Chapter 8 - The Winds of Change
/...despite the fact that Bubbles clearly thought that her sister was in love with Brick, that didn't mean that Blossom really felt that way.
He told himself that again as Princess slipped her hand beneath his waistband. With her head bowed as it was, he couldn't see her face. It was much easier, therefore, to picture large pink eyes instead of Princess' hard beady gaze. He bit his lip to prevent the wrong name from slipping out as Princess worked her magic.
That would be a bad thing./
Princess suddenly removed her hand, and Boomer might have felt a sense of loss if not for his burgeoning awareness that they were no longer alone.
Shit. Busted. Brick would kill him if he got suspended for this. Maybe if he kept his eyes closed it would all go away. Maybe he was just dreaming. Maybe the school would get invaded by Him or something.
He could hear Princess' tirade against the interloper.
"...just because YOU can't find a man," here Princess sneered, "which is pretty sad considering the fact that you look like a two-bit floozy..."
Floozy?
His eyes snapped open.
Bubbles.
She was ignoring everything Princess was saying to her, her large powder blue eyes fixed unwaveringly on him. Now that his own eyes were open, she met his gaze without a trace of emotion.
He really did not want to deal with her right now.
Then again, Princess' voice was grating on his nerves, and with the loss of any physical rewards to go with it, he was getting a headache.
Princess seemed angry at the lack of response she got from Bubbles, and eventually got tired of it. She smirked at Bubbles, then turned to Boomer.
"I'll see YOU later," she said, her voice a mix between husky and shrill. It sent a chill down Boomer's back, but not a pleasant one. He managed to avoid shoving her away as she kissed him rather possessively. He did his best to match her overblown enthusiasm, and was relieved when she left him.
Except that he had Bubbles to contend with now. Well, Brick had always told him that the best defense was a good offense.
"I don't want to hear it!" he railed on her, his eyes blazing. "I don't care what you think, and even if I did, you have no right to tell me who I can associate with!"
She blinked at him. Her silence made him angrier.
"Well? Isn't that why you're here? To lecture me? What's the matter? The CAT got your tongue? Or was it left in the lab with your ribbon?"
~~~~~~~~~~
I didn't know what to say to him. HE knew about the lab, too? Dear God, did anyone NOT know that I was involved in that?
And he knew about the ribbon? The one that Blossom had?
I thought I was going to pass out from shock, I really did. And it got worse. Boomer threw every insult he could think of at me. He ridiculed me for my 'pathetic' crush on Butch as often as he could, too, as if doing so made him feel better about himself.
I didn't get to talk to him like I'd wanted to. He couldn't have hurt me more if he'd used his fists instead of words. It's not true, that little ditty about sticks and stones, because I felt naked and bleeding by the time he was done.
He's right about one thing, though. I am pathetic.
Because I still want to help him.
~~~~~~~~~~
Boomer had no desire to return to school after the altercation with Bubbles. He had a bad taste in his mouth. He hadn't meant to tear into her like he had, but once he got started, he couldn't stop.
He could see her flinch at some of his words, but he'd felt a sick sort of satisfaction at the time. In his mind, he had overlain Princess' face onto Bubbles' halfway through the tirade. He didn't even want to think about what it meant that he'd felt all the more satisfied when he imagined Princess was the one he was hurling insults at.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" he shouted, slamming his fist onto a nearby car and causing the entire framework to collapse.
He flew straight up, until he Townsville looked like a dot below him, and then just hovered there, his head held in his hands.
Something had to change. Maybe the change had to start with himself.
Right after the Halloween party. Samhain was the end of the old year, and the beginning of the new, after all.
All Hallow's Eve, when the dead were able to celebrate with the living.
Ironically, it was because of Blossom that he knew this. It was only fitting.
~~~~~~~~~
What Princess lacked in originality, she made up for in persistence. She was dressed as Blossom AGAIN this year.
