Chapter 13

Blossom floated down the hallway towards the living room. She stopped at the doorway to the computer room. Usually, the Boys were in the room either playing video games on the television or sitting at the computer as Brick attempted to hack into yet another web site.

Blossom instead found Reese sitting in front of the computer, reading through an ancient looking notebook with his feet propped up on the desk. He had moved the smaller television to sit above the computer monitor near his head. It was on with its volume blaring as he paged through the book. She hovered for a moment, then floated into the room and landed next to him.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing to the notebook.

"A notebook," Reese answered sarcastically.

"OK," Blossom stated with a giggle, "Containing what?" She looked at his feet and continued to giggle.

"Interesting choice of footwear!" she exclaimed.

Reese wore a pair of large slippers. They were green with black fur around their edges and Blossom noticed that the faces on them looked like Frankenstein. Frankenstein's mouths were the foot holes.

Reese looked up from his book and looked at his feet. He grinned and stated, "Yeah, they're usually my 'hung over, drag my sorry butt outta bed around noon on a Saturday and shuffle out to get the mail' shoes, but what the hell...they're comfy enough."

Blossom pointed to the television and shouted, "How can you concentrate on what you're reading with that on?"

Reese looked up and grinned. He reached for the volume knob and turned it down. The room now seemed quiet without its noise.

"Sorry," Reese said, "It's just background noise to me. I've always got a TV on around me."

"Why?" Blossom asked.

Reese shrugged as he returned to the book. "'Cause it's the greatest invention in the world, in my humble opinion. What else can you name that can both entertain and inform you at any given time?"

"I won't argue that," Blossom giggled. She floated over his shoulder and peered at the book he held. Its corners were yellowed with age and its binding had been repaired several times. The writing in it was confusing and seemed random.

"What is all this?" Blossom asked.

Reese continued to turn pages and replied, "Just some notes. I've got a bunch of these things. Shadau's quite the scribbler, ain't he?"

"This is Shadau's?" Blossom asked surprised.

Reese nodded. "Yeah, I found these in Dayton. See, every place I've chased that miserable bastard to, he's always had a little hide-out, if you will. He's big into recording what he's up to, so I just lift a few and go through them. These are kinda like his journals."

"Seems kinda stupid," Blossom remarked, "Why does he write everything down? Isn't he afraid somebody will find them besides you?"

"He's quite the ego-maniac, Blossom, he's of the opinion that nobody can stop him. Besides, think about it...why do you write things down?" Reese asked.

Blossom thought a moment and answered, "So I don't forget things."

"Same with Shadau. It makes it easier to remember something you did a long time ago if you write it down, right?" Reese explained, "I don't care how good your memory is, after awhile, you tend to forget things."

Reese turned another page and continued, "He's got hundreds of these things. I'm kinda happy I actually found some more recent ones."

"How recent?" Blossom asked as she leaned over to read one section. Her eyes widened as she found Dareena's name in the paragraph. "Wow, this is recent alright! But, what's this?" she asked as she pointed to the page.

"...'The girl, Dareena, has shown tremendous improvement in physical strength, though I am reluctant to draw any real conclusions from these findings...'" Blossom read, "...'I must re-administer my tests, one at a time, to be sure of each's results...'" She turned to Reese and asked, "What's he talking about?"

Reese reached to the computer's mouse and shook it. The computer's monitor re-activated and Blossom saw numerous graphs, mathematical equations, and chemical breakdown charts on it. "He thinks he's found something useful. Professor and me are putting all this crap into this computer to see if we can get a jump on what that 'something' is. The tests he's talking about are blood transfers either through injections or basically force-feeding it to Dareena and Derrick. See, they were made "the old-fashioned way", for lack of a better way to describe it. They were, at one time, just regular kids, just like you. Then Shadau changed them, and you see what we got."

"What about Darion?" Blossom asked.

Reese shook his head. "No, Darion's completely different. He's the one we can't figure out." Reese flipped back towards the beginning of the book and pointed to a hand-drawn picture. "This is a leech. Apparently, Shadau's been experimenting with them to see if he can make anything out of them. He's been pretty successful so he took to breeding and raising them as well."

