Chapter 16
The bat soared over Townsville, scanning for any sign of Shadau. It knew he was near, it just didn't know what to look for. It landed outside an abandoned coal mine and separated. Dareena looked around and furrowed her brow.
"You hear that?" she asked her brothers, "Or is it just me?"
Derrick listened, but shook his head. "Nope," he replied, "Nothing. Why, what do YOU hear?"
Dareena shook her head. "Never mind, I guess I'm dreaming. Let's check out this place."
"Professor said this might be one spot where he could hide out," Darion stated, "It's dark, underground...if he's here, he could do whatever he wants."
"Did you two see the swamps back there?" Derrick asked, pointing back towards where they had came from, "That's nasty."
"Yeah, looked like a farm once," Dareena explained, "Guess there's no money in it anymore."
"Did you see the fountain still working, though?" Derrick added, "Kinda strange, huh?"
"OK, I get the point," Dareena grumbled, "Let's just concentrate on the job at hand, OK?"
"You thinking Shadau could be at that farm instead?" Darion asked of Derrick.
"Forget it," Dareena answered, "Too dirty. If Shadau's anything, he's a neatness freak, remember?"
"Yeah," Darion grumbled, remembering a time when Shadau had beaten him for over an hour for walking across their white carpet with muddy feet, "How could I forget?"
They approached the mine's boarded up entrance and Derrick and Darion tore the boards off to allow them to go in. They cautiously looked all around them, checking for any signs of Shadau.
"This is creepy," Derrick whispered.
Dareena nodded and replied, "Yeah, you're not kidding."
They continued down a long tunnel and found a string of bare bulbs in one end of the tunnel. Looking to their right, they saw the string ended, but to their left, it continued on. They headed left under the lights to a set of tracks used at one time for rail cars. They carefully made their way across the tracks to a span with a drop of over 500 feet below them.
"Give me your hands," Dareena instructed.
"OK, why?" Darion asked.
"'Cause if we fall through this rickety thing, it would be nice if we're all together to fly back up, right?" Dareena replied. They locked hands and headed over the span. Derrick felt queasy as he looked over the edge. He closed his eyes and followed Dareena's gentle tugs on his hand.
They reached the other side of the long span safely and continued on. They saw a long tunnel unlit, to their left, and another one to their right with a single bulb hanging from the stone ceiling. They headed right to a small glass room that looked like an office.
Dareena suddenly stopped and gasped. She pointed to a desk within the office and saw a pile of notebooks, different from what Reese had.
"C'mon!" she whispered.
They quickly went to the door of the office and found it locked.
"Damn it!" Dareena grumbled as she tried to turn the knob, "Looks like we're not getting in there without making a bunch of noise."
"Well, if we have to, we have!" Derrick answered in a whisper. He backed up to get a running start at the glass wall around the office.
"Derrick!" Dareena called, "Don't!"
Derrick ran passed her, headed for the glass. He was snatched back by Darion who glared at him.
"NOT that way!" he stated, "Just hold on a second, will ya?!"
Derrick threw Darion's grasp off and answered, "OK, baby boy, YOU try it!"
Darion growled low in his throat, but instead turned to the locked door. He grabbed the knob and tried to turn it. It did not budge. He leaned into it and put all his strength into turning the knob. They suddenly heard a pinging noise as the back half of the door knob fell off and landed on the floor inside the office. Darion pulled the outside half off and reached into the lock. He tripped the latch and pulled the door open.
"Easy as that!" he stated sternly at Derrick.
Derrick rolled his eyes and replied, "Yeah, whatever...beginner's luck."
Dareena gaped at Darion and asked, "How did you DO that? I tried it and it wouldn't move!"
Darion shrugged. "I don't know, does it matter?" He crept into the office followed by Dareena and Derrick. Dareena went to the small pile of notebooks and began paging through the top one. She quickly scanned the pages to see if they were indeed the 'real' thing.
"Sorry, Darion," she remarked, "Told you the leech thing was for real." She held up one of the notebooks and showed Darion a picture of what she remembered him emerging from. "Sorry, kiddo."
