Our Colors are on the Rise

by reina.connected

[Formally Against the Grain] There is something dark brewing just beneath the surface of the quiet city of Townsville. [Dark crime/ romance/ mystery][multi-ship] [Rated M for language, violence, and gore.]

7. Part Seven

February 1st, Friday 20XX

Shutting the engine off outside of the large glass facility, Brick didn't take his eyes off the building when he addressed Butch, "watch the doors, stay here."

Rolling his eyes as he unbuckled his seatbelt Butch barked back, "I know how to do my fuckin' job, dude." He was gruff and knew he had been that way with his brothers lately. He almost paled under the look Brick shot at him but was determined to ignore him. "Just find out what this prick wants."

"You're one to talk," Brick shot, but instead of feeding into Butch's mood further he chose to unbuckle his own seatbelt and exit the car. Tossing the key at his brother, Brick gave him a level look as he shut the door and looked back up at the building. It was true that this area was really up on the rise, the conversion of the old buildings into labs and offices really gave Blaine Industries an organic feel beside the newness of it's shiny and glimmering glass.

Smooth cement pathways weaved from several parking lots to the various green spaces and warehouses that were converted into office buildings and labs; only one new structure climbed above those and this was a magnificent glass building, clearly the head building with it's impressive lobby and clean lines. Brick had parked in the lot adjacent to this one, wanting Butch to have a full and clean visual around the tiny parks and trees.

Walking up the steps with his hands in his pockets, the doors smoothly parted as he entered the building. Lush plants were in smooth and crisp white planters and the gentle sound of a trickling water feature could be heard. The receptionist desk was bare but a tall man in a suit stood up from a plush leather couch and strode over, his suit was immaculate, and his hair waved away from his face in a flattering manner.

"Mr. Jojo, thank you for agreeing to meet on such short notice," Brick stopped and shook the man's hand, "I'm Jules Barton, Norman will be with us shortly."

Brick was wary as he looked the man over but smiled cordially, he knew how to be charming when needed. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Barton, how did you find the contract we sent over?" Without knowing much about Jules Barton himself, Brick knew a predator when he saw one, the man had eyes like a shark, a dark depth and intelligence behind them.

"Now, no need to be so formal, please call me Jules. Everyone does." He paused, "well, most everyone." Shrugging at his own remark Jules then gestured with his hands, "the terms of the contract are quite reasonable, Norman does have a question in regard to one of your stipulations but I'm sure he'll bring that up when he joins us."

Brick lifted his chin slightly as they walked into a glass conference room on that first floor, the inner windows looking out over to a small but lit garden in the center of the building. It was an impressive and calming feature surrounded by all the glass and metal. Within the room itself the smooth and slender reclaimed wood table that ran down the center of the room leant a conservation-like feel to what exactly Blaine Industries was doing.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Jules asked Brick, but the young man just shook his head and held his hand up in a dismissive manner.

"No thanks, I'm good." He was studying his surroundings and the first half of his client, or potential client. Pending on what the "stipulation" was; he didn't need to drag Butch and Boomer into anything too illegal. Recovery needed paperwork to follow with it, otherwise he knew they'd be thrown right into jail all over again and he couldn't do that to his brothers. Not now. A small vibration jittered through his skin from his pocket and pulling out his phone he didn't even catch the small smile that pulled at his lips.

RED

Hi, the Professor said you and your brothers can come over around 4pm on Sunday. – Blossom

He was about to type out a quick reply when the conference door slid open and the man himself, Norman Blaine, walked in. Pocketing his phone Brick walked a few steps and outstretched his own hand, he was surprised at the animation the older man exuded when he grasped and shook the teen's hand in a lively manner.

"Welcome, welcome, sorry for my tardiness," he dropped Brick's hand and smoothed the left side of his suit jacket. "I'm Norman Blaine, I'm sure my associate Jules already introduced himself?" He said this last bit with a hint of a question at the end, but it was only for show. Jules came up on Norman's right hand and clapped a hand on his shoulder, with only a brief glance over his shoulder at his partner Norman gestured to the table. "Please, take a seat."

As Brick pulled out a pale aqua colored rolling chair he noticed the printed copy of the contract that Boomer had sent over seemed to appear from nowhere. Taking his place at the head where he'd been directed it unsettled Brick slightly that both men flanked him on other sides of the table, he wouldn't be able to study both their expressions at the same time. It was too late to change positions so he'd have to be on his toes with this one.

Crossing his legs at the ankles under the table, Brick leaned forward slightly and gestured towards Jules while addressing Norman, "your colleague informed me you had a question about one of our stipulations?" He'd rather get this part hammered out now versus later.

Shuffling the contract papers in front of him until he found the highlighted section, Norman wore a pleasant expression on his face, "just like Jules to bring up my misgivings right away." He placed the paper on the table and slid it towards Brick. As Brick rotated the paper with his fingertips Norman continued, "the legal documentation for this item was never made because very few know that this particular item even exists."

Brick laced his fingers and leaned back in the chair some, "so you can't comply with the legality my brothers and I require to do this job with clear consciouses."

"We are well aware of your criminal past," Jules interjected. Brick felt his red eyes narrow and wondered if they were alight with the burning deep crimson glow that so easily betrayed his anger. "Which is how we found you to begin with," Jules was carrying on with little acknowledgement towards the young man, "and with such a valuable item we figured that you needing documented proof of owning this item would be null and void."

"You figured wrong." Brick went to push back away from the table when Norman jumped to his feet.

"Please, sit, I apologize for the assumption," Brick hesitated but gave the tiniest lift of his head in Norman's direction. Norman sighed, "you see, this item won't even be flagged if it goes missing, as far as the world knows it was destroyed a long time ago."

Crossing his arms Brick knew that this man had his attention merely by mentioning the rarity of the item. And if there really was no way for it to be proven stolen or that anyone at all owned it…, "what exactly is this item?"

Satisfied for the moment Norman sat back down and leaned over the table, the gleam in his eyes rivaled those of a child's on Christmas morning when they knew all the gifts under the tree were theirs's. "I'm sure you've heard of the Library of Alexandria?"

"You've got my attention," Brick mirrored the man's position of leaning forward.

"As you should know, the Library was a part of an even larger foundation of knowledge, and although many- if not all the scrolls and collections were documented as being destroyed. But! There are a few works still floating around." Norman leaned back in his seat and Brick followed suit, his interests far more piqued than he had anticipated.

"There is one that I know of, and that I need in order to finish my latest project."

Trying to appear slightly disinterested Brick questioned, "if this is true then this is a document that will be under heavy lock and key. Plus, what would an over 2000 year old relic possibly be able to tell you that modern sciences can't?"

Norman had to chuckle, and Jules just gave a half shoulder shrug at his partner, agreeing that he didn't understand the skepticism either. "Much of modern times advances are thanks to historical lore. It points us in the right direction and inspires us." The look of whimsey that had flooded his face when he spoke of the Library and it's importance evaporated off of his face. "I need this item if I am to complete my project."

Almost desperate but completely resolute Norman stated, "I am so close to completing Project Osiris and this is the last piece of the puzzle to bring culmination." He ran his hands through his pristine hair, the action made him look worn.

Sitting there in silence, Brick touched the paper on the table in front of him, his gaze was fixed on that highlighted bit. This had been something he and his brothers had all agreed to; stay out of trouble with the law, cover all their tracks, be productive. Would agreeing to this betray them? He knew Boomer liked to have proof of the ownership in the system, but this wouldn't be so easy, he wouldn't lie to them. Not about something this big.

Was there a right call to make? He was their leader, their boss, the "big bro" of The Rowdyruff Boys. This was his call alone to make at this moment.

"We'll do it." His voice was devoid of any further reflection or emotion, the conflict bubbling beneath his flesh. Standing up he wasn't surprised when Jules and Norman followed suit, both men shaking his hand, their voices were a cacophony of eagerness and follow up promises. He waved them off politely, "just send over the digital contract along with the location and any other details you can give us."

"I'm on it now," Jules was typing away at his cell phone screen as the three of them walked out of the conference room and back down the hall to the main entrance.

