Temper-mental

Bricks body tensed up as he held Sedusa down and looked at Blossom. Her words seemed to echo in his mind. "What did you just say?" He asked biting back the anger in his voice.

"I knew you were dumb, didn't think deaf was a part of it." She said smirking with her eyes glinting with judgment. "Or maybe I just used the wrong words. You'll have to forgive me I forget just how far below me you really are." She said with a cruel snicker, "Hand over the crook before you do something very Brick like, and by that I mean as dumb as one."

Brick felt his eye twitch and grabbed Sedusa from behind gripping her chin and shoulder. "What on earth would I do that's so dumb?" he asked, with his anger boiling his blood.

"I don't know, but whatever you would do would be too much a hassle to clean up so just hand her over." She said holding her hand out.

Brick saw two blue lines dash across the sky and one green towards him. "Remember? It was all fake. An act to keep you in line. She will never trust us to actually be anything more than a villain." he heard his thoughts scream in his head. He saw Boomer and Bubbles coming into view and they had a similar look in their eyes. Worry and judgment. Boomer just stayed silent looking at him with disappointment. "I haven't done anything and even my brother expects me to?" His thoughts yelled even louder in his head. Looking over he saw a look of superiority on Blossoms face. She had his brothers on her side, and no trust for him anywhere in those eyes.

His head felt foggy, and all he could see was pink eyes that looked as poisonous as when they were kids. "I thought we were friends." He said with a low growl, "But I'll always be a monster to you wont I?" He said looking up into Blossoms eyes and spat, "I won't make you a liar then." He said and with a quick movement of his arms and Sedusa's body fell forward.

Butch was catching up to the group where he assumed someone caught Sedusa. When he arrived he saw Brick looking mad at the group where everyone else had a look of confusion. Before he could ask what was going on he watched Brick snap Sedusa's neck. The body fell forward with its neck twisted and collapsed in an unnatural 180 degree spin.

If her body made any spasm or noise as it died no one took notice as Brick floated up into the sky a look of pure rage staring down at the teenagers. "Lets show her what kind of monster we can really be." A voice rang out in his fading consciousness as fire erupted out from his back. "Take them all out. Leave her for last." was the last thing Brick would remember hearing of this night.

The four teenagers looked on in horror as fire engulfed Brick as he made choking sounds through gritted teeth. The fire slowly encased him from the back and burnt over his face and torso. When it was over he was floating with an almost ethereal flicker to him as he stood there.

"What the hell is going on?" Butch asked as white spheres took the spot Bricks eyes should have been.

"Crap." Everyone heard Boomer say. "This isn't good. Everybody watch out." He warned taking an immediate defensive pose as everyone looked between them all confused and worried by the tone in his voice.

The four took a cautious defensive pose and watched Brick for his first move. It wasn't long as a trail of fire landed itself against Boomer and sent him flying through the sky into a tree. "Bro what the hell?" Screamed Butch. Images of Buttercup's distrust of him ran through his head as the form seemed to turn around and look at Butch. The only indication of movement were the white orbs that seem to be his eyes, and now they were locked onto Butch. "Bring it ass hole." Butch yelled getting his shield up.

Boomer stopped flying after hitting the third tree and was holding his cheek. There was no way his punch should have burned, but he could feel the skin heated up and searing where Brick decked him. He shot up and headed back to the fight. When he got back Brick was punching Butches shield. He didn't seem to have a plan for breaking it without brute force. "He isn't thinking, that's good we may just win this." Boomer thought. He wondered if he was the only one who recognized what this was. He remembered Brick talking to him about how he survived monster island. He was actually afraid of Brick now. Whenever they all fought Brick was hard to fight because he didn't waste energy and played mind games, but this was different. Boomer could see he moved far more animalistic.

Bubbles seemed to snap out of her haze and rushed Brick to get him off Butch. With a swift kick Brick went flying to the left and Butch took a breath. "Thank you Bubbles." He said looking at Boomer, "What the hell is this?"

Boomer looked past them and yelled, "No time to explain he's coming back."

The two looked back and saw Brick speeding back with what looked like a tree in his hands. Butch acted faster than he could think and pushed Bubbles out of the way and threw his shield back up. The improvised weapon Brick had started splintering against the shield but started pushing Butch back. A small canyon started forming where Butch stood, and tried to stop Brick from pushing him back further. Butch gritted his teeth, closed his eyes and let down his shield to grab the tree trunk from his brother.