Darion shrugged. "Oh well, guess I won't ever live that one down, huh?"
"So, are those what we're looking for?" Derrick asked nervously as he looked out the office door.
Dareena nodded and picked up the books. "Yeah, I think so. Let's get outta here, what do you say?"
"Good call," Derrick stated. They suddenly heard a loud howl from down one of the dark tunnels. "Think that's a REAL good call right now!"
Dareena's eyes widened and she stammered, "What the hell was that!?"
Derrick hurried both her and Darion out of the office and replied, "Let's not find out right now, OK?"
"That's not Shadau!" Dareena stated as they began running back the way they had come. They came to a junction of tunnels and Dareena realized she forgot which one they had come from. They again heard the howling from behind them and a loud snuffling noise.
"Which way?" Derrick shouted.
Dareena shook her head in a panic. "I...I don't know!"
Darion shot down one of the lighted tunnels and called, "This way!"
"How do you know?!" Derrick yelled as he and Dareena ran to catch up with their brother down the tunnel. Much to their amazement, the tunnel led directly to the railing span they had crossed.
"Damn, how did you know?!" Derrick demanded.
Darion shrugged. "I don't know! You really want to argue with me right now?"
"No," Derrick replied as they quickly headed back across the span. The boys stopped suddenly as they heard a shriek from behind them. The added weight Dareena carried had caused her to fall through the weakened railing. They watched her fall, still clutching the notebooks.
"C'mon!" Darion hollered. He dove over the railing and headed towards Dareena. Derrick shook his head.
"Damn it, you're gonna get me killed yet!" he grumbled, then, he too, dove over the railing. The boys headed straight to Dareena and they morphed into the bat as soon as they got close enough. The bat looked down and saw the jagged floor of the chasm below it and pulled up quickly. Its belly scraped against the wall as it soared back up and headed for the exit to the mine.
The bat looked behind it as the loud howling sounded again. It saw a pair of large yellow beady eyes glaring at it along with a strange orange glow from the darkness of the tunnel behind it. The bat turned in time to see the exit and realized it couldn't pull its wings in quickly enough to get through the small cave. It nailed the exit on both sides and separated as it emerged outside. Dareena, Derrick, and Darion tumbled across the ground outside the mine.
"OUCH!" Derrick screamed as he tried to get to his feet. He held his right arm, now numb from his collision with the stone wall. He managed to stand up, then leaned over and rubbed his shoulder as a large red welt began to rise. "That hurt!"
"Yeah, I know!" Darion hollered as a welt also appeared on his left shoulder. He rubbed his left arm and shook it in an attempt to get some feeling back into it.
"Well, it was no picnic for me, either!" Dareena hollered from her seated position on the ground. Both boys saw that her dress was torn across her stomach, yet she had managed to hold onto the notebooks.
"I see you kept those, though!" Derrick shouted.
"Hell yeah!" Dareena yelled back, "After all this, you're damned right!"
"Let's just go!" Darion shouted. He helped Dareena to her feet and the three of them took off running back towards Townsville.
They wearily entred the Utonium household and both boys plopped on the couch. Dareena went to the kitchen and dropped the notebooks on the table as Blossom came into the room.
"You found them!" she exclaimed. Then she noticed the bloody scrapes on Dareena's stomach. "What happened?"
"It was no pleasure cruise, trust me," Dareena replied as she slowly lowered herself into one of the chairs and began going through the notebooks. She divided the stack in half and pushed one pile towards Blossom. They paged through them lightning fast and tossed them aside as they found them to be useless.
"Damn it, don't tell me we went through all that for NOTHING!!" Dareena screamed as she chucked another notebook over her shoulder.
"Not totally for nothing," Derrick called from the couch. He leaned forward and again rubbed his shoulder. "We found something in that mine."
Blossom rifled through another notebook, tossed it aside, and asked, "Like what?"
"Something really big and nasty," Darion explained as he leaned his head back on the couch.
"Like what?" Boomer asked as he and Butch came into the living room, "Professor and Reese said they found something, too, out at the cereal factory."
Darion shook his head tiredly and replied, "Don't know what it was, and none of us were exactly interested in sticking around long enough to find out."
