. "So you do know something." Butch closed his eyes and laced his hands behind his head, looking as if he was restraining himself from the urge to hit something.

"I didn't say that – I just meant that there's been something lurking in those woods for years now, and everyone who's lived here for long enough knows about it – that's common knowledge, it's just the attacks have gotten more aggressive lately, and people are only just starting to realize how dangerous these things are. End of story."

He opened his eyes and looked at her with an emotion in his eyes that she didn't recognize. "Trust me the less you know the better it is… it's for your own safety-"

"Fine." Buttercup snarled viciously. "To hell with you then, but I'm going to get answers. I'm not going to be kept in the dark any longer." Butch opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get anything out, she turned abruptly on her heel – her dark dress fanning out slightly from the action – and marched towards the doorway leading back to the main foyer, not wanting to be around the dark-haired man any longer.

"Buttercup." Butch called after her. Against her better judgement, she stopped to toss him a look over her shoulder, only to see that he was staring after her with an almost predatory look on his face, but that wasn't what caught her attention. his eyes were unusually dark, almost black, as opposed to their normal dark green hue.

"Be careful what you wish for… you might not like the answers."

Buttercup fought back the shudder that was rapidly making its way up her spine at his warning as she stared back at him defiantly.

"We'll see about that." She muttered under her breath, before quickly turning on her heel and all but ran down the hallway away from the intimidating man.

He didn't follow.

---

Mojo felt his right eye twitch as he stared down his old lab partner and his current boss.

Currently the large red-bearded man was in the midst of trying to tell how of how his sons had apparently "seriously offended his daughter" with their "rude and ungentlemanly-like behavior" and that he wished for them to "properly apologize like a man of his status should."

Mojo inwardly seethed as the burly man continued to rattle off his pointless demands. He had already heard about the arrogant girl from his eldest, and he could already tell the girl was just as much as an entitled, spoilt brat as Brick had led him to believe, and that her father was clearly to blame for her less than stellar behavior.

He would have to make a note and tell his sons to get rid of Kingston Morbucks if the opportunity arose.

Seriously, how one man could be so arrogant in another man's home was beyond him.

"… and so if you could see to it that your sons go pay my daughter a visit with a formal apology, I do think that will suffice old chap. Don't you agree?" Mojo snapped back to the present just as Kingston ended his ramble and placed his elbows on his desk with a raised eyebrow. The short man bit the inside of his cheek harshly as he attempted to calm himself down and not throttle the arrogant businessman where he sat.

Looking at John, the ape-like man could see that he looked distinctly uncomfortable with his boss's behavior. Mojo fought the urge to snort. Good. He should be. He had no business entering his home like this uninvited and start demanding things from him. Now it was time to cut the impotent man down to size.

"Actually, I think not my good sir." Mojo replied sweetly as he leaned forward and pushed Kingston's elbows off of his desk, momentarily stunning the red-bearded man.

"N-no?" Kingston sputtered angrily as John slightly shrank back in his chair beside him. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"Well from what my eldest has said about your delightful daughter, she was very loud and disturbed my two other sons from their rest. Not to mention that she was apparently very rude to Miss. Blossom, the eldest daughter of my old colleague – and I do not take very well to that kind of behavior in my house-hold." Mojo replied flatly as he stared Kingston down. "If anything, you should be thanking my sons for putting her in her place. It is not fitting of a young lady with power to behave in such a manner similar to that of a tramp."

John's eyes bulged out of his head and his jaw went slack as he looked from Mojo to Kingston – the latter who had gone deadly silent as he processed what the smaller man had said to him. Mojo fought back the urge to laugh suddenly. Judging from John's reaction – the burly man didn't get spoken to like that very often.

"I-I beg your pardon?" Kingston finally croaked out a second later, the stunned expression on his face slowly morphing into anger. "What exactly did you just call my daughter?!"

"A tramp my good sir." Mojo relied calmly, ask John went as white as a ghost. "From what I have been told, she has not been acting as a proper lady should, and really needs to be put in her place – no thanks necessary Mr. Morbucks," Mojo held out a hand just as Kingston was about to open his mouth, "I am sure my sons did not mind informing her of her behavior. Better it be them instead of some high-ranking lord." Mojo sighed contentedly as he leaned back in his office chair.

"Now, I believe that it is fair of me to assume that there is an actual reason why the pair of you has shown up at my door unannounced, and not because you wish for my sons to give your daughter a petty apology that is really not necessary in the first place, yes?"

Kingston had turned beet red, and had just about to open his mouth to retort – or possibly bellow – only for John to quickly intervene before the situation escalated further. "Yes, yes Mojo there is I assure you – we wouldn't make the trip up here only to waste your time." He assured the smaller man as he placed a pacifying hand on Kingston's shoulder, forcing the agitated man back into his chair.

"Well then, do tell me what it is exactly. Is it more information concerning our little pest problem?" Mojo asked as he rose an eyebrow. John swallowed nervously as he tried to calm down his palpating heart. It was now or never – he had to tell mojo about what Mitch had discovered… before there was any more casualties.

"Well Mojo, before Mitch was attacked, he came to see me regarding the beast attack on him and the other hunters last month." Mojo paused for the briefest of moments, before he finally nodded. "Did he now? What did he have to say?"

"A fair amount actually." John murmured as he laced his hands together in his lap. "He provided some insightful information as to what these things are… and honestly, I believe that he is correct. It would explain why we haven't been able to match these creatures to any animal before."

Mojo was stiff, but nodded regardless. "I see, well then – do share what he told you by all means-" he jerked his head in Kingston's direction. "Does he know what is going on?" John nodded. "I informed him this morning yes – I didn't see the point in withholding the information from him, after all Townsville is his current place of residence for the time being."

Mojo nodded and guested with his hand for John to continue, pointedly ignoring the furious looks that Kingston was giving him. John looked at his employer wearily before sighing.

"Now… before you say anything… please know that this is going to sound… rather out of the ordinary, but please just hear me out."

Both Mojo and Kingston waited patiently for John to collect his thoughts. The aging scientist looked down at his trembling hands and laced them together as he looked up to face his old lab partner.

"I'll tell you the same thing that I told Kingston this morning." John finally muttered as he rested his chin on his interlocked hands. "There's really no easy way for me to break this to you, so I'm just going to come out and say it."

He looked Mojo dead in the eye, and without a hint of emotion he said, "I have reason and evidence to believe that the beasts that are behind all of the killings are none other than Lycanthropes."

Mojo felt his eye widen in a mixture of shock and horror at the taller man's conclusion. No. there was no way. How could he have figured it out so soon? He wasn't supposed to find out about the boys until the time was right!

Mojo began to sweat. Not now – the boys couldn't be discovered now. He had to somehow convince John that he was wrong, and buy his sons some more time.

The stout man quickly put his poker face back on as he laced his hands on the desk in front of him. "Oh." He finally managed to spit out as he tried to keep his composure from slipping. "and do tell John, just how did you come to this conclusion?"

"Well, do you remember that silver talisman that I showed you? The one that was found on my brother's body?"

"Yes, yes I know the one, and how you also went to speak to those vile gypsy's on the outskirts of town. Did they not tell you the same thing? That is was supposedly a werewolf of all things, causing all of the deaths? Please tell me that you do not seriously think that-"

"It turns out that they were right all along." John cut in softly. "and I'm an idiot for not believing them before. But could you blame me? I wanted there to be a scientific reason behind this madness – not a beast that is supposedly from legend."

"Yes, because it is absolutely ridiculous?" Mojo supplied hopefully, only for John to shake his head. "No, I have too much evidence to suggest otherwise. I saw those things that very night then they attacked the campgrounds, but I still couldn't be sure what it was that I encountered… that was, until Mitch came to town, and solidified my fears."

"Mitch…" Mojo pretended to muse as he stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Isn't that the hunter that is originally from this town? I believe my boys knew of when they were children." John nodded in conformation. "Well then, if he's so sure that these creatures are indeed beasts from a fairytale, then where is he to help back up your claims?" he asked smugly, causing John to wince.

"Well that's the second part." John muttered. "Originally, he was going to be here to help me break the news to you, but…" he hesitated. Did he even bother to tell Mojo about what had happened to the poor boy? He didn't seem to care about what he was telling him about the beasts – would he even care about the extent of Mitch's injuries that said monsters had caused?

John bit the inside of his cheek before grinding out, "He was attacked this past full moon. By the same beasts. They've put him in the hospital and left him in a coma. I'm amazed that he's still alive honestly."

Mojo blinked. He hadn't heard of that from his sons. They had come back to the mansion that morning, covered in blood, claiming that the hunter had been "taken care of". Clearly, that was not the case.

"He's… still alive you say?" Mojo asked slowly. "Yes, but he's not going anywhere anytime soon." John muttered. "From what I was told, he almost died from blood loss on the way to the hospital, and those things took one of his arms. They don't know if he's ever going to wake up."

All three men sat in silence for a few moments as the implication of John's words hung suspended in the air. It was still for a few more minutes before John broke the silence.

"Even before this past full moon, he had gone to fight those things with a group of twelve or so other hunters – I'm sure you heard about that?" Mojo nodded. "I heard it is was a slaughter." John hummed absentmindedly.

"He saw them then too, and he was the only one who came back alive. That was when he told me about those things – about what they were. He told me how regular bullets didn't work on them… didn't even faze them… it was the special silver bullets that he had made that actually hurt them. Based on what little knowledge I possess on Lycanthropy, I know that the only thing that hurts them is silver."

He glanced up to look at the stone-faced Mojo. "Don't you see Mojo. These beasts are real… I don't know how they came to be or where they came from, but they are real. That's why we haven't been able to narrow down the attacks to any of the normal animals around these parts when we were going over the deceased records – it's because the wounds they inflicted wouldn't match any of the bite molds that belonged to the common animals around these parts… because they're not normal at all." He whispered softly.

"You know what the gypsy's I went to see said about the talisman that my brother had?" John asked suddenly, continuing before Mojo could open his mouth to respond. "They said that the particular talisman that he had on him was supposed to protect the wearer against evil creatures. I can't help but wonder if they meant the very monsters that are terrorizing this town."

He almost added that the gypsy's that he had gone to see were none other than Sudusa's nieces, but somehow, he didn't think that mentioning that particular bit of information would help the already icy situation, so he bit his tongue as he glared defiantly at Mojo.

"Originally Mitch was supposed to be here with me to help explain the situation to you, but seeing how he's indisposed at the moment – he couldn't make it." John muttered sourly. "I needed to tell you though. So that we could warn the townspeople and get them ready for the next full moon. Who knows what these things will do next time. We need to get the town ready for when they come back – and I strongly believe that they will come back. And when they do, we'll be ready."

Mojo began to panic. Good lord if this information got out to the town and they armed themselves with silver – his boys wouldn't stand a chance, and judging from the look on John's face, the stout man knew he was serious too, and that he would not be swayed into thanking otherwise so easily. He narrowed his eyes slightly at the two men sitting on the other side of his desk. John was starting to become a much bigger that then he had anticipated, and he knew that he had to keep a calm composure as to not direct suspension onto him.

Right now, that was the last thing that he needed.

After a tense moment, Mojo let out a light laugh before looking to Kingston with an unpleasant gin on his face. "Can you believe this? Do not tell me that he told you the same story." Only for the while clad man to shrug coldly at the tiny man who had insulted him moments ago.

