Chapter 38- let the fun begin

I didn't say a thing about Brick. I couldn't- not to these guys. I just told them I found my sister- Bubbles and the family she was with and we were catching up. Of course I had to explain I was working in the back streets and then I went to the suburbs and then I had to stray from my story for a while. In the simplest way I told them I met the kind of the Homo-X and he was off his rocker. All but Butch seemed to believe me. Well he looked like he suspected more but he didn't question it till we got back to his own hut.

'So you met up with Brick?' he said in a dry blunt growl when we got back to his hut. I frowned taking a seat on the couch looking up at him.

'How did you know that?' I watched him stand in front of me and he tapped his nose.

'I smell the prick on you. You're holding his shirt and wearing his jeans.' he folded his arms glaring down at me. 'Don't tell me you were with him.' I kept my mouth firmly shut. There was no way out of this one. 'Blossom. You didn't-'

'Didn't do what?' I glared back. 'How come everyone thinks I've slept with him?' I got to my feet throwing Bricks jumped at Butch. 'No I didn't. We talked over the night. It needed to happen, I was fine. Sorry I didn't tell you but frankly it's none of your business.' we glared at each other for a while before he looked down at the jumped clenching his teeth as to not shout back at me.

'It's my business since you live with me and he's my brother. He's a twat and he'll hurt you. It's what he does.' how come everyone's telling me that? Was his reputation really that notorious?

'I've been well warned and I know just what he gets up to. It's all I seem to here.' I folded my arms glaring deeper at him. 'Don't tell my sister.' I held out a finger. 'It's not her business either.'

'I wasn't going to tell her.' he frowned. 'She'd fly back her and slap the sense back into you. She doesn't need to be back here.' he snorted. He passed running his hand through his hair.

'God...you're making life hard for yourself.' I nodded; his eyes were coated in bitter pity as he looked at me. 'You've got guys out there who are ready to skin him alive. You can't go abandoning them.'

'I'm not going to. I've told Brick that.' I frowned 'and who told you I was even going to further this thing with Brick?'

'You're wearing his clothes and Boomer dropped round talking about Brick meeting up with you. I don't know how he found out though.' I made a mental note to kill him later. 'I can put two and two together.' I groaned leaning against the wall staring at the ceiling. 'You don't look too pleased about this new development.'

'He kinda forced it on me...these...' I looked up at Butch wondering if I should just start talking to him about this. It was totally surreal. He was Butch- you can't go talking about feelings and girl stuff to a guy named Butch. Ahhh- fuck it. 'He kinda forced me into liking him and then more or less chased me up on them till I felt like I was going to lose it.' I hugged my arms 'it just happened- I don't know if I'm happy it happened.'

'Sounds like something he'd do.' he grunted. 'Selfish prick.' he snarled sitting on the couch. 'You just tell me if he hurts you.' he growled. 'I'll give him a beating that he'll feel after death.' I smiled moving back to the couch.

'You don't need to worry about that. I have a killer left hook.'

he didn't talk about Brick again, not to me and he wouldn't tell, Butch wasn't like that. what made me surprised about all this was that be went to the boys- he didn't want part of this war yet he just walked in there and they just talked to him like he was some forest Sharman. the boys now just conceder him as the strange man I live within the woods not even a homo-X even though he flies in and orders people about before leaving. He wasn't getting involved- he was just ordering them about because they live in his forest. That was all.

now that I ws back I was spending more time with them, training them up and planning patrols though the city. Even that was easier with Cop, he was like dome organization master and he had self defence training which helped the boys since my knowledge in that area was limited. So now that we were training together and all that we were getting closer. They were beginning to trust me and more of them headed back to the city to help in the streets. They were getting braver. The plan was for us to keep moving through the back streets as I was and soon the boys would take over that job completely and I'd look over from above beating off the homo-X that might try to interfere as well as handled the EX monsters that roam the main roads. We were beginning to look like a real unit now.

'So.' Bubbles began once I had told her all this. We met up now and again now she was back in the city. 'You're the one robbing the shops at night and leaven them on everyone's doors.' she took a seat down on her bed. 'And you've been patrolling for seven hours already? You've been working too hard.' she rested her hand on my shoulder. I lay on her bad face down into the mattress. I ached everywhere. 'How long has it been like this?'

'Two weeks. But the guys are getting better. Five of them in particular are really stepping up.' I rolled looking up at her. 'You know things are really looking up.' I smiled. I couldn't do much work as the hero since Brick still had my costume. in fact I hadn't seen him since that day. For two weeks I have been free and it was like he's been letting me run amuck across the city at night. No one saw me. It sounded big headed but I was skilled now I was training every way with Butch and Cop. Butch actually liked being one of the boys and so trained with us. I suppose it was just something to do with no books or films or really anything. Spending time, training and talking with one another was all we could do.

'I suppose things are better with you all around but you look so worn out. You don't sleep much anymore, do you?' I shook my head. 'You shouldn't forget about looking after yourself, I still do a cleansing routine and get my hours of beauty sleep. Maybe you can start meditating- that helps me.' I raised en eye brow at her.