Norman was exuding so much excitement that Brick swore he could feel it's oppressive weight on his own conflicted demeanor. The buzz of the man's voice was a hum that he wasn't registering. He had made the right call… right? They were interrupted by a short and lanky man, his face behind thick lenses and such wide frames they practically swallowed his features. His thin brown hair was oily from his hands running through it too often in thought and his white lab coat was far too long as he tripped and stumbled a few steps.

"M-Mr. Blaine? Mr. B-Barton?" The shaky voiced man stopped in the lobby with an index finger held high.

Norman was about to turn when Jules waved him off, "I'll talk to Arvin, Norman, you finish up here." Jules turned to Brick and they exchanged another handshake, "I look forward to conducting further business with you." His smile didn't quite reach his eyes as he walked over to the nervous looking man, "now, Arvin, what's going-," his voice disappeared as they disappeared down another corridor.

Clearing his throat Norman started, "well, can't say we ever have a dull moment here." Nodding slowly Brick just shifted his body more towards the door.

"I'm sure," his own internal conflict wasn't going to take a break anytime soon, he just wanted to be by himself for a bit before he even attempted to approach his brothers.

"I won't keep you further, I know I didn't want to hang around some stodgy old men when I was a teenager in high school," he flashed a charming grin, "I know we'll have a great partnership on this."

Slowly Brick smiled but it was tense, nonetheless he shook Norman's hand again, "I'll be waiting for further details." As he turned and the doors slid open before him he relished the crisp and cool February air, usually so confident when it came to these meetings he left feeling uneasy. As his feet hit the bottom step he tensed and looked behind him. The building just stood there, glass reflective and showing him nothing within, but he wasn't even sure it was eyes that he had felt looking on him.

Pulling his red cap out of his jacket pocket he jammed it on his head, brim turned to the back. Brick without his hat was kind of like a car without wheels. But turning it backwards made him feel like he had a shield up in front of everyone who ever tried to get at him, it had his back. In a manner of speaking anyways, he knew the real ones who had his back were Butch and Boomer… and he couldn't say the same after this decision. If it came down to it then he'd be the one to touch the scroll, their involvement was necessary, but he wouldn't let them take a fall for a choice he'd hastily made.

Approaching the parking lot he noticed Butch leaning on the car hood, Brick could feel his facial features screwing up in distaste, "we talked about putting your ass on my car."

Shrugging Butch tossed the keys back over to Brick, maybe a little higher than needed because Brick had to jump over 10ft just to snag them out of the air. "I didn't dent your 'precious baby', bro." He moved to the passenger door and opened it, "can we go already? I have an early morning and shit to get done tonight."

As Brick climbed in and closed his own door he questioned, "early morning practice? I'm not taking you." He didn't notice Butch stiffen just a bit from his slouched position in his seat.

"I don't need a ride." Better to just tell a half truth and not all out lie, right?

"Professor Utonium gave us the O.K. for Sunday at 4pm to see Mojo." Putting the car into gear he pulled out of the parking lot, knowing he'd send Red a confirmation text when they got back home.

"Cool." Butch only spared a glance at his brother before sitting up straighter and looking out the window, the car's radio playing an old rock hit.

~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

Pulling her arms closer around her Bubbles tried to ignore the cold sting of the early morning air, it's not like it bothered her all that much, but goosebumps were popping up along her skin. Only the faintest light began to break across the sky and as she left from flying over one of the local state parks and it's comforting woodsy smell. The air shifted into the salt and the sweetness of the ocean as she flew above the winding highway. Thankfully she had overestimated the distance and was happy to find it had taken her 15 minutes instead of the 20-30 she thought it would. It was true she was ditzy at times and she had proven that with reading the car distance instead of looking at it objectively.

Had either of her sisters known they would've teased her unrelentingly. But they didn't know, and for a good reason. Although they were becoming friendly with the Rowdyruffs it was still Butch of all people she was meeting up with. After those last two attacks though she needed a better way to defend herself, just the thought of those gaping jaws though… she could feel the prickle of fear beneath her skin as she began to descend feet first into the cove.

Without much surprise she noted that Butch was already there and stretching out on the packed sand, a hoodie and duffle on top of a large and mostly flattened rock. He pulled at his t-shirt sleeve and gave her a sour expression, "you're late."

Indignantly Bubbles stomped her foot, "I am not! You said 'dawn' and the sky is barely awake!"

He watched her cross her arms over her chest defensively again and he quipped, "it's the universal law of meeting up, show up 10 minutes early, Blondie, otherwise you don't look serious." She huffed but he rolled his eyes, "get to warming up."

For a moment she had to ask herself if she really needed Butch in order to learn this, and before she even finished asking that question in her mind she already knew the answer. He'd managed to save her twice, which was overall humiliating. Unzipping her sweatshirt she put it on the rock by his things along with her cell phone and keys.

Butch was wrapping up a tricep stretch when Bubbles came about 7ft from him and started her own stretches, her brows were furrowed but this just amused him more. "You don't gotta get all butt-hurt, I'm here, aren't I?" Glowering she shot him a look and stuck out her tongue. So what if she was childish?

After about ten minutes of that Butch clapped his hands, "Alright, so as far as shields go you have…?" He gestured to her and Bubbles looked unamused.

"Absolutely nothing."

"Awesome." He turned for a moment and then looked back at her, "so what you were doing on the docks?"

Looking at her hands she said, "mostly just a light barrier, it was the only thing that seemed to hurt it and protect me." Pointing a finger at her Butch walked along the shore and grabbed a few stones. Puzzled she watched him, "what are you doing?"

Not even looking at her and pocketing a few of the stones in his joggers he explained, "you can clearly make a barrier, it's just not consistent or impressive." Ignoring her frustrated pout he tossed one of the stones in the air before catching it, "but you need a shield, those fuckers will get through anything they can." Finally looking at her he motioned for her to come stand on an 'x' he had marked in the sand with the toe of his sneaker.

Walking over with some caution Bubbles stood on the mark as he walked about 30ft away from her and turned around. "So what are we doing?"

Tossing up a few more stones in the air, Butch was juggling as he explained to a confused Powerpuff, "only way you can properly learn to make a real barrier and not just one made of 'light' is to practice."

Suddenly he caught two of the stones in his hands and as the third fell through the air he pivoted quickly into a roundhouse snap kick, the stone hurtling through the air at Bubbles. Reflexively she jumped backwards and threw up her hands, the pale blue light moving up and across as the stone slammed heavily and her arms were pushed back. It fell into the sand with a low 'thud' and Bubbles stared at her sore palm for a moment before snapping at Butch.

"You could've warned me!"

"Get back on the mark," one hand on his waist while the other tossed up and caught another stone.

"You didn't even give me a chance to know what we were doing." Incredulous she wanted to stomp away from him but her desire to learn kept her planted.

"Villains don't give warnings. Get back on the mark."

"But you aren't a villain-," she was going to say 'anymore' but thought better of that, bringing up old wounds wasn't something she needed to do today.

Irritated Butch pointed at the ground, "get back on the mark or we're done here."

Biting her lower lip with frustration Bubbles swallowed her pride. Even Buttercup wasn't this much of a hard ass when it came to training. Apparently underestimating his training was a mistake, and it was a mistake she wouldn't make again.

Trudging back to the marked 'x' Bubbles narrowed her eyes and felt the sparks ripple down her arms and through her hands, she only glared at the cocky and crooked smirk that slid itself onto Butch's lips.

He waited a few minutes until he noticed one of her shoulders relax just a fraction before hurtling another stone her way, this one he threw with such force it passed through the barrier on her right, just narrowly missing her pinky. Her yelp went ignored as he barked out, "you need to stay alert!"

She'd let her guard down, and although he knew this was unnatural for her and didn't come with as much ease as it came for him, he tossed another one that just barely bounced off the bright blue light spread between her hands. The determined and frustrated look on her face gave him some satisfaction knowing he was actually going to make her work and train hard.

Raising a hand up and wiping the sweat from her brow, Bubbles whined, "we've been at this for, like, an hour! Can we please take a break?"

