October

Haunted houses are a scam, but like... what isn't a scam nowadays?

"This is stupid."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"IS NOT!"

"IS-"

"Will you both please shut up before I give you stupid punches to your stupid faces?"

Boomer let out a huff and dramatically swept his golden cape from the leaf-covered ground. A shame how fabulous he looked yet how shitty he was being treated. "Not my fault this is stupid," he grumbled, hoping that he would get the last word.

But of course, he did not. Butch glared daggers at him that rivaled the actual fake daggers in his hands. Boomer didn't know anything about Assassin's Creed, but a part of him liked to think that the main character Ezio would be half confused and half proud of this teenager dressed up like him.

"It's not stupid," Butch reiterated. "You're just boring. Townsville's Terrifying Catacombs is a fucking treasure and you know it."

Boomer would not describe the Terrifying Catacombs as a treasure. It was more like a fraud. Every year on Halloween at the "Old Abandoned House from Down the Road" (which was a lie, by the way, because how could it be abandoned if it was used every fucking year?), a group of college students from Townsville University would host their very own haunted house. It was a great thing for those who majored in arts and theater, maybe even engineering.

But it was still stupid because it wasn't real. It was just some tactic to get money and make kids scared over nothing. If people wanted to get goosebumps so bad, they should've just asked Princess to show her face for free or something.

Halloween was basically the best holiday since you could get candy for free, but lately, Boomer had found it to be a bit repetitive. If he wasn't swindling old ladies out of their candy stashes, he was going to a lame haunted house with his brothers. As they traveled to the Terrifying Catacombs, his eyes kept landing on excited kids dressed up as firefighters and princesses, their parents and guardians close to them. Super sweet, but same old Halloween.

Boomer rolled his eyes at this whole situation. "Whatever."

"Whatever," Butch mocked, and it took every fiber of Boomer's being to avoid letting out his energy.

From his spot in the middle, Brick glanced down at Boomer, then up at Butch, then at the road ahead. "You both are so fucking annoying," he concluded.

"Thank you," Boomer and Butch said simultaneously.

"Means a lot coming from you," Boomer added with a sarcastic smile.

Butch bumped shoulders with Brick. "Yeah, you're the most annoying person we know. We look up to you. Maybe even inspire to be like you."

"Really?" Brick placed a gloved hand near his heart with a sarcastic smile. "Aw. You guys do love me."

Boomer snorted while Butch grinned. Brotherly banter was always fun. It seemed Brick was able to get them to laugh at one another at the end of every fight like it was second nature. Must be a leader thing.

Suddenly, a high-pitched voice shouted out, "IS THAT SNAILS THAT I SEE?" Boomer could feel himself start to break out in a sweat, even in the cold late October weather.

Butch's smile widened at the sound. "SUGAR!"

In the blink of an eye, Boomer could feel flowers budding near his feet and a hint of baby blue swirling around his pinkie. Leave it to Bubbles Utonium to make herself known whenever she was around him.

Butch zoomed forward and Bubbles' familiar streak came from the opposite direction down the street. The two collided their fists in their "Epic Theater Club Fist Bump" move. Baby blue and electric green energy circled the sky before exploding into fireworks. Parents and kids on their trick-or-treating adventures stopped to gawk at the display. Boomer suddenly hated it here even more than he did two minutes ago.

"Dorks," he heard Brick mutter under his breath. Which... yeah, they were dorks. But they made being a dork kind of cool.

(Boomer wasn't jealous about this. Really. He wasn't. It was great that Butch could make a friend. Bubbles knew how to be the absolute greatest friend.)

Bubbles shook some smoke from her hand that just met Butch's, took one look at Brick's face, and smiled. "Hello to you too, Brick. And don't worry. My sister is on her way right now," she said.

Brick crossed his arms and scoffed. "I don't care about Pinky, dork."

"Who said I was talking about her?" Before Brick could argue, she turned to Boomer. "And there he is! Boom!"

A lot of people called him Boom—it was the only thing you could get out of those two damn syllables, and he was never cool enough to adopt another name outside of his original one—but when Bubbles said it with that excited facial expression of hers, it made his heart feel like it was soaring to the heavens.

"Hey, Bubbs." Boomer's voice definitely did not come out wobbly. He was a sturdy boy who did not get nervous around any girl at all whatsoever.

"You make an awesome Captain Spaceman! That's his look from when he went to stop the raid at the Diamond Kingdom, right?" When he nodded, her eyes seemed to sparkle. "So cool. You even got the cape to look like it has real diamonds on it."

Boomer knew that his costume was amazing. He had spent hours using the scrapped items he snagged from Art class and various online tutorials to create it. He even grew the courage to attend a few of the meetings for Comic Club since its formation and all the fans of the series said he did a phenomenal drop. Still, it gave him a sense of happiness hearing Bubbles' support.

"Thanks. And you make a great… uh…" Boomer finally analyzed her costume. It was… detailed, to say the least, more detailed than his. He recognized the pigtails and magical look from the character stickers Bubbles had in her locker. It looked amazing on her, but he could not wrap his head around it. "Who or what are you exactly?"

Bubbles let out a gasp that probably reached another continent. "You don't know Sailor Moon from Sailor Moon? The pretty guardian who fights for love and for justice?" she asked, shocked.