"He did, and I don't really know what to tell you. I've worked with John for a long time now, and he's not the one to simply come to this concision willy-nilly. He's always been strictly science. That and he's seen these things face to face. If anyone would know what these things are – it's him. I don't know if I think that these things are… werewolf's completely yet, but… this… beast theory is intriguing to say the least."

Mojo's smile dropped off his face at Kingston's words – clearly not expecting that reaction from the business man – before he quickly composed himself again and turned back to John.

"and does Mr. Michelson have any proof to his claims?" Mojo asked sternly. John stared at the shorter man agape. "Mojo he's fought the creatures – he's gone toe to toe with them twice. He should – by all accounts – be dead, but by some miracle, he managed to make it back the first time and tell me about what he witnessed out there – and he is quite sure of what he saw. There's really no mistaking this… especially when all of the evidence seems to be pointing in that direction anyway."

Mojo laughed suddenly. "John, my dear friend, you used to be a man of science – you never believed in the supernatural before. Now suddenly, you're willing to believe the wild accusations of a boy who is more dead than alive at the moment? What changed?"

"I'm willing to accept that sometimes not all answers to our questions can be explained by silence alone. Sometimes there are darker forces at work." John relied stiffly as Kingston shot him a curious look – having never seen this side of his top scientist before.

John paused as he took a deep breath in and glared at the man sitting behind the desk. "After all, you should know that better than anyone else here."

The room fell deadly silent as the two men stared each other down – neither daring to blink. Finally, Mojo sat back in his desk chair and folded his hands in front of him on his desk, with what John could only describe as an almost threatening look on his face.

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Mojo said coolly. "But you were just as eager to explore the unknown as I was back in the day, or have you forgotten that?"

John ignored Kingston's baffled expression as he looked between him to Mojo again and again, unable to pick one man to focus on. He shook his head slowly. "That was a long time ago Mojo. I learned from my mistakes. I realized that there are things that don't always require a scientific explanation." He looked at the smaller man sitting across from him with hooded eyes.

"There are somethings that are better left forgotten… unexplained. Things that should never be tampered with. I hoped that you learned that too."

An unpleased silence filled the room as both men locked themselves into a staring contest with each other, neither daring to blink, as Kingston looked on in disbelieve – still confused as to what the former business partners were talking about. Finally, it was Mojo who broke the connection first. He sighed and looked away for a moment, before looking back at the two men sitting across from him – looking as if he was going to say something in response.

Before the smaller man could reply, there was the sound of a commotion outside of the door leading into his office, followed by a small knock on the door.

Blossom watched Brick slowly pace around the living room from her spot on the couch that she had taken residence on.

After they had left the seemingly forgotten room behind them, Brick had led then back to the living room where they had been previously, and had been pacing around the room in a seemingly agitated state ever since.

Blossom inwardly winced. She hadn't meant to upset him with her questions about his mother, but she had heard so little about the woman, that she was interested to know more about her – but she hadn't counted on his reaction.

"Brick, again I'm so sorry about asking you about your mother. I truly didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry if I offended you in anyway-"

"Don't worry Blossom, you couldn't have known. It's only natural for you to be curious." Brick stopped her. "I wish I had more answers for you, but I don't know them myself." He stopped in the middle of the room and turned to look at her, appearing calmer than before.

"Still though, it wasn't my intention to pry. That's your mother, that's your business." Blossomed turned her eyes downcast as she fisted the fabric of her dress in her hands. On one hand, she wanted to know more about Sudusa, but she now knew better then to ask the members of the Jojo family. Perhaps her own mother could provide her with some more answers…

Brick hummed, letting her know that he heard her as he moved over to sit with her on the sofa with her. "Anyways, moving on from that…" his deep red eyes born into her soft pink ones. "Have you thought about my offer?"

Blossom fought back the flush that threated to tint her pale cheeks. Ah yes… she still had to give him an answer. She couldn't avoid the question forever.

"Ah well…" Blossom hesitated as she glanced down at her lap. "Say that I did say yes-" Brick perked up almost immediately. "That's not an actual yes, sorry." Blossom quickly clarified, watching as his face settled back into an annoyed state. "Say that I did though, what would happen afterwards? Have you truly thought that far ahead?"

"You would stay here, at the estate with myself and my family." Brick responded smoothly. "I'm set to inherit this place with my brothers when my father passes, it's not like we wouldn't have a place to stay." He shot her a sideways look. "If you're asking me whether or not I can provide for you, then I can assure you I can-"

"No, it's not that." Blossom waved him away. "I'm sure that you can. It's just… I was more or less wondering about your plans in the future." She looked at him shyly. "You still haven't answered my question."

"and what would that be?"

"Why do you want to marry me?" Blossom asked quietly as she shifted in place on the couch so that she was facing him. "and why do your brothers want to marry my sisters? …Or well… at least Butch for that matter, but I've seen the way Boomer looks at Bubbles and I can tell that he's quite found of her."

"I thought I already told you?" Brick asked, looking slightly puzzled, prompting Blossom to roll her eyes. "If you mean that… confusing exchange when Princess was over here, then I suppose you did." She crinkled her nose as she thought back to the very moment that had led them to this. "But I'm still confused by that. What did you mean when you said all those things? I understand that it's a smaller town yes, and that girls are… married of at an earlier age then most other places, but there was something else you said-"

"What? The part about me wanting to be with you over some other lady who I know nothing about? Wouldn't you rather be with someone who you know over some stranger?" Brick's eyebrow rose.

"But we haven't seen each other since we were children!" Blossom weakly protested, "and no that's not it-"

"I still know you better than all other noble woman who come seeking a partner." Brick argued lightly. "I understand we haven't seen each other since we were young children, but we still have history together – which is more than I can say for some people-"

"That's it!" Blossom snapped her fingers, as Brick's words jogged her memory. "You mentioned that I was… "promised" to you? I'm not going to pretend that I understood what you meant by that."

Brick felt the words he was about to say die on his tongue, as what he said to her that day came back to him.

Idiot. He was an idiot. That minor slip of the tongue could have cost him everything. Thankfully, it didn't appear that Blossom or her sisters remembered much of their time together as children like he and his brothers did.

Of course, he'd still have to break it to her with the time came, but for now… what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"I… I think I had meant to say something else, but that came out instead." Brick chucked nervously. "I was more or less trying to make a point about the marriageable ages in Townsville… I think… I'm not quite sure what I said to be honest with you." He lied, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Besides," Brick continued, catching her disbelieving look. "You and your sisters will be twenty in what? April, I think it was? My brothers and I will be twenty soon after that. We'll need to take spouses soon for ah… certain reasons." He sighed as an almost startled look passed over Blossoms face. "Look, if it'll make you feel better, I can see about taking to your father about you becoming my bride. Even though the choice is ultimately up to you. You thankfully, have more of a say in who becomes your partner then most other girls." Brick sighed in defeat.

He really didn't have to want to talk to that dreaded man about asking his daughter's hand – knowing full well what his answer would be before even asking, but it seemed like the only way that Blossom would ever fully agree to be his, would be if he got permission from her father.

Brick tried to keep the cruel smirk that threated to creep across his face down.

Who was he kidding? If it really came down to it – he would simply take care of him the way he did all the others. Blossom would be his and he always got what he wanted. The same went for his brothers to her sisters.

He glanced out the window behind Blossom and out into the white-capped world beyond the mansion, lost in thought.

He had to convince her to stay with him willingly, and soon. Butch was right: they were running out of time. A few more moons were all they had left at most… and then hell truly would be unleashed. The only way he could protect her is if she was his, the same went with her sisters and his brothers. It was the only way they could keep them safe, it was the only way-

"Brick? Are you alright? You zoned out of a moment."

Brick was snapped back to the present upon hearing Blossom's voice. "I'm fine." He assured her gruffly as he brushed off her concerns. "Don't worry about me." Blossom looked unconvinced but nodded regardless.

"If you wouldn't mind talking to my father," she started off softly, as she twisted several strands of her soft ginger hair around her fingers delicately, "I would appreciate it. I would feel better about the whole situation knowing that I had his approval."

Brick sighed inwardly. Well, that was that. He already knew what the older man's response would be, so he would simply have to… persuade him otherwise.

But not today… No – he would save that discussion for another day. One where the professor wasn't so tense, and when he himself wasn't in such rough shape. Perhaps after the upcoming full moon…

He looked at Blossom who beamed at him lightly as she reached over and gave his wrist a squeeze. The things he was willing to do to keep her at his side…

The question was: would she be so willing to stay with him after finding out what he and his brothers were?

He wasn't so sure.

He gently flipped his hand so his palm was facing upwards and took her hand in his own. "Look, Blossom… I wish I could tell you more about my family, but there's somethings that you need to understand about-"

He cut himself off as the sudden sound of running footsteps from the hallway leading into the living room, echoed towards them. Blossom seemed to hear them as well as she looked up from their intertwined hands, looking confused.

"What is that?"

"I don't know." Brick replied honestly as his eyes narrowed, trying to determine who the footsteps belonged to. "It doesn't sound like either of my brothers."

The footsteps drew closer and closer to where they were seated, until Buttercup suddenly appeared in the doorway, looking flushed and… scared?

Blossom perked up immediately upon seeing the nervous look on her sister's face. Buttercup hardly ever wore that look – something was wrong. Her normally tanned looking sister looked pale and out of breath, almost as if she had just run a marathon. Blossom squinted her eyes and peered into the hallway past her, half expecting to see the middle Jojo brother standing behind her, only to notice that she was alone. Speaking of, where exactly was Butch?

As soon as her vibrant green eyes landed on her, Buttercup immediately strode over to where she was sitting, and latched onto her sister's arm with a vice grip.

"We need to get out of here. Now." Buttercup hissed as she tugged Blossom up off of the couch and away from Brick, despite his sputtered protesting. "What- Buttercup, what's gotten into you? What's wrong?" the pale woman whispered as she freed her hand from her sister's tight grasp.

"Not now, where's Bubbles?" Buttercup muttered as she looked around the room frantically, her eyes wide. "…She went with Boomer, I'm not sure where they went… Buttercup what's going on?"

"No time to explain. Somethings wrong here, really wrong. We need to get dad and Morbucks and get out of here." Buttercup hissed as she dragged Blossom farther away from Brick. "Where did Bubbles take off too?"

"She went that way I think…" Blossom muttered as she pointed to a hallway that led in the direction of Mojo's office. "Buttercup seriously you're scaring me, what happened." Buttercup dragged her down the hallway, farther away from Brick, before tossing a look over her shoulder and muttering. "I can't say much, but something wired is going on. We need to find Bubbles fast, because I don't think we're safe here."

Blossom felt her eyes widen at her ebony haired sister's words. "Buttercup what-"

"I'll explain when we leave here and get back home. Please Blossom, just trust me on this one." Blossom almost froze at the sound of her sister pleading. She took one look at Buttercup's pale face and nodded once. "Alright. Let's find Bubbles and see of papa's ready to go yet, but I want a full explanation when we get home, understood?" she asked sternly as Buttercup simply nodded. "I promise."

Blossom shot her a concerned look but said nothing as they continued to make their way down the long, dark hallway. The sound of Brick's confused calls echoing from the other end of the hall. "Where's Butch?" The rose orbed woman finally managed to ask – having noticed that they massive onyx-haired man had not been with Buttercup when she had returned – only for Buttercup to grimace.

"Hopefully still where I left him." she growled darkly. "I don't want to be anywhere near him." Blossom's light pink lips drew into a tight line. "Oh god… what happened this time? Did you manage to find something out?"

