Old Wounds Chapter 5: What's Stopping Us?, a powerpuff girls fanfic

AU: Just an idea that's been brewing for a while. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

Summary: "No matter what we are, no matter what we're capable of, we're still just teenagers." A raw anecdote that hopes to humanize kids who've never had the luxury of being mundane, and show how illusory invincibility can be.

Disclaimer: A few characters are mine. The rest of them are Craig's, but I own these words :)

Rating: R/Fiction M. They're teenagers. Sex, drugs and profanity are not unprecedented.

Pairing: PPG/RRB

Notes: - Inspired by the legendary "More Than Human" by sbj and the urge for representation.

- Strong themes.

Thought I was dead? Well if you did, shame on you for doubting my desire to share this story with you. No virus is going to keep us apart (Except if things get like, World War Z level bad then you fuckers are on your own. I don't know you, you don't know me.)

On a serious note though, like I said at the beginning, I have a whole vision to share with you guys and I'm going to push myself as far as I can get with these superpowered dweebs. Life got in the way these past months but when doesn't it you know? I just hope you guys enjoy this chapter—and the many to come—like you've enjoyed the last ones. Remember your interactions are my life-force so please review, fave and follow or else I'll die and it'll be your fault :)

Okay okay. Onto the chapter!

V - What's Stopping Us? - Zed

Brick couldn't fucking believe he was doing this.

"I can't fucking believe I'm doing this." he externalized, frowning as the wind rushed against his face.

Butch bellowed a cackle from beside him. "Finally, some fucking action."

Boomer frowned in disgust as he and his brothers zoomed into the city, the sonorous roars growing even louder as they neared the Town Square.

"Don't tell me that thing's a lizard," he said.

Bear peered intently at the beast as he and his brothers reached it, collectively stopping to hover. He instantly saw that Boomer had been right.

The beast that crawled through the streets looked like a kaiju-reptilian mutant. It was built like a Tokay Gecko, with large yellowish eyes and a proportionately short, thick tail. It only differed from its crepuscular look-alike in its odd pigmentation, with its orange skin and purple spots.

Though, to be fair, the numerous spikes that protruded from virtually all its joints was also a distinct difference.

A bevy of citizens screeched in fear as they desperately scampered away from the Square. One particular teenage boy was rolling himself away as fast as his skateboard could take him, but he was despondently blocked by a claw that sunk into ground inches in-front of him. The boy skidded to an abrupt stop, falling over his board and tumbling harshly to a halt against a car.

He yelled in agony and painfully shuffled into a sitting position, cowering in fear as the monster's circular orbs routed on him.

Brick heaved an exasperated groan.

"Boomer,"

"On it!" he replied and zipped downwards, snatching up the civilian right as the monster dug its teeth into the car. The creature turned to see who had interfered with its meal, but couldn't even get a look in before it was punted backwards by Butch's fist and sent skidding across the concrete, digging up debris in its wake.

Boomer carried the boy—who looked all but paralyzed—a few streets down. He smiled as he set him on the ground, a safe distance from the rampage.

"It's okay man, you're safe now, just hurry up and—" he paused suddenly, scrunching his nose in a sniff before looking at the boy in horror.

"Dude. Did you shit yourself?"

The boy wordlessly stared at him, then fainted.

Boomer blinked down at his unconscious form, then looked up at the sound of a bell chiming. He saw a few people sticking their heads out the door of a pizza restaurant.

"Could you guys take care of him?" he pointed at the unconscious boy and was met with confused stares. "Thanks!" he said with a smile and a Thumbs Up before flying off.

He returned to the scene and was instantly met with a projectile that was pelted towards him.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed as he dove backwards, watching almost in slow motion as a massive bone spike whizzed by, just inches above him. He righted himself in the air and looked down to see more spikes shooting off in numerous directions, right from the Lizard's body.

The beast whacked Butch away with one of its disproportionately long arms before a red streak arced under it and biffed it upwards. A purple one followed suit, materializing as Bear right in-front of the creature's belly before he roundhouse kicked it further into the air.

"Boomer! To the South!" Brick ordered from below him.

Boomer smirked and zipped towards the helplessly soaring monster. He clasped his hands together and rose them over his head, a glowing blue hue colored the insides of his palms before a massive, energy-sculpted Battle Hammer materialized in them.

He swung, and there was a loud pop as the weapon contacted with the beast, sending it zooming towards the docks.

"Stay on it!" came Brick's voice as he streaked past him. Bear followed, and still wielding his hammer, so did Boomer.

Butch pulled himself out the side of the building he was flung into, glaring up at his brothers' fading streaks.

"Wait up assholes!" He cried petulantly before shooting off. He followed the direction they'd all flew off in, squinting as he took note of three sudden objects that seemed to appear out thin air. He focused on the objects, and soon realized they were getting progressively bigger as he flew forward and...

Huh?

Butch halted just as Bear whooshed past him, before ducking as Brick followed suit. He turned to look at their receding forms and realized they weren't fleeing, they'd been knocked.

"What the—" he started, but paused to turn at the sound of a nearing roar. The next thing he felt was his teeth clattering against his jaw as something rammed into him at blinding speeds, the pain reverberating in his head.

He opened his eyes to find himself pressed against Boomer's shield, said brother was in a similar state right beside him.

He could see it now, the reptilian monstrosity as it dove after their rapidly descending form.

"That thing can fucking fly?" Butch yelled.

"No, but it leaps like fucking King Kong." Boomer answered as they crashed into the ground. His shield flickered off and they both lurched out of the way right as the monster stomped down on the spot they'd been in seconds ago.

However, they were still within its vicinity and the beast—with noteworthy, deceptive speed—spun and whipped its tail, knocking both Ruffs back forcefully.

Boomer managed to put up a shield just before he was struck, Butch could only raise his arms in an 'X' as he took nearly the full brunt of the hit.

Boomer's heels skidded harshly through the asphalt, slowing to a stop right where Brick and Bear were shuffling to their feet. Butch followed, tumbling through the street before he dug his fingers into the asphalt and forced himself to a halt at Brick's feet.

There was a sudden glint in Butch's eyes as he chuckled, looking at the roaring monster almost... ravenously.

"I like this one," he sneered manically and jumped to attack.

Brick swiftly grabbed his leg before he could get too far and threw him to the ground.

"What the—"

"Don't even think about it jailbait." Brick said—warned—with a scowl.

Butch frowned up at him, exasperated. He opened his mouth to protest, but Bear beat him to the punch.

"Seriously Butch,"

Butch shifted his glare from Brick, his eyes locking with Bear's. "Not now."

Butch held his gaze for a few seconds, before scoffing and averting his gaze away to the ground.

"Have we got that settled? Good. What are we doing about bambino Godzilla over here?" Boomer said, pointing at the monster just as it began to bound towards them.

"Well. What's your move, boss?" Butch said sarcastically, dusting himself off as he stood.

Brick reserved an eye roll and focused on the approaching beast. He watched it intently as it neared them, a new set of spikes adorning its trunk.

"In the air." Brick ordered, and they all zipped up and formed a circle right before the beast could pounce on them.

"Nothing weird about its biological composition, seems like it's just a brute," Bear informed.

Brick nodded. "Yeah, I X-Rayed it too. This should be easy enough,"

"So what's the plan?" Boomer asked.

"Bear, you keep the spikes in the air, keep them from them causing any more damage. But if you you see an opening, launch them right them back where they came from. Boomer, you immobilize it once you get the chance. If it still persists, Butch, you zap that bastard until it can't move. That's where I'll come in."

Butch rose a brow. "And do what?"

Brick flicked his eyes down. "Make some barbecue."

With that, they dispersed as the monster leaped through their middle, its claws just narrowly missing them.

Butch was quickest to round back on it and delivered a hook to its underbelly, which sent the lizard spiraling back down to the streets.

His brothers swooped in not a second later and Boomer volleyed the beast to Brick, who returned the favor. They continued to ping it between them until Bear flickered into sight right above the monster, arms raised, fists clasped.

He swung down a skull-cracking blow to its head, catapulting it to the ground. Its heavy impact seemed to shake the very foundation of the driveway below them as the mere air pressure shattered an abundance of windows, a large smoke cloud rising into the sky.

Bear hung in the air as his brothers streaked towards the beast to sustain their assault. Brick's eyes suddenly widened, he halted.

"Look out!"

Butch and Boomer—who'd kept advancing—careened out the way just in time as a fury of massive spikes whizzed past them.

Brick maintained his concentration and seamlessly dodged the projectiles himself. Above him, Bear didn't move as the spikes rapidly approached him.

He only raised his hands in the direction from which the spikes were rushing at him, his eyes completely engulfed in a purple glow. Slowly, the spikes lost their momentum and remained suspended in the air. Some mere centimeters from plowing into the numerous buildings surrounding them, a couple mere centimeters from plowing into his own body.

The smog of dust in the air cleared to reveal the reptilian's seemingly confused visage as it stared up as its floating spikes. It jerked suddenly, feeling a strange sensation around its trunk.

Boomer—from above it—curled his fingers as his shield folded around the monster. It instantly realized his intent and began thrashing violently, but Boomer already had a firm grip on it and forced it on its belly, the sides of the shield digging into the ground to properly subdue the beast.

Butch landed a few meters in-front of it the instant it was successfully restrained, an impish grin bedecking his face as sparks of green electricity flickered around him. He opened his palms—coated in the discharge—and threw them forward.

The monster howled in agonizing pain as two streaks of electricity zapped it mercilessly, a sound that did nothing but feed Butch. The Ruff cackled and spiked up the voltage, the unfortunate reptile cried even louder while it jerked violently in agony.

The end of Butch's attack left the monster completely limp, intermittently twitching with a green spark. Brick descended almost tauntingly, staring down the beast's struggling form.

He scoffed. This hadn't even been a challenge.

He took a stance in the air and inhaled deeply, bracing himself to release...

A soft growl escaped the beasts' throat, a glimmer of a last effort of defiance, but it was too late.

Brick exhaled, a blazing shaft of fire expelling from his mouth. The flames engulfed the monster whole, Butch had to float off the ground to avoid getting the melted tar on his shoes.

The monster's wails slowly faded as Brick intensified the flames, until nothing was heard from the what was now just a body of fire.

Boomer carefully descended to the monster once Brick mitigated his flames, the reptile was almost beyond recognition, with little pints of fire all over its burnt, blackened skin with holes revealing what was probably bone. He landed just outside the tar puddle, Butch joined him seconds later.

"That was actually kinda disappointing," Butch grumped, frowning at the monster in disappointment.

"At least I didn't ruin my nails for once," Boomer said, checking his fingers to make sure.

Butch deadpanned at him before shaking his head. "How are we gonna get rid of it?"

"That's not our job—"

Both of them turned to see Brick landing behind them.

"—we can leave clean-up duty to the heroes." he said.

Boomer hummed, darting a glance at the monster carcass. "I mean, aren't we technically responsible for it? Since we're the ones who fought the monster and everything,"

"Due to circumstance. If anything those Puffs owe us, seeing as we just covered for their incompetence."

"Little harsh isn't that?" Brick looked up, watching as Bear floated down to the monster, the arsenal of spikes hovering behind him. He flicked his hand and the spikes shot into the dead monster, impaling it all over before he willed it off the ground. He turned to Brick, pupils still hidden behind that glow. "I got it."

Brick gave him a blank frown and waved a disinterested hand. "Suit yourself."

Bear flew off, the carcass trailing him in the air.

"Wait, he's going to the monster island right?" Butch inquired cryptically.

"Don't test me," Brick growled. Butch rose his hands in surrender.

"Calm your tits bro, I was just asking." he retorted, lightly pouting.

"Uh... guys..."

They both turned to Boomer who was pointing in the other direction with a surprised expression. His brothers followed his gaze and their expressions instantly mirrored his.

They stood rooted to the ground, visibly perturbed as a flock of reporters rapidly swarmed towards them.

Brick opened his mouth to speak but he couldn't get a word out before multiple mic's and cameras were shoved in he and his brother's faces.

"Brick! I'm Stella Hirsch from The Prime Post—" one female reporter said, holding her mic to his lips.

He blinked.

"—are you and your brothers making a turn-around in the side of justice?"