Butch went into the kitchen and began going through the notebooks on the floor as Bubbles came in and joined him.
"We already been through those, guys," Blossom grunted as she flew through another notebook.
"Well, it doesn't hurt to give 'em a second look, now, does it?" Butch grumbled as he quickly paged through one.
"Guess not," Dareena stated.
Bubbles picked up three notebooks then ducked as Blossom threw another one aside and nearly nailed her in the face.
"Hey, watch it!" she grumbled.
"Sorry," Blossom grunted back.
"Is this all of 'em?" Butch asked.
"All I could find and carry, yeah," Dareena answered.
Boomer came into the kitchen and went to the refrigerator. As he opened it, Dareena hit the door with one of the notebooks.
"Whoa, there, missy!" he complained.
"Sorry," Dareena barked, "Can't you think of anything other than food right now?"
"Not when I'm hungry," Boomer shot back. He brought out a container of juice, then froze and stared at the notebook Dareena had thrown at the door. It had fallen open, and Boomer recognized one of the hand-drawn pictures on its pages. He blinked to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, then grinned. He closed the refrigerator door, slurped the juice from the container, and picked up the notebook. He snickered and approached the table.
"What's so funny?!" Butch demanded.
Boomer slammed the open notebook back onto the table next to Blossom. "Tell me, what does THIS look like?" he sneered.
Blossom sighed irritably, then looked at the drawing. Her eyes opened wide as she also recognized the layout sketched in the notebook.
She grinned and exclaimed, "Holy cow, that looks like Farmsville's old broccoli farm!"
"It's what?" Dareena asked.
"It used to be a broccoli farm till they had a bad crop. It was abandoned a couple years ago and auctioned off recently," Blossom answered with a gleam in her eye.
"Well, that's gotta be where these are," Butch called from the floor. He stood up and turned the notebook he had been looking through towards Blossom. "The books Reese had said something about Shadau raising leeches. Seems to me the swamps all over the fields now would be a perfect place."
Blossom looked at the page and saw several rectangles drawn over the farm's layout. She nodded and stated, "Well, if that's the place, these rectangles must be the pools where he's raising his leeches!"
"Well, this is REALLY gonna be nasty," Dareena exclaimed, "Look what he's putting in the water to improve his harvest."
She turned her notebook to Blossom who read, "Drained in-house septic tank, filled back field #4."
"Ewww!" Bubbles squealed.
Boomer snickered and stated, "Oh, it gets better, trust me!" He showed the book he had to Dareena and she shivered. "Yeah, isn't THAT yummy!"
"What?" Butch demanded.
"Pig guts, chicken parts, miscellaneous debris," Boomer replied.
"Aww, man," Butch groaned.
"What the hell are you guys talking about?!" Derrick demanded as he and Darion staggered into the kitchen.
Blossom tore the pages in question out of the notebooks and laid them on the table in a row as the others gathered around her.
"OK," she began, "This is an old farm just outside of town. It was sold recently, but so far, nobody's seen any activity out there. At least, not in the daylight."
"Well, that would explain this, then," Dareena stated as she pulled a folded legal document from the back cover of one of the notebooks. "It's a land deed, by the looks of it."
"The same one we went over?" Darion asked as Dareena nodded her head.
"You said you heard something out there, right?" he asked her. She again nodded.
"Wonder if that's what Professor was talking about," Derrick wondered aloud. They turned to him as he explained, "He said that Shadau knows where we are 'cause he can sense us or something. Professor said we might be able to do the same thing."
"Why is he following us in the first place?" Darion asked angrily.
Blossom sighed and answered, "'Cause he apparently wants you back, Darion. At least, that's what Professor and Reese are thinking."
Darion's eyes widened as he stammered, "What?! Why? What did I do??"
"It's not what you did, Darion," she explained, "It's what you have in you. Professor's been studying a sample of your blood and thinks you have the same stuff in you that we do...Chemical X."
"Chemical what?!" Dareena exclaimed.
"Whoa, you gotta be kidding!" Butch said.