I had debated on not going to the Halloween party, but I'd never shunned a school function before. I really did enjoy seeing my schoolmates at these functions, not to mention I was almost always a member of all the committees, right alongside Blossom, who was just made to be a committee chairman. Chairman. Ha. Wouldn't Femme Fatale have a field day with that one. Femme Fatale. Wouldn't it just make my life complete if she were to show up? Just to provide the other extreme from Sedusa, of course. Life is all about balance.
Or because, if we had continued listening to her, Princess would have gotten away with a lot more than feeling up Boomer.
At first I thought Boomer hadn't shown up, because Princess was with a black-haired boy, DRESSED all in black, his face stark white with powder, his unsmiling lips black as well.
Until said boy turned his head to the side.
There is no missing eyes that size. The only bit of real color on his entire face.
It was a bit of a shock to see him like that. His hair was still in Brick's cropped style, the color was Butch's, and his face was devoid of all expression. He didn't seem to notice at all when Princess touched him. They were casual touches, of course, as the Halloween party was a chaperoned school function, and they weren't off in some secluded corner, but he still didn't react to them.
It could have been in keeping with his costume, whatever the heck it was that he was supposed to be.
I didn't like it. Not one bit.
I couldn't help myself. Butch once said about me that I had more heart than smarts. I guess he meant it as a compliment. He must be right, though, because I made my way to Boomer's side while Princess was engaged in a familiar quarrel with Blossom. Surprise, surprise. Princess is oh-so-careful not to grope her boyfriend in school, but she has no trouble unveiling jet thrusters on her back and various weapons of mass destruction in the middle of half the student body and a good portion of the faculty as well.
Blossom was insulting her, if the expression on her face was any indication. Between her and Buttercup, and two of the three Rowdyruffs, I figured that I wasn't needed, and I was willing to bet Boomer had no intentions of participating in the fight. At least not on our side.
I felt guilty for even considering that he'd side with Princess against us in a fight. Butch IS right about me.
Boomer was leaning against a table near the window, and I took my place right next to him, resting my butt against the table without actually sitting on it.
It was like I was near a completely different person. He hadn't looked up at me once, and now that I was on the fringes of his personal space, he didn't say a single word. Where was the hostile boy who hadn't hesitated to rip me to shreds earlier that week?
We stood there for a while. I watched the fight that was still going on between Princess and Blossom. Buttercup had thrown her gauntlet as well, and her voice could be heard from where we were standing, although the words weren't clear.
I couldn't take the silence anymore.
"Boomer?" I asked timidly. I winced, anticipating his reaction. There was none.
I left my position at the table to walk in front of him, turning to face him, but he kept his gaze fixed on the ground. I crouched down to look up into his eyes, and they were closed.
"Boomer," I said softly, placing my right hand against his leg. As soon as the tips of my fingers made contact, his eyes fluttered open for a second before drifting shut again.
I got a lump in my throat, and fled the room, flew out the window, into the sky, without so much as a goodbye to my sisters.
His eyes were completely empty.
~~~~~~~
I swallowed nervously as I cleared my throat at the entrance to the large room. The occupant turned from his telescope and scowled at me.
"You."
"Hi?" I said, not quite sure what I wanted to say now that I was there.
"Where are your sisters? You are here alone, without them. Only you, and you by yourself, yourself being not with the others. There should be three of you, but there is only one..."
He droned on and on, and I closed my eyes, chastising myself for even thinking of coming here. Eventually he stopped talking, and I opened my eyes again. He placed his index finger under his chin, his thumb resting against his cheek, and eyed me curiously.
"I am intrigued," he said at last. "What do you want?"
I flushed scarlet. I know I did, I could feel the my cheeks flood with warmth.
"I will be the ONLY ruler of the world," he said. "No one else..."
"NO!" I finally blurted out, fearful that if he went on another tangent I'd never get up the guts to say anything. "That's not why I'm here!"