When Brick felt the change in resistance he stopped and lifted the burning wood above his head and sent it crashing down on top of his brother. The tree broke in half against Butch's head but he stayed on his feet and launched his head into his brothers nose. When Brick went flying Butch winced at how the fraction of a second seemed to burn his head, but stared off and followed his brothers flying body.

He managed to catch up to brick and using his shield tackled Brick to the ground leaving a crater when they landed. He dropped his guard and shoved his foot into Bricks rib cage that sent him flying again. This time when Brick went flying he stopped himself in the air.

Brick was waiting for something, whatever it was Boomer didn't want to find out, and rushed after his brother with Bubbles and Boomer following close. Blossom hadn't moved much from where she was standing. She barely registered the fact a fight broke out. When she realized she wasn't in immediate danger she rushed to the corpse Brick made. It almost made her gag, and as much as the act of Brick killing made her want to vomit, she was more concerned with what happened just before that.

She had caught up to Brick, but she started congratulating him he seemed off. The things he said weren't even responses to what she was saying. He was talking like he was hearing something else entirely. "Did Sedusa do something to him?" She asked to herself. She knew she could manipulate men to her bidding, but didn't know if it was just her seductive charms or something like a chemical she used. When she pretended to date the Professor he certainly acted differently to the girls, but this felt different. She couldn't warp perception as far as she knew, but she also shouldn't have had hair again either. Too much about the newly murdered woman failed to add up.

While Blossom was investigating the Body the three teens rushed Brick. He was still floating above them watching them race to him. When they had closed most of the distance Brick let out a huge roar. The deep baritone voice pierced into the ears of everyone nearby cause the three to hold their ears in pain. Brick acted as soon as he saw their eyes closed and flipped forward into Butch's head sending the Green brother into the ground.

Butch felt the hard impact of the ground and got back to his feet as quickly as possible. "For the record I do not like super saiyan Brick." He spat out as his brother dropped out of the sky towards him.

Butch jumped back in time to dodge Bricks fist, but when they entered the ground Brick turned his body sending dirt flying into Butch's eyes. Blinded he threw his shield back up and tried to blink the dirt from his vision. Brick had started kicking Butch's shield treating him like a human pinball as he raced behind him with every kick.

Boomer managed to ease the pain in his ears and saw the way Brick was fighting Butch again, "Bubbles, you okay?" He asked as she cautiously let go of her ears.

"Yeah, I'm good." she said before following the red and green lines dancing across the park field. "What are we going to do? Butch can't stay like that forever can he?"

"I don't know I've never seen him so reliant on that power." He said before turning to Bubbles, "I need you to throw me as hard as you can okay?" He said looking at her holding his out to her. She nodded and grabbed his hand, and started spinning them around.

Brick had stopped kicking his brother around and was currently trying to punch in him through the shield into the ground. Every punch sending the green teenager another inch into the ground. He stopped for a second when he heard a weird noise and looked up to see a blue twister with a yellow stripe in the middle in the sky. His head seemed to cock to the side as he looked at the sight before it stopped and Boomer was flying to Brick faster than he could react.

Boomer had his bat in hand and smashed it across his brothers head sending Brick into the ground hard enough to create a deep hole where he had been standing. Butch felt the pressure fall off and looked up seeing Boomer standing over him. He was about to give his thanks when the ground underneath him erupted a column of fire.

Bubbles had been watching hoping Brick had been knocked out with that, but when the fire came out from the ground she couldn't see any of the brothers. She heard a large thud hit the ground and Butch had landed onto a big rock the park had for decoration. She flew after him and saw a large cut on his head. The large rock had crumpled in on itself when Butch hit, and Butch was completely out of commission. Exhaustion, his head wound, and burns on his body had taken their toll and his body shut down to start healing. The gash on his forehead was closing and some of the burns were starting to return to normal, she could tell if he could be left alone he would live, "But where is Boomer and Brick?" She asked out loud looking for any signs of the two remaining brothers.

High in the sky Brick was holding Boomer by the throat applying a sickening amount of pressure. Boomer tried slapping his arms away, both so he could breath and get the burning hands away from his neck, but Brick seemed more annoyed by it than actually registering what he was doing. He let go off Boomers neck and twisted Boomers arms behind his back. Then placed his legs on his brothers shoulders and pulled up until boomer could hear the sound of his arms popping out of their sockets. Boomer let out a panicked pained scream before Brick grabbed his brother and dived to the ground.