"It's the stuff that gives us our powers," Bubbles stated, "But, how did Darion get it, too? Does that mean you're like us?"
Blossom shook her head. "No, Bubbles, Darion only has the basic ingredients of it. What Professor and Reese are afraid of is what if Shadau figures out how to complete the formula?"
"Oh, hell, why am I picturing an entire herd of Mornaucks with those damned laser eyes you guys have?" Derrick groaned.
"'Cause that's what it could lead to," Boomer suggested, "If all those swamps out there are full of Shadau's leeches, imagine how many Mornaucks he could get out of 'em."
"What kind of sound was it?" Blossom asked.
Dareena shrugged. "I don't know how to explain it," she replied, "I thought it was just the wind or something."
"We're obviously not very good at this," Darion stated.
"Let's hope you improve," Boomer grumbled.
Blossom nodded as an intense look crossed her face. She looked them over and stated, "OK, it's already 2:30 in the morning, the sun'll be up in a few hours. I think we all know where we're going, right?"
"Yeah," Boomer agreed, "No time like the present. If he's out there, nighttime is gonna be the time to go get him."
Dareena slammed the notebook she had been paging through shut and stood up, clutching her wounded stomach as she went. "OK, guys," she declared with a grin, "Time to go."
They headed towards the front door and all jumped as it suddenly opened and Buttercup entred.
"Damn it, don't scare me like that!" Dareena exclaimed.
"Sorry," Buttercup giggled, "Didn't mean to!"
Boomer looked behind her and asked, "Where's Brick?"
"He shouldn't be too far behind me," Buttercup answered, "Once he figures out the place we got was a dud."
"You left him alone?" Butch asked.
"No," Buttercup lied, "I took off first, that's all. He'll be here soon."
"He'll probably just hang out here anyway," Butch grumbled, "The lazy creep."
"Well, we can't wait for him," Blossom stated, "We gotta go."
"Where?" Buttercup asked.
"Farmsville broccoli fields," Blossom answered, "That's apparently where Shadau's raising his next crop."
"I just know I'm gonna be sick!" Bubbles grimaced.
"Huh?" Buttercup asked.
"Don't worry, we'll fill you in on the way," Butch answered, giggling.
"Why do I think I'm NOT going to like this?" Buttercup groaned.
They went outside and took off into the air followed closely by the bat. They headed out of Townsville on their way towards Farmsville and Shadau's leech farms.
The bat landed on one side of the farm complex as the others streaked passed to get a look at the back fields. It separated, and Derrick immediately sniffed the air. He wrinkled his nose and complained, "Oh, my GAWD, it STINKS around here!"
"Oh, quit your noise," Dareena instructed as she looked around the complex.
She saw the farm's main house and noticed its rundown state. The shutters green paint was peeling and several were falling off their hinges. The building had at one time been gleaming white, but now was stained a greyish yellow. She saw the windows were dusty as the full moon's light reflected off their now opaque surfaces and two in the front of the building were broken. She grimaced as a rat scurried out of one of them and scooted through a collapsed board on the front porch and disappeared.
"Nobody's been here for quite awhile," she guessed, "Still seems way too dirty for Shadau." She shook her head and continued to walk around the complex they stood in.
"So, what are we supposed to be listening for?" Derrick asked her.
She shook her head and replied, "Told you, Derrick, I don't know how to explain it. It just sounded like the wind blowing through a long pipe or something. That's all I can tell you."
Blossom, Buttercup, Bubbles, Butch and Boomer landed next to an open lake of water at the back corner of the farm's expansive grounds. Butch cautiously approached the pool and peered over the ledge as his eyes glowed neon green. He furrowed his brow and stated, "I think we found the right place."
Boomer picked up a long stick and reached into the water with it. He swirled the stick around and drew it out. Hanging from the stick was a slimy muck that appeared to move. He narrowed his eyes at it as he raised it into the strong moonlight, then dropped the stick in the water.
"Yeah, I'd say so. Leeches. Bunches of 'em." he said as he wiped his hands on his jeans.