"Oh?" he said, grinning at me. He looked downright creepy, and my stomach flopped over. What the hell was I doing here? With the butterfly wings of my Halloween costume still attached to my shoulder blades, no less, and the flowers in my hair dropping over my forehead. I struggled with my doubts and ignored the fact that I must look ridiculous. Why hadn't I shed the costume before I'd shown up? As if it weren't bad enough that I thought this might POSSIBLY have been a good idea in the first place.
"Moko Jono," I finally blurted out.
Oooo, was that the wrong thing to say. He looked absolutely crestfallen. For about two and a half seconds. Then his face went livid with rage.
"OUT!" he screamed at me. "Remove yourself from my premises! At once you will leave! I wish you to be gone from here and somewhere else!" He sounded like he was choking as his voice rose in volume.
I flew out of there as he continued to tell me how very much he wanted me to leave.
I guess, though, I got one answer to the question I couldn't ask.
~~~~~~~~
My sisters weren't home, and I took advantage of that fact. I had a feeling that it was going to take me a while, so I carried my supplies down to the Professor's lab, setting up my easel in a corner, and picked up my palette in one hand and paintbrush in the other. Then I lost myself in the tempest of emotions.
I don't know how long I was working, but when I finally set my brush down, I stared at the result that stared at me from the canvas.
Dark, swirling black and red: anger. Gray, misty shadows, tinged with blue: despair. Not a trace of hope in the form of yellow anywhere to be found. Was my omission of that color deliberate? I wondered if I'd ever think of yellow as being the color of sunshine and daffodils again. But that wasn't what bothered me about it.
It was the pair of empty, unfocused, DEAD eyes, attached to nothing, staring at nothing, just seeming to float in the middle of the darkest clouds I'd painted.
I was sick just looking at it.
I couldn't do this anymore. What used to be a way of making myself feel better whenever I was depressed had turned into something distasteful. I should have been glad that I got it, whatever "it" was, out of my system, but I wasn't happy with the result.
The Dark Portfolio was going to go, too, but first, this painting had to be burned.
In the end, though, I just couldn't do it. I had taken it outside to send it up in flames by igniting it with my eyes, letting the smoke trail skyward. I don't know why I thought that would make me feel any better.
But despite the fact that I couldn't bear to look at it anymore, neither could I bring myself to destroy it. I hurled it toward the stars as far as I could, though. Then I went home, pulled out the Dark Portfolio, and sent it flying right after it.
Then I realized that it was light out. Had been for some time. In the light of the risen sun, I noticed that my stupid wings were drooping and streaked with paint.
Those, I had no trouble incinerating.
~~~~~~~~
Blossom knocked on the door tentatively. "Bubbles?" she asked softly.
There was no answer from the lump on the bed, so she quietly floated over to her sister, who she now recalled had been conspicuously absent from the fight with Princess.
"Bubbles?"
Blossom watched the bed covers rise and fall, and briefly considered using X-ray vision to check on her sister. As she moved closer to the bed, she thought better of it, not wanting to intrude on Bubbles' privacy any more than she already was. She reached out a hand to stroke the blonde hairs that had escaped Bubbles' ponytail and were trailing over the fleece blanket.
She'd noticed that Boomer had been missing the night before, too.
She frowned. She had to talk to Brick.
~~~~~~~~
"She coming?" Brick asked as Blossom returned to the kitchen.
"She's not feeling well," Blossom said. Brick's eyebrows furrowed in worry, and she patted him on the arm. "I think she'll be fine. She's probably exhausted from all the work she put into the party. You know how much she wants everyone to have a good time."
Brick looked at her incredulously, then a brief smile ghosted his lips.
"I guess a 'good time' is relative, huh?"
Blossom's returning smile was equally weak. "Well, Buttercup seemed to enjoy herself."
"I resent that!" her sister shouted from the doorway, where she and Butch levitated. A small smirk played on her face, evidence that she had very much enjoyed the fight with Princess, even if it hadn't ended in more than a simple slap on the wrists from the chaperones for their 'causing a scene.' Butch's arm was wrapped around her waist and the two of them were refraining from more obvious physical contact.