"For what?" Blossom wondered.

"To make Mornaucks," Reese replied, "Face it, modern times make it pretty tough to just snatch a kid off the street without somebody noticing it. Shadau's basically found a way to continue to make Mornaucks without anybody coming after him or even noticing. Darion was the first success."

Blossom raised her eyebrows. "Darion's a leech?"

"No, not exactly, but he did come out of one, according to this. He's a mixture of chemicals and compounds that Shadau's been working with for awhile and finally put to use. Basically, it's like tossing all kinds of different ingredients into a big stew pot and seeing what you get," Reese explained, "The 'pot' happens to be a leech."

"Actually, sounds more like me and my sisters," Blossom replied, "That's how Professor made us. Sugar, spice, and everything nice with an accidental dose of Chemical X."

Reese picked up the keyboard and sat it in his lap. He began entreing more information into the open files on the screen and said, "Yeah, I think that's what Professor's most concerned about. He thinks Shadau may have found the basic ingredients of Chemical X, only he doesn't know it yet. If he figures it out, well, that's a whole new can of worms. That's why he's doing these tests on Dareena and Derrick. To see what he gets without really knowing what he has to start with."

"Is Darion part of the tests, too?" Blossom asked as she watched the monitor flash.

"Yeah, he is, but he's the blood supplier, not a recipient," Reese answered, "Shadau gets it from Darion and gives it to Dareena and Derrick. Puts it in their food, according to this book."

"That's gross!" Blossom exclaimed.

Reese nodded and said, "Yeah, it is when you think of how he gets it. See, Dareena and Derrick told me that they ran away from Shadau because he started taking his 'frustrations' out on them, especially Darion. He was taking the brunt of the abuse from Shadau, and at the time, I couldn't figure out why. Now I think I have."

"OK, well, don't keep me in suspense," Blossom demanded.

"Professor did an analysis of Darion's blood and found what he thinks are the basic ingredients of Chemical X in it, amongst other things. If Shadau found the same thing without actually knowing what it was, well, hell, 'I'll stick this stuff in the others to see what happens', right? So, Shadau beats the hell out of Darion, makes him bleed a bit, collects it, feeds it to the others. Once that's done, he starts the endurance tests instead."

"The endurance tests?" Blossom repeated, "Endurance for what?"

Reese sighed. "Endurance as in 'Wonder if this'll kill him'. Shadau was beating Darion as badly and frequently as possible to see how much he could take and successfully recover from."

Blossom looked shocked as she asked, "Well, doesn't he care that he's hurting Darion at the same time? I mean, he's just a kid!"

"No, Blossom, he doesn't care," Reese stated matter-of-factly, "Do you think twice when you squish a roach in your kitchen? To Shadau, Darion's just a leech to do with as he pleases. It's all in the name of furthering his own information load, that's all. He doesn't care that he's probably beaten the kid a hundred times, so long as he gets what he wants."

"So, now I'm not only a freak with horns, but I'm a meaningless cockroach, too?!" they heard angrily from behind them. Reese and Blossom turned to see Darion standing in the doorway holding another apple. His chest heaved and his orange eyes glared at them.

"No, Darion, that's not what I said," Reese stated.

"Bullshit, that's what I heard!" Darion yelled, "So, he beat the shit outta me all that time for no reason? Do you have any idea how much that sucks?! I thought it was just because I did something wrong, even though he'd never tell me what it was. Now I know, huh? It was 'just because', right?!"

Reese sighed and shook his head. "Darion, look, just settle down, OK? See, this is all..."

Darion suddenly flung the apple he held at Reese and Blossom. They ducked as it blasted by their heads and nailed the computer monitor. The monitor burst into a shower of sparks, glass, and plastic as Darion turned and took off down the hall.

"Darion, wait!" Blossom shouted. She moved to go after him, but Reese grabbed her arm.

"Don't," he said, "Just let him go. He's mad enough now that he may turn on you."