"So, now what?" Buttercup grumbled as she also searched the darkened area with her night vision. She was beginning to get nervous over the fact that Brick had not yet arrived. She dismissed her uneasiness and remembered what Butch had said. Brick would more than likely stay at the house.
"Let's look around while we've still got the full moon with us," Blossom suggested, "We stay together, though, OK?"
They all nodded their agreement and spread out in a rough circle. They searched the grounds around them for any signs of Shadau, then they headed towards the farm's enormous barns.
Darion suddenly stopped short and blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things. From a side door in one of the buildings, he saw a man in white emerge outside and head across the yard. He snarled loudly, then pointed to the man.
"THERE HE IS!" he shouted. Dareena and Derrick whirled around to face the man as he also turned to face them. Dareena shrieked at him as a wicked grin crossed her face.
Shadau took off running as they headed after him at full speed. Shadau suddenly leaped into the air and they watched as wings sprouted from his shoulder blades and he soared over the farm.
Dareena turned towards the back of the farm and shouted, "BLOSSOM! We got him!!" She and the boys then morphed into the bat and tore after Shadau as he glided over the farm's buildings and fields. The bat quickly closed the distance between itself and Shadau until he suddenly turned and delivered a vicious kick to one of the bat's eyes, causing it to stop and separate. They dropped to the ground, and as Dareena wiped her eye, Shadau continued on.
Derrick took off after him on foot, running like a madman to catch him, and howling angrily. He came within reach of Shadau and leaped to grab him. Shadau kicked out again and caught Derrick in the right temple, spilling him to the ground. He quickly rolled back to his feet and chased Shadau as he glided over a ridge. Derrick made a last attempt to grab him, then the ground fell away quickly into a steep embankment. Derrick could hear Shadau's laughter as he floated away. Derrick skidded down the embankment on his rump. He then saw an open cess pool of slime and muck at the end of the hill and his eyes widened as he realized he couldn't stop. He dug his heels into the ground and dragged his fingernails behind him desperately trying to slow down. He gradually slowed and finally came to a teetering stop at the edge of a drop that would have landed him directly in the pool.
Panting, he stood up on wobbly legs and looked over the edge. He could see hundreds of leeches squirming in the murky water and the smell made him wrinkle his nose.
"Nasty buggards, aren't ya?" he stated. He started to turn and walk away when Dareena came sliding up behind him. She smacked into his legs, knocking him off his feet and he landed on the edge of the pool again. She shoved at him as she tried to back away from him. "No! Don't...!"
He didn't get out "push" before Darion slid down the hill as well, smacking into Dareena hard enough that she slammed Derrick forward. He sailed out over the pool and landed with a thick sounding sploosh in the filthy water.
He surfaced quickly to find Dareena and Darion laughing hysterically at him. He climbed out of the muck and shook the slime from his hands to wipe his eyes as both his siblings collapsed into giggles. Darion laughed until his sides hurt as Derrick glared at him. Derrick pulled a long thick string of slime from his hair and flung it at Darion who tried to turn away before it smacked wetly across the side of his face and tangled in his curls.
"Aw, yuck!" Darion yelled. He wiped the slime off his face and pulled at the strings in his hair. "Ya know, if roles were reversed here, you'd be laughing, too!" he declared angrily.
Derrick pulled his shirt off and dropped it on the ground with a wet plop. "Well, yeah, because then it would be funny!" he replied as he plucked leeches from his stomach. He grimaced as he pulled one off the left side of his ribcage that had already begun to fatten with his blood. He held it up to Dareena who skittered back.
"Don't you dare!" she threatened, though unable to control her giggles. She caught a glimpse of Shadau as he headed back into Townsville. "Look, there he is!"
Derrick plucked another leech off his arms and yelled, "Well, let's go get him!"
"I'm not gettin' near you! What, you want me to end up stinking like you, slime-boy?" Dareena snorted. "Besides," she continued as she pointed to the five streaks of colour on their way after Shadau, "They'll get to him first."
They raced after Shadau as the beast flew towards Townsville.