Boomer had registered the fall in time to see where Brick intended to slam into. He was mortified to see the now open volcano that used to be Mojo's home flying into view. "This is going to suck." He thought to himself as he took a deep breath before they both dove into the magma. When they dove a number of feet into it Brick let go and flew back up leaving Boomer in the magma.

Boomer looked around but couldn't see anything but knew he had to get out fast. He had no use of his arms, but he could still try flying. Picking the direction he hoped was up kicked his feet and tried to escape the volcano prison he was in. He had been moving for a few seconds before hitting the side of the inner wall. He laid his body against the rock and felt a slight incline to the wall. He was at least right side up and moved upwards using the rock as a guide.

He could feel his lungs start to strain but he kept going until he felt air hit his head and he flew out of the volcano top. His arms were still useless but if he could find one of the girls they could pop them back into place. He was alive and new air flooded his lungs as soon as he cleared the top of the volcano. He fell to the ground and tried to shake off the residual magma that clung to him. When he felt as cool as he was going to get he took back into the sky to find the girls.

Bubbles has spent around 20 seconds looking for any sign of the Brothers when she saw a trail of fire rocketing itself to her. She decided to pull the same trick he did on her and waiting until he was closer to let her own sonic scream out. Her eyes were closed as she did so, and couldn't see Brick closing the distance with his hand over his ears. She thought he would stop in his tracks, but he smashed his head square into her face with the force of a semi truck. She only didn't go flying back because Brick had grabbed her leg and threw her in the same manner as she threw his brother just a minute ago. She landed face first into the ground and her body went limp from the probable concussion.

Blossom looked up when she heard Bubbles trademark scream and watched in horror how Brick made short work of her sister. When he landed by her body and raised a foot intending to stomp on her she acted. She launched herself and dug her foot deep into Bricks chest sending him into the pond. "You need to cool off." She said just trying to make herself laugh and calm down from the shock of what happened so quickly. Brick had floated out of the lake, bubbled forming where he had heated the water. She landed and realized the foot she used was burnt.

"This is between me and you Brick!" She yelled, "I don't know what's going on But I'm going to finish it!" she took a defensive pose and dug her heels into the dirt beneath her. He flew after her, but she timed his attack perfectly and brought down both her fists down on his head. He immediately fell to the ground beneath her but had gotten back up. She quickly formed a plan and rooted herself down on the ground.

She fought defensibly dodging quickly as she lead him away from her sisters unconscious body. When she saw an opening after a dodge she used her Ice breath to clear a small patch of his body and struck it as quickly as she could with as much force as she could get in the quick jabs. That was way she fought, Brick seemed to be slowing down and was hoping everyone's attempts to fight him were finally taking their toll on him.

When he tripped up after one attempted punch she managed to get a solid punch into his cheek, and it felt wrong. She didn't have time to think about why it felt like wrong, she had a rhythm to keep up. Dodge, blow, punch, lead away. She was doing well, she could feel the heat radiate off him and wondered how he was staying alive under those flames. Normally they didn't hurt X-beings like this, but just the heat coming off him was hard to bear.

She caught a left hook and lost her footing flying into a nearby tree. When she got back to her feet she saw Brick walking to her, "He must be getting tired. He isn't flying anymore. She ignored the burn on her cheek was about to launch into another attack when she heard someone landing next to her. Looking quick she saw Boomer. "oh good you're back. Can you help me here?" She said locking her eyes on Bricks advancing form.

"He popped my shoulders out of place, I'm just a meat shield at this point." He said with a tired laugh that came out almost as a pant. "Listen Blossom. I don't know what that is, but it isn't my brother. You need to wake him up."

"How, nothing seems to faze him." She said getting her defense up as Brick was almost back on them.

"You're the smartest person here Blossom, I'm sure you'll figure it out." He said getting in front of her. "Just think quick." Boomer said before turning back to Brick. "What you going to do now? I'm still standing!" He yelled as a bluff before Brick sent a foot into his cheek sending Boomer to the ground.

"I hope this works." Blossom said and took a deep breath. When Brick put his foot back on the ground Blossom blew the hardest, coldest ice she could. The wind seemed to make the flames retreat and she closed her eyes and closed the distance before they came back and wrapped her arms around him kissed where she thought his mouth would be.

She could feel his body tense up, and go stiff as a statue. Then she felt his body give a giant pulse, and relax. Her mouth felt strange. When she punched him it felt wrong, and this felt worse.