Brick's face hardened. "What the—"

"Do you boys have experience in monster fighting? You seem very efficient at it," another reporter said to Butch, who looked to his brothers for help.

"What does this mean for your public status? Will you be fighting monsters regularly now?" another asked Boomer.

"I, um..." Boomer stuttered then turned to to his brothers as well. He was struggling to hear anything coherent in the midst of the babbling journalists and the incessant camera clicks.

The reporters continued to bombard the boys with questions, and Brick's discomfort was slowly turning into irritation. One of the cameramen shoving the lens too close to his face was the last straw. He rose his hand to slap a camera out of the guy's hand but the lens was suddenly whipped away from him.

He now realized that some of the reporters were looking above him and his brothers, and he followed his gaze to find Bear drifting down towards them.

Bear landed just beside Butch, his eyes sweeping over the scene with an arched brow. Most of the mic's were instantly whipped at him.

"Bear! Bear! What is it like to be back in Townsville?!"

"Did you always see yourself inevitably becoming a Rowdyruff Boy?!"

"Any kind of relation to Powerpuff Bunny?!"

Bear stared at what could have been a group of rabid animals that wanted to eat him alive. He faced his brothers with a What The Fuck Is Going On look. Butch and Boomer hunched their shoulders up, stumped.

Then, both the boys and the various media teams swiveled at the sound of a sonic Boom in the sky. Brick glared at the colored streaks in the air as they neared.

Blossom was the first to land, her mouth slightly agape at the sight before her. One by one, her sisters joined her, looking just as confused.

For what seemed much longer than a few seconds, they just stared at the boys, who could really do nothing but stare back.

"What is this—" Blossom started but was abruptly interjected by the reporter that rushed over to her fastest.

"Blossom! What does this mean for the Powerpuff Girls? Is this a way of informing the public of some kind of alliance with you and the Rowdyruff Boys?"

"What?"

It was Buttercup who'd replied with distaste. Blossom shifted her gaze from the mic in-front of her to her sister.

"Why would you think... we would..." Buttercup trailed off as her eyes roamed over the street. Her sisters had already taken note.

Bunny blinked at the huge crater in the street, surrounded by the slowly drying tar. Bubbles glanced over at the bulky spikes that were plunged into a few buildings.

"They took down the monster and saved the day in your absence. Was this a way of showing the public that you now work together?"

Blossom stared openly at the reporter in disbelief. There had been a monster attack, that much was obvious given the damage surrounding them.

She and her sisters could have split up and handled things on this end. Why weren't they alerted? She thought, desperately. Unwillingly to believe that the answer was the four boys staring at her.

"No." Brick's voice cut through the air, causing Blossom to come to.

All eyes—along with most of the cameras—turned to him. His inveterate scowl had returned, this ordeal had been bothersome enough. He didn't need any absurd misinformation spreading through the media.

Like he would ever commit to being this city's heroic figure in any sense of the word.

"We're not, this was purely due to circumstance," Brick said, his tone cold as he glared at Blossom. "You're welcome."

Blossom's shock tightened into anger instantly.

Brick turned away from the crew, a few civilians were starting to gather on the sidewalks now. "Let's get out of here," he said, zooming off instantly.

The reporters erupted back into life, eager to draw out more details from the rest of the boys. Butch glanced back at the girls before flying off himself, Boomer actually smiled Bubbles' way before joining him. Bear was the last to leave, hovering over the bloodthirsty journalists. His eyes found the girls, who all looked lost for words.

Bunny didn't know what she wanted to say, and she didn't get a chance to, as Bear's streak arced into the skies the second she parted her lips.

Monster fights only sparsely occurred at the Town Square, but when they did, Ms Bellum was presented a perfect view from her office window just at the head of the square.

She stared at the fading streaks featurelessly, taking a sip of her ever-present coffee before pulling the mug from her lips. She glanced over at her desk, of which under it, the Powerpuff alert button was in-built. The button she was inches away from pushing before she saw the Boys step in.

Her eyes shifted back to her window, and she chuckled before taking another sip.

"We shouldn't have done that," Brick said, frowning as he and his brothers soared home.

"It's not like we're strangers to the public eye anyway," Boomer ventured.

"You know I kinda wish I did something back there, now they've got footage on me freezing up on camera," Butch groused.

"I'm sure they still got your good side cassanova," Boomer snickered.

Butch scoffed. "All my sides are good."

"On the bright side, at least you didn't ruin the shots by, you know, opening your mouth."

Butch faced Bear. "See this?" he said, holding his fist up. "Take it, and shove it up your ass."

Boomer's abrupt laugh contaminated both Butch and Bear, who cackled along with him.

Brick continued to peer into the distance, only subconsciously registering Boomer and Butch characteristically diving into an inane argument, while Bear listlessly mediated.

Whatever forces were out there were definitely taking delight in the irony of his situation. Here he was, flying back home after taking down a monster, for Townsville. He thought, mentally spitting the word. Here he was after his very open, very constant detraction of this city, a city he had just saved.

His scowl deepened at that thought. No, he didn't save anything, or anyone. He wasn't any hero. He definitely wasn't theirs.

If the actual 'heroes' had anticipated the possibility of more than one attack occurring today then he never would've been in this position. He repeated these attestations to himself continuously.

He wasn't their hero. He would never, ever be.

They landed at their door, and Butch bolted in, bellowing a claim to the leftover pizza in the fridge. Brick trailed him in a much more subdued manner, barely flinching when Boomer streaked past him to contest Butch over the frozen junk food.

He felt a hand on his shoulder right as he reached for the door knob, and he turned to find Bear looking at him from the bottom of the mini-steps,

"What?" Brick asked.

Bear seemed to take a brief second, then replied, "How long before you move on from all this man?" he asked knowingly.

Brick's eyes lingered on him, no traceable meaning in them. Bear simply stared back, meeting is gaze head on.

Brick's brows furrowed as he frowned, before shrugging off Bear's hand and walking into the house.

Bear stuffed his hand into his pocket and watched until Brick disappeared behind the door. He heaved a sigh before floating in to join his brothers.

"This doesn't even look real," Buttercup said, standing behind the couch.

After dealing with the paparazzi, the girls had flown home in silence, still somewhat reeling from shock.

They met their dad on the couch, a frozen expression on his face as he watched the news, that was unsurprisingly headlined by the monster battle. A monster battle that—for the first time—they hadn't participated in.

"Tell me about it," Bunny assented from her position beside John on the couch. Bubbles was perched on his other side, and unlike her sisters, there was actually a hint of a smile on her face as footage of the Boys' fight with the monster played on their screen.

Blossom was the one whose expression contrasted hers starkly, her frown deepening as the footage cut to a reporter who was questioning Brick. This was a whole new level of inconceivable compared to when she first saw him in her Art class, this was Brick in the aftermath of a monster battle that he'd taken care of. He'd... he'd saved the city. Her city.

Why? Why had he done it? Why did...

"Why didn't Ms Bellum alert us?" She heard herself say. "We could have split up and handled it ourselves."

"Maybe she saw them already taking care of it," Bunny ventured.

"Still. To hand over that kind of responsibility to them on a whim? What if people got hurt?" Blossom persisted.

"Well, they didn't. They were surprisingly cautious with collateral damage," Buttercup said.

"Like you would know anything about that." Bunny teased.

"Besides," Bubbles smiled. "A little help wouldn't hurt would it? Now that they're here maybe we won't have to—"

"We don't need any help from the likes of him!"

Bubbles' eyes widened at the interjection, and she whirled a surprised look on Blossom. The rest of her family followed suit.

Blossom blinked, as though just realizing that she had yelled.

"Him?" Buttercup asked.

Blossom faced her and blinked again. "Them," she amended instantly. "I meant them."

Buttercup arched a brow at her, but said nothing as she turned back to the screen.

"This is certainly... interesting," John finally spoke.

"What is?" Bubbles inquired.

"I mean, I suppose it's not entirely strange seeing them step in since you girls were busy,"

Blossom shifted on her feet.

"But, it looks as though they've done this before."

Bunny nodded her assent. "I was going to say. They're... good."

"Where would they have gotten monster fighting experience though?" Buttercup ventured, her tone more curious than doubtful. Watching the boys tackle the monster now, she reluctantly admitted that Bunny was right.

They were good.

John looked at the screen contemplatively, then suddenly stood and veered towards his lab. "Excuse me girls, I need to make a call."

"Maybe they have a training simulator? Like we do?" Bunny proffered as John closed the door behind him.

"That makes sense," Buttercup nodded.

"Why would they though? As far as we know, they wouldn't need to train for anything," Bubbles reasoned.

"Just another reason why they can't be completely trusted."

Bunny suppressed a sigh. "Blossom, you seriously—"

"This doesn't seem the least bit strange to you? There's no way they can have this kind of... cohesion without training." Blossom said, begrudgingly acknowledging their efficiency herself.

"Maybe they train so they can be ready to protect themselves? Having superpowers kind of puts a target on your head," Bunny challenged.

"That still doesn't explain why they're notably comfortable in dealing with a mon—"

"Why are you so fixated on this?" Bunny cut her off.

"Because I'm trying to tell you he's evil and you girls aren't listening!" Blossom raised, yet again surprising her sisters. But not as much as she surprised herself.

Bunny's frown simmered and she wordlessly stared at her. Bubbles stopped rewinding the news report to look at her as well. Buttercup's questioning gaze returned.

Blossom spoke before any of them had the chance to.

"Them. They're evil. I meant..."

Her sisters continued to stare. Blossom considered reasserting her stance, but that idea evaporated as soon as it formed.

The girl gave a withdrawn exhale, her palms furling as her rosy orbs shifted to the ground.

"Just forget it." she muttered, and stalked away from the living room, her sisters watching as she disappeared up the stairs.

"Am I missing something?" Bunny turned to her sisters once they heard Blossom's door shut. "Why is she bugging over this so much?"

"I don't know," Bubbles said, an edge of worry in her voice. "You think there's something she isn't telling us?"

Buttercup said nothing, her eyes riveted on the stairs.

["Hello? Frank?"] John said into the phone as he took a seat on the nearest cot into his laboratory.

[John, what's up buddy?] his colleague answered on the other end.

[Just another afternoon in the life of a single scientist,] John answered, pausing for a laugh. [Um, if you don't mind Frank, I want to ask a favor. I hope it's not too much trouble?]

Frank laughed himself. [You're my brother John. What do you need?]

[Alright. Well, I was wondering if you knew anything about... Project Amphibian.]

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and that instantly gave John his answer.

[Oh.] Frank muttered. [I um... I'm surprised you've heard of it.]

That was natural, ordinarily, John wouldn't have been aware of the covert experimentation that was conducted at the lab about two years ago. But he'd been close acquaintances with Richard, and had happened to inadvertently come across some of his secret files. He hadn't mentioned a word of what he saw to anybody else, Richard included. After all he wasn't an ALD at the time, so he wasn't even authorized to have that information.

It hadn't made much sense to him either way. Aquatic monster species? That was next to impossible. There had been numerous studies, as well as government sanctioned underwater voyages since the first monster sighting way back in 2003.

Nothing tangible was discovered, and theories that'd been coined to keep the possibility of their existence afloat were just that. Theories.

[I'm surprised you didn't deny being aware of it,] John said and attempted a casual laugh. Frank's silence suggested that the humor was lost on him. John softly cleared his throat and continued. [I need... I need you to just, tell me whatever you can about it.]

He wouldn't have needed any information on the project, had he been an ALD at the time when it'd been carried out he probably would have found it a bit extraneous. and pointless. But he had an incentive now.

It hadn't really been the Rowdyruff Boys fighting a monster that had picked his interest. He would have been surprised if they hadn't with the girls absent from the city. What caught his attention was the manner of the battle he'd watched on his television.

Superpowered beings showcasing the capability to fight aberrant, monstrous creatures wasn't particularly interesting in itself. After all, his girls had literally just punched and kicked their way through monsters until the beasts got tougher, trickier, smarter even. It was the skill, the cohesion, the efficiency in dealing with a monster that could only be achieved through training. He had a training simulator downstairs, he would know.

There was no way that had been their first encounter with a monster.