"OK, guys, let's get 'em!" Blossom shouted as they accelerated to catch Shadau. Buttercup reached him first, grabbed onto his right wing, and put on the brakes to slow him enough for the others to catch up. Blossom blasted him with her ice breath and froze his wings as he swung his claws at Buttercup. Boomer and Butch grabbed him by the feet and flung him towards the ground. They followed him to the ground as he landed with a thud. Blossom hit him with a power punch as he tried to stand up. He flew backwards to Butch who tripped him up as Buttercup hit him again towards Boomer. Shadau lashed out with his claws at Boomer and scraped across his chest. Boomer picked him up and tossed him back into the centre of their ring where Bubbles blasted him with her lasers. Shadau writhed and howled as the laser blasts burned him.
"You're done here, Shadau," Blossom declared.
"All that's left is to burn your little farm back there, huh?" Buttercup sneered.
Shadau attempted to run, but Butch caught him and slugged him back to the ground. "OOOPS!" he snickered, "Sorry, no harvest this time."
Boomer kicked Shadau. He then stood back and held his chest as blood ran down and stained his shirt from the cuts Shadau had caused. "Total crop output zero, sorry."
Shadau slowly sat up as blood ran from his nose and mouth. Surprisingly, he laughed at them. "Really?" he sneered, "You're sure about that?"
Blossom glared at him and replied, "We'll make sure, count on it."
Shadau looked them over and quietly counted them off. "Hmm," he teased, "I only count five. Could there be one of you missing?"
Boomer narrowed his eyes at Shadau. "Yeah, so? So he's a little on the slow side, he'll be here to kick your ass, too. Be patient."
"I don't think so," Shadau growled. He pointed back towards the farm and said, "In fact, if you're lucky, you might make it back in time to mop up what's left of him with a sponge."
Blossom slugged him again and replied, "Not falling for it, Shadau. He doesn't even know we're out here."
"Yeah, he's probably lost in your little basement library," Buttercup sneered.
"Plus, you don't have any goons to call on," Butch pointed out, "Your last three are with us, now, remember? I KNOW you couldn't take Brick all by yourself, ya tired old man."
"True," Shadau cackled, "Those little worms may have turned on me, but my latest treasures are quite impressive. Not exactly what I had in mind, but, hey, effective, nonetheless."
"You're bullshitting us," Boomer grunted, "You don't have any new ones. Reese said you haven't had the time yet."
"And we saw your pools," Bubbles stated angrily, "They're all still little leeches, so there!"
"Let's also not forget that Brick has no idea where we are right now, either," Blossom repeated.
"Ahh, Reese, so that old man is still trying to track me down, huh? You'd think after 500 years he would've quit. Does that also mean that your precious little brother couldn't be brought here?" Shadau asked sarcastically, "Oh, but of course, I don't have any 'goons', as you call them, to take your brother, do I?"
"Knock it off, Shadau, you're bluffing," Blossom declared. She looked to the others and said, "Let's drag him back to town. Reese will know what to do with him."
"Wait a second!" Boomer yelled as he continued to glare at Shadau, "What if he's not kidding?"
Shadau grinned an evil grin and chuckled at Boomer. "You know I'm not."
"Reese said he hasn't had enough time, Boomer," Butch stated.
"Reese is a fool," Shadau replied, "He's so wrapped up in trying to get rid of my kind that he forgets just how resourceful we can be." He waved towards the farm and chuckled. "Ever heard of stepping up production? Your poor little brother is figuring out what that can mean right now."
Bubbles looked to Blossom and quietly asked, "What do we do?"
"We take him back!" she yelled, "We got him, let's go!"
Shadau sat with his arms draped over his knees. He made no attempt to escape and looked at each of them confidently. He looked to his wrist at an imaginary watch. "Time's a-wasting, kiddies," he gloated, "What did you say his name was? Brick? He'll be dead soon. Better hurry."
Butch turned and shouted back towards the farm with his ultra sonic voice. "Brick!" His cries echoed eerily. "This isn't funny, damn it!"
Shadau snickered as he uncovered his ears and said, "He won't be able to hear you much longer. Shame, too. Loved those red eyes."
He smiled with satisfaction as they all began to panic. Blossom looked around and spotted a large grain silo in the dim light from the slowly rising sun. "There," she pointed.