When his body relaxed she heard him try to say her name, but it came off garbled and ruined. She kept her eyes closed afraid of what she'll see when she opened them, but was forced to look when his body fell from hers.

The reason it felt wrong was clear when she saw his body lying there. He was burnt himself. His body was a steaming pile of sinew and muscle. The sight of him made her stomach lurch to retch. She was dry heaving over his body as Boomer seemed to recover from his last hit and roll to his back.

Blossom was in too much shock to help him up, and he took some time to get her attention. "Blossom? I really need your help. I can't get my arms back in place myself." He said when she finally seem to respond to his voice.

"Oh my god sorry." She said moving to him. When she got close she placed his shirt in his mouth and told him to bite down hard. She used her X-ray vision to put the joints back in place as quickly as she could and heard him whimper in pain as she moved to get the other arm in place. When she had finished she helped him up and they both walked back to Bricks body.

"What in the name of..." Boomer said letting his voice fall off at the end of his sentence. Brick had been so badly burnt in a few places he could see actual rib bone. "Anyone else should be dead, what the hell happened?" he asked leaning down forgetting about the pain in his arms.

She looked down in horror, "I can see his lungs moving, has this ever happened before?" She asked.

"Not that I know of this is new. Hell even his clothes are burnt off, and I know he was dressed when he came back from monster island." He said looking away as vomit tried to force itself up from the smell alone.

He had barely any skin, but it did seem like his body was stitching itself back together. Where the skin had survived it seemed to be trying to stretch itself over his body. He could see a few teeth that broke start repairing himself. "If he was awake right now he'd be in hell." Boomer said.

They heard a groan a few feet away and Butch had gotten back up. "Boomer you're still on your feet?" He asked with a cheeky grin, "I thought you'd be knocked out ten times over." He said forcing a pained laugh.

"Being the youngest taught me to take a punch, unlike you. You were the first one taken out." Boomer said trying to ease the tension before Butch would see the state of their brother.

"Butch where is Buttercup?" Blossom asked noticing the lack of her sister.

"One of those punks dropped a steel beam on us, and she got knocked out. I called the cops with the location and put her on a nearby roof until she woke up." He said coming closer. "I took care of them so no one is getting away until the cops show up, if they haven't by now." When Butch finally made it to his brother the color fell off his face as he finally laid eyes on Brick. At this point he had eyelids, but they looked hollow. Butch fell to a nearby tree and everyone heard him emptying the contents of his gut.

It was a few minutes before he came back, by this point Boomer was by Bubbles side hoping she'd stay asleep before she could see what happened to his brother. When Butch finished he looked at Brick, he had a thin layer of skin covering most himself. "So what do we do now?" He asked as nobody seemed to be willing to talk.

Blossom let out a long breath, "Can you two take my sisters home? I'll take Brick..." She said fighting off the sting of tears, "I have to take Brick in."

"No." Boomer said. He walked to Blossom before she could protest. "I'll take him in. He's my brother it should be one of us."

"He's got a point leader girl." Butch said solemnly, "He's an idiot but he's right. It

has to be one of us, and I know where Buttercup is. So it has to be him."

Blossom wanted to argue but Boomer had picked up and placed Bubbles in her arms before she could. "Besides, who knows how much of him will grow back by then. I think it's best this way."

"Okay, Thank you Boomer." She said.

"No thank you, with how he looks, he might have died if he went on for even a minute longer. You saved my brother. Thank you Blossom." Boomer said with a sincere smile.

"You always this mature Boomer?" Blossom asked in with as close to a joking tone as she could muster.

"Nope, first time." He said with a grin. "Now go on." He said waving the three away. They all exchanged a look and they left him with Brick. He turned around and removed his shirt, and he laid it over bricks middle and picked him up.

He felt worse than he looked, the skin that had grown in had an almost slimy feel about it. His hair hadn't grown back, and his closed eyes still looked hollow. He took to the sky and flew to the jailhouse.

He realized he didn't know how to get into the cell, so when he landed in front of the jailhouse he kicked the window to get someone insides attention. A sleep deprived cop had come out looking the two with disbelief in his eyes. "What happened?" He asked.

"Brick did something bad. You'll need to talk to Blossom for more information, but we have to leave Brick in his old cell." Boomer said trying to keep as little information about it out as possible. The cop nodded and escorted Boomer through jailhouse to the special cells downstairs. He wanted to ask about it, but also saw how Boomer was holding his brother and knew he wouldn't get much information.