"She's one of the most iconic characters to ever exist, you uncultured swine," Brick surprisingly added. Then again, Brick seemed to know everything, especially everything anime-related… so it wasn't that much of a shocker.

"Exactly!" She hit quite possibly the most dramatic pose on the planet that worked well with her costume. "In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"

Brick gave her a thumbs up, which was the kindest thing Boomer had ever seen his oldest brother do. "Nice." Never mind, that was the kindest thing Brick ever did.

Bubbles beamed. "Thank you, Brick. And your Edward Elric costume is so cool, by the way. You make a really nice blonde. Almost like you're actually in a Full Metal Alchemist live-action."

Brick mumbled "thanks," and underneath the dim street lights, Boomer could have sworn he saw his oldest brother's cheeks turn a slight pink. A part of Boomer wanted to punch him. The other part wanted to tease him.

"Wait," Butch said, looking at Brick with a raised eyebrow. "Why do you know about a show named Sailor Moon? Ain't that a dumb girl's cartoon?"

"It's an anime," Bubbles and Brick said at the same time.

"And it's still good," Brick continued with a shrug. "Target gender audience has nothing to do with me watching a show. Don't try to make fun of me because you have shit, restrictive tastes in the name of being 'manly.'"

Butch frowned. "My tastes are not shit!"

"You watch cars for fun."

"It is a sacred art, Brick Jojo, and you will respect it."

"Respect my foot up your ass."

"Try me, firetruck!"

The two idiots got into yet another one of their half arguments-half fights with one another, but Boomer easily pushed their voices away. "Ignore them; they're a fucking mess," he said to Bubbles. She looked like she wanted to pay attention—Boomer had noticed here and there that Bubbles liked a good fight—but her eyes stayed on him. "But you. Wow. You look super cool, even though I have no clue about the show."

Bubbles played with the ends of her hair a bit. "Really? This took hours to put together."

(Only hours spent for perfection? Impressive.)

"Well, you did one hell of a job," Boomer said with a tight smile.

"Thanks." Bubbles clapped her hands together. "Oh! We should watch Sailor Moon together sometime. Like, a couple of episodes or something! It gets really good after all the main characters are introduced."

Bubbles had already binge-read so much of Captain Spaceman as of recent. It was only fair he joined in on something that she seemed to enjoy. "Yeah? I'll take your word on that."

A flash of pink caught Boomer's eyes, and suddenly there was Blossom at Bubbles' side. Apparently, she dressed up as Freedom Gal every year without fail. Predictable, but a safe and fitting option. "There you are, Bubbles. And hello Boomer. Doing alright?"

Boomer nodded with a smile. Blossom was always so kind to him, from when they'd see each other in their AP World History class to when he happened to catch her running errands while he went on a walk. It was nice to be on the good side of the one who was the literal embodiment of everything nice.

A pale green arm with fake, bloody gashes slung over Boomer's shoulder, and he would have fell face first if Buttercup didn't keep a good grip on him. "'Sup, little dude!" Buttercup greeted. She gave him a toothy grin and her lime green and white braces \sparkled under the bright streetlamp.

"Hey, 'Cup," he replied. "Nice zombie costume. I knew your typical look for our gym class would come in handy one day."

Buttercup glared at him, but it was clearly playful. "Oh, hardy-fucking-har. I hope you choke on your extravagant ass cape."

"Maybe when you choke on your gnarly fake eyeball."

Buttercup snorted. Then her joking demeanor changed to something sour once she caught sight of his older brothers, who were making sure to shove each other every other second. If her face wasn't painted pale green, it surely would have turned to it, the way she stared the two down. "Ew, you guys," she said, voice flat.

"Favoritism much?" Butch grumbled while Brick "accidentally" bumped into Butch's shoulder, making him stumble a bit.

Blossom nodded, and somehow, the heavy-looking headpiece she wore did not move an inch. "Yes, precisely. Glad you could catch on to that."

"He's the favorite? Really?" Brick scoffed. "I thought you guys at least had some standards. What type of heroes stoop this low?"

Buttercup shrugged. "Us, apparently."

"It's a known fact that Boomer is best boy." Bubbles said it like it were a fact in a science book instead of some weak opinion with no details to back it up. Maybe she could charm her way into Debate Club with that attitude. Or maybe Boomer was biased.

Blossom pinched Boomer's cheek lightly. It was different from how HIM did it; her pinches were soft and sweet. "Such a little charmer," she cooed.

"Hear that, guys? I'm a charmer." Boomer could feel his signature shit-faced grin grow on his face.

Brick rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. You're as charming as a fucking wet floor sign."

Boomer couldn't help it. He sent a laser beam to his eldest brother's foot and luckily, he was able to leave a black scorch mark on them.

Brick's eyes turned red. "You dick—"

Blossom, the absolute saint that she was destined to be, interrupted Brick before he went on one of his Mojo-inspired rampages. "Are you three going to Townsville's Terrifying Catacombs by any chance?" she asked, easily grabbing Brick by his collar to hold him back. It was a little bit funny to see the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys kick out his feet with puffed cheeks to try and fail at escaping. "We decided to go this year. Been a while."

"Yeah. Boomer's not feeling it, though." Butch snickered and poked at Boomer's sides. "Our baby bro's a little-wittle scaredy chicken."

Boomer slapped Butch's hands away... Or, at least, he tried to. Butch was stupidly good at aiming towards ticklish parts. "Am not!" he shouted, trying his hardest not to laugh as he was met with another jab.