"Then YOU go talk to him!" she demanded.

Reese shook his head. "I think I've done enough damage so far, don't you think?"

Brick made his way downstairs and saw Darion head out the front door. He furrowed his brow and yelled, "Darion, where you goin'?"

Darion continued without answering. Brick headed after him as Blossom came around the corner and hollered, "Brick, no, wait!" He didn't hear her and took off down the street behind Darion.

Darion heard Brick call his name, but instead of stopping, he started running at top speed. Brick accelerated to keep up with him and chased him down the street. Darion began ducking under tree limbs and swerving around cars to avoid Brick as he sped along. They came to an open field with a long sandy hill, and as Darion started down the hill, Brick tackled him from behind. They rolled down the hill to the bottom where Darion tossed Brick off his back and snarled. He lashed out with his claws at Brick who jumped back to avoid the swipe. Brick flew at Darion, picked him up, and pinned him against a large tree. Darion struggled to get out of Brick's grip and screamed, "I'll kill you, damn it!"

Brick shouted, "What's your problem?!" He pulled his left hand back as Darion tried to latch onto him with his fangs. Darion then slugged Brick in the face and took off running again. Brick became enraged and headed out and over Darion. He blew a blast of his fire breath in front of Darion, setting the dry grass ahead of him on fire. Darion skidded to a stop and turned with wide eyes to glare at Brick. He dodged left then stopped again as Brick let loose with his fire breath again.

Brick hovered in front of Darion and glared at him. Darion glared back as he panted. "Get away, Brick, or I'll tear you apart!" Darion declared.

"Yeah, right, even if you could, you'd have five more just like me to deal with afterwards, do you really want that?" Brick shot back.

"At this point, I don't care!" Darion yelled, "Bring 'em on!"

"What is wrong with you?!" Brick demanded, "You flip your wig or somethin'? You don't have a chance against us, Darion, and you know it! Why are you being stupid?!"

Darion held his hands up and shouted, "OK, now I'm a freak, I'm a worthless leech, and, hey, here's the topper! I'm stupid too! WHOO-HOO, let's hear it for me!"

"What is wrong with you?!" Brick again demanded.

"Do you know why Shadau used to beat me all the time?!" Darion asked angrily as he glared at Brick, "To see how much I could take and still manage to get up again! Did I tell you he came after me with an ax once? A really BIG ax, too. I tried to get him to tell me why he was mad at me, but he wouldn't say anything. I tried to run from him, but he nailed me in the back with the ax. That's what the scar that goes over my shoulder is from! It got stuck on my collarbone after he hit me with it, but he just stood on me and wrenched it back out! It took months before I could even move my arm again! But, what the hell, I'm not a real person anyway, I'm just a lowly leech, so who cares! Hell, I'm not even a real leech! Imagine your reaction if you found out that you're nothing but a bunch of junk thrown together in some disgusting bug just to see what happens!"

Brick furrowed his brow and shook his head. "I don't let it bother me, truthfully."

"What are you talking about?" Darion asked sternly.

Brick pointed to himself and replied, "Just snips, snails, and puppy dog tails here, me and my brothers. Only we didn't get stuck in a bug, we got dumped into a jail cell toilet with some kinda toxic waste in it. Presto, here we are."

Darion visibly relaxed and grinned. He giggled, then burst into laughter. He leaned over with his hands on his knees, unable to stop laughing. He looked at Brick and asked, "You're kidding, right?"

Brick grinned back and replied, "If I'm lyin', I'm dyin'."

"So that's why Buttercup calls you guys toilet boys?" Darion snickered.

Brick nodded and answered, "Yep. Made in the toilet. By a crazy monkey, no less. With any luck, she won't call you leech-boy."

Brick landed in front of Darion and said, "You wanna talk to me now?"

Darion slowly stood up and nodded. "Yeah, I suppose so. Even if you are a toilet boy, I guess it'd be good to have at least one friend in the world."

Brick put his hand on Darion's shoulder and said, "Toilet boy and leech boy, what a team!" They both broke into laughter.