"I think so. Something that I shouldn't." Buttercup growled dangerously. "Something's not adding up with these boys – I'll tell you later." She added quickly upon seeing Blossom's surprised face.

"Blossom? Buttercup? Where are you two going? What's wrong?" Both girls simptianiusly turned around as Brick jogged up to them with confusion written across his handsome features. "Is everything alright?" he asked as he cocked an eyebrow at them.

"Ah yes." Blossom responded with a light flush as she cast a look towards Buttercup expectantly, only to see the onyx haired girl look any but at Brick. "Buttercup just isn't feeling well at the moment, and she would like to go home to rest." Brick glanced over at Buttercup with a neutral expression on his face as he looked her up and down carefully.

"You do look a little pale." The tall man confirmed after a moment. "You're more than welcome to lie down in one of the guest rooms until your father and his associate finish their meeting with my father. Butch can show you to one of the upstairs rooms – wherever he is at the moment-"

"NO!"

Buttercup yelped before she could stop herself, causing both ginger haired adults to look at her in alarm. She quickly composed herself and cleared her throat with a semi-sheepish smile. "I mean, thank you for the offer Brick, but I really don't want to inconvenience you. I really just want to go lie down in my own bed."

Brick's ruby red eyes narrowed slightly and he looked as if he was about to argue for a moment, but shook his head at the last second. "Well, if that's the way you feel, I suppose I can't stop you. Are you sure that you don't want take me up on my offer?"

"It's very kind of you, and I apricate it, but I would really prefer to lie down in my own bed." Buttercup smiled at the taller male through slightly gritted teeth. "But thank you for your… hospitality."

Brick eyed the girl again but didn't say anything in response, leaving Blossom to nervously switch her rose orbs from her sister to the slightly intimidating man standing across from her. She cleared her throat lightly, turning both of their attentions on her. "I don't suppose you happen to know which room Boomer took Bubbles to?" she asked Brick gently, causing the boy to shrug. "Knowing him, probably one of the drawing rooms past my father's office." He brushed past the two sisters gently and beckoned them to follow him. "Come on, I'll show you."

Blossom quietly followed after him, tugging a more hesitant Buttercup along after her, as they followed Brick farther down the dark hallway before coming to stop at a closed door at the very end. Pressing an ear against it, he looked back and nodded at Blossom and Buttercup. "Your sister's in there." He informed them softly.

Sure enough, both girls could hear muffled voices from the other side of the door – one belonging to Bubbles, and the other one belonging to Boomer. Brick raised a hand and knocked on the door, causing the pair of voices to hush. A second later the door swung open and Boomer stood in the door frame with a slightly irritated look on his face. "What?" he almost snapped, noticing Brick standing in front of him.

Brick only raised a brow. "Hello to you too." He rumbled calmly. "I need to borrow Bubbles from you." Boomer looked confused. "Why? What's going on?"

"Her sister isn't feeling well, and would like to collect her so that they can leave soon." Brick informed him as he cast a shadowed look at Buttercup that let her know that he wasn't buying her bluff. She hoped that he couldn't see her shudder.

"Her sister isn't feeling well?" Boomer repeated, "What's the problem-"

"Who isn't feeling well?" A light voice came from behind the lanky blonde man, and suddenly Bubbles was gently pushing past him to see what was going on, only to see her older sisters standing outside the door with Brick. "Hello girls, are you feeling sick?"

"You could say that." Buttercup muttered as she beckoned for Bubbles to come stand with them. The smaller blonde raised an eyebrow, but moved past Boomer to stand with them regardless. "What's wrong?" she whispered to her, only for Buttercup to shake her head. "Not here, I'll tell you when we get home." she muttered back, as Bubbles looked at Blossom for clarification, only for the eldest girl to shrug.

Brick cleared his throat, gaining their attention. "Right then, I'm assuming that we should see if your father and his… patron are able to leave, I suppose." He grumbled sourly, nodding back down the hallway where Mojo's office was.

As the group approached the large double doors leading into the office, they heard voices emanating from the office that sounded a mix between irritated and scared, that started to taper off as they drew nearer to the office.

Boomer glanced at Brick. "Do you want to knock, or should I?"

"You can knock. That way of it's a bad time, they'll bite your head off instead of mine." Brick flashed the lean blonde a winning smile, as Boomer rolled his eyes, muttering something that sounded along the lines of cowered, under his breath as he raised his fist and rapped on the door – causing the argument inside to hush suddenly.

A second passed, before the door was abruptly opened by none other than Kingston, who all but glared at Boomer. "Oh, it's you. What do you want boy?"

"I'm actually here to collect you and John if that's alright with you." Boomer shot back coolly, unfazed by Kingston's displeasure. "Buttercup apparently isn't feeling well and requests to go home."

"Buttercup isn't feeling well?" John's voice echoed from farther back in the room, and Kingston begrudgingly stepped aside so that John had a clear view of his children who were huddled outside of the office door.

"No papa, she'd really like to go home and rest." Blossom spoke up in her dark-haired sister's defense. "I'm sorry if we're interrupting anything, we can wait outside if you'd like-"

"Actually, perfect timing girls, I've said all that I need to say to this… man." Kingston grumbled as he shot a pointed look over his shoulder to where Mojo was sitting contently behind his desk. "Are you sure?" Blossom asked. "If you're in the middle of something, we don't mind waiting a few extra minutes."

"No, that's alright girls." John sighed tiredly as he rose from his chair. "I've said everything that I came here to say anyways." He nodded at Mojo. "Well, I've told you everything that I possibly can regarding the situation. I hope that you'll at least think about what I've said."

"As will I to you." Mojo replied as he slid off his desk chair and made his way around the large oak desk. "I urge you to reconsider what these beasts are. Your explanation is bordering on the brink of ludicrousy."

John saw the confused looks spreading across each of his daughter's faces, and shook his head at them, silently telling them that now was not a good time to explain what had transpired. He made his way past Kingston look give Buttercup a concerned once over. "Hrm… well, you do look pale," he mused gently as he pressed the back of his hand to his middle daughter's head. "What's wrong? Is your stomach bothering you?"

"Just feeling nauseous, sorry dad." Buttercup meekly replied, refusing to meet his eye. "Sorry for dragging you out of your meeting."

"That's alright hun, I had nothing left to say anyways." John sighed as he glanced over at Kingston, who still looked like he was fuming silently. "You interrupted at a good time," he assured them quietly, "I don't know how much longer Kingston could have taken Mojo for."

"Well come along then," Mojo stated abruptly as the stout little man pushed past all of them to get into the hallway. "If you really must insist on leaving so soon, then allow us to see you out." he gestured to Boomer and Brick. "Come along boys, we cannot be seen as rude hosts." Behind them, the girls heard Kingston muffle a snort.

Mojo and the boys lead the group back to the mansion's front foyer and silently helped them retrieve their coats and boots.

"It was very nice to see you again." Bubbles told Boomer with a gentle smile, only for lanky male to return it with one of his own. "It's always a pleasure Bubbles, come back anytime you'd like – same goes for your sisters." He nodded politely at Blossom and Buttercup.

"That's very kind of you to say, thank you." Blossom gave the blue clad man a small bow as she turned to offer a slightly forced smile to Brick. "and Brick thank you again. Sorry if I caused you any trouble." Only for the crimson eyed male to shake his head. "I told you, it's fine – it was probably going to come up sooner or later. Don't worry too much about it."

Boomer glanced over his shoulder. "Where's Butch? That idiot should come say goodbye if you're leaving. I know he doesn't have the best manners but-"

"NO, NO, that's alright." Buttercup quickly spoke up with a nervous laugh. "I'm sure he's busy doing something at the moment. Wouldn't want to disturb him!" she lied breathlessly as she laced her hands together behind her back. Both Brick and Boomer shot her a disbelieving look.

"What the hell is he doing-"

"That's quite alright boys, Butch doesn't have to come out if he's preoccupied." John assured them with a weak smile. "I'm sure we'll see him at another point in time anyways."

His sudden change in demeanor did not go unnoticed by Buttercup, and she narrowed her dark brows. Every time the boys and her father had an exchange of any kind, he was always nervous around them for seemingly no reason. She thought to herself privately. "Something happened between them… something that dad hasn't told us about…

The ink haired girl made a mental note to herself to ask her father about it later, when they were out of the Jojo's presence. Something told her that asking him now would be entirely inappropriate.

She looked back over at the two brothers who were present, only to notice that they had their eyes trained on her – almost as if they could see through the facade that she was putting up.

She dropped her bright eyes down to the ground so they couldn't see her own harden. That was fine. It didn't matter if they saw through her façade… she was starting to see through theirs…

"Well if you ladies have your things together, I'm more the willing to leave now." The deep, irritated voice belonging to Kingston cut across her thoughts. She looked over at her father's patron, only to see him wearing an angry scowl as he made no attempt to mask the glare on his face as he stared daggers at the Jojo family.

She glanced between him and Mojo, only to see the shorter man wearing something along the lines of a content smirk oh his lips. Just what had the man said to Kingston to get him so riled up?

Blossom gave her shoulder a light nudge as she whispered, "Do you see that?" Buttercup nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, wonder what happened." She replied quietly – not sounding particularly interested.

"I don't know." Blossom murmured. "I suppose we'll find out later though." Buttercup hummed in agreement and cast her eyes downward again. Blossom studied her for a moment before tapping Bubbles. "Are you ready to leave?" the blonde nodded before whispering. "I don't understand, why are we leaving so early? Buttercup wasn't sick this morning. Has she said anything to you?"

Blossom shook her head and whispered back. "I don't know what's gotten into her. She said she'd explain when we got back home though." Bubbles looked conflicted for a moment, before she nodded solemnly, letting Blossom know that she understood the odd situation that they were currently presented with.

A slight cough that sounded dangerously close to a chuckle from Mojo, brought their attention back to the shorter man, who looked as if he was trying hard to fight back a grin as he regarded all of them.

"Well then. I suppose it is time for you and your family to go John. I would not want to make your benefactor any more disgruntled then he already is." The small man made no attempt to hide the grin that was spreading across his lips as he eyed the now-furious looking red-bearded man. "I have some other business to attend to right now. Boys? Can you see them out in my stead?"

"Sure pops." Boomer sighed as he moved forward, seemingly not bothered by the angry glare that Kingston was casting at him and Brick. He held out his hand for Bubbles to take and led her outside down the slightly icy steps, as Brick did the same with Blossom – pausing to offer his other hand to Buttercup, who only cringed and looked away, proceeding to hold onto her father's hand instead. John shot his middle daughter a quizzical look at her unorthodox behavior, but shrugged and let it go.

"And John?" Mojo called out, causing the older man to turn his head and look back at the silhouette of the ape-like man further down the hallway.

"Be careful." Mojo cautioned. "I wouldn't go spreading… that around the town. Who knows the amount of trouble that one might get into making those assumptions."

The silence roared in John's ears for a moment as he stared the man down – trying to determine whither or not his former partner had issued him a threat or a warning. Mojo smiled sinisterly at him – his white teeth standing out against his shadowed form – making them seem oddly sharp. "Have a good day John… think about what I said." And with that, he disappeared down the hallway, leaving him and Buttercup standing in an empty foyer.

John stiffened, and tightened his grip on Buttercup's hand. "We'll see about that." He muttered under his breath, before he quickly tuned on his heel and marched down the steps towards Kingston's awaiting carriage, nearly dragging a silent Buttercup out of the house along with him.