Butch squinted as he noticed how much brighter the sky had grown since they'd started, using the bottom of his shirt he wiped his own face and answered, "sure, no more than 10 minutes." He turned and started walking back to where their stuff was around the rocks. The shore was still quiet, and if he concentrated hard enough with his super hearing there was still nothing worth noting of the highway behind them.

Sitting on the rock he pulled out a water bottle from the duffle and took a huge gulp. Trudging over to where he was sitting Bubbles plopped down on the rock a little ways from him and flopped onto her back with a exhausted sigh. Her eyes were lightly shut and she was resting her forearms on her forehead.

He studied her breathing for a minute, watching her steady her breath. Suddenly he felt embarrassed, which was totally dumb. He just wasn't used to being around her, that was all. Rummaging through his duffle again Butch produced his spare water bottle and said, "here. Try to be more prepared next time."

Opening one eye cautiously Bubbles looked over in Butch's direction and at the sight of water she shot up, "really?" She reached out with her own hand but hesitated, she really wanted it but he could be messing with her. Something he wasn't shy about doing in the past.

Sighing and taking a sip from his own he taunted, "you have 5 seconds or I chug it all." He laughed as she swiped the bottle from his hand and practically ripped the cap off. Bubbles was halfway done before she pulled the water away from her lips and exhaled with contentment.

It had been a little warm but she wasn't going to complain. "Thanks." Pulling her legs beneath her in a criscross position she took out the two haphazard pigtails she had thrown her hair into that morning, raking her fingers through the thick waves before parting her hair and reaching up above on one side to begin braiding.

"So," she cautiously started, "can I ask how Monday went?"

Stiffening slightly Butch leaned his forearms onto his knees and hunched over as he looked out at the crashing waves. Ace's reaction had gotten under his skin, it had burrowed it's way under and made him irritable. Well, more irritable than he usually was as a hormonal teenager with Chemical X running through his veins.

Gruffly he said, "it wasn't good."

He couldn't see Bubbles watching him as she continued working on one of her dutch braids but he could feel her eyes fixated on him.

"Are you alright?" her voice had returned to being softer now, a hint of worry trailing the end of her query.

"I'm fine," he could hear the tone in his own voice shifting an invisible wall up between them and took another sip of water, "can we talk about something else? Or, y'know, not talk at all?"

Swiftly her fingers worked through the first braid, nearing the end, and even through Bubbles wanted to push on and ask him more she figured he'd just get angry with her. "Fine, I'll drop that," putting the emphasis on 'that' so he knew she'd start peppering him with questions again. "Are you mostly healed up? My shoulder wound finally closed up but it's still pretty tender. You need to stop picking at your scab so much, that's why you haven't healed up fully, you know."

Incredulously Butch looked at her, but Bubbles just shamelessly wrapped a hair tie around the end of the braid before she started on the other side. "I already told you, babes love a dude with scars, hop off my dick, sugartits."

"Blossom's right, you boys do have potty mouths."

"Hey, if you knew what else my mouth could do then you wouldn't be complaining." Giving her an eyebrow wiggle and then cackling at her reddening face Butch began screwing the cap back onto his water and tossed it on top of his sweatshirt. "C'mon, I think I've figured out why you're having trouble with holding the barrier."

Quickly she wrapped up on the other braid before hopping up and following after him as he walked a few feet away. "This isn't going to be another of your dirty innuendos, right?"

Mildly amused Butch just remarked, "don't lie, you love when I talk like that because no other boy would dare to do so." Bubbles answered by putting her hands on her hips and glared at him. He was definitely right about that, though as she and her sisters got older the boys were also getting more daring. "Jeeze, relax. It's serious this time." He turned to face her, "now stand like you're about to throw up a barrier."

With some skepticism Bubbles planted her feet and threw her hands up in front of her. She stayed like this while Butch walked around her with his brows furrowed in study. She was incredibly self-conscious and really felt like he was about to turn and make one of his remarks when his voice interrupted her, "your stance is completely wrong."

"Huh?" Bubbles was starting to turn but was shocked at how close Butch had come, he was crouching down slightly behind her left leg. She was about to scoot away from him when he looked up at her, the serious and level look in his eyes making her clamp down on her own tongue and actions.

"Here," his hands were on her leg as he pulled it back, and then shifting her foot to the side in the sand. He was surprised she wasn't fussing or complaining this time around but decided not to chance it by saying anything, "you need to bend this knee more. Like this," Butch wasn't paying much attention as he stood and moved to her other side and dropped in front of her right leg, "move this leg forward and try to use this one to command your direction."

She was silent as she watched him actually move her around into a proper stance, his expression was rather thoughtful. Standing he put his hand on her forearm, "you shouldn't put your arms so far away, it gives you less control." Drawing it back he continued, "but you don't want them to be too close either, you can't handle one hand yet so you'll need both in the meantime." Butch crossed in front of her and fixed the other arm position, "you need plenty of room to be able to push outwards, staying extended the whole time will get you nowhere."

Shaking his head he pushed her shoulders slightly, "you need better posture, you're totally folded in on yourself." Bubbles tried to follow where his hands were, and she had to admit she didn't feel as tensed up how he was repositioning her, only slightly embarrassed.

Giving a nervous laugh she said, "I didn't know you'd be this hands on," Butch stopped short and looked down at her while she looked up, no real expression on her face at the moment. All he could think was that Buttercup was really going to kick his ass later if she knew he'd been touching her sister.

The serious demeanor was gone as he held both hands in front of him, "yo, I wasn't-."

"It's fine." She looked away and shifted slightly, "you're right, this does feel more controlled."

Butch cleared his throat and walked away a few steps, "O.K. now I want you to put the barrier up again, don't focus on the circumference, just make sure it's more solid."

Exhaling, Bubbles closed her eyes for a moment, the last thing she saw was Butch looking at her expectantly. Somehow that put more pressure on her, but determined to focus she felt the blaze of the pale sapphire glow growing around her fingertips before she opened her eyes and pushed into focus a much stronger barrier. It wasn't any larger than she was but it buzzed with far more strength than her previous ones.

"Good," Butch was walking around in a semi-circle to observe her, "try moving it around though."

Carefully she did as he requested but found that the stronger the barrier the higher the buzz was, it felt like it was going to snap between her hands. Fingers tingling, she managed to pivot only slightly before it tore like lightning and slammed off the sand. Stumbling back with a yelp, Bubbles furiously began rubbing her palms on her shirt abdomen. It had actually hurt. Withdrawing her hands from her body she looked at her palms, the pink and irritated tinge on them screamed with unanticipated discomfort.

Underneath her hands Butch's grasped the bottom of them, his hands felt warm and dry on her own flesh but what surprised her more was that he was actually inspecting her skin carefully. It was true, through both encounters that they had endured together she had seen he really could be selfless but seeing him actually looking at a minor injury of hers with some sort of concern was… surprising. One thumb glided down her palm, and when she didn't react he released her hands and looked at her.

"That happens, good news is you're stronger than I thought." The crooked grin on his lips made her raise her eyebrows in question.

"And the bad news?" Good news was always followed by bad news. It was pretty much karmic law.

"Bad news is the only way to get better is to keep doing it and get used to the weight of that power." Cringing slightly Bubbles looked back at her hands but Butch continued, "it'll numb up after awhile, it's good to practice through the pain."

"That sounds like something Buttercup would say," Bubbles remarked, but Butch was already walking away again.

"Don't let her fool you, she got all of that from me." And there was the cocky expression on his face she seemed to know so well.

Rolling her eyes Bubbles questioned, "so what do we do now? I want to keep going but…" it had hurt.

"Work through it," any sympathy he had had for her was gone but he was still fairly casual in addressing her, "make it smaller and try moving it again, and con-cen-trate." He drew out this last part as if she were a slow child and it made her wrinkle her nose in distaste.

"I know," she sarcastically remarked back. With a huff she looked at her hands again before regaining a steady stance and focusing on a smaller barrier. This time the humming of the light wasn't so surprising and she felt a more pleased and confident grin growing over her lips. Of course as she pivoted again and came to a stop it snapped painfully again between her hands. This time she didn't yelp or jump, just frustratedly stomped a foot in the sand.