"Are too. Just admit it."

Bubbles grew one of those smiles, the ones that were painted in sympathy. "It's okay, Boomer," she said softly, giving him a soft pat on the back that seemed to make him feel as though he were sprouting wings. "I'm a bit scared, too."

Boomer would have relished in the feeling of her touch if she didn't say that. "I'm not scared," he stressed for what felt like the thousandth time. "I'm just saying that haunted houses are stupid. Why pay for something to scare you?"

Butch scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Because capitalism wins within our society, even though it is, as a whole, pretty problematic and elitist, so we have to settle with it for now until we successfully overcome it. Duh," he replied without missing a beat.

Brick never looked as confused as he did then. By then, he had stopped making a fuss, so Blossom let him go. "How the fuck do you know about capitalism—" he started.

However, Butch cut him off, because yet again, nobody wanted to hear a Mojo-inspired case of word vomit. "And besides, they're fun bro! Who cares if it's all fake? The memories will be real. That's what really counts."

Boomer rolled his eyes then shook his head. The pathetic speeches weren't going to work this year. "You know what counts more? Going to the park to snag some candy. The old ladies there still think that I'm nine sometimes."

"But Boooooooomerrrrrrr!" Butch whined. "We neeeeeeeeed youuuuuu!"

"We really don't," Brick deadpanned. "Just let the little shit do what he wants."

Butch fanned his face dramatically. "But he's my emotional support little shit. I need him around to feel balanced around you and your older brother ways."

"Can you guys, like, use my name for once? My actual name?" Boomer asked with a frown and crossed arms.

"No," Brick said.

"Absolutely not," Butch said. "Fucking turd."

"Little baby turd boy."

"Turdy turd turd."

Boomer sighed and turned to the girls, who were eyeing this whole scene with amused smiles. "Do you guys see what I live with?"

"I am so sorry." Blossom placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "You should come, though. I think it'll be a nice experience, even if it is fake. Besides, I don't trust these two as much as I trust you."

"Okay, this favoritism bullshit is getting out of hand," Brick said with a deadly glare.

Butch nodded. "Agreed."

But the girls ignored the other 'Ruffs. Buttercup got into Boomer's personal space to shake his shoulders. "Yeah, little dude, c'mon! It'll be cool with us around, I promise. We can even make jokes about it together. Think about the potential joke material, Boomer."

Bubbles gently brushed her hand against his, but she didn't grab it. He kind of wished that she did. "I want you to go, too. You're always fun to be around, and I know you'll make this fun for me. For all of us. But don't feel pressured to, okay? We'll all respect your decision either way."

"I won't," Butch snickered but immediately stopped once a jolt of baby blue shot him directly in the chest. "Ow!"

"Like I said," Bubbles continued, an innocent smile on her face, "we'll all respect it."

Boomer opened his mouth and prepared to say no because he was dead set on it and he was not planning on changing his answer… Then, he felt something in his gut. It flipped and twirled into a warm mess, and try as he might, he could not even think about denying anymore.

"Also we get a discount in groups that have six or more people," Blossom added after a moment of silence. "So we kind of need you."

"Are you exploiting us for the sake of a discount?" Butch asked in disbelief.

"Yes. That's what you guys are mostly good for anyway. Exploitation."

"I want to be offended, and yet I can't."

"Because I'm right?"

"Because you're right, yeah."

"I… I guess I'll go," Boomer grumbled, crossing his arms. This is what he got for accepting: stupid haunted houses with his stupid brothers and their stupid counterparts who had stupid conversations about anything.

And Bubbles. He made his decision for a lot of reason, yet she was the loudest one. Maybe his brain decided that. Or maybe his heart did. It was getting harder to tell the difference lately.

He didn't understand it, but Buttercup seemed genuinely happy about his decision. "Yes! Good choice! Thank heavens for the discount!" she cheered, hopping midair to take flight. "Now c'mon dweebs before the line gets too long!"

"Who are you calling a dweeb?!" Butch roared, chasing Buttercup down. His roar never lowered in volume, even as he traveled away.

"Butch Jojo, don't you dare pick up that fire hydran- annnnnd he picked up the fire hydrant," Brick said slowly. He then sighed and pinched his nose. It was so weird how much he looked like a combination of Mojo and HIM at that moment.

"That doesn't seem like that'll end well," Bubbles said quietly.

Boomer watched as Butch dropped the fire hydrant close to Buttercup's head. He missed his target, but the fire hydrant did land in the middle of the sidewalk, leaving a clear mark: a small yet noticeable crater. He was sure that soon, the water pressure would also be off for the entire neighborhood thanks to the newly formed dents in the pipes.

"It is most certainly not ending well," Boomer confirmed.

"I'll handle it," Blossom said, her voice terrifyingly calm.

"Pinky…" Brick looked at Blossom, and there was something in his eye, but Boomer could not fully understand what it was. But he knew that Blossom could. She always did.

"What? I won't get upset." With a straight face, Blossom raised one hand and placed the other near her heart. A quick streak of pink circled one of her wrists. "You have my word, Brick."

Technically, Blossom kept her word; she did not get upset. However, she did get enraged to the point where she lectured the middle siblings in a manner that could only be compared to a mother scolding her children. Crossed arms, cold eyes, and the unmistakable stance of disappointment.