Frank finally spoke. [I don't know much, if anything about it. I had just been promoted and didn't spend much time on it with the others before it was discontinued.]

[Then surely you know where to dig something up?] John asked hopefully.

Frank's inhale was laced with uncertainty. [I don't know John that's... really an ask.]

John's face fell in disappointment. [Oh. Well. That's fine,] he suddenly paused, a somewhat mischievous expression growing on his face. [I'm sorry for bringing this to you. I suppose I may have overestimated your accessibility. I'll try asking someone el—]

[Oh shut up you smug ass. I'll see what I can find.] Frank interjected, and John felt his lips rise into an amused smirk.

[I appreciate it Franky. Really, I do.] he said while suppressing a chuckle.

[Whatever. You don't deserve me. What's got you interested in this anyway?]

Now this was where the correlation would come into question, because what did the plausible existence of an undiscovered breed of monsters have to do with the boys' prowess in monster battle? Well, on the surface, nothing. It had nothing to do with it, which is the conclusion John would have come to as well, if he didn't remember what he saw on the file.

Like all basic office documents, the file's preface consisted of almost nugatory information. The name of the project, the date of its inception, the topic of study, et cetera. What had caught his eye was the geographical area of study, where he read that there had been rumored 'sightings' of strange creatures in the oceans. He remembered it like it was yesterday, as his eyes scrolled down the page and read; Canada: Western sea region.

Cutting the story short, British Columbia was Canada's westernmost province.

[Just research.] he answered cryptically.

[Alright then. I've got a few things to catch up on. I'll let you know if I find anything.] Frank said.

[Alright. Thank you again.]

John ended the call with that and dropped the phone from his ear. He stared at the screen, currently displaying his contact list. He found himself scrolling through it, almost subconsciously, stopping at the O's. His thumb rested just below her name, the only name in that alphabetical bracket.

Could she really have anything to do with all this?

He exhaled, then clicked his phone off.

They just didn't get it. None of them. They hadn't seen him the way she had, they didn't know what he was capable of.

Blossom thought, as she swiped her brush along the canvas. She'd needed to get into her own space after today's successive string of events, hence the immediate decision to get some painting done. Her sisters knew she didn't like to be disturbed when she was out here in their relatively wide balcony.

She dabbed her brush into her pallet with a subconscious frown.

How could they expect her to just brush this off? Even if she decided to classify his sudden reappearance as random what about his disposition? He literally looked like he was... scheming every time she laid eyes on him. Not to mention his very vocal aversion for her city. How could they expect her to trust him? What was stopping someone capable of what he was from razing a place he detests to the ground?

Blossom's frown deepened as she retracted her brush to dab some more paint on it.

His words from the other day in the library echoed in her head, but they only managed to inflame her anger. Justifying his behavior by blaming it on his... whatever Mojo or Him had been to him. But that day, that had nothing to with them and everything to do with Brick. She'd never seen either of his brothers so... inhumane.

There was only so much you could teach a child. At the end of the day, their personalities, their ideologies, that was all theirs. That was their innate nature.

And him, he hadn't done anything for any... purpose. It was entertainment, he called it funny. He could have killed any of those people that day, and he did it just to laugh in her crying face. So how could any of them expect her to trust such a—

Blossom paused, her musings abruptly coming to a halt as well. Her eyes settled on her painting, properly. Strangely, it felt like this was the first time she was really looking at it since her brush met the canvas.

She studied the image, eyes roaming the warm orange that fell like calm wave, framing the jawline—

Her eyes widened, then flicked around dramatically as she absorbed the image totally. The engine red that was turning into a collared shirt below the chin, the minor touches above the chin that was curved down, resembling a frown she—begrudgingly—already knew too well.

And then she realized that she was painting him. She was actually painting him.

Her pallet and brush fell to the floor immediately, the hand that'd been holding them was now coated in pink energy, humming with the desire to obliterate something.

Blossom glared intensely at the painting, disgusted with herself, disgusted with him. Her fists were crying out for her to allow them wreck havoc, and she wanted to oblige, she wanted to watch that image burn. Maybe seeing him—albeit in the version of a subliminal painting—burn into nothing but ash would give her some inner peace.

She sighed a second later, acknowledging how ridiculous she sounded. Her glare lingered, but that burning intent of harm melted away from her eyes and her fists dimmed as she dropped them to her side, now immersed in a staring contest with a painting with no eyes.

She was definitely cleaning this off. Right now.

She retrieved her utensils from the floor and placed them on the small table next to her, littered with her scattered sketches and old ink jars. She pulled the canvas from the easel and placed it by the swing chair. There was a sudden whistling in her ear as a wave of fresh wind blew past the balcony.

She didn't really react to it, she only turned and let her eyes gaze at their neighbor's absolutely gorgeous garden. Her tranquility was short lived before Brick popped back into her mind, she frowned at nothing in particular, before veering and making for the balcony doors.

She slid in and instantly started to float towards the stairs. She would get her paint remover on her way back, right now she just wanted a pop tart, the one thing that didn't give her any mental fuss.

The house was oddly quiet, so it was safe to assume Bubbles wasn't home. The lack of pulsating music or thuds of her dancing in her mirror all but confirmed this.

Blossom fetched two packs of her snack, then added one more, before shoving them in the microwave. She leaned back on the island as the pastries heated, taking light breaths to try and clear her mind.

"Yo."

Blossom eeped at the sudden voice and whirled around to see Buttercup leaning in the kitchen frame, arms folded.

"Don't sneak up on me like that! Gosh. I didn't even know you were home." Blossom said, relieved.

"Been on my laptop. I thought you were painting?" Buttercup replied.

"I was. I just... wanted to take a break."

"Hm." Buttercup hummed, her eyes peering into her sister. It was just then that Blossom took note of her sisters' visage. It told her a lot of things, there seemed to be anger in there, as well as worry and suspicion.

Trust Buttercup to be able to put those three feelings into one expression. Blossom frowned and slowly looked away from her, already knowing what this was about.

"Look, if this about the boys I'm not in the mood to—"

"What happened in the bank?" Buttercup interjected.

Blossom whipped her head back to her in shock. Buttercup's frown didn't twitch. "Eight years ago. The day the boys attacked three different banks across the city—" she went on, striding into the kitchen as she spoke.

"—What happened before I got to yours? What did Brick do?"

Blossom blinked at her, feeling like she had been cornered. The microwave dinged, briefly filling the silence between them. Neither turned to look at it.

"Was he the one who had the gun?"

Blossom's jaw imperceptibly tightened. "I don't really want to talk ab—"

"Miss me with that bullshit sister," Buttercup snarled, dropping her hands on the island. "You were crying, and all the people in there looked like they'd just walked out of a Conjuring movie. Something happened, and it's messing you up." she finished before Blossom could get in a reproach for her cursing.

Blossom just stood for a moment, returning her sister's intense stare. Her lips thinned as she flicked her eyes away from her.

"What's the point? You're just going to say I'm paranoid like you girls alwa—"

"We're just worried about you Bloss."

Blossom's eyes shifted back to her.

"We just want you to... relax. And usually when we're on your ass about something—"

"Language." this time she was quick enough. Buttercup rolled her eyes.

"—you eventually drop it." she finished. "But you've been on this since the boys got here. I know this isn't just the 'leader' in you projecting or whatever. So what's wrong?"

Now that Blossom really looked at her, she realized that the sight of a concerned Buttercup looked a little strange. She'd never been one to openly talk about she or her sisters' issues, much less be the one opening the conversation. She was by far the most reticent out of the four of them.

That made Blossom wonder just how visibly this affected her. For Buttercup to come meet her, her distress must have been all but plated on her forehead.

She carried her elbows up and shielded herself with a hug before quietly exhaling.

"Okay."

Buttercup leaned forward, silent and attentive.

"So yes, it was before you—well before you threw Butch through the wall." she briefly paused and her frown deepened as dived back into the memory. "I didn't even have a second to think. By the time I got there Brick already... he already had the gun pointed at a cashier."

There was an almost woeful tone that carried through in Blossom's voice as she relayed the story to Buttercup. She didn't look at her, her eyes roamed aimlessly along the ceramic tiled floor. Talking about this evoked a weird feeling in her, feeling eerily similar to the post-shock emptiness she felt the day it happened.

She was never able to shake it, it had taken her a while to push the memory to the back of her head. Brick and his brothers disappearing after that incident had helped a great deal. Now, every time she looked at him she couldn't help but reflexively jerk in caution, and talking about him only brewed her worst emotions.

She felt lighter all of a sudden, the heat beneath her skin slowly simmered and even her breathing had settled, the air seemed much cleaner. It took her a few seconds to realize she had been staring at the floor for a while, mute.

She blinked, then looked up, just registering that she was done. Shock painted Buttercup's visage, and for a few passing beats the sisters just stared at each other.

"Whoa..." Buttercup finally managed. "That's... that really happened?"

Blossom nodded slowly.

Buttercup truly didn't know what to think. In all honesty she didn't really give Brick much, if any thought, hell she couldn't remember actually even speaking to him since last month. She'd gathered that he was pretty much an asshole, which was unsurprising, but hearing this from Blossom, hearing that he did that when they were children. It left her with a whole new perspective. One that she realized she'd never looked at the boys with, even when they'd been villains.

"He said something," Blossom suddenly blurted, and Buttercup snapped to. "About how he... they were raised, and who they were raised by—" Blossom continued with a frown.

"But he was nine, a child, and I just... what do you think?"

Buttercup blinked. "Huh?"

"Do you agree with that? That what he did can be pinned down to his upbringing?" Blossom elaborated.

The shock was still flowing through Buttercup's system, and it took her a few seconds to actually ruminate on the question.

Blossom waited patiently until she spoke. "Honestly, I don't know. This is... this is a lot to take in." Buttercup said.

Blossom pursed her lips in a flicker of frustration. "Do you think he's trustworthy? Can you even trust a person that does something like that at all?"

"Blossom—"

"I know they haven't done anything but it can't be that simple, he could be—"

"Blossom!"

The redhead clamped her mouth shut at her sister's voice, the edge in it taking her by surprise. Buttercup's expression had settled into a more familiar glare as she frowned at Blossom.

"Look. I understand why this bothers you so much. I do. And you have every right to feel how you're feeling but, Bloss I've literally never seen you this worked up about something. Ever."

Blossom's face softened at that.

"At first I thought you were just being cautious about them, which was fine, we all were. But it was never really about them was it? It was about Brick specifically. You almost always come back home in a bad mood, especially on Tuesdays, which I know is when you have a class with him. Ever since the first day of school Blossom, this has really, really affected you. Don't you see that it has too much power over you?"

Blossom had never, ever heard Buttercup talk like this, and that wasn't even a slight exaggeration. She'd never been the most insightful, or great—or even good—at consoling, in any form.

"As bad... as horrible as what he did was, you shouldn't let it be a constant feature in your head. That's how I see it, most people are bound to go through something traumatic in their lives you know? It's how we respond to it that defines our character. And you—" she paused and looked Blossom right in the eye.

"—you're above this. Your character's too strong to still be shaken by this eight years later."

Blossom blinked, before her lips curved into a small smile, textured with a faint chuckle. "That's... probably the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."

Buttercup's cheeks were suddenly tinted with a pinkish hue and she quickly flicked her eyes away as she folded her arms. "Yeah well, it's just because I guessed it was that incident that was bugging you. No need to get soppy."

Blossom chuckled again, louder this time. Her lips settled in a smile when she stopped.

"Thank you, Buttercup."

The girl only hummed, keeping her eyes averted a little longer before slowly shifting them back to Blossom, who was tepidly playing with a loose thread on her top.

"I'm behind you." she said, and those pink orbs flicked back up at her. "If he makes even one step out of line, I'm dropping him. Your distrust isn't misplaced."

Blossom's smile returned. "Yeah, I know. Where are the girls?"

"Bubbles is out with Robin. Bunny's at Pablo's." Buttercup answered, then followed up after a second. "You going to tell them?"

Blossom contemplated the question for a bit, then shook her head as her eyes listlessly shifted to the fridge. "No. I should put this behind me. I want to put it behind me."

"Okay," Buttercup assented, she then directed her gaze to the microwave. "What's in there?"

Blossom followed her gaze. "Some pop tarts."

"How many?"