"Good morning, girls!" the Professor's bright cheery voice greeted them. "Nice to see you, boys," he added, opening the refrigerator and removing an orange, a jar of pickle relish, and some cheese.
Blossom sighed. It was a good thing the Professor was sleepwalking again, because if he'd noticed Bubbles was missing, he'd have been concerned. His latest project was taking a lot of his time, because it was the third time this week that he'd missed breakfast with them. Blossom didn't really count days like this when he was there in body only.
"How can he DO that with his eyes wide open?" Buttercup muttered, as Blossom leaned over to kiss their father figure goodbye. Buttercup took her own turn at brushing her lips lightly over his cheek and then grabbed Butch's hand, dragging him out the front door and into the skies above.
Blossom and Brick simply walked out the door like two normal teenagers.
"OK, Blossom," he said as soon as they were outside blinking in the sunlight. "What is going on?"
"Where was Boomer last night?"
"Excuse me?" Blossom just looked at him expectantly. "Geez, Blossom, what the hell? If you have something to say, just say it!"
"MEN!" she said, throwing up her hands in disgust. He grabbed her hands and pulled them down to waist level, staring at her large unblinking pink eyes.
"Blossom," he said, working hard to keep his voice level. "What do you know about Boomer that I don't know?"
She pulled her hands free and ran them through her bangs, careful to not mess her hair despite her frustration.
"I don't know anything," she murmured. "But I'm worried. He was the only one who wasn't there last night."
"Sure he was," Brick said, then stopped to think. Boomer had hinted earlier that month that he was going to the dance, and at the time, he'd looked almost pleased with himself. The day of the Halloween bash, though, Brick had been busy trying to finish copying his research notes for the humanities class he shared with Blossom. "Well, maybe he was. We were kind of busy," he offered lamely.
"I know. Isn't it odd that he was nowhere to be found?"
"Maybe he ditched early? Maybe he..." got lucky, Brick finished the thought, but bit down on it. He already had one brother having underage sex, he certainly didn't need to think about being the last virgin among them.
"You're all alike," Blossom fumed.
"We're adolescent boys," Brick countered. "You're asking us to go against the grain. We aren't made the same way as you girls are."
"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails," she retorted. "Yeah, I'll say. Forget Chemical X, you have Chemical Y all over you."
Brick sighed. "Don't worry, Blossom. We're not their parents. Boomer's fine."
He wished he was half as confident as he sounded.
~~~~~~~~
A/N: I am thrilled at the responses this story has been earning. You've all been so very encouraging. I hope that the direction I take it in is pleasing to you as the story continues to unfold.
Wolfbane2 - I'm doing my best to keep the updates coming without a prolonged wait. I know how eager I am for updates to stories I am following, and I certainly don't want to lose anyone's interest! ;-)
Nie Starwhistler - thanks for the compliment! I appreciate any reviews you leave.
Tiggabear - I am certainly working on keeping this going, because I have most of my notes for the major plot points. The suspense is something that will continue for a while, I'm sure. "Interesting" is one of the highest compliments you could pay me. Thank you!
Hairy Gregory - Yes, the hair is the only resemblance Princess has to Blossom. The voice alone is a dead giveaway! LOL - sorry about the Mojo insertion, but I think it's clear how very much Bubbles found the idea of Boomer and Princess together distasteful if she'd even make that comparison. Thanks for your insightful interpretation of Boomer's attitude in Chapter 6. I loved it.
Scarr C - thank you so very much for your encouraging words. I will indeed do my best to keep writing regularly, as I am just as eager to transform the ideas I have into actual story. I am humbled by your compliment. A gem? You do me a great honor.
Ud the Imp - Ah, Shemp is fixated on the physical aspects of what's going on, I see. Hopefully all will be revealed in good time.
Autumn Leaves - Boomer definitely has some issues that he's dealing with. As I said to Ud the Imp, all in good time!
My thanks to everyone else who has read this story, and my apologies if I've forgotten anyone who has reviewed. Your comments are truly encouraging, and I hope that I continue to deliver!