"Do you two understand me?" Blossom asked after her ten-minute rant.

"Are we allowed to speak now mom?" Buttercup asked.

"Yes, young one, you are."

"I suppose we got the gist, but I have a few questions." Butch mimed a fake scroll and cleared his throat. "For starters, do I really have to not egg her on? It's so fun."

Blossom hummed. "Trust me, I know."

"Hey!" Buttercup shouted.

"But also yes," Blossom continued, "you cannot egg her on, at least not in a way where she'll want to destroy you."

"She always wants to destroy me," Butch argued.

"Stop being yourself."

"Wow. Way to be a great influence."

Boomer couldn't even laugh as much as he wanted to. The cold was starting to get to him, and unfortunately, Captain Spaceman wore the most stylish heeled boots, which made standing uncomfortable. If he even tried to float, he knew his muscles would give up on him in approximately three seconds.

He wrapped his arms around himself and attempted to rub at his sleeved arms to warm himself up. That, of course, didn't work. "This line is taking forever."

It was true. The line was long and the waiting period was even longer. Boomer could see giggling couples and freaked-out groups of friends exiting out the dilapidated house every few minutes. A part of him thought that maybe this year would be different based on their expressions, but then he remembered that these were always the expressions shown at the Terrifying Catacombs.

"Yeah, it is really long," Bubbles said from beside him. She wore that same patient smile on her face: small and bright and unmistakably pretty.

Boomer couldn't help but look at her in confusion. "How do you even manage to wait with a smile on your face?"

"Growing up with two older sisters teaches you more patience than you know, Boomer."

Boomer felt his eyebrows press together. He could hear Blossom and Buttercup bickering nonstop. Hm. Definitely more patience than he would ever know.

After a couple more minutes filled with nonsensical arguing ("I'm not being mean to him, Blossom; he's just a dickwad." "Buttercup! Apologize for calling Butch a dickwad!" "Never!"), idiotic statements ("Hey Brick, did you know that you sweat out gallons every time you sleep?" "I wish I didn't know that, Butch, but thank you I guess."), and Bubbles' extremely loud humming (How she kept up with it was a mystery, but hey, she was the patient one here.), the super-powered group reached the front of the line. Brick and Blossom dropped their money in for each person. Then they all strolled up to a twenty-something-year-old worker who was behind a paper-filled desk.

The worker—Martha, according to her name tag—gave them all a bright grin. It did not fit her face, which was painted with tears. She looked like she was dressed up as a sad work employee, the most horrifying costume Boomer had ever seen in his life. "Hi, y'all!" she greeted. "Welcome to Townsville's Terrifying Catacombs, the place that'll haunt ya all the way to your untimely deaths!"

Boomer could have sworn he heard Blossom mutter, "What the hell type of slogan is that?" But it was probably the wind or Boomer's conscious filled with Blossom's voice. She seemed like she'd have a perfect voice for a conscious.

"Now, 'fore y'all enter, we'll have to make ya sign a 'No Powers' waiver along with our general terms and conditions," Martha continued, sliding six packets in front of each of them. She gestured to the pack of pens on her right.

Brick went to hurry up and sign, but Blossom held a hand out to stop him. "And why do we have to do this, exactly?" she asked, eyebrow raised. "I don't remember these forms being implemented here."

"Does it matter?" Brick huffed. He looked like he wanted to bolt in there as soon as possible. "We don't need the details; let's just sign and go in."

"No, no. Let's hear why first. No need to rush."

Martha's smile grew tight around the edges. "Last year's haunted house had to close early due to… complications. A lot of our hard work was destroyed in the process. We want to ensure that each participant with powers is fully responsible for their actions. Hopefully, that's understandable, and hopefully, another incident won't occur."

All eyes landed on Butch. "Don't look at me! I didn't do shit last year! I can't even start fires!"

All eyes landed on Brick. He did not say a word. He just glared at his feet.

All eyes landed on Boomer. "I mean technically, technically, you can start a fire if you mess with a literal pyromaniac. You were pushing his buttons with those bad 'deez nuts' jokes, dude."

"Okay, pyromaniac is a pretty strong word to use here," Brick tried to argue. "I am merely a fan of fire—"

"A fan of fire is a FUCKING pyromaniac!" Boomer and Butch shouted at the same time.

"Not necessarily!"

Boomer scoffed. They've had this argument on and off for basically the entirety of their lives and it never got less infuriating to deal with. "Oh, don't try this bullshit again. You are probably ninety percent of the cause of fires in Townsville alone."

"He's actually eighty-seven-point-three-two percent of the cause," Blossom corrected. "I have the statistics printed out somewhere—"

"Really? Must you do this now?" Brick asked, sounding very, very tired.

"As a Powerpuff Girl, yes."

"What does being a Powerdumb have to do with any of this?"

"And what does being a fan of fire have to do with being a pyromaniac, right?" Buttercup spoke up with a smirk.

Brick snatched a pen, and this time, Blossom couldn't stop him from signing his paper. "I literally hate all of you."

"And we don't care," Blossom shot back, signing her own paper with the most chicken-scratch handwriting Boomer had ever seen. Seriously, he thought Butch's was bad, but this was another level.

"We really don't care." Bubbles winced at Brick's glare as she cautiously took his pen. "Aha. No offense?"

"All taken," was all Brick growled out in response.