'I'm not going to start meditating. The boys would skin me alive if they catch me meditating.' I sighed. 'I wouldn't mind reading again...I just haven no books- they'll be in the library but I'd have to go to the suburbs and they're kinda...well it's risky to go there even if you do have superpowers.' she lay down hugging me on her single bed.

'You'll get your books again. It'll take time. The city is beginning to grow again. We can't be trapped much longer.' I looked at he, her voice was shaky and water was filling her eyes. I turned brushing the hair from her face.

'Now, come on. Don't cry.' I whispered. 'You've got a family, a sweet little girl, you need to be strong. Don't' break down now. You've been doing such a good job.' I squeezed her hand tightly letter her just cry on my shoulder.

'Meditating isn't enough. We're all trapped. We're stuck back in this place and there's no way out. Izzy is going to grow up a prisoner and the world is collapsing. Even Boomer isn't helping- he's determined to stay with his brother and the rest of the idiots in the volcano.' she gasped and spluttered over me as I stroked her hair. 'It's too much. I just want to give in. I can't be like you. I can't handle all of this.'

'Bubbles.' I frowned hugging her back. 'No-don't think that.' I sighed. I had been in her exact position. The hopeless feeling you get from living in this environment is over powering at times. You just got to stick with it. 'We're together, we can be strong together.' she was still crying. 'And Boomer is just being faithful to his brother's stupid war. It's like if I decided to strike against I don't know...cabbages. You'd stand with me in that strike no matter how stupid it sounds.' she nodded not making any sobbing noises anymore.

'I wish he spoke to me more. He just always looks so pained.' she muttered- I guess Boomer had upset her in her dreams. 'He's so sweet one moment and then when we talk he gets all defensive.' she wiped her eyes staring at me her cheeks slowly changing into a shade of brilliant red.

'I know what you mean.' I forced myself upright. 'They're uncompromising stubborn jerks that don't help you in the slightest.' I jumped up to my feet looking back at her. 'But you can't let boys rule your life.' I grabbed my leather jacket pulling it on. 'Buttercup was right about something...well half right.' I smiled looking back at my sister. 'just keep strong, girl power and all that jazz.' she sat up, her face still red.

'But Boomer was my escape- now he's just being a massive dick.' she frowned running her hands through her hair. 'Izzy's a handful and her grandparents are such a handful. I was going to ask if I could bring them all to the forest but I'm not sure they could all handle the trip in the cold. It'll be too much for them right now.' she sighed. 'Then I could help you and it'd be much like old times.' she looked up at me eyes large and watery again. 'I miss those old times.'

'Yhea. But I miss the lie-ins we used to get on Saturday mornings that lasted all the way through to the evening.' I grinned. 'Then you'd wake up and Dad would make hot chocolate.' I stood next to the door. 'Buttercup always woke up last but the only reason she woke up at all was because she smelt the hot chocolate.' she smiled. 'I missed those times- before we started fighting crime again. When we were almost normal and Dad only looked after us the few times she showed up out of his lab.'

'But we've grown now.' Bubbles sighed. 'Dad's gone and we have to look after ourselves.'

'And the city followed by the rest of the word eventually.' I opened the door. 'I've got to head back to the forest.' I muttered. 'I'll see you later.' I waved heading out the door. 'Tell Izzy I said hi.'

'Sure, will do.' she called after me. 'And get some sleep.'

I smiled heading out the front door and walking down the main streets. It was midnight and all the sum of the city would be about the back streets so this was the safest place to be. Even with ex's walking about the roads and keeping the citizens perfectly frightened into their houses, for me- this was the safest place. The EX was scared of me even though I had never fought one in Townsville out of the forest. They knew my scent and stayed away. Having that power in this city was priceless.

'Clean that mess fast.' a gruff voice barked an order from the bottom of the road. I swiftly moved round a corner. The man giving orders was none other than the black veined homo-X known as Marcus- his orders were to five nervous citizens all scrubbing a wall franticly as a couple EX's snarled down at them. I pressed myself up against the wall regretting not having my costume. I couldn't go running up to them with no disguise- I wouldn't be able to walk round the city to see Bubbles if they found out I was the pink hero skipping round the city at night. All I could do was watch now.

'We can't have this on the wall come dawn.' Marcus growled at the people working tirelessly on the bricks. I frowned focusing my eyes on the wall. There on the building side was a large piece of graffiti. It took up the entire wall and showed art I haven't seen in a very long time. It looked like it had been taken from a comic book and exploded on to a larger than life canvas. there facing me was a girl in pink costume and hood pulled over her face- only strands of red hair spilled out form the shadow of the hood which left the woman's face in darkness. The only features shining through were the pink eyes. She was in the air poised; fist drew back ready for action and several masked men stood behind her all in camouflaged hoods. Over the top of this spectacle were the words: Miss Hood and her merry men. I sunk back into the back alleys grinning widely. I was like a Robin Hood character- a living legend in this dying city.