Have a Happy New Year, everyone!
/...despite the fact that Bubbles clearly thought that her sister was in love with Brick, that didn't mean that Blossom really felt that way.
He told himself that again as Princess slipped her hand beneath his waistband. With her head bowed as it was, he couldn't see her face. It was much easier, therefore, to picture large pink eyes instead of Princess' hard beady gaze. He bit his lip to prevent the wrong name from slipping out as Princess worked her magic.
That would be a bad thing./
Princess suddenly removed her hand, and Boomer might have felt a sense of loss if not for his burgeoning awareness that they were no longer alone.
Shit. Busted. Brick would kill him if he got suspended for this. Maybe if he kept his eyes closed it would all go away. Maybe he was just dreaming. Maybe the school would get invaded by Him or something.
He could hear Princess' tirade against the interloper.
"...just because YOU can't find a man," here Princess sneered, "which is pretty sad considering the fact that you look like a two-bit floozy..."
Floozy?
His eyes snapped open.
Bubbles.
She was ignoring everything Princess was saying to her, her large powder blue eyes fixed unwaveringly on him. Now that his own eyes were open, she met his gaze without a trace of emotion.
He really did not want to deal with her right now.
Then again, Princess' voice was grating on his nerves, and with the loss of any physical rewards to go with it, he was getting a headache.
Princess seemed angry at the lack of response she got from Bubbles, and eventually got tired of it. She smirked at Bubbles, then turned to Boomer.
"I'll see YOU later," she said, her voice a mix between husky and shrill. It sent a chill down Boomer's back, but not a pleasant one. He managed to avoid shoving her away as she kissed him rather possessively. He did his best to match her overblown enthusiasm, and was relieved when she left him.
Except that he had Bubbles to contend with now. Well, Brick had always told him that the best defense was a good offense.
"I don't want to hear it!" he railed on her, his eyes blazing. "I don't care what you think, and even if I did, you have no right to tell me who I can associate with!"
She blinked at him. Her silence made him angrier.
"Well? Isn't that why you're here? To lecture me? What's the matter? The CAT got your tongue? Or was it left in the lab with your ribbon?"
~~~~~~~~~~
I didn't know what to say to him. HE knew about the lab, too? Dear God, did anyone NOT know that I was involved in that?
And he knew about the ribbon? The one that Blossom had?
I thought I was going to pass out from shock, I really did. And it got worse. Boomer threw every insult he could think of at me. He ridiculed me for my 'pathetic' crush on Butch as often as he could, too, as if doing so made him feel better about himself.
I didn't get to talk to him like I'd wanted to. He couldn't have hurt me more if he'd used his fists instead of words. It's not true, that little ditty about sticks and stones, because I felt naked and bleeding by the time he was done.
He's right about one thing, though. I am pathetic.
Because I still want to help him.
~~~~~~~~~~
Boomer had no desire to return to school after the altercation with Bubbles. He had a bad taste in his mouth. He hadn't meant to tear into her like he had, but once he got started, he couldn't stop.
He could see her flinch at some of his words, but he'd felt a sick sort of satisfaction at the time. In his mind, he had overlain Princess' face onto Bubbles' halfway through the tirade. He didn't even want to think about what it meant that he'd felt all the more satisfied when he imagined Princess was the one he was hurling insults at.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" he shouted, slamming his fist onto a nearby car and causing the entire framework to collapse.
He flew straight up, until he Townsville looked like a dot below him, and then just hovered there, his head held in his hands.
Something had to change. Maybe the change had to start with himself.
Right after the Halloween party. Samhain was the end of the old year, and the beginning of the new, after all.
All Hallow's Eve, when the dead were able to celebrate with the living.
Ironically, it was because of Blossom that he knew this. It was only fitting.
~~~~~~~~~
What Princess lacked in originality, she made up for in persistence. She was dressed as Blossom AGAIN this year.