The rest of the group quickly signed their forms, then entered inside. This year's haunted house was science-lab-gone-wrong-themed, and boy, was it underwhelming. There were mannequins stuffed into long testing chambers, mad scientists cackling from behind their desks, and fake organs stuffed into mason jars Boomer had seen on sale at the local grocery store.

When one of the fake mad scientists popped up from behind one of the building's columns and yelled in an obvious attempt at scaring them, nobody in the group jumped in shock or peed their pants. Bubbles even yawned. Boomer wanted to feel bad for this guy, really, he did, but it was too fucking hilarious to even think about faking pity.

The "mad scientist" looked pissed beyond belief. "I don't get paid enough for this," he grumbled before marching off to bother another group of people.

While Buttercup and Brick laughed loudly at the scene and Blossom tried to quiet the two down, Butch kept his amusement to a surprisingly low level. "Heh. This looks worse than that sandcastle you two made during our contest," he joked, elbowing Bubbles gently.

"Hey!" Bubbles shouted, sounding very offended over something that was a fact. "Temple of Aquatis was amazing. You're just jealous of her good looks. Right, Boomer?" she asked, looking at him.

Temple of Aquatis was quite literally the ugliest sandcastle known to man... but if Bubbles said it looked amazing, then it looked amazing. "Right," Boomer answered.

Butch looked at Boomer. Looked at Bubbles. Boomer again, Bubbles again. Blinked.

"Ohhhhh," Butch said, sounding enlightened as if he discovered the hidden secrets of the universe. Then he turned away and continued his walk in silence.

Boomer felt his face scrunch up. What the fuck was that? He opened his mouth, ready to ask some questions. Then, all of the lights cut out.

"CODE RED!" a voice yelled within the darkness. "I REPEAT, CODE RED. THE P.R. SQUAD HAS BEEN SPOTTED IN QUADRANT FOUR. EMPTY THE FLOOR."

"What the—" Boomer started, but before he could even process to activate his night vision, he felt a pair of hands push him to his left.

"Oof!" Bubbles' body slammed into his, and all of a sudden, the floor gave way and they were all sliding down different paths.

He heard what could be Blossom's loud, shrill scream fading away to his left, while Butch's frantic laughter faded to his right. He was surprised to only hear a squeak from Bubbles but he wasn't as surprised to feel her hands clutch his cape as they fell. He tried to reach out for something to grab but there was nothing but smooth, cold metal.

They finally landed on a marble ground with a loud thud. Boomer got up and dusted his pants, hoping that they were still clean, while Bubbles shakily tried her best to keep her whimpers at a low volume.

The lights were dim and Boomer could make out a few things. More test tubes filled with green and blue liquids on a table that looked like it was about to give up in the next few seconds. Opened, disorganized cabinets that looked like they were used too much. And mannequins. Many, many mannequins, some black, some white, all missing at least one limb.

Boomer shivered as a blast of icy cold air circled the area. "Great. We all got separated." He shook his head with a slow exhale. The air came out as a light mist. "Alright, can we just cut this shit out so we can leave? It's not scary," he called out.

"Boomer…" He could feel Bubbles tug on his cape, but he paid it no mind. She was probably just scared or something. She would get over it. She had been through things that could not even begin to compare to this joke.

"The whole separation thing? Corny. I don't know how, but you guys somehow made this whole thing worse than last year's, and that one sucked, too. The scariest thing was the fire, and my fucking brother started that!"

"Boomer, I don't think we should—"

"Seriously, the dark lights are such overkill. Even if we couldn't see in the dark, this still wouldn't be that bad."

"Boomer!"

"What?!" he snapped, whipping around to face her. "I'm trying to do a Mojo-inspired rant here."

She seemed to be annoyed with him. "Look," she commanded, gesturing to something with a hand.

Boomer turned. Looked. Blinked hard. Looked again. Rubbed his eyes. Looked yet again.

There was another mannequin, both black and white. It was a little different from the others lying and standing around. It had all of its limbs and parts except for the chest piece. And there in the smack middle of it was... something. Something that pulsed. Something that looked a little too real to be fake. Something like...

"Um," Boomer spoke up after a moment. "Is it just me, or do you see… a beating heart in that thing?"

"Yeah," Bubbles said with a slow nod. "I see what you see."

"And this is what you were trying to warn me about earlier, huh?"

"That is correct, yes."

"Ah."

A beat of silence.

Then, all hell broke loose.

Without thinking much about it, Boomer grabbed Bubbles' hand, turned them around, and made a run for it. He could hear the sound of mannequin feet meeting the ground. Then he realized that it wasn't just one mannequin chasing them. It was every mannequin down there.

"There!" Bubbles shouted, pointing to a hidden space in between two cabinets. She lead them towards the space, then squeezed her way in. Boomer tried not to think about how close he was to her as he slid in next to her, her shoulder pressing against his. He could hear the way her breath came out shaky and uneven.

He let his energy build, and he would have released it all if Bubbles hadn't stopped him with her hand. "No. We can't use our powers. We're under a contract," she whispered.

She could not be serious. "I think that contract voids when we're dealing with shit like this."

"No powers, Boomer."

"But—"

"No. Powers. Boomer."

Boomer let out a long sigh. This girl was going to be the death of him. "Fine. No powers. We'll think of something else," he said. "Doesn't your favorite vlogger deal with haunted shit? You've watched those videos. Help us maybe?"