"C'mon, cupcake. Again." Butch held himself confidently, studying something that he knew didn't come easy. Bubbles shot him a scowl but repositioned herself and again the pale sapphire glow began to grow between her hands.

This time Butch was the one to stop what they were doing, "alright, alright, I think we're good for one day." He only started walking backwards a few steps before pivoting back towards the rocks. Stunned, Bubbles finally dropped the barrier that she had finally gotten the hang of moving around and started to jog after him.

The strain in her arms and ankles proved she was really not used to holding her powers that long, and even though it had probably been only thirty minutes or so it didn't make it any less difficult. The palms of her hands however felt like they were raw and screaming from the electric snaps, the constant stinging had caused her to tear up a few times but it had been pride that kept her from not saying anything. Butch already thought she was a big baby and didn't like "crying girls" as he had put it, she didn't need him to give up on her when they'd only just begun.

He was taking another sip of his water and appeared to be checking the time on his phone when Bubbles asked after taking a gulp of water, "so when can we practice again?"

Amused, Butch looked over at her, "damn, blondie, I didn't know you wanted to spend so much time together." He ignored her expression as he opened his calendar app, continuing with his thoughts, "you should be practicing every day. Minimum of 20 minutes, and I don't care if you had to 'go fight crime', you still need to practice."

Bubbles pulled out her own phone and grimaced, the two missed calls from The Professor and texts from Blossom asking where she was. It was roughly 8am, so Buttercup was definitely asleep still… she'd just let them know she went to volunteer early that morning. That was always a safe bet. There was a pit of guilt as she sent the message to Blossom and The Professor but she wasn't really doing anything bad or wrong.

"Yo, did you hear me?" Butch's voice brought her out of her own world and she turned to face him.

Placating she explained, "sorry, Blossom and The Professor were wondering where I am. I just needed to message them back."

He knew she wouldn't go blabbing to her family that she was with him, but he gave her a cautious look before continuing, "whatever. I've got practice Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday after school this week so-," he wasn't even able to finish his own thought.

"What about Wednesday?" Eyeing up her own schedule that day appeared to be in the clear. "Blossom tutors and Buttercup has practice on Wednesdays."

He couldn't find a reason that Wednesday wouldn't work, sighing he pinched between his brows and said, "fine, Wednesday around 4:30, here."

"Will anyone be here?" Bubbles questioned, but by the look Butch gave her she just huffed and crossed her arms, "it was just a question. You don't need to be so grumpy."

Throwing his bag over his shoulder and dumping his sweatshirt into it he strode over to her and tweaked her nose in a teasing manner, "spending time with you makes me grumpy, can't help it." She swatted his hand away and was about to throw a punch when she noticed that gleam in his eyes, it wasn't malicious, and his crooked grin only confirmed that. "Later," he floated off before really surging through the sky, the dark emerald trail behind him fading fast.

~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

Clicking the lock button on his key fob, Mike turned and began walking up to the townhouse, his backpack slung over one shoulder. He was raising his finger to ring the doorbell when the door swung open suddenly and caused Mike to jump. Fixing his glasses on his face he was greeted by a tall and curvy woman with an only slightly unnerving smile. "It's nice to see you, Mr. Believe."

"Ah, yeah, you too, Ms. Marion." Mike had met the Jojo boy's caretaker a few times over the last three years but he still didn't know what exactly she was. It wasn't human though, he knew that at least.

Holding the door open she ushered him in, "don't worry, I won't be hovering around this evening." This was the first time Mike had been to the house, normally she dropped Boomer off at his place. Especially for the birthday parties when the boys were younger. "We ordered pizza, no complaints?"

Shaking his head as he moved through the foyer Mike answered, "no, ma'am."

"Awh," she clasped her hands together, "you should teach these boys of mine to be more polite, they could do with better manners."

Embarrassed, Mike was about to chime in that he wasn't that polite when Brick came down the steps, laptop jammed under his arm. "You know better than to ask for miracles, Marion." She only rolled her eyes at him and Mike gave a half smile. He hadn't spent much time with Brick over the years. Yeah, he and Boomer hung out a few times a year and gamed online all the time but he'd never been exactly close with the notorious leader of the Rowdyruff Boys.

Brick gestured with his head, "c'mon, we're just hanging in the living room." He led off around the corner and down the hall leaving Mike to utter a quick statement to Marion.

"It was good seeing you again, ma'am." She only shook her head and moved into the kitchen as he hustled behind Brick.

"You don't need to be so formal, dude," Brick explained, but before Mike could retort they stepped into the living room and immediately Mike was met with more familiar faces.

Boomer gave a friendly wave from his position on the couch while Mitch was swiping his phone out of Samson's hands, Pablo and Jeff were conversing over a change the school had recently made and Elmer was sitting on the floor sniggering at whatever Samson had found on Mitch's phone. It really was going to be a "guys night in" for sure.

Plopping his backpack down by the other bags Mike took a look at Jeff and asked, "dude, how'd they get your chair in? There's like six steps out front." Jeff just gave Mike a look and gestured to Brick.

"How else?" Brick placed his laptop down on the coffee table before sitting in one of the other plush chairs in the room, leaving Mike to hop onto the sectional with his other friends. He wasn't sure why he always forgot that Jeff and Brick were friends. They'd been on student council for years together and even before that had always gotten along… maybe because Brick threatened to kick the shit out of some guys that bullied Jeff his freshman year.

Elmer gave Mike a hand clasp, his deep voice rumbling, "way to run late." But Mike just shook him off.

"A wizard is never late-," but before he could finish he was interrupted by Mitch.

"And this is why no one wants to play D&D with you, dude." Smugly Boomer leaned over and hissed to Mike rather loudly.

"He's just mad he died in the beginning of your last campaign."

Samson groaned, "please tell me I did not come over for Nerdfest 5: The Nerdening." Pablo and Mitch laughed at his terrible joke and Elmer rolled his eyes.

Although many said puberty hit them like a truck it couldn't be more true than for Elmer. He went from a husky, paste eating, nervous wreck, to the muscled quarterback who stood taller than any of them at 6'5. Dude was hit by the train of puberty hard, but still managed to be humble. When opposing teams first started calling him the "ghost of Townsville High," it had been a huge crack in his confidence, but after his friends and the team changed it into a legend it had put him back on his feet. Since he wasn't on the field or at school he had his usual large round glasses sitting on his face as he enjoyed his downtime.

Elmer looked around before nodding towards Brick, "so Butch really isn't joining us?"

Samson leaned over and clasped a hand on Elmer's shoulder. Dramatically he raised his other hand to his forehead and forlornly stated, "he's abandoned us for a woman! Can you believe that?"

"I'd abandon you for a chocolate bar sooo…" Mitch shrugged at Samson who just glared at him.

"Et tu, Mitch?"

Pablo quipped, "Mitch, I see your chocolate bar and raise you… an AP midterm."

Jeff laughed and clapped Pablo on the shoulder, "you don't take any AP classes."

"Exactly," Pablo said, and someone said in a joking manner, "oooohh ouch."

"Whatever, you guys can't afford me anyways," Samson sunk back into the couch and Mike just gave him a weird look.

"Wasn't aware you were a sex worker in your free time."

Samson just gave Mike the finger and grumbled but Mitch slapped him on the back, "get over it, ya dork. I'm voting for the classic action movie Die Hard for tonight's viewing."

"But Christmas was over a month ago," commented Boomer. Mitch just turned on him unamused.

"It is a movie for all seasons."

"Oh my god…" Brick shook his head and slapped his forehead, Jeff just sniggered.

"Aren't you glad I talked you into joining us?"

Looking at him skeptically Brick remarked, "I am already regretting you talking me into joining. I could be upstairs-," but he was interrupted by Jeff.

"Doing homework-," and before he even finished Samson piped in.

"Masturbating!"

"Stalking Blossom's social media?" Mike suggested.

"Oh! That's exactly it!" Pablo exclaimed and pointed at Brick.

"No!" Brick shouted, then leaned against his left arm. "I couldn't care less what Red does."