Buttercup and Boomer shot over to the silo's top and strained to pull its top off. They broke it loose and waited as Blossom hit Shadau with another blast of her ice breath, freezing not only his wings, but his arms around him. Butch saw a empty five gallon bucket that had at one time had plaster in it, flew over and grabbed it and slammed it over Shadau's head.
"No teeth, either." he stated.
Shadau struggled to break free from the ice as they carried him up to the silo's top and dropped him in. He howled as he fell to the ground inside.
"Now don't you go away," Blossom instructed. Buttercup and Boomer slammed the silo's top back on and the five of them welded it shut with their lasers. They headed back towards the farm to find Brick.
As they soared over head, they spotted Dareena, Darion, and Derrick at the large fountain in the middle of the complex. They landed and noticed that Derrick was standing in the fountain's spewing waterfalls, completely naked, scrubbing his head. Dareena leaned over the fountain's rim wringing out Derrick's now soaking wet shorts as Darion dunked his head in the water and also scrubbed his head. He pulled his head out of the water and wrung the excess out of his long curls. "That's better!"
"No modesty here, huh?" Blossom stated.
Derrick turned and walked to the edge of the fountain as he squeezed the water from his hair. "What?" he shrugged. He took his shorts from Dareena and put them on. He jumped up and down trying to get water out of his ears as Blossom shook her head.
"What?" he asked again when he noticed her disapproval.
"What is it with you guys?" she asked as she turned to Butch and Boomer, "Don't boys wear underwear, for cryin' out loud?"
Boomer rolled his eyes as Butch replied, "I can't believe you're still on that rant."
"Well, at least you guys are finally getting some tan lines!" Bubbles giggled.
Derrick and Darion snickered as Dareena shook her head. "Oh, brother..." she moaned.
"We gotta find Brick," Butch stated.
Derrick and Darion looked at him, confused. "I thought you said he'd probably stay at the house?" Darion said as he took off his shirt and wiped his face. He laced his shirt through one of his belt loops and let it hang by his side to dry. He then put his black hat back on his head.
"Shadau seems to think he's here," Blossom groaned as she gave Boomer and Butch a sideways look, "He also says he has some new, what did he call them?...'treasures'. I think he's trying to fake us into believing he's got a new crop of cronies."
"So, if Brick's not here, how did Shadau know what colour his eyes are?" Butch asked angrily.
Blossom rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Where IS Shadau?" Dareena asked.
Bubbles pointed to the silo. "He's in there."
"He's staying put for a while," Buttercup added, "Sun's comin' up now."
"Can we just look around now instead of standing here?" Boomer urged.
Buttercup rolled her eyes and said, "Aw, man, I can't believe you guys are fallin' for this."
"Well, maybe if you woulda stuck with him, like you were supposed to, we'd be out of here, now, wouldn't we?" Boomer shot back angrily, "Didn't you listen to Reese and Professor? I was standin' there, too, and I distinctly remember them both saying 'DON'T GET CAUGHT ALONE'!" he screamed at her.
Buttercup became enraged and lunged at Boomer. Blossom and Bubbles grabbed her as Butch, Darion, and Derrick held Boomer back. They shouted at each other until Dareena stepped between them and angrily shoved them all apart.
"Will you stop it!" she shrieked. She turned to Boomer and continued, "Look, if Brick's here, he's in big trouble. If Shadau says he's here, then he's here. Shadau may be sly, cruel, and cunning, but he is not a liar. Especially not about his work. By the looks of the leeches Derrick just had all over him, they're about ready, so the idea of Shadau having some fresh meat by his side is not out of the question. Standing here fighting with your sister isn't helping, agreed?"
Boomer glared at Buttercup and replied, "She is NOT my sister..."
"You all live in the same house, the same father takes care of you, I'd say that's close enough," Dareena stated, "Face it, whether you like it or not, you're family now."
Darion pulled on Boomer's shoulder and tried to calm him. "C'mon, we'll find him, OK?"
"Let it go, Boomer," Butch added, "We need to see if Brick really IS here."