Bubbles huffed as if she heard this argument before. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean I like this stuff. There's no online guide to get out of haunted houses that are legitimately haunted." She pouted—goodness, she looked so cute when she pouted—and she clutched onto his arm as if he would disappear forever if she let go. "I only agreed to go because my sisters wanted to, and you wanted to, and, and, and—"

She froze and stopped talking, then started shaking all over. Boomer's heart sank at the sight. She was genuinely scared. He had never seen her like this before, not when she fought him back in their youth, not when they had to go through a full school day in the dark thanks to a thunderstorm.

"Look at me, Bubbs. Right up here, okay? At my face. See? I'm right here." Boomer's voice came out gently. He hesitated before placing his hands on top of her shoulders, struggling yet managing to turn to face her. She didn't pull away, so he assumed that it was fine. "I got a question for you. Think you can handle it?"

"Um." She did not sound like she could handle it.

"It's okay if you can't."

"I think I can. I think."

Boomer nodded, then slowly asked, "What would Sailor Moon do right now if she were in this situation?"

She didn't have to think too hard about it. "She'd cry first. And then probably complain a little." A tiny smile spread on her face. "But, uh, then she'd realize that there's something to fight for, and she'd get brave enough to move."

"Exactly. So, find that something that you could fight for, and let's go, okay?"

"Okay."

Boomer gave her a few moments to think. But then one second turned to one minute, and one minute turned to five minutes. The sound of footsteps never faded. They were running out of time.

He must have looked impatient because Bubbles' expression dropped. "I'm sorry it's taking a while," she mumbled, staring at her feet. "I'm trying my hardest, I swear. I just—I'm so scared, Boomer."

Top ten ways to break Boomer Jojo's Heart. Number One: Captain Spaceman canceling. Number One Point Five: Bubbles Utonium, afraid and powerless. "Hey," he said, using a finger to prop her chin so she could look up. Her eyes were wet but her makeup was still intact. Her lip wobbled but she was still the strongest person he knew. "I know this is scary as hell. But look at us. We're going to be fine. This is fine."

"This is fine," Bubbles repeated, sounding like she were in a trance. Her eyes focused on his. And then her voice lowered to a whisper. "This is fine."

Boomer didn't know why, but he could feel his heart leap out of his chest, just from her stare alone.

The most terrifying part was that urge he felt deep inside. He wanted to hold her hand again like he did in the school hallway, wanted to tuck the tiny out-of-place piece of hair behind her ear, and desperately wanted to pull her close and—

"I found it." Bubbles blinked and stared somewhere past his shoulder. "I found it! I can do this! We can do this!"

"Yeah?" Boomer asked carefully, making sure she wasn't about to do something wild or impulsive.

Bubbles grinned. "Hell yeah!"

"Then let's get the hell outta here."

Boomer slipped out first, then Bubbles quickly followed. The mannequins stood a few feet away near the back of the space. Bubbles quickly picked up an abandoned limb, then chucked it near a far corner. The mannequins whipped around to follow the sound, and Bubbles quickly pulled Boomer away.

"They can hear, not see," she explained quietly.

"How the hell did you know that?" Boomer couldn't help but ask as his eyes scanned around for an exit. There were blank, broken walls, yet no doors.

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't know until I tried it?"

"No; that's way too lucky."

"Ah. Well, in that case, a fairy just appeared and happened to tell me."

"That makes more sense."

Bubbles giggled, then gasped. "Boomer, look! An exit!"

And there it was, the metaphorical heavenly gates in the shape of a rickety elevator. The two ran for it, and the moment Boomer's heels began to echo in the room, he could hear the mannequins approaching again. His thighs burned and his chest felt like it was going to collapse, but he pushed on and did not dare to look back.

They stumbled into the elevator. Bubbles kept pressing on the close button while Boomer pushed his back against the back of the elevator, praying to any and everything that it would close. The mannequins slowly yet surely got closer. The black and white one with the heart led the pack, and even though it had no face, he could tell that it was more evil than anything he'd ever seen.

"Come on, come on, come on," Bubbles urged, pushing the button with as much speed as she could muster without using her powers. It was impressive that she was keeping up with the whole "don't use your powers" thing while dressed up like this. It was even more impressive that he wasn't using his powers anyway just because she told him to avoid doing so.

The door finally slammed shut just as the mannequin with the heart tried to wiggle its way through the doors. Only one of its fingers got through, but luckily, it didn't move.

They were still for a few moments. Silent for a few more. Then finally:

"We did it..." Bubbles sighed out. She began bouncing. He could feel large bursts of her energy zip across the ground, an entire field of flowers seemingly sprouting underneath their feet. "We did it, we did it, we did it!"

Boomer could feel his breath catch up to him. The weight of the world lifted from his shoulders. He felt lightheaded. He felt relieved. He felt ecstatic. "Of course we did it," he said. "I told you it was going to be fine."

When he turned to face her, she was grinning as wide as she could, and he couldn't help but match her expression. He heard the elevator ding as it reached its destination on the main floor but he didn't make move. He let her zoom towards him, let her collapse on top of him, let her wrap her arms around him like he was precious. He was laughing even though his back hit the ground outside the elevator with a loud thud because she was laughing with him and she was hugging him and she was here in that moment where everything felt like it was right where it should be. It was as if the puzzle pieces finally fit. With her face close to his ear and her hair tickling his neck, nothing felt as right as this.