He quickly herded Buttercup into the carriage with minimal protest from the lime eyed girl after Kingston, before stepping in himself and taking a seat next to him. Leaning forward to look out of the door, he saw Blossom and Bubbles talking quietly with Brick and Boomer – most likely apologizing for leaving so abruptly.

John leaned forward a little farther as he strained to hear what they were saying, only to freeze up as he saw the looks that the brothers were giving his daughters.

He watched on in horrified fascination as he saw just how fixated both boys seemed to be on his daughters. They never took their eyes off of either of them – they hardly even seemed to blink while the girls were speaking to them. It was then, while he was looking at them – staring deep into their ruby and sapphire eyes respectively – that something seemed to click in John's mind.

There was something in their eyes… something vaguely familiar… something… almost… primal.

John shook himself, snapping himself out of the trance he had fallen into. No… it couldn't be. The situation surrounding the boys birth was still hazy and unclear to him, and he always knew that something wasn't quite right about them, but they couldn't be… there was no way… it was just his mind playing tricks on him…

Yes. That's all it was. Just his over tired, over active imagination playing tricks on him.

"Girls, we need to leave. Finish saying goodbye to the boys and let's go – we don't want to keep Kingston waiting now!" John croaked out, finally finding his voice again after a slight pause. Brick and Boomer glanced up irritably at him as he spoke, just as Blossom and Bubbles turned to face him – causing both girls missing the fierce looks that the brothers were giving him.

"Oh of course papa." Bubbles chirped as she shot Boomer an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Boomer, but we really have to get going. Thank you once again for the lovely hospitality… and thank you for helping me catch up on a few things."

Boomer only chuckled as he brought her dainty hand to his lips and pressed a small kiss to it as he helped her up into the carriage. "Not at all Bubbles. It was my pleasure. If there's anything you want to know from when we were younger, all you have you have to do is ask – I'll be more than willing to tell you." The lanky blonde promptly ignored the shady glare that Brick sent his way at his offer – opting to maintain eye contact with the smaller blonde.

Bubbles beamed at him as she sat down next to Buttercup, who moved over for her without a word. "I'll be sure to take you up on that offer then, thank you Boomer." The blonde man only smiled at her as he stepped back lightly, allowing his older brother to help Blossom up as well.

Blossom hoisted herself into the large carriage and slowly turned around in the doorway to look at Brick with a polite nod – noting that he hadn't let go of her hand yet. "It was a pleasure as always Brick. " she smiled slightly, trying to ignore the conflicting emotions that were bubbling up inside her concerning the information Brick had told her about his elusive family. "Thank you for having us on such short notice."

"I'll see you soon Blossom… keep out of trouble now." Brick rumbled as he released her hand. Blossom nodded stiffly and slowly climbed into the carriage after her baby sister. "Good bye Brick… I suppose I'll see you soon?" she asked softly as she sat down beside her sisters. Brick nodded as he shut the door behind her gently.

"Yes… sooner than later." He muttered deep in his throat, casing a side-long glance at Boomer, who returned it with a conflicted look of his own.

Brick rapped on the side of the carriage – signaling for the driver to depart. The man flicked the reigns with a shrill whistle, and the team of horse took off down the lane leading back to Townsville, pulling the carriage along after it – leaving the boys to stare after it.

The brother's watched as the carriage made its way out of their property, taking their claims with it unhappily. Boomer let a whine escape his throat, that sounded suspiciously similar to a dog's as he flexed his hands. "They're asking more and more questions about us." He finally muttered as Brick cocked an eyebrow in his direction. "They all are – even Bubbles. She was asking me questions about when we were kids. Apparently she's been having these dreams about when we were children– I didn't tell her about... anything important." He added quickly, seeing Brick's blood red eyes widen in shock. "I just validated what she told me. He dreams and what she remembers from them are innocent enough."

"Does she know?" Brick asked calmly. Boomer shook his head slowly, averting his eyes from his older brothers.

"No. She doesn't know about what we are. She remembers very little from that time period… which is probably for the best." He muttered the last bit, before jerking his head at his older brother. "What about Blossom? Has she been asking?"

"She doesn't know." Brick muttered as he closed his eyes. "Not about us at least. She was asking about our family though."

"Oh?" Boomer fidgeted nervously. "Like, about us, or dad-"

"No, she was asking about mum of all people." Brick growled venomously, causing a flash of pain to appear on Boomer's face at the mention of the woman. As quick as the anguish had appeared, it was gone in the next second, as Boomer reverted back to his normal passive expression.

"and… what did you tell her?" he asked carefully, watching as a muscle in Brick's jaw clenched.

"The truth. I have no idea where she is, and that she's never coming back." Brick replied gruffly as he crossed his arms. "No point in lying to her about that. She's long gone."

Boomer was quiet for a moment before he timidly murmured, "She might come back-"

Brick laughed, a harsh, cruel sound, stopping Boomer from finishing his sentence. "That's a joke Boomer. She's never going to come back here. She vanished first chance she got. As much as I hate dad, at least he stuck around." His eyes narrowed. "I don't see why you cared for her so much. She hated- no feared… no… she despised us." Brick snarled as he struggled to find the proper words.

"You can't blame her for feeling like that." Boomer protested weakly. "We're not exactly perfect children either… and she was kind… or at least… she could be."

Brick laughed again, but the sound was far from pleasant. "To you maybe. But when she looked at Butch and I, all she could see was monsters."

"Well… neither of you gave her a reason to think differently."

The silence roared in Boomer's ears, as Brick fell deadly silent. He struggled to stand his ground as he made the mistake of looking up at Brick, only to see a murderous look written across his face, as he stared him down furiously – his crimson eyes dilating rapidly until his iris was swallowed into a black abyss.

For one long, horrible moment – Boomer was afraid that Brick would lose control and sink his teeth into his neck – god knew he would – he had seen him do it to other unfortunate victim's countless times before.

Finally, Brick blinked, allowing his eyes to return to normal. He scoffed at his baby brother before turning back to look back at the carriage, which was nothing more than a speck on the horizon.

"Maybe. Maybe she truly just hated us, and hid it around you a little better."

The worst part – Boomer thought about that statement – was that he knew that he couldn't argue the point his elder brother had made. Instead or replying, he also opted to watch the carriage disappear completely from view – letting his silence speak for himself.

A slight shuffling noise behind them indicated that Butch had decided to join them on the terrace.

Boomer turned his head to the side as Butch slowly made his way down the stairs to stand beside him. He watched with mild interest as his older brother ran a hand through his obsidian spikes nervously with a muffled sigh – refusing to make eye contact with either of them, as the muscles under his left eye jumped.

Boomer narrowed his eyes upon seeing his brother's nervous ticks. It was a clear indicator that he was bothered by something, and that in itself was troubling – Butch didn't normally showcase if something bothered him openly – whatever was eating him now, it wasn't good.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly, shifting his cobalt gaze from the disappearing carriage, to his darker sibling. Butch flinched as Boomer addressed him, causing him to ruffle his hair again, before turning his attention to his feet.

"I might have fucked up." Butch managed to get out though gritted teeth.

Boomer felt his eyes widen. "What?" he asked. "What do you mean 'you might have fucked up'?"

Brick flicked his head to the side to glare at them so fast, Boomer was surprised that he didn't get whiplash. "Yes do enlighten me Butch. Care to explain to Boomer and I what you mean by you might have fucked up?"

Butch winced. "I said something I shouldn't have."

This time Bric's own eyes widened. "Butch I swear to god, if you told Buttercup anything about our little secret then I'll split you open myself-"

"No, I didn't. It was nothing like that." Butch interrupted, waving him off with one hand as he used the other to rub at his temples. "Did you actually propose to her or something?" Boomer asked as he rose an eyebrow.

"No, not that either." Butch replied in a strained voice.

"Then what did you say to her?" Brick almost snarled, his blood red irises flashing dangerously.

"I FUCKED UP AND TOLD HER ABOUT MITCH'S ARM." Butch roared as he turned to fully face them, breathing hard and red in the face – his lips drawn back into a wolfish snarl, effectively stunning his brothers.

Boomer wrinkled his nose in confusion. "I don't understand. Wouldn't she already know about that? I thought that she and Mitch were friends or something. I assumed that they would already know about what we did to him by now."

"No that's just it. I slipped and told her certain details about what happened that night that the rest of the town doesn't know about – only them, and she caught on." Butch moaned, as he buried his buried his head in his hands. "That includes what arm I ripped off when I was trying to get him to stop poisoning Brick with that fucking silver. I didn't even realize I had done it until she pointed it out, and it was too late at that point."

Brick was silent for a moment before quietly asking, "I'm assuming that the rest of the town has no idea about what really happened to him?" Butch shook his head as he slicked back his hair. "From what Buttercup was saying, no. Apparently, they're keeping it very quiet – only her family and Mitch's grandmother know the full extent of his injuries – they don't want the town to descend farther into madness."

"Well I think it's a bit late for that." Boomer muttered. "The town's been going to hell ever since the mayor died. If the town finds out about Mitch, it might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back."

"We won't have to worry about them for much longer." Brick sighed. "We're so close to our goal. Just a few more moons and it will all be over."

"That's fine but what about the girls?" Boomer challenged. "Yeah. At this rate, Butters is going to figure out something's amiss – she and her sisters have already been asking questions, I don't know for how much longer we can keep avoiding it." Butch added bitterly.

"and even if it's not her, I have a feeling Bubbles and Blossom will figure it out soon enough as well." Boomer sighed. "We can't keep this a secret for much longer Brick, surely you have to see that. They're going to find out a lot sooner than we expected."

"Yeah, and when they do find out – and they will eventually." Butch added as he saw Brick open his mouth, "They're going to hightail it out of here before we can explain. Not that they'd be interested in hearing it at that point… Point is, they'll never stay."

Brick was silent before he inhaled deeply. "Well then, I suppose you'll just have to give them a reason to stay." He glared pointedly at his brothers, watching as Boomer and Butch shifted uncomfortably.

"… They'll never agree." Boomer finally muttered after a moment. "Not after they see what we really are. They'll never agree to stay willingly-"

"Who said anything about them staying willingly?" Brick challenged, causing a heavy silence to descend on the brothers as they entered a stare down with each other.

"That's kidnapping." Butch pointed out finally. "Not if we're in-laws." Brick pointed out coolly.

"So you're going to force Blossom to marry you then? That's excellent Brick, that's a great way to charm woman." Boomer snapped sarcastically, causing Brick to roll his eyes.

"I won't be forcing her to do anything, she's almost there on her own." He bit back. "and if you two don't screw anything else up-" he glowed at his brothers, "-then I can probably get her to agree by next month."

"and if that doesn't work what are you going to do?" Boomer asked, narrowing his deep blue eyes at his elder sibling. Brick broke eye contact with him to gaze off into the horizon, where the rest of Townsville lay – where the object of his obsession lived.

"They're not leaving Townsville ever again." He murmured softly. "We can't let them leave – we have to protect them… even if they hate us in the end. They'll just have to learn to live with it."

"They're going to have to – considering they don't have any other choices." Butch grumbled under his breath. Brick only sighed, allowing a puff of steam to escape from his mouth at his comment. "We've been over this already Butch, you agreed with me. It's the only way to keep them safe."

The dark-haired brute lowered his head. "I know." He confirmed softly. "Boomer, you too." Brick added as he finally redirected his attention back to his youngest brother. Boomer stiffened before letting out a defeated sigh. "I get it. I just… Wish we had more time."

Brick let out a bitter laugh. "It's like I told Butch: time has never been on our side. Now, it's even less so then before." Boomer's gaze hardened. "Don't I know it." he growled to himself as he looked back at the horizon where he could see the faint outline of Townsville in the distance.