"We'll need a police report you know." He said as the new door of Bricks cell opened up.

"You'll get one when Blossom or Brick here can give it." Boomer replied keeping his voice neutral. He really hated being down here, and hated far more that he was putting his brother back here, but it was probably to only place he could let himself heal safely. When the door opened Boomer laid him down on the empty slab that used to have a plastic mattress on it. He took one last look at his brother and walked out of the cell.

"The medic will be here first thing in the morning. I'll make sure your brother gets seen immediately." He said as he closed the door. Boomer could hear the sound of lasers powering up in the cell and knew Brick was now put back into their cage. He nodded and walked on. He wasn't going to shed any tears in front of this guy, so he walked out.

As soon as the cool night air hit him he took to the sky and flew home. He opened the door to the still empty apartment, took a shower and finally let out all the tears this night has caused.

Butch and Blossom had landed on the roof where they left Buttercup when Bubbles started whimpering. With a groan her eyes opened and saw Blossom looking down at her. "Morning." She said with a small smile.

"Too dark for morning." Bubbles said as she got out of Blossoms arms and stood up. "Where's Brick? Or Boomer for that matter?"

"Boomer is taking Brick to lockup. We just came to get Buttercup." Butch said lifting their sister into his arms. "She took a hard hit to the head and got knocked out." Butch said signaling to the warehouse where the cops were busy escorting the men Sedusa was using to the police van.

"So the job is done then? Mission successful?" She asked looking at Blossom who was remaining silent.

"I guess, let's get Buttercup home." Blossom said.

"I've got her." Butch said, "I owe her for taking that hit for me."

Blossom was in no mood to argue and they flew off towards their home. The flight was silent and solemn as Buttercup remained asleep in Butch's arms. Bubbles had to admit she thought it looked cute seeing that despite the circumstances, but kept it to herself.

They landed in the front yard and walked through the front door. Butch held onto Buttercup as the two sisters went to wake their dad. He came down as soon as he heard Buttercup had gotten hurt and was almost jumping past the stairs to check on his daughter.

The Professor wanted to take her from the boy, but Butch was adamant he carry her. The Professor relented and led them all into the basement asking how she got knocked out. When explained it was a blow to the head he had Butch lay her down on the medical bed. He pulled out wires and attached them to her temples. As the machine powered on he checked her heart rate.

"Good that's normal." He said with relief and moved to the machine and a different look took over. "That's..." He said putting his glasses on to make sure he wasn't misreading the date. "That's not supposed to be like that."

"What is it Professor?" Blossom asked.

"Well her heart rate is normal for someone resting. Very steady, soft and regular." He said between her and the data being fed into the machine, "Her brain activity though if off the charts."

"Isn't that good though?" Bubbles asked.

"It's better than no brain activity, but her brain activity is closer to someone escaping a burning building than sleeping." He said.

Blossom took in a quick breath, "She may be projecting." Blossom said.

"Projecting?" The professor asked, "Something I should know about girls?"

They told the professor how Buttercup discovered her own power recently, and with everything going on they hadn't had the chance to talk to him about it. "I see, I've read papers on the subject but have never heard of proof." He said looking at his daughter. "Nonetheless I'll be keeping an eye on her." He said before turning to Butch who had remained quiet. "Thank you for bringing Butch, but I think it's time you go home. I'm sure your brothers will be missing you."

The girls bodies grew tense as they looked at Butch who only nodded, "I'll be back tomorrow to check on her, keep me posted if something happens?"

"I promise you'll be a priority on her condition. Thank you again." He said leading the boy out of his lab. The girls took a breath of relief. They didn't want him to know about Brick just yet. When Butch left the girls kisses their sisters sleeping head and went to get ready for bed.

The professor noticed the girls mood, and wrote it off as concern for their sister, but something was off. They had burns, bruises, and Bubbles had dried blood coming down from her nose. Seeing as they were fine he forced his thoughts to his middle daughter and hoped the other two would let him in when Buttercup woke up.

Butch had taken to the skies and was feeling his blood boil from the night. He walked into the apartment to find Boomer sitting on the couch. "Hey Boom, can't sleep?" He asked. Boomer didn't answer but just shook his head. "Yeah I don't think I'm sleeping tonight either."

He was right, neither of the boys slept that night. They didn't sleep or talk they just sat in the living room trying to process what had happened.