"Ahem."

Except that. That didn't feel right at all.

Boomer looked up to see four sets of eyes on him and his counterpart. Somehow, this was scarier than the haunted house they just escaped.

Blossom wore a tiny smile, and yet, it was very malicious somehow. "Are we interrupting something?" she asked.

"No!" Bubbles shouted, then escaped from Boomer's arms as if he were a hot potato. He felt colder at that moment. Maybe even a bit incomplete.

"You sure?" Brick asked, and though his face didn't show it, he sounded just as amused as Blossom looked.

Blossom added fuel to the fire. "We can give you guys five minutes of dramatic movie scene time if you want."

"Or twenty," Butch muttered, which cause Buttercup to snicker.

Boomer's face felt like it was on fire. (And he could say this because his face had been on fire before, thanks to Brick.) "That won't be necessary," he said as he got up to dust his pants. They were still pretty clean. His hair was probably a mess though.

"Okay." Blossom nodded slowly, slipping back into leader mode. "Anybody, uh, wanna talk about it? What you saw on your journey?"

"No," Bubbles answered for the both of them.

"Do you?" Boomer couldn't help but ask.

"Please, can we not," Blossom said with a sigh. Judging by her missing bow and her missing boot, she had the roughest time out of all of them.

Buttercup and Butch's answer was immediate. "Fuck no." They didn't even start to argue after saying the same thing at the same time.

Brick clapped his hands once. "Then consider it a mystery, gang," he said.

And that was that.

"Welcome back, boys and girls! Or, should I say, P.R. Squad!" Martha greeted happily as they all wobbled their way out of the haunted house. "We hope Townsville's Terrifying Catacombs gave y'all an extra fright this year."

Brick leaned over the table and glared at Martha. "When I'm done thinking about all the shit you put us through, I am suing you and every other person who did that."

Martha's smile only widened. She even had the balls to lean forward as well. "Y'all signed the contracts without reading. Y'all paid the price. Sorry, pyromaniac."

If Blossom wasn't there, Boomer knew that his oldest brother would have started the largest fire of his life. Instead, Brick was dragged away by his collar and had to deal with Blossom's bickers on how "he shouldn't have rushed to sign the papers because it made her rush to sign the papers."

The rest of them followed their leaders. For a while, the chirp of crickets or the clack of costume heels against concrete filled the space between them. Boomer and Bubbled walked in sync next to one another, their siblings a few feet ahead.

"What was it?" Boomer finally forced himself to ask.

Bubbles glanced at him. "What was what?"

"The thing that you wanted to fight for back in the haunted house. What was it?"

Bubbles looked like a deer in the headlights for a moment. "A-Ah, don't worry about it!" she exclaimed, clutching onto her skirt. Her eyes drifted up to the moon, and Boomer swore that her smile looked even prettier than usual. "It was… someone super cool, that's all."

Boomer didn't know why, but his blood boiled at the sound of her voice and the look on her face. She was so happy... but about what? About who?

"Some-one, huh?" As if she read his thoughts, Buttercup slid in between the Blues, bumping her hip onto her younger sister's. "Who was it, Bubbles?" Buttercup asked with a smile that showed that she probably already knew.

Bubbles' face turned so red, it practically glowed. "You already know, you butt!" Okay, correction: Buttercup definitely knew.

Buttercup's eyes shifted to Boomer for a bit before she looked back at Bubbles. "Why don't you say it out loud? I bet Boom here wants to know, too."

Boomer forced his face to be neutral in their presence. He wanted to know so bad, about as badly as he wanted to know how the next Captain Spaceman volume would end, but they didn't have to know that. He chose not to respond because he knew if he did, his voice would betray him somehow.

"You know I—" Bubbles suddenly stopped talking. Her lip quivered, and even without the sensitive ears, Boomer could hear her whimpers from a mile away. "Blossom, help! Buttercup's teasing me!"

"Buttercup…" Blossom's said slowly from her spot in the front of the group. "I also want to know. Tease her more."

Buttercup grinned. "Whatever the leader says, goes!"

"Noooooo!" No amount of patience could ever help Bubbles escape her older sisters. As the youngest brother, Boomer could already tell. He silently prayed for her; she was going to need it.

"Hate to interrupt," Brick said, looking extremely happy to interrupt, "but me and the bros have to go home. We've gotta do important shit, like plan a robbery or contemplate on world destruction." He grabbed a fistful of Boomer's hair and tugged him close.

"Ouch! Hands off the hair!" Boomer swatted at Brick.

However, Brick's hands did not exit his hair. Boomer considered calling his eldest brother a plagiarizer who could not do anything unless Blossom had done it, but another tug on his hair made him want to cry. He does not know if it's because his main element is snips of hair, but any time his golden locks were mistreated, he felt like the world was ending.

Blossom stared at Brick. Was it really that easy to ignore his delinquency when it had to do with Boomer? "Your jokes aren't funny," she said, arms crossed. Yup, it was looking easy to ignore. Blossom didn't even pay Boomer's whines attention. So much for being the favorite Rowdyruff.

Brick snorted, then lightly elbowed Butch with a large grin. "She thinks it's a joke."

"She'll see soon," Butch said, matching Brick's expression.

"Unbelievable," Blossom sighed.