Ah, Townsville – the origin of their family's misery. It would continue to exist for a little while longer, but the town's days were numbered. The townspeople and their dreams would soon die along with it, and he and his brothers were the reapers.

Boomer absentmindedly traced over the ugly scar on his thigh from when Mitch had shot him with sliver. Soon, their lives as they knew it would come to an end, and darkness would be upon them.

And no one would be alive to stop them.

---

The ride back to the manor was silent except for the muffled clopping of hooves from outside the carriage. John couldn't help by glance nervously between his daughters. Blossom was staring straight ahead with an unreadable expression on her face, Bubbles was staring out the window tracing shapes on the glass absentmindedly, and Buttercup had her eyes trained on her feet with her hands fisted tightly in her lap, not saying a word.

John began to sweat lightly. He didn't know what had happened while he and Kingston were preoccupied with Mojo, but he could tell that something had upset his children.

Looking up at Kingston's seething form, he knew immediately that it would be unwise to ask his daughters what was bothering them in his presence – the man was barely keeping it together as it was.

Still though, he couldn't afford for him to be angry about the way that Mojo had talked to him – too much was at stake as it was, and he couldn't have his patron and possibly one of the only people who believed his theories about the beast's somewhat, furious at one of his former colleagues. He had to try and mend the situation somehow, but knowing Kingston as he did – he already knew that it would be easier said than done.

"Ah Kingston?" he tried timidly, causing the dark eyed man to look up and stare at him coldly.

John sighed inwardly. Well, he'd have to lay on the apologies thick.

"Kingston, I am so sorry about what happened with Mojo back there." He started off, causing the other man to scoff quietly. "If I had known that he was going to speak to you like that I would have reprimanded him immediately. He's usually much more… mild-mannered then that, I can assure you – but admittedly, he's not always the easiest person to get along with in the world I'm afraid." Kingston let out an audible snort at that.

"I'll say, was he like that when you were both working together back in the day?" he asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, his gold-plated rings gleaming in the carriages dim light.

John slowly nodded. "Regretfully yes. I confess that I got used to it after a while. He really is a brilliant man… sometimes a bit unorthodox, but brilliant none the less. If he wasn't, I wouldn't have put up with him for as long as I did."

"Indeed… Why exactly did you stop working with him, might I ask? I don't believe you ever told me the reason why?" Kingston rumbled, causing Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles, to look towards him expectantly as well.

A cold sweat washed over John, chilling him to his very core. No… they couldn't know. No one could ever know the real reason why he had cut off all communications with Mojo years ago. The girls especially couldn't know. It appeared to him that they couldn't remember, and he intended to keep it that way. The less they knew about that family the better…

"We… had a conflict of interests… and ethics, one could say." John muttered darkly as he looked away. "I couldn't be a part of what he wanted to do anymore."

Kingston looked mildly interested, and looked as if he was going to ask the graying man to explain himself, but instead he only nodded and looked back out the window. "I see. Well, perhaps you can tell be more about is some other time then, we have arrived back at your home."

Sure enough, the Bellum manor was slowly pulling up into view in front of them. John breathed a sigh of relief. Not a moment too soon…

The carriage pulled up in front of the large stone building and John opened the door, signaling for his quiet daughters to get out. The three girls left the carriage and made their way toward the front door, leaving him alone with Kingston. John looked back into the dark carriage and gave him an apologetic look.

"Once again Kingston, I am very sorry about what happened the afternoon. I hope that you will accept my deepest apologies, and that I hope that this doesn't effect anything between us." He told the sitting man sincerely. Kingston merely waved him away. "It's quiet alright John, I can't expect you to control your partners behavior, though I trust that it won't happen again in the future." The red bearded man gave him a stern look and John nodded.

"I'll talk to him and let him know that his comments were out of line." He promised. "Thank you, Kingston… it's nice to know that someone believes me and doesn't think I'm going mad."

The burly, white-clad man hummed. "I will admit that it does sound… extraordinary to the average person, but you've seen them up close and so has this Mitch lad, so I'm willing to take a gamble on it, and believe what you say." He looked at John with hooded eyes. "After all, if they really are what you say they are… I would be more then interested to catch them and

"C-catch them?" John sputtered, taken aback. "Kingston, I don't think that's a good idea – hunters have tried in the past and every attempt had failed thus far. Besides, those things are capable of immense destructive power… they need to be put down before they can hurt anyone else-"

"I'm well aware John. But think about it… it would be… such a waste if the beasts were slain just like that. Think about it… if we catch them you could be credited for finding a new species. We have much to gain from them."

"But if they really do end up being Lycan's than the beast is only-"

"That will be all John, thank you." Kingston interrupted him firmly. "I will contact you sometime later this week, and we can discuss about where we're going to go from here." He paused as he looked at him suspiciously. "We have a lot of things to discuss, you and I." John didn't have to ask him to know that the fur wearing man was referring to the cryptic conversation between him and Mojo, back in the smaller man's office.

Instead, he shut his mouth and nodded weakly. Kingston nodded back, looking slightly pleased. "We'll be in touch."

And with that, he slammed the carriage door, signaling for the diver to go. The driver cracked the reins and took off down the front pathway – effectively cutting the salt and pepper haired man off in the middle of his sentence.

"… the beast is only one side of them…" John finally muttered as the carriage lurched away from him and off the property.

"What about the man hiding inside?" he whispered to the cold February winds, receiving no response in return. He shuddered and pulled his coat tighter around him. Next week would be the beginning of March, and soon after that – his daughter's birthdays in April…

April… The month that his cousin-in-law was supposed to arrive and relieve them of the manor… allowing them to leave this cursed place and never return.

Provided they could make it to April that is.

John winced, suddenly feeling far too exposed stranding out in the open, and moved towards the still open front doors, where he could see his daughter's standing just inside – watching him worriedly. He gently pushed past them and shut the door behind him, bending down slightly to unlace his boots.

"Papa? Is everything alright?" Bubbles asked gently as she took his coat and hung it on the coat rack along with hers and her sisters. John glanced up at his youngest with a small shake of his head.

"Not really hun, but I'm more concerned about you. You three were rather distant on the ride back home." he stated as he looked at each of his daughters. Blossom shifted her weight from one foot to another. "We're alright papa, no need to stress." Bubbles nodded in confirmation, but John noticed that his middle daughter remained silent, and was standing slightly off to the side, away from her sisters, looking slightly pale.

"Buttercup? Are you alright? You've been awfully withdrawn since we left." John asked his ebony haired child, causing her to look up with a start. The ravenette only shook her head as her dark hair hide her face slightly. "It's nothing dad, don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

John frowned but didn't push her, knowing full well that once his daughter got into a mood similar to the one she was having – trying to get her to open up was damn near impossible. Instead, he opted to leave her peculiar behavior alone for the time being – making a mental note to himself to check back in on her later.

"You know, you never got around to telling us how your meeting with Mojo went." Bubbles stated as she glanced up at her father. "How did it end up going? Did he say he was going to help you spread the word?"

John sighed and lightly shook his head at his youngest daughter's question, before looking at all three of his children sadly. "Not exactly-" Only to perk his head up as a sound from farther in the manor caught his attention.

He glanced over top of their heads as the sound of light laughter echoed from farther down the hallway leading towards the living room, only for the girls to recognize that the laugh belonged to their mother. The voluptuous woman appeared from the hallway a moment later, still chuckling to herself. Looking up, she spotted her children and husband staring at her and her smile widened.

"Ah John darling, you'll never guess who's come back." The beautiful woman smiled happily. "Nan's back! She just came in an hour or so ago. She got held up with some family matters that required her attention, but she's back now!"

John breathed a sigh of relief. "Well that's good to hear love, with her back we can actually start eating well again." That managed to cox another laugh out of his wife as she beamed at him. "Yes, you're not much of a cook, but at least you tried." She chuckled.

John nodded. "It's good that she's back. It'll be nice to have someone keep an eye on your mother, that way we won't have to watch her around the clock." Sara's face fell slightly, and John mentally slapped himself.

Sara smiled gently at her daughters. "Girls, why don't you go say hello to Nan while you're father and I start on supper. She's missed you three, and she's been asking about you."

Bubbles smiled. "I think that sounds like a nice idea. Where is she?"

"She's sitting down in the living room with a cup of tea." Sara responded as she tugged on John's arm. "Come on darling, I was thinking we could make soup for supper – that's not horribly difficult to make – you shouldn't burn anything." She grinned as John groaned, but never the less allowed her to drag him towards the kitchen. He winked at his daughters as he mouthed, That soup's going to burn, Causing the girls to stifle laughter, as Bubbles jerked her head in the direction of the living room.

"Come on girls, let's say hello to nan before supper." The blonde smiled as she led the way down the hallway towards the living room. "Yeah… sure." Buttercup muttered as she followed behind Blossom, who shot her a concerned look in response.

They made their way down the hallway – both Blossom and Bubbles shooting worried looks over their shoulders at Buttercup, who was shuffling behind them with her eyes trained on the ground. Bubbles shared a look with her rose orbed sister, before slowing down to match Buttercup's speed. She tapped her on the shoulder hesitantly, causing the lime eyed woman to shrug slightly, but still refused to say anything to her.

"Buttercup? Are you alright?" Bubbles asked. "Fine." Buttercup responded curtly, still not bothering to lift her head to acknowledge her sister. "Never better."

"That's doubtful." Blossom challenged lightly. "You've been unnaturally quiet since we got back from the estate, which I find odd since you were in such a rush to get out of there in the first place. Besides you promised me that you would tell me why once we got back home. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing-" Buttercup started to say before cutting herself off with an unconvincing sigh. "Actually, yes. Everything. That visit with the boys was… eye opening to say the least." Both Blossom and Bubbles raised a brow at the ink hair woman, causing her to snort. "Oh come now, surely I'm not the only one who noticed that something was off with them."

Blossom shook her head as the three girls slowly rounded the corner, heading towards the living room. "You're going to have to be more specific Buttercup – there was… a lot of interesting things happening at the mansion today aside from the boy's behavior, which I will admit was… rather off-putting." She nodded her head at her. "Were you able to find out anything from Butch like you had originally hoped?"

Buttercup shut her eyes tightly and shook her head. "No. It backfired horribly… well, I mean, yes, a little actually – but it wasn't exactly the answers that I was hoping for. But this time around, I noticed that there are things about them that don't make sense…"

Bubbles furrowed her brow in confusion. "Buttercup you're not making any sense. What are you implying-"

"There's something wrong with them." Buttercup hissed as she grabbed onto Blossom and Bubbles's arms, forcing them to come to a stop just outside the living room.

Blossom frowned, slightly startled by her sister's sudden change in attitude. "Do explain Buttercup, I'm not sure I follow."

"Their behavior is just… unnatural!" the tall woman replied as she struggled to find the words to explain herself. "Just everything about them is just wrong, and it's not very noticeable things either, it's little things about them that are off-putting – the fact that they get sick every month like clockwork, the fact that they're completely unwilling to even talk about what's going on in the forest despite them knowing that something is clearly wrong, and-" she paused as she sucked in a breath before whispering:

"The fact that they know things that they shouldn't know."

"What are you trying to say Buttercup?" Blossom asked stiffy as she clenched her hands into fists – her nails biting into her skin as she squeezed them tighter.

Buttercup glanced around the hallway to make sure that no one was around before continuing. "When I was talking with Butch, the subject somehow turned to Mitch, and he was able to tell me exactly what arm he lost."