Brick suddenly turned as he heard the sound of sirens. "We better get outta here, though, before the fire company shows up. Last thing I need is to be labeled an arsonist, too!"

They sat in Bonsai Gardens under a huge oak tree and watched the other children playing in the Gardens' pools. They had put their cash together and had managed to come up with enough to buy two Cokes and a six-piece fried chicken feast.

Brick watched in amazement as Darion tore his piece apart and devoured the meat. He then put one of the bones in his mouth and strained to bite it in half. Brick heard a crunch that made him shiver, then he chuckled as Darion sucked the marrow out of the bone.

"What?" Darion asked as he chomped on his meal.

"That's gross," Brick replied.

Darion shook his head and returned to picking the chicken apart with his claws. "That's the best part!" he declared.

"I'll take your word for it," Brick answered. He took a huge swig of his Coke, then let out a loud burp. Darion stared with wide eyes at Brick, then looked around to the many families around them. He timidly waved to one woman who had heard Brick's belch and stated, "It's OK, now you know why we don't take him out much. Sorry 'bout that!"

Brick raised an eyebrow at Darion and stated, "This comin' from the kid sucking the marrow outta chicken bones!"

"I'm tellin' ya, that's the good part!" Darion insisted, "That's where all the nutrients are!"

"I'll skip it!" Brick snickered.

They continued eating in silence until Darion suddenly spoke up. "So, what do you wanna talk about?"

Brick shrugged and answered, "Well, for starters, what's with the freak-out session back there?"

Darion shrugged and replied, "I don't know, guess I took the leech news a bit too hard. Well, that, and the fact that I got my ass beat just about every day for no good reason. Tends to make one horribly mad."

Brick nodded and said, "OK, I get it. So what? That's over now, don't dwell on it. And don't let the fact that you came out of a leech get to you either. I mean, unless you're gonna walk around with a big sign stapled to your forehead that says 'Hey, did you know I came out of a leech?' or something, nobody's gonna know the difference."

"Guess you're right," Darion sighed, "If the toilet thing doesn't bother you, I guess I can get passed the leech thing. Still, imagine living with somebody all your life, in your case, Professor Utonium. You rely on him for your very existence, but you walk around oh so carefully, like you're on broken glass. You're terrified of what will happen if you mess up somehow."

Brick chuckled and replied, "Hell, me, Butch, and Boomer are STILL doin' that."

Darion looked confused and asked, "What do you mean? Professor seems to like you three just fine."

"Yeah, I guess so," Brick answered, "He did take us in, and even though we help out Blossom and her sisters, we're not Townsville's most favourite citizens. They tolerate us at best. We do the best we can, but I guarantee you, the first time we step out of line, they'll be after our heads. I remember one time when Boomer went into the Circle J to get a Coke. No problem, right? Well, Mojo Jojo happened to wander in right after him. Word spreads fast in this town. The cops hounded Boomer for weeks wanting to know what he was up to, did he talk to Mojo Jojo, what were they planning together. Total nonsense!"

"At least they didn't beat him," Darion offered.

"Yeah, but if they had a reason to, I'd bet they would have," Brick replied.

"OK, my other problem here," Darion said to change the subject, "I'm sick of being treated like a baby. Derrick is always calling me one, he knows it makes me mad when he does, but he doesn't care. The problem is, now that we're daywalkers, I'm envisioning an eternity of dealing with that!"

"So, don't act like one," Brick stated, "Dareena is always doin' everything for you, and that's cool, but if you don't need her help, just say so." He pointed to Darion's head and added, "You could lose the horns, too, just to show 'em you're serious."

Darion reached up and touched his left horn. "I'd love to, actually, at least people wouldn't look at me funny anymore, but I don't know how. They'll just grow back, anyway."

"So, we'll work on that," Brick replied, "Just stick with us, and everything will be OK."

Darion grinned and said, "So long as you don't mind, I'm all for it!"

Brick shrugged. "You're less of a pain than Bubbles, that's for sure! If we can put up with her, I'm sure me, Butch, and Boomer can show you the ropes, too."