"Three..." Blossom answered slowly, taking note of Buttercup's suspiciously casual expression.

Before she could blink, the girl had zipped towards the microwave, threw it open, grabbed a tart and zipped back upstairs.

"Buttercup!"

"You owe me this!" Buttercup replied before her door closed shut.

Blossom glared at the doorway with half-hearted irritation before shaking her head and stalking over to the open microwave.

She placed the two left in a saucer and made to head back to the balcony before she suddenly stopped. Her eyes swept across the kitchen and noticed all the things that weren't in place. The table chairs weren't aligned, some of the cutlery wasn't properly placed in the holder, even the Cap'n Crunch cereal box was on the counter instead of the cabinet.

She sighed internally, still yet to understand why her sisters were so nugatory about tidiness sometimes. She surveyed the room once more. Well, she supposed it wasn't that messy, she thought to herself as she very reluctantly exited the kitchen.

She wasn't even four steps in before she stopped again, swiveling her head towards the front door that was marginally ajar.

They hadn't even locked the door? Blossom frowned. Thinking back to it, what about the oven? Bubbles had a knack for forgetting to turn it off.

Before she knew it she had walked over, shut the door and ventured back into the kitchen. She dropped the saucer on the counter and picked up the cereal box.

This would only take a few minutes anyway, she thought as she grabbed a paper towel.

Boomer and Bubbles waved bye to Susie as they separated in the halls.

"So what did you say was up with Mr Anderson's wife?" Boomer asked as they weaved through the passing crowd.

"Oh, I'm not sure exactly, but she's in the hospital." Bubbles answered.

"Whoa. Is she okay?"

"I hope so," Bubbles said, her lips momentarily falling in a sad frown. "I hope Mr Anderson's okay too, he's one of the nicest teachers in school."

"So a sub's already been assigned?" Boomer said, wanting to move past the topic.

"Yeah I think Mr. Z's filling in." she answered. Boomer nodded. "Hey so,"

Boomer snapped to. "Yeah?"

Bubbles looked up at him with a smile. "I'm going to start training with my partner for the event this afternoon."

"Seriously?" Boomer lit up.

"Mhm. At Magic Moves studio every afternoon till then." Bubbles replied with a chuckle.

"Permission to come watch sometimes?"

Bubbles pretended to think. "Hm. Granted."

"Yes!" Boomer exclaimed with a pumped fist.

Bubbles shook her head with a smile. "I've gotta get to class, I'll see you later?"

"Sure. Wait hold on—" Boomer called out as she made to veer into another hall.

"What?" Bubbles turned and asked.

"There's no way the studio's actually called 'Magic Moves' is it?"

"Bye Boomer!" Bubbles laughed and continued towards her class.

Boomer beamed at her retreating form before turning to head towards the cafeteria. Almost instantly, he found himself locking eyes with Kim who was a few lockers over.

She peered at him with a look he didn't have time to decipher. Her eyes flicked beside him—at Bubbles—and back just as fast. Then she slammed her locker and spun on her heel.

Boomer watched with mildly confused eyes as she strode away.

Brick blew some pencil shavings off his drawing pad, brushing over the sketch tenderly with his fingers. He set it on his easel and picked up his paintbrush.

His eyes tepidly shifted over to his side, where Blossom was focusing on her own painting. He had a look at it and faintly scoffed.

"That shade's completely misaligned with the tone, though I can't say I'm surprised you didn't notice." he said.

A few seconds passed and he realized she didn't say anything. He looked at her again to find her position unaltered, eyes forward as she dipped her brush in her pallet.

"What's this? You've finally decided to heed my wishes and keep your baseless accusations to yourself?"

Blossom didn't even twitch in his direction.

Brick blinked, stumped. He shook himself out of it a second later and refocused on his canvas, grunting his distaste.

Like he gave a fuck if he was getting ignored by the likes of her. It would be a fucking joy to never have to hear her voice in class again.

The period went by relatively fast and Blossom was up before Brick had even gathered all his things. His eyes inadvertently followed her to the door before he ripped his gaze away with a scowl.

Blossom emerged in the busy halls and reflexively headed towards the library, clutching her books to her chest.

"Your hair looks great today Blossom." a nervous male student complimented as he walked past her.

"Oh, thank you." Blossom replied bashfully, wincing as he was aggressively shouldered aside by a few people he was blocking.

"I'm surprised you're not used to that."

Blossom whirled at the second voice, and came to a full on halt when she laid eyes on the source.

Bear grinned at her as he shut his locker.

"Bear."

"In the flesh." he said, leaning against the locker.

Blossom stepped closer to him to give people room to walk by. "This is... I don't think I've ever seen you outside class."

"Right? To be fair though, I'm usually brooding on the roof." he replied, his light grin returning when Blossom chuckled. "Off to the library?"

"Oh, yeah. I um, I actually wanted to get started on the book you gave me." Blossom answered, inexplicably finding it hard to look at him as she did so.

"Tight. I wanted to finish up on a book as well, mind having a reading partner for today?"

Blossom's eyes whipped up to him instantly. "What?"

"Is that okay? Or you like reading alone or something?" Bear followed up quickly after seeing her reaction.

"No! I mean, yes, sometimes. I just um..." she trailed off. Bear simply blinked at her. "Aren't you going to get lunch?"

"Naw. Never really eat anyway, still waiting for the day they serve actual food."

"Oh." Blossom said, then just looked at him. And looked at him.

Bear rose a brow. "So...?"

"Right! Sure, I guess we can read together." she answered. This was normal, completely normal, she thought to herself.

"Cool." Bear said, then leaned off his locker. He jerked his head away from them, indicating Blossom to lead the way.

She gave him a bashful smile and started for the library, Bear fell into step beside her and reopened some conversation, which Blossom was very welcome to.

Down the hall, paused at his locker, Brick stared with a blank expression as they sauntered through the halls. Watching as Blossom laughed at another comment Bear made.

The next week was a relatively peaceful one. On all fronts.

Blossom basically treated Brick as though he didn't exist, which was made easier by the fact that they shared just one class. Brick reciprocated this action, albeit with seemingly more ire.

Bubbles and her partner Lucas were making speedy progress in their routine for the event. Like he had promised, Boomer came to watch her practice a couple of times, along with Billy and Susie. Boomer definitely thought she was a good singer, but her dancing was on another level, it made him somewhat jealous of Lucas, for a specific reason.

Weirdly enough, Bunny hadn't seen much of Bear—besides practice—in the past week. He hadn't even spent lunch with the gang until today.

"Hey so, where have you been?" she asked.

Bear rose a brow at her, humming as he sipped his soda.

"Just like... you haven't really been around lately."

"You mean you don't get enough of me from the two hours of practice every other day?" he smirked.

"Oh my God forget I asked." Bunny groaned, giving an exaggerated eye roll. Bear snorted.

"Dude, for fuck's sake!" Mitch groaned as Butch emptied the contents of his tray into his mouth. The ruff—literally—licked the tray clean before dumping it in-front of an irritated Mitch and burping loudly.

"Charming." Pablo deadpanned.

"Next time I'm going to poison my lunch and watch you fucking foam at the mouth," Mitch groused and discarded his now useless fork.

"Good luck finding something that works," Butch cackled as he sucked his fingers.

"This shit either tastes like actual meat or garnished plastic, no in-between." Buttercup said, scowling at her meatloaf before pushing it aside and whipping out her phone.

Butch took note of this and slowly paused after licking his pinky. He looked at Buttercup, then down at her lunch, and back.

"You gonna eat that?" he asked.

The rest of the table looked at him before Buttercup herself did.

When she did look up, Butch had steeled his resolve and was looking back at her with expectant eyes.

Buttercup's custom scowl didn't twitch, neither did the light intensity of her glare. But after looking at him for a few seconds, she simply slided her tray over to him and returned her attention to her phone.

A mad grin curled onto Butch's face and he gleefully swiped the tray and placed it over his mouth.

The rest of table rapidly exchanged very confused glances, but they all seemed to collectively agree not to say anything.

"Shit." Mitch snapped to.

"What's up?" Bunny asked.

"I almost forgot. So, Joey's having a Halloween party,"

"Excuse me," Pablo beamed and whipped out his phone instantly.

"Where are you going?" Kim asked as he stood.

"To order an outfit for the party," Pablo answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world before striding away with a giddy grin.

"So what about this party?" Bear asked.

"I talked to Joey, asked if we could perform there and he's totally with it," Mitch smirked.

"Seriously? Nice!" Bunny smiled and high-fived him over the table.

"For real, there'll probably be a lot of people there." Kim voiced her assent.

"Can I be you guys' backup singer or something?" Butch asked through a full mouth.

"No." every Ravenhead member present echoed.

Speaking of band members.

"Where's Harry?" Buttercup inquired.

Like clockwork, there was a loud shriek from the front of the cafeteria the moment those words left Buttercup's lips. They all turned to the direction the doors, a second later, Harry burst through them, sprinting around tables like he was being chased by the hounds of Hades.

"FUCK!" he shrieked again and opted to jump onto a table. A familiar one as well.

"Harry, what the hell man?!" Boomer groused, flicking off some mashed potato remnants off his shirt.

"Are those rats?!" Susie yelled, eyes wide and horrified as she stared at the ground.

The string of screams that followed her question all but confirmed it. And in just a few seconds, the cafeteria had completely erupted into a cacophony of both confused and terrified screams as not one, not two, but four rats scampered across the floor.

Butch was nearly choking laughter while Kim and Bunny were already standing on their seats. Bear looked up at the latter with an equally amused but confused grin.

"Superpowers or not, those things are disgusting." Bunny said to him, floating a little bit for good measure.

"Aren't you guys gonna do something?" Mitch said to the superpowered beings on the table.

Buttercup only cackled as she hit the record button on her phone, right as the janitor burst through the doors with a broom.

For a city that recorded the highest crime rate of any in the world only twelve years ago, the citizens of Townsville were so annoyingly chipper, Brick thought with a scowl as he looked down at the bustling city.

He raised his camera and took a shot of a billboard advertising some expensive perfume, then another of a V-shaped flight formation of birds above him.

He continued to float between the some of the lofty buildings, studying his pictures with indifference, mostly because the city admittedly did have some beautiful scenery.

At least this kept him occupied enough to ignore the fact that he was still stuck here. As well as served as a welcome distraction from school.

His scowl deepened as his mind went back to that one particular redhead, that all of a sudden thought she was above even speaking to him. He grunted and kicked that thought out of his head. He preferred it that way anyway, at least now she wasn't breathing down his neck every two seconds.

When he was done skimming through his shots and looked up, he halted in the air.

He hadn't even realized he'd drifted into the woods, but it wasn't the browned billowing leaves or the sound of chattering squirrels that stole his attention.

"You're joking."

He hadn't seen it in such a long time. It still looked in perfect condition, though he supposed much attention wouldn't be paid to an inactive volcano. The highly technological security system was probably a factor as well.

Brick's lips fell in a frown as he stared the lair down. The home to one of them, one of the deadbeats that had claimed to be his "parental" figure.

A place that had once been his home as well.

He passively stared at it for a few passing seconds, seconds that turned into minutes, the soft whisper of wind blowing past him the only sound he registered as some memories inevitably filtered into his head.

Eventually, he rose his camera, angled it enough to fit the hulking telescope that capped the volcano, and took the shot.

One was all he needed, as he saw when he inspected the photo, aesthetically captured with the sun in the background. He huffed tepidly and drifted away from the area after one last glance at the lair.

He wondered if the ape even knew he was in Townsville.

Bubbles' giggles were the only sound that faintly echoed in her dark room. It was almost 2AM and she should have probably been asleep, but Boomer just had to send her a stupid vegan meme right before she put her phone aside for the night. Now she was locked in conversation with him, wrapped under her blanket.

It didn't help her sleeping bid that he kept reeling her in either. She had no idea how they were talking about how dumb the English Language was now.

[What I really don't get is Colonel. Like why is it pronounced like that? English isn't real istg]

Bubbles shook her head and texted back. [You sound like you have a personal problem with this XD]

[Lmao I've never gotten above a C in English I'm still petty about it]

[Maybe it'd help your brain if you actually got 8 hours of sleep every now and then?]