"Well… alright, but what's wrong with that?" Bubbles asked confused. Buttercup pointed at her. "That's what I thought too, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with that sentence until I realized-" She looked at her sister's seriously. "Aside from Mrs. Michelson, we're the only ones who know about Mitch's condition, so there is no way that Butch should know about his arm being torn off!"

"Maybe Ace told them – I'm sure they must have asked about it-"

"Oh he probably did, but for him to remember exactly which arm he lost in the heat of that situation? No offence Bubbles, but Ace doesn't exactly strike me as the type of person who would really pay attention to details like that. I bet if you asked him now he wouldn't remember, and besides – Butch didn't say anything about Ace telling him that particular piece of information – he told me without even mentioning Ace." Buttercup retorted.

Bubbles thought about it for a second, before nodding. "I don't really see that either to be honest… so then how did he know? Lucky guess?"

"Dunno. But he got very nervous when I called him out on it." Buttercup shook her head. "something doesn't add up here… I need to find out what it is they're hiding…"

"Butch wasn't the only one acting odd." Blossom spoke up, directing her sibling's attention onto her. "Brick was… I don't know, but something about him just seemed… different. I asked him about what happened to his mother and he almost went off." She bit her petal pink lip before whispering. "I think that there's more to her story then we were told… because from the way the Brick was talking about it – I don't think she's in Europe like what Mojo said."

The girls fell silent again at Blossom's ominous words.

"Well… if she's not in Europe…. Then where is she?" Bubbles asked quietly. Blossom only shook her head. "That's the thing, I don't think that Brick really knows either. It's like she just vanished." Blossom closed her eyes as a small frown crossed her face. "Come to think of it, that's what mama and papa thought too when we first came back here, remember? Something just isn't right about story surrounding her."

"Apparently, she was still living here when we were children." Bubbles added. "But I don't ever remember seeing her when we little, do either of you?"

"Aside from playing with Mitch as a child, and from when Butch bit me, I barely remember anything from when we lived here." Buttercup muttered darkly. "We were pretty young when we left, but no – I don't think that we ever saw her. Supposedly she was up in her room most of the time before she left?"

Blossom shrugged helplessly. "I never remembered seeing her. I'm having a lot of trouble keeping the facts about that family straight. I feel like there is a lot more to them then what we've been told…"

"That family has more secrets then all of Townsville combined." Buttercup growled. "Dad probably knows about some of them too, but he's never going to tell us. Look how long it took him to finally tell us about the Lycan issue, no if we want answers we'll just have to get them ourselves-"

She stopped in mid sentence as a sudden thought washed over her and she was bright back to what Butch had said earlier.

"Careful little one. There are things going on here that you don't understand. I wouldn't be jumping to conclusions if I were you – considering that you don't know the half of what's really going on around here."

He was there, or at least near there when the attack happened. Buttercup thought to herself hollowly. That's the only way he would know details about the attack, aside hearing about it from Ace. But still… She trailed off as her hands slowly began to form into fists.

Something tells me that he knows more than what he's willing to let on… I'm just going to have to find out the hard way.

"Hey." Buttercup looked back up as Blossom snapped her fingers in front of her face. "Are you alright? Papa wasn't joking – you've been… really withdrawn since we've got back. What are you thinking about?" Buttercup only shook her head. "I dunno. I'm still trying to figure that out myself." She admitted with a half shrug. "I'm trying to make sense of everything that we found out today… which is proving to be more troublesome then I originally thought it would be."

"Well, what do you think is going on?" Bubbles finally asked. Buttercup opened her mouth to respond before a muffled voice from the living room interrupted her.

"Girls? Girls is that you out there?"

Buttercup closed her mouth and shook her head slightly. "I'll tell you later. Might as well go see nan before supper." Blossom frowned slightly but nodded regardless, as she squeezed her shoulder before moving past her and into the living room, Bubbles and Buttercup close behind her.

They entered the room, only to see their old nanny sitting on one of the plush couches sipping a cup of tea. The older woman beamed as they entered the room and set the cup down on one of the end tables so she could stand. She moved quickly towards them and held her arms out.

"Hello girls!" The robust woman smiled warmly as she pulled all three girls into a hug. "It's been a while hasn't it? I would have come back a lot sooner, but I heard that a lot of bad things have been happening around here lately – apparently from what I've been hearing, those things in the woods have been going absolutely wild as of late, so I figured I would keep my distance until it was safe to come back."

"It's probably best that you did." Buttercup agreed as she managed to detach herself from the older woman's embrace. "It's taken a turn for the worst."

"Yes, I heard about that poor boy." The bustier lady murmured sadly. "From what I can remember you and he were good friends, I'm sorry about what happened to him sweetie – but at least he's still alive!"

"Yeah, but for how long? Not to mention that he's missing an arm." Buttercup muttered as she turned her face away from her. The woman gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Head up love, who knows? He might make it through this yet."

"We'll see, won't we…" Buttercup trailed off, too preoccupied thinking about Butch's disturbing behavior earlier.

Blossom caught a glimpse at her middle sister's face and pieced together what she was thinking about. Turning her attention to her former caretaker she asked "Nanny, there is something that we wanted to ask you about."

Nanny smiled gently at the lovely auburn haired girl. "Of course Blossom, what is it?"

"Well, this may seem like an odd request, but I don't suppose you can tell us anything about werewolves, can you?"

The graying woman frowned slightly at the request. "Werewolves? Why do you want to know about those brutes?"

"Ah… my sisters and I have been catching up on the local legends recently?" Blossom supplied weakly, knowing that it was a half-truth. The older woman shrugged. "I could tell you some of the stories that I know I suppose. They all differ slightly, so it's hard to say which one is closer to the truth, but I'll tell you the ones that I'm most familiar with."

"If you could that would be amazing Nanny!" Bubbles chirped, quickly catching on to what her older sister was doing. "We've read all the stories about them in the library but they don't tell us much at all, so we were wondering if you knew any."

Nanny furrowed her brow at the youngest Utonium. "I thought you didn't like stories like these ones blue bird. What changed?"

"I suppose all the attacks from the creatures in the woods have got us compering them to werewolves to some degree… they're both quite beastly in behavior." Bubbles replied airily, hoping that her half-hearted excuse would convince her.

Nanny sighed tiredly. "Well I can't argue with that. I don't know what those things in the woods are exactly, but they certainly do seem to act like werewolves don't they?"

Oh nanny, you have no idea. Bubbles thought to herself sadly, as he willed the smile to stay on her face.

"Well now let's see…" the older woman trailed off as she thought about the girl's request. "There's a couple variations to the story. One of them is that a person who is a werewolf bites another person to turn them into a wolf, but that's not always the case, and I'm sure you three have heard that one already."

The girls nodded.

"Personally, I think that that one is rather old and not as credible." Nanny muttered, "I feel like there are other forces at work in these kinds of tales. There are much more believable versions of stories involving Lycan's. Of course, they do still have the same outcome: a man who is cursed becomes a wolf during the full moon and goes out into the night and causes mischief – but how he got the curse varies depending what story you hear. Some say it's a gypsy curse caused by the blooming of wolfsbane on the full moon, others say that it's hereditary and that the curse is passed down in a family from generation to generation. Some say that they aren't humans at all, but demons sent straight from hell sent to punish the wicked…"

The older woman sighed as she paused momentarily to think. I don't know if I believe that one as much as the versions that call it a curse. I do believe that it is a man who bares the unfortunate burden of the wolf, but I can understand why people would think that it's a demon – after all, they certainly aren't holy beings."

She shook her head as she glanced out one of the windows that displayed the foreboding tree line just beyond the iron gated fence surrounding the property. "There is one last tale I know about them though." She said quietly, not looking at the girls as she spoke. "It's an old story, one not known by many, or simply forgotten about with the passage of time."

She turned her attention back to the girls with a soft smile on her rugged features. "There is a lovely old English tale that I heard a long time ago as a young girl, that says if someone who truly loves the werewolf – calls the beast by name, will apparently turn the beast back into its human form." Her smile seemed to turn into a sad one as she shrugged her shoulders.

"I'd like to think that particular tale is true. The other's surrounding the beast are so dark and grim, that I'd like to believe that this one holds some truth to it."

"That would be nice." Bubbles mused quietly. "Maybe if we knew who the beasts were, we could try that- oomph!" she was cut off as Buttercup's elbow found its way into her ribs, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"Sorry Bubbles, I didn't hear you, what did you say?"

"Nothing. I was just saying that I hope that it's true as well." Bubbles covered, rubbing her ribs gently as she sent her sisters an apologetic look.

"Well, thank you for taking the time to tell us about the other stories." Blossom murmured quietly "We appreciate it very much, the books that we have in the library were quite limited-"

"Oh, and then there's also tales of the Grimm, but those are slightly different." Nanny added abruptly, causing the girls to look at her in confusion.

"The Grimm?" Bubbles repeated, scrunching her nose as she tested the unfair name. Nanny nodded. "They're slightly different from Lycan's but no less dangerous. Grimm's take on the shape of wolf-like dogs and are said to be the embodiment of bad omens. They bring misery and despair wherever they go. Some even say that they represent the Devil himself."

The girls stared at the elder woman in a stunned silence. The graying woman fidgeted under their horrified stares. "Of course, there's nothing to be worried about girls, they're just stories. Just like the Lycan's, they're just stories."

"Yeah…" Bubbles muttered as she shot a fleeting glance out the window and out at the dark forest that lay beyond the house. "Stories… they're just…. Stories…."

"Lately it seems like the stories are coming to life." Buttercup mumbled under her breath, only for Blossom to send her a guarded look. "That's interesting Nan, I've never heard about them before… is there anything else about them that you can tell us?" Blossom asked, hoping that the older lady hadn't heard her disgruntled sister's mutterings.

The robust woman tapped her chin with her fingers as she pondered the pale girl's request. She was quiet for a moment before fixing Blossom with a hard stare.

"Legend has it that they're supposed to bring about the end of days… they're the Reapers of souls if you will."

The girls lapsed into an uncomfortable silence as the weight of their old caretaker's words washed over them. Blossom swallowed thickly. "Thank you for telling us about that Nan, really – we appreciate it."

"It's no trouble love, I hope that I was able to answer some of your questions, but might I ask what's with the sudden interest?" the older woman asked curiously. Blossom glanced back over her shoulder at her sisters, who both looked slightly ill, before turning back to face her old nanny.

"Honestly Nan, you probably wouldn't believe us if we told you."

The old woman's face wrinkled in confusion. "What do you mean-"

"NAN! WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY IN THE KITCHEN! THE POTS ARE BOILING OVER! WHAT DO I DO?"

The older woman muttered a curse under her breath as the girl's father's shrill voice came from the kitchen, followed by the smell of something burning.

"Excuse me girls, I have to go assist your father before he burns the house down." The woman sighed as she all but bolted in the direction of the kitchen, leaving the girls alone.

"… I guess that supper is going to be delayed." Bubbles sighed as Buttercup let out a snort. "I'll say. I'm not very hungry though, to be totally honest."

"Neither am I…" Blossom admitted. "Food is the last thing on my mind after hearing all that."

"I figured that nan would know more stories than what the books told me." Buttercup muttered. "Which is nice, but it now I have more questions and still no answers." She frowned as she looked at her sisters. "You two ever heard of the Grim before any of this?"

Blossom and Bubbles shook their heads. "No, I can't say I have." Bubbles muttered finally, "Have you?"