"You two study each other like damn army generals on opposing sides. It's like you two enjoy having the upper hand on each other." Pablo elaborated further, across from him Boomer was just trying to suppress his grin, he found it hilarious in all honesty. Brick and Blossom? Yeah, when HIM decides to give up his evil ways. Fat chance.

Brick was giving Boomer the 'eye' when the doorbell rang and two minutes later Marion called out, "pizza is here!"

"Oh thank god." Brick pushed himself off the chair and motioned to Jeff, "follow me around this way, there's better clearance." With a humored laugh Jeff backed his chair up before pushing himself forward, following just behind Brick.

As the rest of the guys started to stand and file into the kitchen Mike asked Boomer, "Hanout couldn't make it?"

Shaking his head Boomer explained, "no, his sister just got engaged so he said he's stuck with a family dinner. I don't think he likes the guy very much?" Shrugging as he wasn't entirely sure, they stepped into the kitchen and Boomer hollered at Samson, "dude! You don't need 4 pieces at once!"

"Watch me!"

Right around midnight Jeff's brother came to pick him up, as Brick was effortlessly assisting him out Jeff whispered, "try to stay downstairs with the rest of the guys. If I didn't have an appointment in the morning I'd force you too."

Grumbling a bit Brick answered, "yeah, we'll see." But one pitying look from Jeff made Brick give a forceful, "fine, I'll stay down with them."

"And actually camp out?"

"I am not sleeping on the floor," Brick said as he assisted Jeff's brother in loading him into the car.

Rolling his eyes as he locked himself in place Jeff replied, "you're such a princess." The statement seemed to spark in him something he'd forgotten to mention. "Also, don't plan to go anywhere next Friday night, I got hired to DJ and the invites should be coming out soon."

Skeptically Brick remarked as he backed up, "I highly doubt I'm on any list for an event you're working." Jeff's brother gave Brick a quick handshake and before he closed the door Jeff smugly replied to him.

"Trust me, you're on the list."

Brick backed up as the van drove off down the street, he watched until it turned the corner and slowly made his way back into the house. Shucking his shoes off at the door he heard a small clattering coming from the kitchen and padded in. Upon first glance no one was in there, puzzled, Brick stepped further in.

Suddenly Mike stood from the other side of the kitchen island, holding onto a large spoon that Marion must've left out on the counter. Jumping only slightly each boy gave a small yelp before they just blinked at one another. Sheepishly Mike began to apologize, "sorry about that- I just came in to-," but he wasn't able to finish.

Inexplicably Brick was laughing at himself, the chuckle escaping his lips before he could even stop it. Why did he always have his guard up? And in his own home? Surrounded by… mostly friends. Snorting through his nose he stepped forward, "no one ever surprises me. Thanks." Mike was puzzled all the same but he himself smiled and grabbed the water bottle he had left unattended. Seeing Brick in his own home was far less intimidating than the school hallways.

"You're welcome I guess?" Still confused but not nearly as intimidated as he had previously been they walked back to join the rest of the guys halfway through rainbow road. Boomer had broken out his ancient Game Cube for the night and passed out controllers, currently Mitch was moaning about being behind Pablo and Elmer was telling them to 'suck it bitches' as he gained a further lead.

Boomer twisted around on the couch and raised his eyebrows at his brother, if he hadn't had the super hearing then he wouldn't have heard his brother yell. Brick knew exactly what his look was and shoved him backwards by the face. "Shut up."

Taking his seat back on the single chair he took a quick look at his phone, it was already 12:18am, Butch should've been home by now. Before he could text or dial he was interrupted by Pablo tossing a controller at him, "I can't deal with Elmer winning dude, Boom says you're good at this game?"

Only giving Boomer a sideways glance for a fraction of a moment he took the controller in his hands, "the best."

"Kick his ass!" Pablo cheered and Elmer waved his buddy off.

"Brick can try," confident in his wins so far.

Standing up to plop down on the rug with the other two Brick settled in, "I am going to enjoy this."

Picking his character before they entered into the race, Mitch grew tense before saying, "if I don't make it out of this alive," he looked seriously at Samson, "avenge me."

Boomer took a drink out of a soda can and put it back on the coffee table, Mike had leaned back into his own seat on the couch and was watching along with amusement while Pablo cheered the other guys on. "So, not so bad for my first guys night?" Boomer asked Mike, trying to keep any hesitancy out of his voice.

Surprised that Boomer would ask him that Mike just gave a short chuckle, "uh, yeah, dude. Why are you so surprised?" Boomer only looked slightly uncomfortable as he fidgeted. Mike just took off his glasses and wiped down a smudged edge before popping them back on. They were only a minor script, and more than that he wore them since they were blue light protecting and he was constantly gaming. "You're not a pariah."

"I just don't know why it took me so long," Boomer picked at the skin around his thumbnail, "because I've been having fun." The smile that made its way onto his face was genuine, and he felt a laugh move his chest in surprise. The last month had been a whole change; running through the city's underground, losing Mojo, finding Mojo, having lunch with friends, working on a duet for the spring concert, and becoming friends with the girls.

"Just 'cause you were a bit of a shit as a kid doesn't mean that's who you are forever." Mike grinned, "I mean, I caused some trouble myself so I should know."

Smirking, Boomer glanced over, "pretty sure you still cause trouble, Believe." Mike leaned over and socked Boomer in a friendly manner on the arm. Even if he had thrown his actual weight behind it there's no way that it would've hurt, Mike was familiar with how the girls were when it came to pain, without the doubt the guys were the same.

From the front of the house the sound of the door slamming could be heard, and just as Elmer sent a shell after Brick to reclaim his first place position Butch walked in and leaned on the doorframe. "Any pizza left over? Or did Samson devour it all?"

"Baby!" Samson stood and made a kissy face, "you're home from betraying me!" Rolling his eyes, Butch waved him off and dipped back into the kitchen. Pablo just gave Samson a skeptical look.

"Betraying you?"

"Uh yeah, he went on a double date with Harry. He knows that's our thing." He finished his soda and Mike had quite the smug look on his face.

"For that to be 'your thing', Sam, you kind of have to go on dates."

Butch snorted at the answer as he walked back into the room with a can of soda and cracked it open. "I thought you were a romantic, dude." He smirked slightly, as he took a drink from the can.

"Well," Samson started, "until I can convince one of the girls to fall in love with me I'm open to some practice dates." Butch nearly choked on his drink and Brick was distracted enough to allow Elmer to pass him with a whoop of victory.

Mike laughed, "it's your funeral if you want to eat Blossom's cooking for the rest of your life, man." This opened more laughter from the guys and Boomer had to admit this wasn't the first he'd heard of it. Butch and Brick on the other hand had never heard of something along those lines before.

"You mean, little-ms-perfect can't cook for shit?" Butch asked incredulously, coming closer to lean against the couch.

"She's not that bad," Pablo started defensively around his friends but knew his smile was tense. Mitch snorted as the guys let the game roll with it's after race animation.

"It's like the last six years have been wiped from your memory." Now Mitch turned a serious expression to Butch, who had to admit it kind of caught him off guard. "The girls aren't perfect and they don't pretend to be. If you want to be their friend you gotta drop that shit." Brick and Butch exchanged a look while Boomer was just taking it all in. He knew that they all knew it, but when you've been compared to the girls your whole life you felt like one of those imperfections that needed to be smudged from the history books. "But it's fine to tease them, Butterbutt and Bubs are the easiest to get a rise out of."

"Unless you say 'fuck', then Bloss'll get all kinds of flustered," Pablo followed up. Laughing he pointed at Mike, "remember when you kept saying 'gosh' and 'golly' all last year?"

Only slightly mortified, Mike buried his head behind his hands and grumbled, "I swear Bubbles just whispers that shit into your brain until you start saying that, I even said the word 'gee' to my parents."

"Like an episode of Leave it to Beaver," Elmer observed, "you're turning into a quintessential small town boy, Believe."

Brick lifted his chin slightly, "go have your water break before I actually kick your ass on the track, these guys are just distracting."