[Jesus, that's the most mortally ghetto shit I've ever heard]

Bubbles giggled again, louder than she expected. Randomly, she remembered that she herself had a funny meme about insomnia stored somewhere in her snapchat memories.

She swiped away from their chat and went to go search for it. She scrolled through a catalogue of some recent pictures, by the time she started recognizing some she'd taken way back in July she knew she'd missed it.

She started to scroll up right when a particular photo caught her eye.

Her smile did a 180.

She thought she'd deleted them all, on all her social media. Spent a while doing it as well, but it seemed her snapchat had skipped her mind.

They were here in bulk, fluttering her June section. And beyond.

One where they were at a carnival, after Bubbles had forced her to wear a cotton candy mustache.

One where she was with the band at practice, wrapped from behind in her arms as the others made goofy faces at the camera.

Another close up where they were hugging, with Bubbles mid-laugh.

Another at the parlor, when they got their new piercings together. Bubbles looked at her, frozen in time, baring her teeth in a simper that showed off her smiley.

Bubbles set the phone down, screen first. The room went black, having been robbed of its only source of light. Bubbles blinked in the darkness, momentarily discarding her phone so she could grip her blanket around her.

She didn't need this. She... she didn't want this, she thought to herself as she sniffed.

Her eyes shot open when she registered the moist gathering in them.

"Don't cry you freaking baby. All you do is cry." she chided herself with a voice she just managed to keep from shaking. She gnashed her teeth as she sniffed repeatedly, blinking rapidly to try and keep the tears at bay.

Her phone chimed suddenly, then she remembered Boomer was waiting for her to reply.

She grabbed her phone and was already typing her reply without really looking at his text.

[Sorry Boomer, feel sleepy all of a sudden. Ttyt xoxo] she hit send and clicked off her phone immediately. Then after some consideration, she put it on silent.

She re-immersed herself in the umbra, staring into the empty space as her mind went into flood mode. She quickly shook her head clear of those thoughts when they started to overwhelm her.

After a quick swipe of her blanket's edge across her eyes, she snuggled herself in. She gave her phone a look, thinking—knowing—she should delete all of the pictures. But she just...

She placed her phone on her nightstand and turned the other way, pulling her sleeping mask over her eyes and emptying her mind.

Boomer was more and more worried about Bubbles as the week passed by, even when he visited her at practice she always looked a million miles away. When he'd asked she'd told him everything was fine, which didn't sit well with him because it was obviously a lie. He didn't want to push on it though, even if he had an idea about what might have bothering her.

Bear and Blossom hung out much more than even they expected they would, discovering that they had quite a few things in common, especially in regards to their taste in literature. Brick had noticed this, but paid it no mind. He and Blossom hadn't uttered a word to each other for the past two weeks regardless, he was glad to have her off his back.

Bunny had noticed it as well, but resisted asking Bear where the sudden friendship had spawned from. Questioning why that was something she needed to ask him anyway.

Butch and Buttercup being on relatively good terms was a double edged sword for the group. With the pro being that there was less hostility and tension in the air whenever they were in the same room, and the con being that Butch was back to his raucous, petulant self, which Mitch got the brunt of.

With homecoming imminent in a day now though, it was a good distraction for them all to look forward to.

"Are you okay mom?" Butch asked through a full mouth as Olivia stood up from the table.

"Oh I'm fine, just a little tired." she answered as she emptied her plate into some tupperware.

"Hit a rough spot with work?" Bear asked, passing the apricot juice to Brick.

"Something like that," Olivia groaned, briefly taking off her glasses to rub at her eyes.

"You sure you're okay mom? You don't need anything?" Boomer asked with a lick of worry but Olivia dismissed it with a faint chuckle.

"I'll be fine, just need a little rest," she answered as she made for the door. "You boys remember to clean up when you're done okay? Goodnight."

"Night." the boys echoed back as Olivia exited the kitchen.

"Man, I can't wait for tomorrow." Boomer beamed.

"I will never understand what excites people about performative traditions that peddle unrealistic portrayals of love." Brick said, picking at his pasta.

"You seriously need a girlfriend bro," Butch shook his head.

"This guy? Like we don't know he wishes he could date himself?" Boomer chuckled and swiftly ducked under a punch aimed for his head.

"For real though, ritualized teenage fun is stupid," Bear assented with Brick, sipping some juice.

"Man, when was the last time either of you schmutts got laid?" Butch said, licking his lips clean.

"Since when do you care about shit like homecoming?" Brick arched a brow at him.

"Ever since it came with the promise of hot tail," Butch answered with a bawdy grin.

"You actually got someone to go with you?" Boomer inquired, incredulous.

"Hell no! I'm going stag," he answered, leaning back in his chair.

"Then where does the hot tail come in?" Brick asked in a bored tone.

Butch's grin grew. "You know I ain't one to limit my options."

"You would have definitely caught something by now if not for Chemical X," Bear deadpanned.

"Game's the game brother." Butch proudly winked at him.

"You know this reminds me, have you guys talked to Liam and Emily? They should be having homecoming pretty soon too." Boomer asked, adjusting to sit cross legged.

Brick paused, his face impalpably falling, but a quick scan at his brothers confirmed they didn't notice.

"Every now and then," Bear answered.

Butch hummed. "Actually haven't talked to those fuckers in a while. 'Em still single?"

"My God. Give it a rest you thot." Boomer intoned, laughing along with Butch and Bear.

"Actually, didn't you and 'Em kind of have a thing?" Bear said, swatting away Butch's hand from his food and facing Brick.

"We didn't." Brick said, instantly.

The silence that followed made Brick look up at his brothers to find them each giving him a blank stare.

Brick quickly realized his reply had come out in a defensive tone. And just as quickly, he remembered a very vital detail about Bear's question.

"We... it was nothing serious." he amended, forking a mouthfull.

"It's 'cause she's not a redhead isn't it?"

This time Boomer had to zip up to the ceiling to avoid Brick's glowing fist connecting with chest.

"Shut the fuck up!" he growled up at Boomer who was guffawing with laughter.

The boys cleaned up and retreated to their rooms soon after. Brick's mood had dimmed once they'd started talking about their friends back at home, but fortunately his brothers didn't seem to notice.

He started for his closet right as he closed his door behind him, then his phone rang suddenly. He drew it from his pocket, a bit curious as to who could possibly be calling him by this time.

Now Brick definitely didn't drink any of that 'spiritual' kool aid, but he really wondered what invisible forces were out there fucking with him when he read the name on his screen.

Brick stared at his phone wide-eyed for a few seconds, that turned into a lot of seconds. He just let it ring, looking hesitant—almost clueless—on what to do next.

It rang off, and his screen was blank again. He immediately switched the phone off and tossed it to his bed. He looked at the device with a void face before turning back towards his closet.

He definitely wasn't dealing with that now.

["Nah, but we're about to... shut up it's not my fault Bubbles takes like three years to get ready."] Bunny chuckled as she finished off her eye shadow.

"I heard that!" came Bubbles' muffled voice from behind her door.

["How do you guys plan to survive Senior Prom with that girl?"] Bear said on the other end of the line.

"Thinking of blowing up the school." Buttercup answered as she walked past Bunny, the latter smiled amusingly at her in the mirror.

There was a snicker on Bear's end before his voice got a little muffled. ["What?... Oh... tight. A'ight 'Bun, I gotta go. Have fun, get the spontaneous musical number on video for me."]

["Ass."] Bunny laughed and ended the call. She gave her face a once-over in the mirror and smiled satisfactorily.

"So—" she rose up to her feet with that vibrant smile plastered across her face, doing a quick spin and propping her hand on the waist of her long, A-line lavender dress. "—what do you think bitch?"

Buttercup turned to look at her properly as she slipped on her leather jacket. She folded her arms, a grave expression on her face as she scanned Bunny head to toe.

"In a different world, I'd probably hit." she nodded.

"What am I even supposed to say to that?"

"Thank you?" Buttercup shrugged and started for the door. Bunny rolled her eyes with a grin before grabbing her purse off the vanity.

"Bunny! Pictures!" came Bubbles' voice that now shockingly sounded like it was coming from downstairs.

Indeed, she was in living room when Buttercup and Bunny descended the stairs, already posing in-front of the camera being worked by a gleeful looking John.

"This ain't the red carpet yunno?" Buttercup said as she floated over Bubbles while Bunny took her place beside her.

"Not yet." Bubbles preened as she affectionately hugged Bunny who cutely pouted as John rapidly clicked on the camera.

"Where are you going?" Blossom asked Buttercup, her eyes focused as she captured their sisters on Bubbles' phone.

"The Colosseum with the gang. DNX is playing there tonight."

"Remember you have to be back home by—"

"Nine. Yes. I know dad." Buttercup groaned, in a strangely reassuring way.

She threw the front door open and came face to face with a bedecked Pablo and Boomer.

"You bitches started taking pictures without me?!" Pablo raised and scurried past Buttercup. The girl barely batted an eye and returned her attention to Boomer, who smiled at her.

"Any chance you're gonna change your mind?" he asked.

"Not even if you paid me my weight in gold blondie." she answered, Boomer snickered.

"Have fun doing whatever it is they do at homecoming." Buttercup said as she walked past him, waving before taking to the skies.

Boomer slided in and softly closed the door behind him, Blossom was the first one to turn to him.

"Hey Boomer," she smiled warmly at him. "You look good." she added, genuinely. His white suit hugged his frame very well, and the royal blue interior was gratifying, down to the handkerchief sticking out of his pocket.

"Yeah?" he said, adjusting the wrists of his shirt with an uncharacteristic nervousness.

"Yes." Blossom ensured with a faint chuckle. Her eyes flicked to his hand. "Who's that for?"

"Boomer, get in here!" Bunny said, beckoning him over.

Boomer turned towards them, a smile lighting his face when he laid eyes on Bubbles. She smiled back as Boomer lazily spun the single rose between his fingers.

"Boomer."

There was something about that voice that made Boomer stop dead. He didn't know why he didn't really look at the person working the camera, or simply use the Duh factor in his brain that their dad would be home tonight.

He blinked. John blinked back.

"Oh. Evening Mr Professor—I mean, Professor Utonium." Boomer managed, clearing his throat.

John gave an almost imperceptible nod and just kept looking at Boomer, with an unnervingly blank face.

Never being one to read the room, Pablo smirked. "Now who's that for?" he asked, eyes on the rose in Boomer's hand.

Boomer didn't quite know what words were anymore, he was just contemplating if zipping out the door right now would be worse than being slowly devoured by John's stare.

"Is it for me?" Boomer blinked again, and realized Bubbles was in-front of him. Her smile instantly put him at ease.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed, then calmed himself. "You uh... you mentioned you like flowers and I know the single rose thing is kinda cliche—"

"It's fine Boomer." Bubbles laughed and took it from him and smoothly placed it in her ear, behind the curls that framed her face. Boomer couldn't help but notice how perfect it was in contrast to her soft makeup and her baby blue Mermaid lace dress. Even her hair was held up in a purposely messy ponytail that he could stare at for hours on end.

"You look really nice." he exhaled. 'Beautiful.' he corrected in his head.

"You look really nice too." Bubbles said, beaming thankfully. "Now come on! Let's get a few all together and get going!" she exclaimed and dragged him over.

Boomer laughed as convincingly as he could, as with Bubbles no longer in his immediate view he was re-welcomed to her father's deathly gaze, that was pokily becoming a glare.

"Carpet faces babies!" Pablo grinned and threw his leg up, Boomer caught it reflexively. And it actually worked well with both girls in-between them.

Boomer would have been amused by Pablo's energy had he still not felt like John would pull out an Antidote-X infused ray gun any moment from now.

"Dad." Bunny called. "How about taking the picture?"

John blinked, shifting his gaze from Boomer to his daughters who's expressions simultaneously said Seriously? He huffed petulantly and rose the camera for the shot.

"Big smiles." Blossom said encouragingly, positioning the phone perfectly. She got the genuinely jaunty simpers she was looking for from all of them bar one as Boomer struggled to even bare his teeth without looking at John.

He was probably going to be more conservative about randomly popping up at their place now, Blossom thought with a bit of amusement as she waited for the flash of the camera from her dad before taking the picture herself.