Boomer pulled away from them and walked away towards the main complex of the farm. Dareena motioned for Derrick and Darion to follow him. Derrick nodded and they ran to catch Boomer.
"Alright, let's get going," Blossom told the others. They spread out and began their search of the farm's grounds for any sign of Brick. Deep in her ever-increasingly guilty conscious, Buttercup hoped they wouldn't find him here.
Blossom, Bubbles, and Butch searched the farm's enormous kitchen "Aw, my God, what the hell is this??" Blossom heard from the dining area. She and Bubbles shot over the pick-up window and saw Butch standing over a spilled table. On the floor was a pile of rotten food, half eaten, that had obviously been there for quite awhile.
Blossom let out a sigh of relief. "Don't do that to me. I thought you found something."
"Yeah, I'm still tryin' to figure out what it is!" he replied.
"Eww!" Bubbles squealed.
Butch nodded and answered, "You're tellin' me." He floated from the mess and they continued on.
Buttercup and Dareena searched through the farm's abandoned barns to no avail. It was hot and musty in the old livestock barn as the sun's early morning rays heated the metal roof and Buttercup was getting frustrated. "I can't believe we're doin' this," she grumbled.
Dareena quickly climbed a post and searched the barn's hayloft for any sign of Brick. "Well, it's worth a shot, I guess." She found nothing and slid back down a pole to the ground. She brushed her hands off and turned to Buttercup. "Like I said, Shadau may a lot of things, but he's not a liar. How did Brick end up by himself anyway, not to mention you, too?"
Buttercup sighed and replied, "We had a little argument, that's all. He wanted to go his way, I wanted to go mine, simple as that."
"So, why couldn't you just work out your differences and stick together?" Dareena asked.
Buttercup grumbled and looked at the roof. "'Cause he's a spoiled brat, that's why!"
"OK, I see..." Dareena replied. She let out a little chuckle and shook her head.
"What?" Buttercup demanded, "What's so funny?"
Dareena sighed and replied, "Nothing, I just find it amazing that all of you accepted me easier than you accept each other."
"Well, you're different..." Buttercup began.
"Different in what way? Am I a bigger freak than you?" Dareena asked, "Let's face it, all of us, we're all freaks. I think the sooner we all figure that out, the sooner we'll quit trying to kill each other."
Buttercup looked at her toes. As she looked up again, Dareena noticed she was on the verge of tears. "Buttercup, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"No," Buttercup cut her off angrily, "It's not you!" She wiped tears from her eyes and stared off towards the back of the barn. "God, if anything happened to him..."
Dareena nodded her head. "We'll find him, I promise."
Boomer, Derrick, and Darion had wandered into what looked like a communal shower/bathroom area. There were several wings to the building and as they wandered through, Derrick sniffed the air around them. He furrowed his brow and stated, "Something in here."
"Like what?" Boomer asked, "How do you know?"
"The nose doesn't lie," Derrick replied.
They entred one section of the building to see a long line of sinks to their left and toilet stalls to their right. The rest of the building's sections had been spotless, but this one was a disaster. The walls were smeared, the floor was filthy and the large mirror over the sinks was smashed. Derrick wiped his hand on one of the walls and sniffed.
"That's gross," Boomer stated.
"Yeah, you're right," Derrick replied. He touched one of his fingers to his tongue. A look of disgust crossed his face and he spat on the floor. "Really gross."
Boomer chuckled and asked, "Well, Einstein, what is it? Somebody run out of toilet paper or what?"
Derrick wasn't laughing as he shook his head. "No, it's blood."
Boomer furrowed his brow and asked, "Brick?"
Derrick shook his head. "No, like we were. Mornaucks."
"Aw, man, that's not good," Darion stated.
Derrick looked around the room and added, "But I'm pretty sure Brick was here."
"How do you know that?!" Boomer demanded.
Derrick gave Boomer a sideways look and answered, "'Cause you guys smell different. Trust me."
He motioned Darion to follow him and turned and headed out of the building. Boomer followed them reluctantly and asked, "Where we going?"
"I think we better find the others," Derrick answered.
"This could get really ugly," Darion declared.