I had debated on not going to the Halloween party, but I'd never shunned a school function before. I really did enjoy seeing my schoolmates at these functions, not to mention I was almost always a member of all the committees, right alongside Blossom, who was just made to be a committee chairman. Chairman. Ha. Wouldn't Femme Fatale have a field day with that one. Femme Fatale. Wouldn't it just make my life complete if she were to show up? Just to provide the other extreme from Sedusa, of course. Life is all about balance.
Or because, if we had continued listening to her, Princess would have gotten away with a lot more than feeling up Boomer.
At first I thought Boomer hadn't shown up, because Princess was with a black-haired boy, DRESSED all in black, his face stark white with powder, his unsmiling lips black as well.
Until said boy turned his head to the side.
There is no missing eyes that size. The only bit of real color on his entire face.
It was a bit of a shock to see him like that. His hair was still in Brick's cropped style, the color was Butch's, and his face was devoid of all expression. He didn't seem to notice at all when Princess touched him. They were casual touches, of course, as the Halloween party was a chaperoned school function, and they weren't off in some secluded corner, but he still didn't react to them.
It could have been in keeping with his costume, whatever the heck it was that he was supposed to be.
I didn't like it. Not one bit.
I couldn't help myself. Butch once said about me that I had more heart than smarts. I guess he meant it as a compliment. He must be right, though, because I made my way to Boomer's side while Princess was engaged in a familiar quarrel with Blossom. Surprise, surprise. Princess is oh-so-careful not to grope her boyfriend in school, but she has no trouble unveiling jet thrusters on her back and various weapons of mass destruction in the middle of half the student body and a good portion of the faculty as well.
Blossom was insulting her, if the expression on her face was any indication. Between her and Buttercup, and two of the three Rowdyruffs, I figured that I wasn't needed, and I was willing to bet Boomer had no intentions of participating in the fight. At least not on our side.
I felt guilty for even considering that he'd side with Princess against us in a fight. Butch IS right about me.
Boomer was leaning against a table near the window, and I took my place right next to him, resting my butt against the table without actually sitting on it.
It was like I was near a completely different person. He hadn't looked up at me once, and now that I was on the fringes of his personal space, he didn't say a single word. Where was the hostile boy who hadn't hesitated to rip me to shreds earlier that week?
We stood there for a while. I watched the fight that was still going on between Princess and Blossom. Buttercup had thrown her gauntlet as well, and her voice could be heard from where we were standing, although the words weren't clear.
I couldn't take the silence anymore.
"Boomer?" I asked timidly. I winced, anticipating his reaction. There was none.
I left my position at the table to walk in front of him, turning to face him, but he kept his gaze fixed on the ground. I crouched down to look up into his eyes, and they were closed.
"Boomer," I said softly, placing my right hand against his leg. As soon as the tips of my fingers made contact, his eyes fluttered open for a second before drifting shut again.
I got a lump in my throat, and fled the room, flew out the window, into the sky, without so much as a goodbye to my sisters.
His eyes were completely empty.
~~~~~~~
I swallowed nervously as I cleared my throat at the entrance to the large room. The occupant turned from his telescope and scowled at me.
"You."
"Hi?" I said, not quite sure what I wanted to say now that I was there.
"Where are your sisters? You are here alone, without them. Only you, and you by yourself, yourself being not with the others. There should be three of you, but there is only one..."
He droned on and on, and I closed my eyes, chastising myself for even thinking of coming here. Eventually he stopped talking, and I opened my eyes again. He placed his index finger under his chin, his thumb resting against his cheek, and eyed me curiously.
"I am intrigued," he said at last. "What do you want?"
I flushed scarlet. I know I did, I could feel the my cheeks flood with warmth.
"I will be the ONLY ruler of the world," he said. "No one else..."
"NO!" I finally blurted out, fearful that if he went on another tangent I'd never get up the guts to say anything. "That's not why I'm here!"
"Oh?" he said, grinning at me. He looked downright creepy, and my stomach flopped over. What the hell was I doing here? With the butterfly wings of my Halloween costume still attached to my shoulder blades, no less, and the flowers in my hair dropping over my forehead. I struggled with my doubts and ignored the fact that I must look ridiculous. Why hadn't I shed the costume before I'd shown up? As if it weren't bad enough that I thought this might POSSIBLY have been a good idea in the first place.