The Colosseum was pretty deep into the city, but it'd been easy for Bear to find it with Mitch directing him, apparently they'd been here before. According to Harry it was the best under-21 club in the city.

"Bro this place is lit I'm tellin' you." Harry beamed in the passenger seat.

"It's okay." Kim said less enthusiastically, uncapping the steel hip flask in her hands.

"As you can probably tell, Kim is one of those girls who tries to be edgy by hating everything fun." Mitch taunted.

Kim pointed at the boy behind the wheel as she took a swig. "If any of us is the edgy one, it's definitely Bear."

"You know she's got a point bro. You'd look too normal with black eyeliner." Harry said flatly.

"Eat my shit." Bear retorted with a laugh he couldn't hold, jumbled in with laughter from the others.

"I still can't believe Butch actually went to Homecoming," Mitch said as Kim passed the flask to Mitch, her face contorting at the bitter taste of the alcohol.

"Does that fucker even know how to dance?" Harry asked.

"He isn't going there to do much dancing," Bear said, thought for a second, then added "On the dancefloor anyway."

"That is some strong shit." an alleviated Kim said. Mitch confirmed it with an immense inhale after taking a swig himself.

His phone started to ring.

"That's probably Buttercup." Bear said.

It was, Mitch thought as he saw her name blink on his phone.

"What's up BC. Where are you?" he answered as he passed the flask to Harry.

"Yo..." Kim said in a bit of a slur as she rested her head back.

Bear smirked at her in the rear-view. "You good?"

"What? I'm not even feeling anything." Kim retorted a little too defensively.

"Oh she's gone." Harry asserted, and he and Bear shared a laugh when Kim punched him.

"Yeah we are, we're at... Bear where are we?" Mitch asked, poking his head to the front beside Bear.

"A couple blocks around the corner." Bear answered, and indeed began to pull up when he realized they were just a few blocks away from the club now.

"Aw come one man! The mustang would give us the sauce factor when the bouncers see us pull up." Harry grumped as he swiped his mouth clean on his sleeve.

"Nice try, teen clubs don't have bouncers. Get out." Bear replied simply and switched his car off. Harry grumbled in defeat as he and the others filed out.

"Why is everything so loud?" Kim said as she arced around the car to the sidewalk, Bear in tow.

He could in-fact hear a faint thrum of music from here, but that was obviously due to his special abilities. He chuckled before uncapping his own flask.

"You can see us?" Mitch said as they huddled under the streetlight.

"Yes."

They simultaneously looked up to see Buttercup descending towards them.

"Way to be subtle." she said as she softly landed beside Bear. "I could smell this shit from ten meters up."

"Where'd you get this booze man?" Harry turned to Mitch who nearly tripped himself over before using Harry for leverage.

"Obviously it doesn't matter." Kim said with an overzealous laugh.

Bear snickered as she took his last swig and passed his flask to Buttercup.

"You're done?" she inquired, immediately putting the flask to her lips.

"Yeah, just want a buzz." he answered and lightly hissed at the heat streaming down in his chest.

"Hehe. Buzz." Harry tittered.

Four pairs of eyes whirled on him and he ceased snickering when he noticed their gazes.

He blinked. They blinked back. Then they all burst out laughing.

"I need to sit down." Kim joked, rubbing her forehead.

"Sit down? Bitch we need to go TURN UP!" Harry exclaimed then started vibrantly bouncing down the sidewalk.

The others caught his exuberance and fell into step after him as Buttercup—shockingly—emptied the flask of its last drop before passing it back to an astonished Bear.

The Student Social Committee had done a fantastic job with the Ball-themed decorations, the gym was almost unrecognizable.

It was a good decision to bring a foreign DJ too, as anyone who'd experienced last prom with Mr Colton on the disc would agree.

Initially he'd started them up with some mellow, arcadian dance music, that really only allowed them to waltz. Teenagers being teenagers however, got bored of that after a while, which the DJ noticed and instantly switched it up.

There was no close step shifting on the dancefloor now, the music was so upbeat it had numerous girls holding up their dresses so they could move freely.

Having headed straight into the crowd once they arrived and succumbing to the gymnasium's jaunty energy themselves, Bubbles and the rest decided to take a breather on the bleachers.

"I didn't know you could move like that man!" Boomer beamed, facing Pablo.

"I don't just shake this in the mirror boo." Pablo replied, making a show of shaking said asset behind him as Boomer laughed.

"How about you? I didn't know you could dance." Bubbles smiled at him.

"I know a thing or two," Boomer replied, doing a small spin and moonwalk to the first bleacher seat which elicited a laugh from Bubbles.

"Ugh. Heading to the ladies' room guys, be right back." Bunny stated with a groan, and veered towards the bathrooms.

"Told you to go easy on the punch."

"Stop judging me." Bunny replied Bubbles without turning and sped up.

"Now who is that?" Pablo said with a predatory glint in his eyes. Bubbles and Boomer followed his gaze and landed on a tan looking brunette, sitting by himself on the other end of the bleachers.

In all honesty, he was certainly easy on the eyes.

"How are you sure he plays for your team?" Boomer said with a teasing grin.

"Are you kidding me? That streak only sends out one message," Pablo smirked, not even looking the blondes' way anymore.

True to fact, the boy did have a thick pink streak in his hair, and his rose patterned suit was one that caught the eye.

"See you babies in a few." and he was off instantly.

"Like a ravenous shark that boy." Bubbles grinned as she took a seat on the bottom row.

"Reminds me of someone." Boomer chuckled and plopped down beside her.

"None of your brothers came?"

"Butch is here... somewhere." Boomer answered, eyes sweeping over the mass of people but not finding his brother. Which was weird considering he'd seen him dancing with a girl just five minutes ago.

Boomer paused after that thought, then remembered who his brother was. He shook his head in amusement.

"Wouldn't have pegged him for someone who likes these things."

"He isn't really choosy about things he likes, they usually just have to involve girls."

"Of-course." Bubbles said with a knowing smile.

A few beats of silence passed where they just gazed at the scene in-front of them. Bubbles loved that the ambient light was blue, the way that it enveloped the whole room gave it an ethereal feel. Or maybe that was just her bias talking, she thought with a grin.

"This place is beautiful man," Boomer suddenly said, and Bubbles turned to his gleaming visage. "I'm guessing THS goes all out for these kind of things then?"

"Mhm," Bubbles hummed a confirmation. "Clara's the head of the SSC and she's... pretty serious about these things."

"I believe it." Boomer chuckled, recalling the day he'd walked in on cheer auditions and the very openly aggravated look Clara had thrown his way for doing so. "Pretty sure you have a few great memories with school dances huh?"

Bubbles hesitated for a second, before answering. "Yeah. Yeah I've definitely got some." she said, slowly pulling her eyes from him back to the mass of buoyant dancing people on the court.

She'd always liked school dances. She liked to dress up, and make herself over, and of course she loved to dance. She'd been to every dance since sophomore year, and loved all of them.

Especially last prom.

She remembered it like it was yesterday, her lips curled into a somber smile as she recalled forcing Kim to dance with her when The Roses came on. The way they hadn't left the dancefloor even when their friends got tired, lost in each other as they waltzed.

Her smile fell at that and the memory went black, though it was more spotty than blank and Bubbles hated how she couldn't get herself to shut it off.

Boomer watched her with a somewhat wary expression. He knew his question had probably awoken some memories, and it made him feel a little guilty even though he was sure Bubbles didn't blame him in the least.

He really wanted to talk to her, he wanted her to know she could talk to him. He hated seeing her like this.

The music slowly faded out just then, before a soft cadence began to pervade the room. It was time to take things slowly again, and the students adjusted in kind, switching from the jaunty gyrating to close-body swaying.

Boomer managed a dinky smile at the tune, if anyone could set a pleasing, mellow homecoming tune, it was definitely Sam Smith. He turned to Bubbles, who was still downcast as she gazed at the sea of people under the lights.

She almost looked... envious.

His eyes flicked from her to the dancefloor and back. A smirk crawled up to his face.

He stood abruptly, catching Bubbles' attention, but before she could speak he was floating around her.

He landed in-front of her and offered his hand.

"May I have this dance?"

Bubbles' eyes briefly widened before she released a small laugh that carried her disbelief.

"Boomer you... really?"

"Come on, I want to show them how it's done." he answered, jerking his head behind him.

Bubbles blinked, sitting up. Her eyes roamed over to the dancefloor, then back to Boomer's congenial smile.

She could do nothing about how it made her smile back, and it took just a second of contemplation for her to put her hand in his.

The club went into uproar as DNX wrapped up their third song. The gang had arrived just in time for their set and were already enwrapped in the concert.

It had probably helped that they'd had a few more shots once they entered. Mitch instantly directed them to someone who fixed them up with nearly another bottle's worth of vodka. Bear was now convinced that Mitch was one of those dudes who "knew a guy" nearly everywhere in the city.

He was having a pretty good time as well, but his buzz was dying down and he was starting to build up a real sweat with everywhere so compact.

"ANYONE HERE TIRED?!" DNX's lead singer exclaimed into his mic and got a collective roar of declination. "I CAN'T HEAR THAT SHIT! IS ANYONE HERE FUCKING TIRED?!" he followed up, and Bear's ears actually hurt a little at the volume of the second wave of bellows.

"LET'S GOOOO!"

The mass of illegally intoxicated teenagers sprung to life again as the band dived into their fourth song. Bear had a quick scan around him and saw that Kim was closest to him.

"Hey!" he stepped closer to her and tried to project over the music. She just managed to hear him and stopped jumping as he neared her. "I'm gonna go get some air." Kim nodded distractedly and went back to bouncing with the music. Bear chuckled, certain she didn't even hear him.

He weaved through the crowd of people and emerged a few feet from the entrance, his hand was already in his pocket before he veered through the small hallway and pushed the doors open.

The illuminated street that greeted him was a breath of fresh air in comparison to the winking lights inside the building. There wasn't much fresh air itself though, he noticed, eyes flicking to a group of guys who were having a smoke just beside the club's doors.

He opted to go the other way, and luckily enough there was an empty street bench a couple of blocks away. He crossed over it—which was made easy by the fact that it lacked a rail or arms—and plopped down, finally drawing the pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

He lighted one and inhaled, before blowing the smoke into the air. The first couple of hits spun his head a little bit, which was probably down to the alcohol. His eyes lazily roamed to the other side of the street just in time to see a group of friends walking by.

They looked older than him, in their early twenties probably. His eyes almost subconsciously riveted to one in particular, a girl with her afro out. He watched with half-lidded eyes as she laughed with friends as they sauntered down the sidewalk.

He wondered how Bunny was doing, if she was enjoying homecoming. He reached for his phone and swiped it open, he entered his gallery and was greeted with the last pictures he'd received from Bunny, from as early as a few hours ago.

He chuckled at one where Pablo had his leg in Boomer's hand. His brows marginally arched at Boomer's smile, or whatever it was that was spread across his face. There were a few more of Bunny and Bubbles by themselves, they looked nice, she looked nice, he thought as he got to an individual picture of Bunny.

He lingered on it, taking a light drag of his cig as he stared at the picture. She'd swept her hair into a puffy ponytail at the nape of her neck, with hair clips pinned at the side. Though it wasn't her hair, or even her dress that garnished her appearance, not the way her smile did, he thought.

There was just something about it that made him almost... long to see it.

He continued gazing at the photo before slowly raising the cig to his lips for another drag when—

"Punk Rock ain't your thing?"

Bear imperceptibly jerked at the voice and looked up to see Buttercup approaching him. He recovered quickly.

"Naw I just wanted to have a smoke." he answered as he clicked his phone off and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Well, I need some air, could barely breathe in that place." she said as she sat down beside him, throwing her legs up and taking up the rest of the space on the bench in the process.

"Isn't this your scene? Thought you'd be used to it." Bear asked, flicking away the burnt out cig.

"Believe it or not, I'd rather be in a pool right now with all this starlight." Buttercup replied, tilting her head to gaze directly at the twinkling lights littering the night sky.

"Yeah Bunny told me you're really into swimming," he said, she nodded, eyes still upwards. "How come?"