"No, this is the first time I've heard about it." Buttercup confirmed. "I find it interesting that all things evil seem to come in the form of a wolf."

"Maybe they're related somehow." Blossom supplied. "Though from the way nan was describing it, it sounds like the Grimm's are more… ancient then Lycan's are."

Not to mention more devil-like. The rose orbed woman thought darkly to herself, though she didn't mention it out loud.

Buttercup shrugged before lifting a hand to rub at her temples. "I don't know, it's hard enough to believe we have werewolves living in the forest, we sure as hell better not have any Grimm's running around." She groaned irritably. "Again, now I have more questions and no answers, and it's not like we can just go around asking people about it – They'll think we're delusional."

"Until papa can find a way to go public with the information that he discovered, and get the townspeople to believe him, I think that it's best if we keep this to ourselves." Blossom agreed. "People are already frightened enough as it is, we don't need to go stirring up more trouble."

"Do you think that Mr. Morebucks believed him?" Bubbles asked nervously. "From the sounds of it, Lord Mojo didn't seem to believe papa when he broke the news to him. I'd hate for Mr. Morbucks to turn on him as well and think that he's insane."

"I dunno, he sounded pretty invested in what dad has to say." Buttercup muttered. "But even that doesn't sit very well with me. He seemed a little too interested in the wolves if you ask me."

Blossom opened her mouth to retort, but shut it once she though back to Kingston Morbucks's earlier behavior when badgering their father for answers about the wolves. "I can't argue with that." She finally admitted. "I don't know what he's trying to get at, but I suppose we should keep an eye on him and Princess. I've heard rumors about the Morbucks family doing some… under the table business dealings in order to get more power, and I'd hate to think that he's trying to cash in on those things…"

"I don't know why he would, or what he would have to gain from it." Buttercup muttered. "But it's unnerving. Of course, we could be completely wrong, and he's just interested in knowing what the things that are slaughtering everyone are – but we know them better than most people do, and we know that they're just a bunch of money hungry business people with no morals." He eyes became flinty. "Especially Princess-"

"Speaking of her" Bubbles whispered. "I heard that Mr. Morbucks wasn't very pleased with the way the boys supposedly talked to her when you went to the estate by yourself." She nodded at Blossom. "Apparently, he was trying to tell Lord Mojo off, but he wasn't having any of it."

Buttercup snorted. "Serves her right. That pretentious brat had that coming for a while. I wish I had been there to see it." she sighed wishfully, before rising an eyebrow at her younger sister. "How do you know that?"

Bubbles flushed. "I overheard a part of the conversation when I was passing by his study with Boomer. He didn't sound too happy."

"When is he ever though." Buttercup sighed. She rubbed at her eyes tiredly and glanced up at the grandfather clock that sat ticking way in the corner of the living room. "I think I'm going to skip dinner tonight. I'm not hungry at all… I've got too many things on my mind right now."

"I'm going to have to agree with Butters." Bubbles murmured gently, as she jerked a thumb in the direction of the kitchen, where frantic, muffled cries could still be heard echoing throughout the house. "I'm pretty sure papa has burnt it beyond saving anyways."

Buttercup snorted as she turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, followed closely by her sisters. The three girls were just passing the kitchen as their father was leaving – coughing and muttering profanities under his breath, only to pause as he looked up and noticed his daughters – managing to crack a weak smile at them.

"Oh girls, I'm sorry but dinner is going to be a bit delayed tonight. If the three of you can wait for at least an hour, I'm sure nan can whip something up-"

"Not hungry dad, but thanks." Buttercup interrupted as she brushed past him, making her way towards the stairs. John looked at his two remaining daughters. "Is… is Buttercup alright?" he asked gently. "She's very quiet since we came back." His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Did something happen?" he suddenly looked furious. "Did one of the boys-"

"No, no not at all." Bubbles quickly interjected. "We've just had an interesting day… It didn't quiet turn out like any of us had intended. She's just drained, and to be fair, so am I."

"Oh? What was it that you three were hoping for?" their father asked curiously before nervously biting his lip. "You… you girls didn't tell the boys about you-know-what right?"

"No, it didn't really come up in our conversations with Brick or Boomer, though I don't know about Butch." Blossom responded as she cast a nervous look in the direction Buttercup had taken off in. "Apparently from what I understand, Mitch was brought up when they were talking and it struck a chord with Buttercup – talking about it is a painful thing for her to deal with."

It also doesn't help that Butch knows things about him that he shouldn't possibly know. Blossom thought to herself grimly. No wonder she's so upset. Every time we think that we're going to get answers – something unexpected happens and throws us in another direction, putting us back at square one again.

Her father ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper locks worriedly. "I see." He murmured after a moment, glancing after his ink haired daughter. "Well one can hardly blame her, I'm still shaken up over the news myself." He frowned as he fixed his blonde and auburn haired daughters sternly.

"I have to ask a favor of you three." Blossom and Bubbles nodded. "Of course papa, what is it?" Bubbles asked, cocking her head slightly to the side.

"I spoke with Mojo concerning Mitch's theories, and presented my research proving his assumptions are indeed correct to him this afternoon with Kingston – and as you both can guess, it went less than stellar. He didn't believe it at all, even though I had Kingston's support." The older man sighed. "He thinks I've gone mad. Of course, he didn't say that to my face, but he didn't have to. Thankfully Kingston doesn't think I'm a complete nutcase, and had even agreed to help me spread the word, regardless of what Mojo thinks." He paused.

"Though I really hope that he meant what he said, and wasn't just saying it to my face to calm me down. I know what I sounded like, and as insane as it is – I believe that it's the truth, and people have a right to know that."

"Well you even mentioned that quite a few of the townsfolk are starting to think that the Lycan's are demons anyways." Bubbles pointed out softly. "I might be wrong, but something tells me that the town's people might be more open to the idea then you might think."

"Yes… I suppose so." John agreed half-heartedly, only for his dark eyes to harden as he looked at his daughters.

"…In the meantime, I don't want you three talking about those things to anyone else. It seems like even mentioning those things brings death and misery, and we've already had enough of that to last us a lifetime."

Blossom and Bubbles both flinched and nodded silently, having agreed to that amongst themselves earlier.

Their father sighed as he rubbed his hand across his face. "If you both could pass that onto Buttercup I would appreciate it." Blossom nodded, "We'll let her know not to mention the wolves until you're ready to announce it yourself. Hopefully it will be soon – the people need to know what they're up against."

"Trust me Blossom, I know. I want to tell people, but if I don't have Mojo's support it's going to make things a little more difficult, regardless of whether or not they believe it." He looked over their heads and at the wall behind them as a distant look entered his eyes.

"Support or no support from Mojo, I will announce it to the town before the next full moon. I don't know how yet, but I will. I have enough evidence to prove everything that Mitch had said is true… I don't know how I'm going to do it, but they need to know. These poor people have suffered enough… I need to avenge your Grandfather and your Uncle somehow…"

Blossom watched as he father's eyes became glassy, before he snapped himself out of his trance with a small shake of his head – redirecting his attention back to his daughters with a weak half smile. "Are you sure that you two don't want to wait a little longer for dinner? I don't want the three of you heading to bed on empty stomachs-"

"We'll be fine papa, thank you." Bubbles assured him gently. "Truth be told none of us are very hungry at the moment. I think we just need some sleep right now. Say good night to mama and nanny for us." The petite blonde stood on her tiptoes to give her father a small kiss on the cheek. "Good night papa, we'll see you in the morning."

"Very well, good night my dears." The older man relented with a sigh as he gently kissed both girls on the cheek. "I'll let your mother know that you won't be joining us for supper tonight – not that I blame you – it's not my best creation…"

Both girls laughed lightly as they bid their father a goodnight and headed towards the grand staircase where Buttercup would undoubtedly be waiting for them – the smiles slipping off their faces as they walked away from their father.

"What do you make of that?" Bubbles asked quietly. Blossom shook her head slowly. "I don't know. It's unsettling to say the least. I don't understand why Mojo would be unwilling to disregard everything papa told him, while Kingston agrees with him. You'd think it would be the other way around."

Bubbles hummed. "I agree. Lord Mojo has lived here his whole life, and he and papa have seen the same evidence from the other murders… so I don't get why he doesn't want to listen to papa… unless…" she looked over at Blossom with a dark look in her piercing blue eyes.

"… Unless he has something to hide-"

"Well it's about time." An annoyed voice cut across their hushed tones like a knife. Both girls looked up slightly, only to see Buttercup hanging over the top of the staircase railing, tapping her fingers against the cool metal. "You took your sweet time talking to dad."

"Oh Buttercup, papa said-"

"You don't have to repeat it Bubbles, I heard all of it, thank you. The house has terrible acoustics" Buttercup responded curtly, as she set her lips into a thin line. Bubbles flinched slightly at her sister's tone, but said nothing as she slowly ascended the stairs to stand by her sister, as Blossom followed close behind her.

"Buttercup-" Bubbles asked gently as she reached for her, only for the darker woman to move away from her abruptly and ascend the rest of the stairs to the second floor.

"That's it." Buttercup muttered as she stalked down the hallway leading towards her room. "I can't do this anymore. My head feels like it's about to explode. Between dad, the boys and everyone else in this town who insists on keeping things from us, we know next to nothing about those bloody wolves and we've even seen them for Christ's sake!"

"Buttercup calm down." Blossom muttered as she placed a hand on lime eyed woman's shoulder, only for her to jerk her shoulder out of her grasp. Blossom sighed. "I want answer more than anything too, but getting angry isn't going to help anything."

She ripped open the door leading into her room savagely. "I'm going to get answers for the three of us. I have a hunch about what's going on, but there are more holes that need to be filled before I start pointing fingers."

"Well then we'll help you-"

"No!" Buttercup's lime green eyes took on an almost fearful edge, before she pulled her sisters into her room, shutting the door securely behind her, before turning around to glare at her siblings.

"I'm not going to get the two of you involved in this." Buttercup snapped. "I did that last time, and look what happened!" she marched over to Blossom and pulled down the shoulder of her dress, exposing the pale teeth marks on her collar bone, before using her free hand to push up Bubbles's sleeve, revealing her own set of bite marks on her forearm.

"I got lucky last time, but I'm not going to put either of you into harm's way again." Buttercup stated firmly as she slowly backed away from her sisters. Blossom sighed. "Buttercup, you can't blame yourself for that, I'm just as much to blame-"

"No you're not. That was my decision, and I forced you to come. I'll take the blame." Buttercup shook her head. "No, I've already put the both of you into enough danger already, I won't do it again. I'll get the answers on my own, then tell you what I've found. I think it will be easier that way."

"Buttercup this is madness-" Blossom began, shaking her head, only for her raven haired sister to shoot her down with a look. "Do you want the truth or not? Because I am done with the deceit and the lies."

Blossom fell silent as she mulled over the question in her mind for a few moments. Finally, her shoulders sagged and she sighed. "And how exactly do you plan on retrieving those answers?" Blossom asked as she crossed her arms and cocked a delicately arched eyebrow at her sister skeptically.

"Dad mentioned that he went to visit the gypsies for answers on the Lycan's, so maybe I'll go there too – see what they know." Buttercup shrugged. "I definitely want to pay Mitch's Grandmother a visit and see if she can tell me anything that happened before the full moon – because I know that the boys are involved with what happened to him somehow. Something just isn't adding up with what Bubbles overheard and what they're telling us."