"Moko Jono," I finally blurted out.
Oooo, was that the wrong thing to say. He looked absolutely crestfallen. For about two and a half seconds. Then his face went livid with rage.
"OUT!" he screamed at me. "Remove yourself from my premises! At once you will leave! I wish you to be gone from here and somewhere else!" He sounded like he was choking as his voice rose in volume.
I flew out of there as he continued to tell me how very much he wanted me to leave.
I guess, though, I got one answer to the question I couldn't ask.
~~~~~~~~
My sisters weren't home, and I took advantage of that fact. I had a feeling that it was going to take me a while, so I carried my supplies down to the Professor's lab, setting up my easel in a corner, and picked up my palette in one hand and paintbrush in the other. Then I lost myself in the tempest of emotions.
I don't know how long I was working, but when I finally set my brush down, I stared at the result that stared at me from the canvas.
Dark, swirling black and red: anger. Gray, misty shadows, tinged with blue: despair. Not a trace of hope in the form of yellow anywhere to be found. Was my omission of that color deliberate? I wondered if I'd ever think of yellow as being the color of sunshine and daffodils again. But that wasn't what bothered me about it.
It was the pair of empty, unfocused, DEAD eyes, attached to nothing, staring at nothing, just seeming to float in the middle of the darkest clouds I'd painted.
I was sick just looking at it.
I couldn't do this anymore. What used to be a way of making myself feel better whenever I was depressed had turned into something distasteful. I should have been glad that I got it, whatever "it" was, out of my system, but I wasn't happy with the result.
The Dark Portfolio was going to go, too, but first, this painting had to be burned.
In the end, though, I just couldn't do it. I had taken it outside to send it up in flames by igniting it with my eyes, letting the smoke trail skyward. I don't know why I thought that would make me feel any better.
But despite the fact that I couldn't bear to look at it anymore, neither could I bring myself to destroy it. I hurled it toward the stars as far as I could, though. Then I went home, pulled out the Dark Portfolio, and sent it flying right after it.
Then I realized that it was light out. Had been for some time. In the light of the risen sun, I noticed that my stupid wings were drooping and streaked with paint.
Those, I had no trouble incinerating.
~~~~~~~~
Blossom knocked on the door tentatively. "Bubbles?" she asked softly.
There was no answer from the lump on the bed, so she quietly floated over to her sister, who she now recalled had been conspicuously absent from the fight with Princess.
"Bubbles?"
Blossom watched the bed covers rise and fall, and briefly considered using X-ray vision to check on her sister. As she moved closer to the bed, she thought better of it, not wanting to intrude on Bubbles' privacy any more than she already was. She reached out a hand to stroke the blonde hairs that had escaped Bubbles' ponytail and were trailing over the fleece blanket.
She'd noticed that Boomer had been missing the night before, too.
She frowned. She had to talk to Brick.
~~~~~~~~
"She coming?" Brick asked as Blossom returned to the kitchen.
"She's not feeling well," Blossom said. Brick's eyebrows furrowed in worry, and she patted him on the arm. "I think she'll be fine. She's probably exhausted from all the work she put into the party. You know how much she wants everyone to have a good time."
Brick looked at her incredulously, then a brief smile ghosted his lips.
"I guess a 'good time' is relative, huh?"
Blossom's returning smile was equally weak. "Well, Buttercup seemed to enjoy herself."
"I resent that!" her sister shouted from the doorway, where she and Butch levitated. A small smirk played on her face, evidence that she had very much enjoyed the fight with Princess, even if it hadn't ended in more than a simple slap on the wrists from the chaperones for their 'causing a scene.' Butch's arm was wrapped around her waist and the two of them were refraining from more obvious physical contact.