She shrugged. "It just... helps me relax. I can't really explain it, I've just always been drawn to the water. I feel... different, when I'm twenty feet under. More in control, of a lot of things. If that makes any fucking sense."

Bear's eyes were on her as he lit his second cig. "It does." he said after a few beats.

Buttercup finally looked down at him. "Yeah?"

He nodded. "Yeah." and he meant it. What she'd just told him didn't sound so different from the reason he fell in love with music.

She stared back at him for a few seconds before a chuckle escaped her lips. "I don't even know why I just told you that." she said, lifting her eyes back up to the never ending navy sea.

"Probably the booze." Bear said.

She chuckled again. "Probably."

They fell into silence once more, this time Bear opted to toke on his cigarette quietly, letting his eyes aimlessly roam again.

"You know talking to you is... trippy sometimes." Buttercup suddenly said, and Bear looked back at her at the same time she did him.

"What do you mean?"

"Just that I—well, we've known you exist for a pretty long time, obviously. But, we didn't expect to see you and your brothers again, not for a while at least," she paused to adjust before continuing.

"The fact that we're hanging out now just like, over a month since you got here, is pretty wild." she finished.

Bear nodded faintly in understanding. "So what did you expect then?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I guess I thought you'd be a little more like..."

"The 'burst through the school's roof and yell villainous monologues' type of guy?"

Buttercup actually laughed out loud, which elicited a grin from Bear.

"Can't exactly blame us can you? You've got your brothers to thank for that rep." she said.

Bear managed a nod. "I guess but, I've honestly never been about that shit. Been with my mom since the first time I opened my eyes."

"True," Buttercup acknowledged, then, after a second. "You definitely got the sweet end of the stick in the parent department, compared to your brothers at least."

She couldn't find a term to define Bear's expression then, he looked at her with a blank gaze and simply took another hit of his cig.

He let out a noncommittal chuckle. "Yeah, definitely." he said, blowing the smoke away from her face.

Buttercup paused for a second, watching idly as Bear's eyes shifted away from her to a few guys who were laughing as they crossed the street.

Then, because she wasn't a coward. "Did your brothers ever tell you about them?"

His eyes resettled on her. "About who?"

"Mojo and Him."

Buttercup really respected Bear's poker face, trying to decipher what he was thinking through his visage was practically impossible.

He blinked at her, then his eyes dropped to the side, like he was in deep thought, before he nodded and said. "Yeah. They have."

They fell into another bout of silence there, but this time Buttercup didn't want to cut into it, not with more questions on the topic anyway. She imagined she was just mere inches behind the line already, she didn't want to cross it.

"They just got really unlucky."

Buttercup's eyes actually widened a little as Bear broke the silence himself. "Things are different now though, and so are they. We've come a really long way as a family." he finished.

Buttercup was the one doing the blinking now, atypically cautious about her next words.

"Yeah... I can see that." was what she opted for, and she realized she meant it, as her mind flashed back to Butch's apology to her two weeks ago. It was hard for her to admit, but the Butch she knew, the Butch she'd grown up fighting, he would have never done that.

Never.

Bear released a huff as he flicked away the now burnt out second cig. "Want to head back in there?" he asked, and Buttercup understood that meant the conversation was over.

"Ugh," Buttercup groaned lightly, stretching her arms out. "Sure." she replied, floating off the bench as Bear stood.

Bubbles hoped she was still breathing normally, because every second that went by felt as though it took her breath with her... in a way she couldn't get enough of.

When Boomer had guided her to the dancefloor and confidently placed his hand on her waist she was somewhat taken aback. Boomer being Boomer however, instantly put her at ease. There was just something about the way he smiled at her, it was comforting, gratifying. It made her trust him.

So she'd placed a hand on his shoulder as their free hands came together in a slow but firm grasp. When they started moving to the song however, Bubbles didn't know how to react.

Boomer had her in proper closed position, his feet gliding across the ground in perfect motion with hers. He twirled her elegantly into a premonade position before arcing to her side as he drew her back in.

Bubbles was struggling to absorb this. With her high level of experience, she usually ended up having to back-lead her partners, especially when it came to non-competitive dancing. But as their dance wore on, Bubbles realized she was all follow here.

Boomer was same side leading here into multiple positions, his eyes constantly darting around them as a crowd of on-lookers slowly began to space out for them, all while still paying rapt attention to her. Bubbles wasn't flustered because people were starting to watch, no, that was all down to Boomer's absolute finesse.

He was moving exactly where she wanted him to. His hip motion, his sequence steps, they weren't missing a single step. It was like they could read each others' next move. Every angle seemed planned in advance, which made it easy for Bubbles to adapt when he switched her position. It was so effortless.

She felt like she was floating, everything around her drowning out as her attention riveted to the boy who delicately held her in her arms.

She didn't even realize the song was coming to an end until Boomer gave her one last spin and pulled her back into closed position, their hands reflexively linking as the music faded out.

Bubbles found herself staring into those dark blue orbs of his, unsure why her chest kept rising. She couldn't pin it down to her lack of stamina, or the mysterious heat that manifested around them, whether that was even real.

He'd literally taken her breath away.

"Alright!" a lauding voice echoed in her head and brought her back to Earth. Only now did she take note of the applause they were receiving from what looked like most of the students on the floor.

In-fact, she just realized she was smiling. She'd been smiling, more and more as she danced with him. Her eyes whipped back to him to see him beaming at her.

Boomer couldn't do anything but smile, everything from the post-euphoria of a dance performance, to the cheering crowd to the absolutely gorgeous girl smiling back at him.

Eventually the applause simmered out and the music started up again, recapturing the attention of the students. It took another ten or so seconds for the blondes to even move.

Boomer slowly pulled his hands off her waist, but then, he noticed that Bubbles' hands had only dropped to his arms, which made him reflexively hold onto hers.

"Boomer..." she finally managed, in a voice just above a whisper. Her eyes telling her disbelief.

Boomer only chuckled with his grin prevalent.

Meters off, back by where they'd been seated at the bleachers, Bunny and Pablo stood with their mouths primed for flies, absolutely astonished.

"What did we just watch?" Pablo said, still processing the scene that had unfolded before them.

"We just watched Bubbles get... lead, in a dance." Bunny answered, still trying to digest the reality herself.

Pablo released a cackle of approval just as Bunny's thinned lips curled into a smile.

There was a sudden beat drop that cut into the song plating, before another one started up boisterously.

Bunny's eyes widened in unison with Pablo's as they turned to each other.

"It can't be." she said.

"I think it is." he grinned.

And just as they'd hoped, the lyrics to Clean Bandit's "Solo" blasted through the speakers. There were few in the school, maybe even in the whole city, who loved this song as much as the two friends did.

Still visibly enlivened, they all but sprinted into the mass, straight towards Bubbles and Boomer, who had little time to react as they were forcefully jerked away from each other into a circle of four. By the time they recognized their assailants, they picked up on their energy and vibrantly danced along, and they all happily did that for the rest of the night.

"Aaand scene! I love it! Great work everybody." Mr Hughes said, clapping as he rose from his seat. The rest of the production team followed suit as Boomer and Billy coltishly bowed to each other.

"Alright, same time tomorrow. You two, put 'em up." Mr Hughes smiled, raising his hand to meet Billy and Boomer's in a high-five from below the stage which both boys happily obliged to. They bounced up onto their feet and locked shoulder-in-shoulder as everyone began to disperse.

"Dude, you're crazy good for real."

"Come on man there's no way that scene could have been done without you." Boomer said, but did laugh thankfully.

"Where are you headed now?" Billy asked as they both retrieved their bag-packs from the open cabinet backstage.

"Not sure. Bubbles is probably done with practice so I'm probably just gonna go home. You?"

"Same probably. Wanted to go check on Susie but she needs a lot of rest so I'll just FaceTime her."

Boomer nodded knowingly. Susie was out sick today, Bubbles had told him in Choir.

Billy's phone rang as he hopped off the stage, Boomer floating above him.

"Who's that?" he asked.

Billy pulled out his phone and looked at the screen. "Kim." he replied before answering the call. "What's up? Are you at..."

A frown sneaked up to Boomer's lips once Billy confirmed who was calling, and he wasn't sure why. He opted to stay in the air even as they exited the auditorium and emerged in the scanty hallways.

Boomer returned a few people's greetings as they neared the school entrance, consciously trying to pay no attention to what Billy was saying below him. As a side note, he realized how people didn't even mind—or even overly acknowledge—the fact that he was levitating.

"Yeah whatever loser, see you at home." Billy said, snickering fondly as he dropped the call.

"She with the band?" Boomer asked, finally descending to the ground as they cleared the doors and strode towards Billy's car.

"Yeah they're finishing up over there too." Billy answered as he fetched his keys.

Boomer nodded distractedly as Billy's car came into view.

"Okay man," Billy said, already beginning to wave. "See you tomo—"

"Wait!" Boomer called, and Billy paused right before he could open the driver's door. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course man," Billy asked, turning to face him fully. "What's up?"

Boomer chewed on his thought for a few seconds, before asking. "What happened with Bubbles and Kim? Like... what happened?"

The ease on Billy's face melted instantly.

Boomer simply blinked at him, waiting for his answer.

"Um, I don't know dude, that's a pretty delicate topic." Billy said with a soft wince, scratching the back of his head.

The gears in Boomer's head were already spinning frantically as he tried to deduce the best approach to use in this situation.

"Come ooon man," he plead petulantly. "I'm literally the only one out of this loop, plus I think Kim's probably stab me in my sleep if Bubbles and I keep hanging out so I need to know why."

Billy shook his head with a snicker.

"I need some context to protect my life here dude." Boomer finished.

Billy was silent for a while, fingers tapping against the hood of his car as he looked at Boomer, pondering.

He heaved an exhale. "Okay... okay fine."

Boomer felt an immense amount of relief but did excellently to keep the callow grin across his face.

"I don't know all the details, just what Kim and Susie told me," he started, leaning against the car. Boomer didn't need such adjustments.

"They were dating for a while, throughout sophomore year to be specific. It was kind of a big deal since they were the first girls to date in our year, both of them are pretty popular too so you know."

"Anyway, they were... honestly they were like a perfect couple in the beginning. Bubbles was always at practice with the band, Kim was always at Bubbles' choir rehearsals. You couldn't see one without the other, they were basically joined at the hip. Very inconsiderate about PDA too, but you can imagine most guys didn't have a problem with that." Billy said, stopping to chuckle.

Boomer's face had dropped into something unreadable as Billy painted this picture for him, which was unpleasantly vivid in his mind's eye.

"So things were pretty good with them," Billy progressed. "Until like... I think they started fighting, a lot. And um... I guess Kim was usually the one instigated it, most of the time anyway. They got into that whole 'fight and make up' phase at some point and from there it—it just seemed like their relationship kept going down hill."

"Then one of the seniors last semester had this summer party, you know a 'bye I'm going to college' kind of thing, and they went. Typically got into another fight, but I think... I think probably the line was crossed that time you know? And they broke up that night."

"Bubbles broke up with her?" Boomer inquired.

"Um... nah, Kim did." Billy answered, looking a little uncomfortable as he did so.

Boomer knitted his brows.

What?

If Billy's abridged story was anything to go by, then that didn't make any sense. In what scenario would she be the one with a prerogative to end the relationship?

Well, he knew even if he wanted to know, he wouldn't be getting that info from Billy, who was already leaning off his car.

"Oh damn, that... that sucks." Boomer said after raking his brain.

"Yeah but, it is what it is." Billy assented with a shrug. Another shrug followed, this time to adjust his bag. "Can I go home now that you've gotten your gossip?" he said jokingly.

Boomer even impressed himself with how genuine his forced laugh sounded. "Yeah man you're good."

Billy smirked and exchanged what had become their signature handshake before arcing around to the car door.

"See you tomorrow dude." he said as he shut the door.

Boomer threw him a Peace Sign and stepped out of the way as Billy rode out of his parking spot and down into the street.

Boomer watched his car until it veered left into the road before dropping his hand, along with his smile.

Due to their lack of communication, in that it simply didn't exist, Brick and Blossom found Art IV going by quite fast these days. Which they were both more than satisfied with.

"Okay," Ms Wilson said, drawing the makeshift curtain on her large canvas, placed where a board would be found in most classes. "Before you guys head off, it's that time of the semester."