"How do you plan on getting out to ask them?" Bubbles quipped. "I highly doubt that papa will just let you go off by yourself – he practically has the whole house on lockdown until further notice. And besides…." She peaked at her sister from underneath her eyelashes. "I don't think he'd like the idea of you running around trying to find out about those things."

"I'll sneak out if I have to." Buttercup responded with a slight grimace. "I don't want to, but look how long it took for him to come clean about the Lycan's in the first place. If he and nobody else will tell us anything, then it's up to us to find the answers for ourselves, because whether we like it or not – we're all involved now." She nodded to her sister's concealed bite marks.

"I don't know who the Lycan's are as humans, or what they want with us – but those things came after us for a reason. They weren't in it to kill – they were in it for the chase, and if that book that I read has any truth to it… they want us for… other reasons."

Bubbles shuddered as the words from the book that Buttercup had been reading from came back to haunt her.

When the wolf has met his match, a bite he will bestow, of the one he has chosen for a bride.

Bride…

"But why?" she finally whispered. "Why us?" Blossom shook her head. "I don't know Bubbles." She admitted. "I really don't know."

"Neither do I. That's why we need to do some sleuthing for ourselves. Nobody can know about the bites, not until we figure out what they really mean. Then we'll go from there." Buttercup sighed as she rubbed her forehead tiredly. "We need to get some answers before the next full moon. I'd hate to run into those things again."

Blossom frowned. "What makes you so sue that we'll see them again?" Buttercup snorted.

"Oh I'm sure that we'll run into them sooner or later. Mitch was their biggest threat, but now that he's…" she paused as a conflicted loom came over her face. "temporarily out of the picture, there's no telling what they'll do. You two are "marked" after all – they're bound to come looking for you eventually."

Bubbles went pale at her older sister's words. "I don't want them to come looking for me." She trembled. "I just want them to leave the town alone…"

"Which is exactly why we need answers." Buttercup argued. "So if and when they do come looking for you two, we'll know how to stop them."

"Do you really believe that?" Bubbles asked quietly. A hard edge appeared in her sisters lime green eyes and it was another moment before she responded. "I don't know, but I'm sure as hell going to try."

"What do you plan to do?" Blossom asked quietly, as she opted to direct her attention at her feet instead of meeting her feisty sisters blazing green orbs. Buttercup's lips drew into a tight line as she looked at her older sister's tired figure.

"The Jojo's know something. Whether it's about what happened to Mitch or something about the Lycan's themselves, they know something. Don't either of you find it odd that they get sick every month around the same time like clockwork? I know that I'm not the only one who's noticed that… Bubbles pointed it out first…" Bubbles flinched slightly as Buttercup continued.

"…If they won't tell us what exactly is going on, then I'm going to do some investigative work into them…"

Blossom's head whipped up as the implication of Buttercup's words washed over her. "Buttercup that's madness – you can't go into their property uninvited, especially not at night and during the full moon! Papa will never let you out!"

"That's where you and Bubbles will come in." Buttercup replied. "There's no way I'm going to drag the two of you into anymore danger. You two can stay here and cover for me while I'm out of the house. I just want to look around the Jojo's property – see it there's anything suspicious that can tell us anything.

"You honestly think that we'd let you go alone?" Blossom shot back. "Not only is what you're thinking about doing trespassing, but you're putting yourself at risk as well! What if something happens to you and you don't come back?"

A shadow passed over Buttercup's face. "Well then you'll know where I went, and where to start looking for me if anything does happen."

Blossom groaned as she buried her face in her hands. "This is insane. I can't believe that you're actually serious about this."

"We need answers Blossom, and we need them badly." Buttercup shot back, but there was no edge in her voice. "If everyone had just been honest with us from the get go, then maybe it wouldn't have come to this, but now look at the mess we've gotten ourselves into: people we love are dead or close to it, not to mention a staggering amount of innocent people have been caught in the crossfire, and that number will continue to rise if we don't figure this out."

"I agree." Bubbles finally with a tiny nod. "But why does it have to be us? I want answers just as much as the next person, but I don't want any of us to get killed looking for them!" she sent a deliberate look at Buttercup as she spoke. It didn't go unnoticed by her raven haired sister however.

"Because Bubbles, those things came after us for a reason. There has to be a deeper meaning to all of this, and no one is going to be able to tell us the answers unless we find them ourselves." Buttercup muttered. "God forbid anyone else sees the marks you two have on you before we figure out what they mean – people might accuse you of being witches."

"They… they wouldn't… would they?" Bubbles asked as she gripped her bitten bicep as she glanced nervously between her older sisters, who only shot each other worried looks. "Well based on how paranoid people have become in the last two months… I wouldn't put anything past them at this point." Blossom finally sighed.

"But we aren't witches!" Bubbles feebly protested. "You've gotten bitten by a supernatural creature that's supposed to exist only in fairytales – try explaining that one to paranoid townsfolk who still heavily believe in the power of the church." Buttercup muttered. "That's why no one can know about those bites, and why we have to find the answers out for ourselves."

She turned away from her sisters and placed a hand on the open door leading into her room, before she paused and sent a an almost timid look at her sisters. "You two will back me up when I do this right? I'm doing it for you… as a way to make up for you getting… you know…"

The dark-haired woman trailed off as she glanced at the places her sisters had gotten bitten, unwilling to bring herself to say it out loud. Blossom shook her head. "Buttercup I told you we don't blame you for what happened-"

"and I told you that I do, so just let me do this for the both of you." Buttercup cut in firmly, before her expression softened and changed into an almost pleading one.

"Please."

Blossom and Bubbles looked at each other unsurely, before looking back at their middle sister who looked absolutely wretched, and sighed.

"Fine. I don't like it, but you're right: we do need answers." Blossom caved. "What exactly do you need us to do."

Buttercup flashed her auburn sister a grateful smile. "This upcoming full moon I'll sneak out to the Jojo estate and poke around – see if I can find anything. If I can't I'll come straight back and we won't speak of this again. All you two need to do is make sure that no one notices that I'm gone. Should be easy enough."

"How do you plan on getting there?" Bubbles crossed her arms. "The estate is on the other side of town – there's no way we're going to let you walk. Not with those Lycan's running around – one of them took an interest in you too, don't think we've forgotten!"

Buttercup grimaced as the memory of how the beast had pinned her up against the tree resurfaced. "Don't remind me. I'll figure out how to get there closer to the date. Maybe I can grab a horse from the stables without anyone seeing… I'll figure something out."

She flashed them a tight-lipped smile. "I know this isn't what you want me to do, and I know that you don't want to go behind our families backs in order to get answers, but thank you for understanding that this is something that we need to do."

Bubbles offered her a small smile in return. "Of course, we're sisters – we're in this together… no matter how twisted this ends up becoming."

Blossom nodded uneasily. "We'll figure this out… somehow."

Buttercup sighed as she moved into the threshold of her room. "Yeah… eventually. I… I think I'm going to turn in early tonight… I need some time to think about where we're going to go from here."

Blossom looked at her sisters turned back with a soft sigh. "Yes of course, I agree… I think we all could use some rest."

"But-" Bubbles started to protest before Blossom cut her off with a single shake of her head. "Come on Bubbles, I'll let you braid my hair before we turn in… it's been a long day for all of us after all."

The golden-haired girl huffed as she glanced between her sisters before she relented with a slight huff. "Fine." She grumbled as she moved after Buttercup to give her a small squeeze from behind. "Goodnight Butters, sweet dreams."

Buttercup didn't turn around to acknowledge her, but that didn't stop the small but genuine smile that crawled up her lips at her younger sister's actions. She could always count on Bubbles to remain positive even during the darkest of times.

"Goodnight." She murmured softly as she shut her door behind her with a soft click. She kept one ear pressed to the door, only to hear her the sound of her sister's soft footsteps slowly move away from outside her door, and back down the hallway towards their own rooms until she couldn't hear them anymore.

When she heard the faint sound of her sister's doors shutting, she moved away from the dark oak door and towards her dresser, where she pulled out her nightgown and proceeded to get ready for bed – knowing full well that sleep wouldn't come to her tonight.

The raven-haired woman shut the curtains to her windows, plunging the room into darkness as she collapsed on her bed, drawing the thick comforter around her as she snuggled into to plush pillows in a futile effort to become comfortable.

She groaned irritably as her mind continued to race with questions about the day and the information that she and her sisters had learned. She was starting to formulate a theory in her head about the madness that had befallen the town, but she needed proof before she could finalize anything.

The only thing that she knew for sure was that things were not as they seemed. Their family had deep roots here and had a hidden past with the town, and most importantly – the Jojo clan themselves – a past that her father seemed almost desperate to keep from them.

Her eyebrows drew together as she shifted in her bed – feeling an odd sense of dread wash over her with that last thought. She still wasn't sure what had happened between her father and the patriarch of the Jojo clan, but she knew that it had something to do with her and her sisters – it had to have. It was the only logical conclusion that she could think of.

Things were starting to make sense to her now the more she thought about it. It was almost like pieces of some massive puzzle were starting to fall into place – giving her some sort of clarity while doing so – making what she had to do next all the clearer in her head.

Which included a secret trip to the Jojo property.

She was ready to make her way up to the Jojo estate – In hopes of finding the answers that she and her sisters desperately needed to know – but not at all ready for what she might discover.

But whether she liked what she found or not was irrelevant. It didn't matter anymore. Whatever they were hiding was important…. And dangerous. Dangerous enough that they would be willing to continually lie to them, time and time again whenever the subject was brought up.

She frowned as she shut her eyes, falling into a dreamless sleep state.

Butch was right. She wasn't going to like the answers that she discovered.

---

…

On the other side of town, on the top floor of the Jojo mansion – Boomer's cobalt blue eyes slowly opened.

He sat up slowly in his bed as he blinked away sleep, before looking out his open window and into the moonless sky above him. He tensed and grit his teeth together.

It was too dark. Nights without the moon were the worst. Everything was too dark, too still.

And he hated it.

He slowly sat up in bed as he slipped out from underneath his covers, and trudged across the room to a shelf with various items on it. He scanned it briefly, before smiling and pulling a small, purple octopus doll off of the shelf, and made his way back to bed.

He pulled the covers up around him and the doll as he gave the soft, worn material a comforting pat, before slipping back into another dreamless state – his arm wrapped protectively around the doll.

It was nights like this where he just needed a little extra comfort, and nobody but him needed to know about it.

---

Authors note: "With great power comes great responsibility… and sometimes the price that comes along with that power is a costly one."

Much as the chapter title implies: secrets were brought to light, but some were probably better off buried. The pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place for the girls, and won't be long before they realize that they're caught in a game that's far more twisted than they ever could have imagined. The boys aren't the only thing that they have to worry about.

Speaking of the boys…

The girls managed to escape their claws once before, but whether or not they'll be able to do it a second time is up for debate. One thing is for sure though: They're never going to be able to leave Townsville so long as the boys are alive.

The long-awaited confrontation between the boys and the girls is coming to a head, but it is far from over. Unfortunately, the girl's nightmares are only beginning…

My apologies for this chapter coming out a month later then I said it would. I was dealing with a fair amount of personal things the whole month of June – and on top of that, I have an online course that requires me to donate about 40 hours every week for the whole summer. My end date is August 15th so… you can expect Chapter 12 to be published sometime after that. (It's going to be horrifically long, so my apologies once again if it comes later than that.)

Thank you to all of those who have reviewed, favorited or followed Lycan. I love hearing your feedback and once again, everything that I do is for all of you!

Thank you all so much and I will see you back here for Chapter 12: Into the Woods.

Much love,

Mrs. RoseGold xoxox