"Good morning, girls!" the Professor's bright cheery voice greeted them. "Nice to see you, boys," he added, opening the refrigerator and removing an orange, a jar of pickle relish, and some cheese.
Blossom sighed. It was a good thing the Professor was sleepwalking again, because if he'd noticed Bubbles was missing, he'd have been concerned. His latest project was taking a lot of his time, because it was the third time this week that he'd missed breakfast with them. Blossom didn't really count days like this when he was there in body only.
"How can he DO that with his eyes wide open?" Buttercup muttered, as Blossom leaned over to kiss their father figure goodbye. Buttercup took her own turn at brushing her lips lightly over his cheek and then grabbed Butch's hand, dragging him out the front door and into the skies above.
Blossom and Brick simply walked out the door like two normal teenagers.
"OK, Blossom," he said as soon as they were outside blinking in the sunlight. "What is going on?"
"Where was Boomer last night?"
"Excuse me?" Blossom just looked at him expectantly. "Geez, Blossom, what the hell? If you have something to say, just say it!"
"MEN!" she said, throwing up her hands in disgust. He grabbed her hands and pulled them down to waist level, staring at her large unblinking pink eyes.
"Blossom," he said, working hard to keep his voice level. "What do you know about Boomer that I don't know?"
She pulled her hands free and ran them through her bangs, careful to not mess her hair despite her frustration.
"I don't know anything," she murmured. "But I'm worried. He was the only one who wasn't there last night."
"Sure he was," Brick said, then stopped to think. Boomer had hinted earlier that month that he was going to the dance, and at the time, he'd looked almost pleased with himself. The day of the Halloween bash, though, Brick had been busy trying to finish copying his research notes for the humanities class he shared with Blossom. "Well, maybe he was. We were kind of busy," he offered lamely.
"I know. Isn't it odd that he was nowhere to be found?"
"Maybe he ditched early? Maybe he..." got lucky, Brick finished the thought, but bit down on it. He already had one brother having underage sex, he certainly didn't need to think about being the last virgin among them.
"You're all alike," Blossom fumed.
"We're adolescent boys," Brick countered. "You're asking us to go against the grain. We aren't made the same way as you girls are."
"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails," she retorted. "Yeah, I'll say. Forget Chemical X, you have Chemical Y all over you."
Brick sighed. "Don't worry, Blossom. We're not their parents. Boomer's fine."
He wished he was half as confident as he sounded.
~~~~~~~~
A/N: I am thrilled at the responses this story has been earning. You've all been so very encouraging. I hope that the direction I take it in is pleasing to you as the story continues to unfold.
Wolfbane2 - I'm doing my best to keep the updates coming without a prolonged wait. I know how eager I am for updates to stories I am following, and I certainly don't want to lose anyone's interest! ;-)
Nie Starwhistler - thanks for the compliment! I appreciate any reviews you leave.
Tiggabear - I am certainly working on keeping this going, because I have most of my notes for the major plot points. The suspense is something that will continue for a while, I'm sure. "Interesting" is one of the highest compliments you could pay me. Thank you!
Hairy Gregory - Yes, the hair is the only resemblance Princess has to Blossom. The voice alone is a dead giveaway! LOL - sorry about the Mojo insertion, but I think it's clear how very much Bubbles found the idea of Boomer and Princess together distasteful if she'd even make that comparison. Thanks for your insightful interpretation of Boomer's attitude in Chapter 6. I loved it.
Scarr C - thank you so very much for your encouraging words. I will indeed do my best to keep writing regularly, as I am just as eager to transform the ideas I have into actual story. I am humbled by your compliment. A gem? You do me a great honor.
Ud the Imp - Ah, Shemp is fixated on the physical aspects of what's going on, I see. Hopefully all will be revealed in good time.
Autumn Leaves - Boomer definitely has some issues that he's dealing with. As I said to Ud the Imp, all in good time!
My thanks to everyone else who has read this story, and my apologies if I've forgotten anyone who has reviewed. Your comments are truly encouraging, and I hope that I continue to deliver!
Have a Happy New Year, everyone!