With some surprise Butch looked at his leader as Elmer chuckled and gave Brick the finger before padding off to the bathroom. It was probably the most relaxed he'd seen him in ages. Sure, he'd been in a surprisingly jovial mood Monday night but Brick hanging out with people was a whole other level of weird for Butch. He knew Brick had friends but he usually kept to himself in the grand scheme of things.

Indicating with a nod at Mike, Butch said, "move on over, Believe." Taking a seat with his hand dangling over the armrest he took another sip of his drink before asking, "so someone finally beat Brick at Mario Kart?"

Scowling from the floor Brick just flipped him off, "I was warming up." He had the controller in his hand and indicated towards Butch with it, "I can still kick your ass, bitch."

Mitch gave a low whistle at Butch and waved his controller at him, "I can't keep losing my dignity to Elmer, it's someone else's turn."

"But I just got comfortable and Believe will be devastated if I leave his side now." Butch lamented, but Mike just gave him a bewildered expression.

Mitch only waved it off, "give him a kiss on the forehead and avenge a fallen brother."

Boomer smirked, "I wasn't aware we were all at 'brother' status now."

"Well," Mitch started, "Elmer clearly has no respect and Samson is useless so Butch is just as good."

"Hey-," Samson started, feigning indignation.

"Fine," Butch stood and put his soda on the coffee table, "but I'm not kissing Believe." He started to trudge over to Mitch's spot to take the controller and purposefully bumped Brick with his foot.

"It's never a bad idea to kiss the homies, Butch." Mike pointed out, Mitch stood and took Butch's seat, throwing an arm around Mike.

At that moment Elmer rejoined them and noted he was now up against two Jojo brothers. "Hey, guys, is that really fair?"

Boomer reassured him, "oh don't worry, Butch is shit at this game."

"I am not," glowering from the floor, Butch narrowed his eyes but Brick flicked the side of his temple.

"No powers in the house."

Elmer rubbed his hands together, "alright, who wants to put money on this round? I can't wait to take both your asses down."

Butch playfully, and very lightly, jabbed at Elmer's shoulder while he went to sit down, "shut up, I'll put $5 down."

Pinching the bridge of his nose Brick sighed, "we are not gambling."

It didn't take long for the three to start joking in about raising the stakes, while Mitch was chatting with Pablo and Samson tried to referee the game situation, Mike leaned over to Boomer and whispered, "I'd say it's been a pretty good night." And Boomer, relieved, had to agree.

~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

Pulling a pitcher from the fridge Buttercup was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. With a heavy sigh she already knew who it was going to be. She was just waiting a few seconds to see if either Blossom or Bubbles would be the ones to answer it first, however her question was quickly answered when Blossom's voice rang out, "Buttercup, can you get the door?"

Grumbling she put the pitcher back and responded, "yeah, yeah, I got it." She could swear her sisters were hiding from the boys, which overall was just weird. But Blossom was 'on the verge of a breakthrough' and Bubbles was helping Clark with something language related in the lab. Walking to the base of the steps and into the foyer she didn't even bother looking through the peephole, swinging the door open she was greeted by the three faces of the Rowdyruff Boys.

They looked tired, like, really tired. With an eyebrow quirked in question Buttercup asked, "damn, did a pipe burst or something?"

Boomer looked genuinely curious as he worked to stifle a yawn, "wha'dya mean?" And failed miserably keeping that yawn at bay.

Buttercup pointed a finger at them, "looks like you were up all night."

"Can we come in?" Brick asked, uncomfortable with her grilling them as they stood outside of the Utonium residence. Buttercup just shrugged and moved out of the way for the three to file in. Even though it had been a little over a week it still felt like the boys were seeing the house for the first time again.

"C'mon, you can keep your shoes on," Buttercup stuffed her hands into her hoodie pocket as she moved over to the lab door, "The Professor, Dr. Stark, and Dr. Hamilton are all downstairs."

"Is something wrong?" There was an underlying panic in Brick's words and even Butch and Boomer tensed at the concern their leader voiced.

Half hesitating Buttercup turned and felt like she was beginning to laugh but one glance at their drawn faces told her that she didn't need to be such a dick about it. She'd seen Brick's concern for his mentor and "father" when they'd discovered Mojo underground. She knew that the boys did have a love that ran deep for the primate. "No," opening the door, "they're always working, just figured I'd give you a heads up."

Brick and Boomer exchanged a glance while Butch looked at his sneakers on the floor, they'd been ready for additional bad news, so they were all hesitant on accepting relief at the moment. Following Buttercup down the steps and into the bright lab the boys were welcomed with the sight of The Professor with his sleeves rolled up again while he was studying over something with a tall blonde woman, Dr. Hamilton who they had briefly met was wrapping something up with a very pleased looking Bubbles.

"Hey, Professor, the Rowd- ah, the boys are here," calling them out by their "Rowdyruff" title was fine for her and her sisters, but maybe with the additional doctors in the room probably not the best call. Saving their reputations and all.

Turning his head the Professor gave a small smile, "welcome back, under much better circumstances at that." He stood and motioned to his colleagues. "You met Clark briefly, or saw him at least." The tall man gave a nod of his head and a wave while the Professor continued, "and this is Dr. Stark, she arrived a few hours after you left."

Smiling, Dr. Stark said, "just call me Elizabeth." She was easily 6ft at least and the freckles that were across her warm skin leant her a younger looking appearance.

Nudging Boomer, Butch hissed, "damn, just call me 'winter'," Boomer's eyes went wide and he looked at the ground, his face bright red. Buttercup on the other hand had caught it and sharply elbowed Butch in the side, he leaned over just a bit but Brick was already walking forward to shake the doctor's hand.

"You're a fuckin perv," Buttercup hissed at him, she looked over and noticed Bubbles looking at her disapprovingly, but Buttercup just waved a hand, "it was deserved."

Bubbles beamed at Dr. Hamilton and concluded with the translations she had been assisting on, "welp! I'm gonna go upstairs and finish my homework, just let me know if you need anything else." She beelined past them and Boomer offered her a friendly wave which she returned.

Butch watched her hustle by and caught Boomer's little exchange with his counterpart. "You two boning or something?" He muttered beneath his breath, not the kind of talk a 'father' wants to hear about his own.

Incredulously Boomer looked at his brother, "you're unbelievable, we can be friends you know." He gave a shake of his head before he went and shook Dr. Stark's hand, "thanks for helping." He wasn't sure what else to say and in all honesty his stomach was in knots knowing he was going to see Mojo shortly.

"Yeah," Butch agreed, shaking the doctor's hand, she was easily eye level with them so Butch now felt a little embarrassed with her looking at him so calmly. Had she heard him?

Behind her Clark stepped forward and put a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, "we think he's been making great progress, although it's difficult to say to what degree he'll be affected once he's awake."

"Yes," the Professor agreed, "why don't you gentlemen follow me, he's beginning to look less emaciated so I have a feeling that should settle you some while looking at him."

"Well," Buttercup interjected, rocking back on her heels, "I'm going to go upstairs now."

"Wait, honey, before you go," the Professor stopped her, Buttercup looked at him tensely, "could you run to the market for me and grab another loaf of French bread and a pound of ground beef?"

Relieved it was only that she shrugged, "sure." Beginning her ascent to the main house Buttercup quickly shut the door behind her and relieved to be away from the tension the Rowdyruff's had been carrying with them, "thank god."

"We don't know if he can hear you, but feel free to talk to him if you wish, it never hurts," the Professor spoke as he opened the other door in the lab that led to the back room he had taken Mojo to the weekend before. The room was sterile, as expected, and since it was underground there were no windows. There were a handful of hospital beds that were unoccupied, clean blue and white sheets were pristine except for the bed across from Mojo which was a little rumpled and had two half full water bottles and a couple of books scattered on it. There were also sturdy chairs nearby all the beds, two were positioned by the occupied bed, clearly pulled over.

The more remarkable thing about the small room were two lamps, they were currently off but one hovered high above Mojo's form. The large rectangular head had an almost iridescent sheen to it, like clear oil in water, the curved neck was attached to a much larger base that was perched on four locked wheels. Small beeps came from the various machines that Mojo was attached to, and as they drew closer, they noticed a milky looking glass structure was encasing his exposed brain.