"It is always so cute that you think I'm joking."

Blossom's eyebrow quirked. "So, you admit that you think I'm cute, huh?"

"Well, I won't say you're not—wait, what?!" Brick shouted, and it was hard to tell if he was shouting at her or if he was shouting at himself. His hands finally escaped Boomer's hair, but only to wave them around as he tried to come up with a sentence. "That… That is not what I wanted to—I didn't—UGH!"

Buttercup snorted. "Oh yeah, he thinks you're downright adorable."

"You've made him practically speechless," Bubbles gave Blossom a pat on the shoulder. "Good job, Bloss."

Blossom loomed like a peacock, chest puffed and face proud. "Thanks, Bubbles. It's a talent, really."

"Is there something you're not telling us, Brick?" Boomer asked, a smirk growing on his face.

Brick tended to get red when he was mad. He tended to smoke when he was enraged. However, Boomer had never seen his eldest brother literally catch flame until now. Luckily, it was only his arm. Unluckily, it had burned one of the sleeves of his costume down to a crisp.

"Home," Brick commanded, his voice unusually quiet. "Now."

"…I just want to put it out there that Brick didn't deny anything that was said," Butch mumbled out. "Captain Spaceman, sir?"

"Yes?" Boomer mumbled back.

"We are reading a five million simp percentage right now."

"My god... I don't know how we'll navigate these waters."

Blossom barked out a loud laugh that echoed throughout the neighborhood. Bubbles covered her mouth to try and mask her giggles, but that didn't work out. Buttercup literally ran away, her laughs and a streak of lime green traveling with her. And Boomer and Butch could not keep their snickers contained.

A trail of fire exploded into the air. It didn't start anything that needed to be put out, thank goodness, though it did look cool. He really was HIM's son, huh? "WHAT PART OF NOW DID YOU BOTH NOT UNDERSTAND?" Brick screeched from his spot in the air. "LET'S GO. NOW, NOW, NOW." And then he was off, taking flight towards home.

Ah, there was the familiar yelling. Boomer found comfort hearing it, though he also knew that it was going to be a bitch dealing with the aftermath of it all. Brick's blood pressure issues were always hard to navigate; even the Chemical X in his blood couldn't help him too much.

"Coming, lover boy!" Butch was close on Brick's heels.

"Bye, you guys!" Boomer called out to the girls as followed behind his brothers. He saw Blossom wave delicately, a smirk still on her face, while Buttercup zoomed back to give them the peace sign. Bubbles used both hands to wave, her smile wide, and damn it that image was not going to escape Boomer's head for the next three to five business days.

"Awww c'mon, we're sorry dude!" he heard Butch shout at Brick, was still an angry, smoking mess. No fire, though, which meant he calmed down a bit.

"Yeah, sowwy Bwicky," Boomer joined in.

"No! Fuck you," Brick said, first pointing at Boomer, then turning his finger to Butch, "and double fuck you, you fucking piece of shit!"

Butch put on a fake pout and wiped an invisible tear from his face. "My heart is so broken. Let me play a song on my imaginary violin to console you."

Brick looked like he was going to catch fire. Again. Instead, he zoomed through the air, a trail of smoke following him. "UGH! Fucking unbelievable!"

Butch and Boomer stopped flying to allow themselves the proper time to laugh while in midair. Teasing Brick successfully came once every few days, and it always felt so good to push his buttons, especially since Brick pushed their buttons beyond repair.

"You're welcome, by the way," Butch said as they lowered their laughs.

Boomer raised an eyebrow. "And what should I thank you for?"

Butch stared at him with that same strange look in his eyes from earlier. But just as soon as it was there, it was gone and replaced with a grin. "Just... Don't worry 'bout it, bro. Maybe when you're older or something."

Boomer didn't know what to be more confused about: Butch's strange attitude or his stupid words. The stupidity won this round. "We are literally a millisecond apart."

"And that's a millisecond worth of experience you've yet to obtain," Butch said, shaking his head. "All the things you've missed… What a shame."

"One thing I didn't miss out on..." Boomer looked over his shoulder towards Townsville's Terrifying Catacombs, then began to fly again. He could hear Butch fly to his left. "This year's haunted house was... kinda cool."

"What was that?" Butch cupped a hand near his ear. "It almost sounded like you were admitting that you were wrong about the Terrifying Catacombs."

Boomer scoffed. "Never mind, it was awful and I'm not going next year."

"Will too!"

"Will not!"

"Will too!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, IDIOTS." Brick's voice was far away, but still clear in their ears.

Boomer and Butch looked at each other, smirked, and said the same thing: "Says the simp."

And neither of them jumped in shock when yet another beam of fire shot into the sky.

A/N We're nearing the end, everyone. Three more chapters left. How are we feeling? I'm both excited and torn because I've grown to really love working on this. Nevertheless, I'm excited to see what you all think!

What did we learn from this chapter? According to Scin: writing scenes with six characters is hard as hell and not made for the weak. Also proofreading is a myth. I will simply act like it doesn't exist.

As always, thank you all so much for the support! Things on my end have been super unpredictable, but I'm hanging in there! My upload streak is still going strong into the double digits, and I'm hoping to keep things on schedule.

Speaking of schedule: next chapter should be expected on or around November 6th! See you all then, and thanks again for reading!

Next Chapter: November

Everyone is thankful for something.