There was a communal groan from the class in response.

"Yes yes I know, homework sucks. Anyway, as you know, you're to construct a large body of art for your mid-semester project." she pressed on. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you that the use of 'art' is expansive in that context. It could be a painting, sculpture, heck I hope I'm surprised with an installation..."

Ms Wilson went on outlining the criteria for their project and the guidelines they'd have to follow. Brick subconsciously drowned her out, he didn't need a play-by-play on how to make his art. He just hoped he would get paired with someone who actually knew the difference between texture and tone.

Ms Wilson was already calling out the pairs for the project, reading directly from her notepad.

"Sammy you'll pair up with Carol. Jimmy, you'll pair up with Vanessa—"

Brick furrowed his brows. Something wasn't right. His eyes rapidly passed over the class. He counted fourteen—including himself.

Now he didn't even know the names of half the people in this class, but he did know that Ms Wilson had called out six pairs, and she'd called everyone except him and—

He turned to look at Blossom who had an equally alarming look in her eyes.

No. Just no. No fucking way.

"—and Blossom, you'll pair with Brick." Ms Wilson finished, looking extremely pleased with herself at the last pairing in particular.

The infamous redheads on the other hand, both looked like they'd just been whacked in the face with a whole glass table.

"What?!" they echoed, the sheer disgust perfectly discernible in their tones, it was enough to turn all eyes on them. They glared at each other, seemingly just because, before redirecting that ire to their teacher.

"We can't—" they stopped and glared again, irritated that they were mimicking each other.

"I'm unsure of the need for all the theatrics, but I've made my decision." Ms Wilson said, sounding and looking more perturbed than stern.

The bell went and the students instantly sprung up, heading for the door.

Blossom wasn't done yet, she swiftly gathered her things and marched over to Ms Wilson's table, said teacher had an expectant expression on her face as she approached.

"Ms Wilson. Please. I respect your decision as the teacher of the class, but I am appealing to you to switch my partner. I absolutely cannot work with him."

"Is that so?" Ms Wilson said with a lazily arched brow.

"It's true ma'am," came Brick's voice as he stepped up beside Blossom, his beseeching yet still furious eyes on the woman behind the desk as well. "I can't have her as my partner."

"And why not?" Ms Wilson asked.

"Put simply, I'm afraid we just don't like each other very much." Blossom answered, yet again redirecting her glower to Brick.

"If at all." Brick all but growled back, returning the favor of her glare.

"Ha! Is that it? You're going to have to deal."

Both their glares immediately evaporated as they whirled back on their teacher.

"I'm serious!" Blossom exclaimed desperately.

"So am I, welcome to high school. Now head off to lunch, I'm expecting an excellent project from you two." Ms Wilson said with a tone of finality.

"But she—"

"Out." she cut Brick off, pointing to the door without looking as she fetched a note from her drawer.

Blossom simmered down, disconsolate. She threw one last venomous glare Brick's way before spinning on her heel and stomping out of the empty classroom.

Brick let her walk, eager to get her out of his sight. His fisted hand unfurled and came up to slap his forehead when she was gone. "Jesus fucki—"

"No cussing in my classroom Brick." Ms Wilson stated, eyes rooted to her note.

Brick dropped his hand, took one despondent look at her, and heaved a sigh of defeat.

He ambled for the door, hating everything about this place more with each step.

Buttercup pumped her tail foot on edge of her board as she did an aciddrop over the elevated concrete. By the time she'd rolled over to the crosswalk, the traffic light blinked red. The citizens who'd been patiently waiting filtered into the road, a few greeting her as she skated past them.

She threw a cordial smile back at them before spinning into the sidewalk. She was meeting Mitch at a convenience store, they'd planned to just skate around the city today, maybe get some pizza when they were done, as per Buttercup's suggestion (insistence).

Another elevated staircase appeared before her as she rounded the corner and she smirked, using her dominant right foot to speed up before flipping her board onto the handlebar and spinning back down onto the concrete. She could already see Mitch in the distance, seated with his back against the wall as he adjusted his shoelaces.

"Hey shitstick." she said as she reached him, thwacking his head before digging the tail of her board into the ground and coming to a halt.

Mitch glared up at her with one hand still on his sneaker while the one smoothed out his hair. "Bitch." he retorted.

Buttercup snorted and pulled her board up into her hands. "Where are we headed first?"

"The park's not too far off so we could shred there for a bit. The fountain area is usually empty by now." Mitch answered, tightening his lace and shuffling to his feet.

"Secured the munchies?" she inquired.

"Butch and Harry got it, they should be done now they've been in there for ages."

Buttercup's eyes suddenly went wild at the names he called. "What?"

The bell at the top of the door chimed then, and Harry strode out of the convenience store, Butch in tow.

"Just remember that's part of your share for later when your tongue's drier than a plank of fucking firewood." Mitch deadpanned at the male superhuman who was emptying a packet of Lays into his mouth.

"Bro you know they still got Ritz in there? Thought they went out of business or something." Harry beamed as he stuffed his fanny pack with some Kit Kat and Reece's. "'Sup BC."

Buttercup gave him a distracted reply, eyes on Butch who seemed to register Harry's words and put the snack down from his face.

He felt a little stupid when his eyes met hers, mostly because his mouth was stuffed and he was looking at her with puffed cheeks as a result.

"Alright, let's jet." Mitch said, starting to walk as Harry fell into step beside him. "Butch you got your speaker on you?"

He didn't get a response.

"Butch?" he turned, in unison with Harry. It was only then that they both realized neither Butch or Buttercup had followed them, and were both still in-front of the convenience store. They side glanced at each other awkwardly, but neither walked back to see what was going on.

Butch had thankfully swallowed the dissolved chips in his mouth now, but somehow he instantly missed having something to do other than look at Buttercup when he did.

There were a multitude of things going through Buttercup's mind then.

They'd talked, they'd cleared things up, they'd agreed to bury the memory.

Yet now, she realized she'd never thought about what happened after that. It was normal to see him hanging out at practice or at lunch, but she'd never quite factored in the reality that her friends were now also his friends. Like he'd said to her a while ago, they were going to be seeing a lot of each other, whether they liked it or not.

And it was almost like he could read her mind, with the way his brows were raised almost as if to say "Is this okay?"

Her expression slowly resettled into its more characteristic, almost virulent nature before...

"Try to actually get some in your mouth next time." she said, then started to walk off.

Butch blinked at her retreating form, then realized his face was littered with chip remnants, which he immediately swiped off his mouth.

His eyes shifted back to her as she neared Mitch and Harry. For whatever reason, a faint grin crawled up to his face, before he chucked the empty Lays bag and reached for his speaker as he bounded towards them.

"Archangel or Succubi?"

Bunny looked up from her cereal to find a frantic Bubbles in the kitchen doorway, holding up two outfits that matched the options she'd just listed.

The girl put up a hand, indicating that she needed to finish chewing. Bubbles deadpanned, but waited nonetheless.

"Succubi is way too predictable," she said finally, scrutinizing both outfits. "Hm. Dark angel?" she proffered.

Bubbles' whole face did an "O" as she put Bunny's suggestion in her mind's eye. "You, are a genius."

"I try not to brag about it." Bunny shrugged as she took another spoon full of her Fruity Loops.

"I've got to get this customized," Bubbles said, looking to the holier outfit. "Buttercup!" she called, zipping upstairs.

Bunny grinned at her sisters' enthusiasm before pulling her phone off the table. She immediately checked her texts, and her grin dissolved.

She'd texted Bear a little over twenty minutes ago and he still hadn't replied. She wasn't one who took the whole 'instant reply' thing so seriously, but Bear always texted back fast.

It wasn't until recently, most notably on Thursdays when they didn't practice, that he seemed to disappear almost throughout the evening. She stared at the chat, as though willing his text bubbles to appear under the pressure of her gaze.

After she'd been doing that for close to thirty seconds, she clicked her phone off and slided it aside. Her hands could only do so much however, as her eyes continued to linger on the device.

Another minute of munching on her loops and she was ready to reach for it again before Bubbles returned, bursting through the doorway.

"Just tell me how to use it I'll put it back," she said, drawing Bunny's attention. Bubbles had a frustrated look on her face as she tried to negotiate with Buttercup over the phone.

Her expression grew into a beseeching one as she pouted. "Pleeeeaaase?" she said in her best infant voice, which usually did the trick. The way her face fell a second later though, probably indicated this was a rare occasion where it wouldn't work.

She heaved a defeated groan. "Fine, just do it tonight please?" she asked, and this time she beamed after a few seconds.

"Yay! Love you!" she thanked and dropped the phone before Buttercup could change her mind.

"Got her to help you spray the dress?" Bunny said, trying to shift her focus to her almost finished cereal.

Bubbles nodded giddily, taking the seat in-front of Bunny on the kitchen table. "Not worth spending another eight dollars to switch it. What's wrong?"

"Huh?" Bunny came to, realizing she'd been looking at her phone.

"Expecting a call?" Bubbles asked, whipping out her phone as well.

"No, no I was just..." she trailed off when something seemed to just catch her notice then. "Hey, where's Blossom?"

"Hanging out with Bear probably."

There was a pang in her stomach that she didn't understand the instant Bubbles gave that answer.

"What?"

"Yeah, don't know where though. You know I think they hang out a lot, Susie said she saw them reading in the library together yesterday." Bubbles added, eyes on her phone.

"Oh." Bunny muttered. So that's why he wasn't at lunch yesterday, she thought, feeling...

She didn't know what she was feeling.

"Come to think of it, she's never home by this time on Thursdays anymore," Bubbles said, then suddenly gasped as she lifted her eyes to look at Bunny.

"You don't think they're like..." she said, trailing off with a look that said You Know...

The feeling only swelled up inside Bunny. "Um... I—I don't think..." she said, not able to string something coherent together.

Thankfully Bubbles was in full gossip mode and wasn't catching much. "Yeah, you're probably right. We are talking about miss I'm not prepared to settle with a suitor who'll inevitably harbor high school immaturity after all." Bubbles chuckled, refocusing on her phone when it chimed.

Bunny didn't know what it was, but she knew whatever was churning in her stomach had completely eradicated her appetite. "I'm gonna..."

"What?" Bubbles asked distractedly, but by the time she looked up Bunny was already on her feet.

"I want to go look at our set for the party. You can never get enough practice you know?" Bunny said, she tried to force a laugh but even that got stuck in her throat.

"Oh please, you're going to kill it like you always do." Bubbles touted with a smile.

Bunny did manage a dinky one in return. "Yeah." she said flatly.

Bubbles' phone chime stole her attention again as Bunny took another look at her own phone, dead silent as it laid on the table.

She folded her lips in and shut her eyes with a faint head shake, then grabbed her phone and shut it off as she made for the stairs.

It wasn't even ten seconds after Bunny exited the kitchen that Bubbles phone rang right as she was about to reply Clara's text. She arched a surprised brow at the name that blinked on her screen.

She answered. [Hey Ms Bellum. Is there a problem?]

[I'm almost starting to pick offense at this assumption that I can't casually call my favorite girls.] Ms Bellum replied.

Bubbles obliged her with a cordial laugh. [No of-course not! What's going on?]

[Well, I do have some bad news unfortunately.]

[What's wrong?] Worry instantly creeping in.

[it's nothing radical Bubbles don't worry. I just wanted to let you know that your dance partner Lucas has unfortunately sustained a very serious injury to his knee.]

[Oh my God. Is he okay?]

[Yes, yes he's fine, he's being properly taken care of. In terms of the event however, you're going to need to restart practice with another partner.]

[Wow, the event is in a month.]

[Precisely why I'm calling. I could find another partner for you, but it will take a few days to find someone as skilled as Lucas on such short notice.]

[We'll lose even more time that way. Can't I—]

Bubbles halted, her eyes widening as the thought slammed into her like a brick wall.

[Bubbles? Are you still there?]

[Yes! Yes I am.] she said with an extremely pleased smile.

[Due to the circumstances Bubbles it could be arranged for you to perform solo if—]

[No!]

[No?]

[Yes—] she confirmed, her smile widening with every word. [—I know someone who'd be a perfect partner.]

~End: Ch. 5~