Boomer and Butch had no trouble showing their puzzlement, but Brick on the other hand approached his mentor and studied the device with hard eyes. It too was hooked up to several wires and as he picked one up in his fingers the sound of Clark's voice broke the quiet of the room. "Ah, be careful with that."

Letting it fall back to the pillow Brick kept his eyes on Mojo, "what is it?" He was biting hard at the inside of his cheek, ready to go on the defense if the answer didn't satisfy him.

Boomer stood beside Brick as Butch stood at the base, he hadn't gotten a good look at the primate and so seeing him here looking so… small. There was something to be said about seeing those you care about most in hospital beds. Clark came around the other side, he still smiled in a friendly manner, "it's an invention of mine, they'll be distributing it out to several hundred hospitals within the next month."

His fingers deftly moved over the milky glass, a set of colored lights popped up under his fingertips and after a small combination the glass cleared to show the exposed brain. "It's far more effective than any MRI, and this one I've modified it to track the regrowth of the new brain as well as development."

Brick leaned forward carefully, maybe part of the reason he was so curious in what the machinery did was so he wouldn't have to face looking at Mojo and for the answers that might never come. "You said 'regrowth'?"

At this the Professor stepped forward and Clark punched the small lights to conceal the primate's mind once more. "Yes, with the administration of Chemical X we've taken notice in some regrowth, not much but the wounds sustained have been healing and promoting new tissue. It's unclear what his memory will be like as well as his motor functions but his brain did grow from exposure to the chemical in the first place." Thoughtfully the Professor looked at the Rowdyruff Boys and further said, "it is going to take time, the coma was medically induced when he was first brought in but we have attempted to wake him, it seems as if his body is protecting itself as much as possible while in recovery."

Absentmindedly Boomer's index and middle fingers were resting on the pale chartreuse pinky, but he stayed blunt as ever when he looked point blank at Elizabeth Stark and questioned, "so why are you here?"

Quickly Butch looked down and worked to suppress a laugh and it was a miracle that Boomer hadn't burst into flames the way Brick was intensely staring at him. "Not to be rude or anything," he followed up with as almost an afterthought.

To her credit Elizabeth didn't react harshly, but she gave Boomer a rather humored expression, "I'm here in a rehabilitative role, I'm monitoring his weight gain, reaction to added dietary supplements, muscle mass, and once he's awake he and I will address if he needs a transmitter or not." She looked over at the Professor, "to my understanding he has always been quite the chatterbox."

"You can say that again," Butch grumbled from the foot of the bed.

With a dignified manner the Professor had his hands in an almost pyramid shape while his fingertips touched, "we are studying this as closely as possible, it's not the same as giving the girls a heavy dose of the chemical and knowing how it will all react. The Chemical X is certainly speeding his recovery," with some skepticism all three boys looked at the usually animated face and inwardly grimaced at how drawn and blank it looked now, "but we truly don't know to what extent, and I've never studied Mojo after the transformation so I have nothing to compare it to. Just know we are monitoring him as closely as possible, when we aren't directly down here we have a video feed to check as well as alarms to be sent directly to us."

A heavy sigh came from Brick but he looked over at the Professor, "Thanks." And with that the Professor motioned for both doctors Hamilton and Stark to follow him out of the large room, leaving the boys to look on at the creature who had helped raise them.

"He looks so different," was all Boomer managed at first, but he looked over at Brick, "it's hard to believe he looked worse than this."

Brick only pursed his lips at his brother's response, not moving from his position by Mojo's head. With a sigh of his own Butch went and pulled two of the chairs over to where his brothers were standing, "we might as well sit, not much else we can do." Agreeing they pulled up the chairs to sit in while Butch pulled another one over to the other side of the bed and sat. For awhile they just sat in silence, they'd been expecting many different outcomes, but they hadn't been mentally prepared for handling the aftermath. After a few more minutes Butch wondered aloud, "how'd he lose so much weight so quickly?"

Looking across at him, Brick suggested, "well two weeks without proper food, his body running on high anxiety and in 'flight' mode, plus the Chemical X in his system… probably a combination of all those. He had water to survive on, but that was probably the only thing keeping him alive when Buttercup and I found him."

"Or he killed rats and mice to eat," Boomer suggested, ignoring Butch's look of disgust.

"Seriously, dude?"

"I'm just saying, he had energy previously, so he had to be eating something. Haven't you heard of The Donner Party?"

"I'm pretty sure they ate each other, dumbass."

"Well they had to eat something before they ate each other, asshole. You don't just turn around and start cannibalizing people."

Pinching the bridge of his nose again Brick muttered, "oh my God…," he wasn't even going to attempt to squash this.

"If we end up stranded and powerless I'm gonna cannibalize you first day food runs out."

"You fuckin' would," Boomer gave Butch an accusatory look and then motioned at Brick, "you're just going to let him eat your own brother?"

"He's my brother too," Butch huffed.

"I am staying out of this, you two dumbasses are gonna get yourselves killed and I'm just going to mind my own damn business."

"We are your business," Butch pointed out, but Brick only rolled his eyes.

"What does Marion always say? 'Not my monkeys, not my zoo'? Yeah, that."

Puzzled for a moment Boomer said, "but we are your monkeys."

"Let's have a truce," Butch pointed a finger at Boomer, "we eat Brick instead."

"Hey! I said leave me out of this!"

"Deal," reaching across the bed Boomer and Butch shook hands and Brick just scowled at them.

"Some loyalty you two have…"

Bubbles moved to the oven to check in on the meatballs, she called over to the Professor who was mincing additional garlic, "we look pretty good over here, you sure had me make a lot more." She said this with a knowing but accusatory expression.

Heading to the sink to wash his hands he nonchalantly remarked, "now, sweetheart, I just think we should make more, that's all."

Buttercup huffed from her position on the couch, "they've been down there for over an hour, jeeze, it's not like they can really talk to him."

Peeking her head out from the doorway Bubbles glared at her sister, "you don't need to be so negative." Buttercup only waved her off.

Her short, "whatever," was less than satisfying but Bubbles just huffed and turned around to check on the boiling water for the pasta.

Shortly Clark came up from the lab, the three Rowdyruffs in tow. The boys didn't have that weary look in their eyes, almost as if just seeing the recovery of Mojo was enough to satisfy that creature of worry that had burrowed itself deep within their chests. Clark could be heard saying, "please don't hesitate to call, day or night one of us is always awake."

"Sure, thanks," Brick gave a somewhat awkward shake of the doctor's hand before asking, "is Professor Utonium up here?"

"Yes, yes," he came bustling past Bubbles and partially out of the kitchen, Brick felt the corner of his mouth quirk slightly at the silly apron the renowned scientist was wearing. Chances were that Boomer and Butch were doing the same but they were slightly behind their leader.

"Thanks again, for letting us see him," now Brick glanced back at his brothers before looking back to the Professor, "we needed it. Please, let us know when we can come by again." This polite persona on the young man was so different from the hostile one he'd been wearing earlier, and even last week.

A bit surprised, the Professor replied, "of course, although why don't you stay for dinner?"

Behind him Buttercup snapped up straight as a board from her position on the couch and her eyes were shooting daggers at her father and creator. What was he thinking? Clearly the boys were just as caught off guard, Butch's jaw dropped slightly and Boomer with his eyes wide shut it for him.

Raising his hands in front of him Brick started, "you don't have to do that, you're doing more than enough."

Behind him Butch leaned forward and hissed, "dude, free homemade meal?" To which Brick just gave a short stomp of his foot onto Butch's toes, the dark haired young man wheezing quietly, "ffffffffffffuuuuuuuuu-," behind him.

"I insist," the Professor started, and Bubbles just had a cat who had eaten the canary look on her face as she looked over at Buttercup on the couch, "we've got plenty and if it makes you feel better you can help set up the table."

Standing rather blankly, Brick was caught off guard, however Boomer stepped forward and didn't even acknowledge his brother, "sure, just point me in the direction of the table."

Brick whipped his head to look at Boomer but before he could say anything Butch was stepping forward on his other side, "I can always eat, but I'm kinda shit in the kitchen." There was a slightly disapproving look on the Professor's face at the choice of language, but it wasn't anything he hadn't heard from Buttercup. Much to Blossom's dismay.

"Brick is pretty handy in the kitchen," Boomer offered, Brick stood there stunned while Bubbles clapped her hands together.

"I'll grab the plates! Buttercup? Can you and Boomer extend the table?" She backtracked into the kitchen with only a slight flounce as she called over her shoulder, "Butch, you can grab the silverware."

"Make sure he doesn't steal it," Buttercup smirked and subtly flipped her counterpart off. "Follow me," she nodded with her head and Boomer trotted on after her.

"Ha-ha, Butterface, you're hilarious." Butch made a face at her as he followed Bubbles carefully into the kitchen."

Blinking, Brick looked and saw the Professor standing there patiently, "so, lucky for you all we need to do is reheat some sauce the girls made over the holidays and make the garlic bread. Have you done either?"

"Uh, yeah, I have a specific way for making the garlic bread though," this was a weird conversation to be having and he wasn't sure if he should be relieved or terrified of this situation. He followed into the kitchen and the Professor pointed out where the spice rack was as well as turning over some of the garlic he'd been mincing. Brick scanned over the spices before asking, "do you have any chili flakes?"

Raising his eyebrows the Professor asked, "adding some heat?"

"If that's alright, plus when you let it mix in the oil with the garlic and then bake it then it isn't too hot, just a kick." He didn't know why he'd explained it so much, his tone had been serious and the older man just nodded.

"It's in the long cabinet over there, second shelf," he indicated with his head, "I'll start reheating the sauce on the stove."

Brick turned to begin walking to the cabinet when he noticed Bubbles was showing Butch one of her palms as she balanced a stack of plates on her other hand. His brother's eyes were narrowed but not in a calculating or sneering sort of way, in fact he was touching her palm with his thumb as he drew her hands closer. Brick only caught her words of, "it still stings when I try to move with it-," but as soon as he took two more steps across the kitchen their heads both whipped around to catch his approach.

Only slightly flustered at the moment, Bubbles almost too brightly said, "O.K. lets get these to the table, Boomer and Buttercup should have it extended, c'mon." Butch still had that deer-caught-in-headlights look in his eye as he let her put her free hand around one of his wrists, his hand full of forks and spoons as she tugged him out of the other arch that entered the kitchen.

His brain sparked that something was up, although why those two would have anything to talk about was beyond him. Ignoring the interaction for the time being Brick set to collecting the chili flakes to create the mixture he'd put on the slices of bread.

Buttercup and Boomer had just completed putting in two additional table leafs and were pushing it back together, Bubbles stared at it for a moment before it hit her, "don't forget the table cloth."

Rolling her head dramatically, Buttercup walked over to a modern looking buffet and pulled out the midnight blue cloth, "I didn't," she mockingly sang back. As she began unfolding it and positioning it on the table Boomer stood back and observed.

"Not bad, you should sing with Bubbles and me in the Spring concert," his eyebrows were raised and he looked at her teasingly.

"What?" She barked, but Butch was cackling at her reaction while Bubbles just smiled politely.

"You're a good singer, Buttercup, your voice is so smoky and-," Bubbles was cut off by Buttercup taking some of the plates out of her hand.

"Not on your life, you dork." Bubbles began handing the rest of the plates out while Boomer fixed the chairs and Butch began arranging the utensils at the designated plate spots.

Suddenly he paused, "wait, you two are singing together?" It was hard to place the tone in his voice, but Bubbles nodded very matter-of-factly and Boomer gave a hum in reply.

"Yeah, I've been working on the sheet music this week," Boomer said.

Leaning over the table slightly Bubbles waved her hand to grab his attention, "actually, I was thinking that maybe we could make it a medley, keep the first song sweet and then weave this other sadder one in. What do you think?"

Thoughtfully Boomer considered it, "yeah, if you can get me that sheet music and a piece of paper I might be able to work that out."

"Great! I miiiiight have already printed it out," he looked just as bright eyed as his counterpart as she dashed off and he moved back to the living room to wait for her arrival. This of course left Buttercup and Butch together in the same room somewhat alone.

"Asshole," she crossed her arms.

"Bitch," he mirrored her movements. They were only in a slight standoff until Butch asked, "you have a bathroom I can use?"

She appeared to be mulling it over but said, "sounds like the guest is occupied and you can't use the master," with a sigh she put her head in her hands, "go upstairs and down the hall on the left side. Just don't touch anything." Her last words were bitten out sharply and with warning.

"Don't worry," he said with a sinister grin, "I'm not going on a panty-raid." He laughed as she mumbled under her breath.

"Oh! And while you're up there," she called to him as he ascended the stairs, "tell Blossom to get off her ass and help her family out!"

"Language, Buttercup!" The Professor called from the kitchen, Brick just gave him a side eye and slight raise of the corner of his mouth. He wasn't sure if Blossom developed the habit from the Professor or the other way around.

Washing his hands up under the warm water Butch stared at his reflection in the mirror, there was definitely something more positive in his face. Did he not look so dreary? Yeah, he still looked tired and had no doubt that he would pass out the second they got home tonight, that is- if Brick didn't harp on them about their homework. Turning the water off he flicked his fingers at the sink before drying them off on a small hand towel next to the sink.

The little touches of the girls were all over the bathroom; some half used glosses and lipstick tubes were on the counter, each color coordinated towel hung from separate hooks on the door, shampoo and body-wash containers peeking out from behind the shower curtain, and a single discarded earring next to the sink.

Except for the girly shit it looked similar to the bathroom he shared with his brothers. Maybe a little more organized? Honestly, who was he kidding? Stepping outside he noticed the other door in the hall was partially cracked open and curiosity got the best of him. He pushed the door open a little more and without even having to look at the girl studying over some photos and charts on a wall he'd know it had to be Blossom's room.

Organized to a T, the walls had a few framed charts and photo scenes of important scientific events and information, the bedspread wasn't rumpled in the slightest, the hooks on the wall had several bags hanging on display, the desk had a place for everything on it with clear acrylic holders with color coded pens in each one and a marked up calendar hanging on the wall above it. To no surprise the walls were a soft shade of pink, the spread itself was a creamy white and the pillows adorning it were various shades of pink, violet and coral.

"Jesus, did the creature embodiment of 'girly' vomit all over this room?"

Slightly startled Blossom whipped her body around, she cast him an indignant stare, "I refuse to answer something so childish." She turned back to the wall of photos and made a note in the small notebook she had in hand, plopping another colored pin on an indistinct spot on the city map.

He swung himself further into the room, "watcha workin' on?" He took another step in the room and his eyes narrowed on the map and photos spread over a board on the wall. It was the few photos of the victims so far, locations marked off for attacks, for sightings, for possible sightings, half written formulas and photos from Mojo's destroyed lab.

Without looking at him she just sighed and rolled her eyes, "I'm working on the attacks, if you must know."

The images of gore and violence stung at his brain, and he could swear he felt the healing marks on his hands burn just by remembering his encounter with the creatures under the city. Butch looked at his palms, making sure he wasn't going crazy but of course just the healing pink pinpricks of the creatures teeth were on his skin. His throat felt dry as he wiped his hands on the side of his pants and walked forward, coming up on Blossom's right he stood a little behind her but was nonetheless disturbed at what he was looking at.

"You sleep with all this here?"

Her face dropped in confusion and she whipped her head around again to see what he was indicating at. Looking at the board she furrowed her brow before looking back at him, "Of course, what if I wake up in the middle of the night with a missed realization? I have a city I need to protect."

Butch crossed his arms and leaned back slightly, he could be a dark person and normally blood and broken bones never bothered him much but all of this was hitting him in a tiny lizard brain he didn't know he possessed. There was dread sinking in his stomach. Blossom was uneasy at his silence, Butch might not have been the chattiest of the Ruff brothers but knowing he was lingering just behind her and studying what she was was a whole other possibility she never considered before.

Butch murmured, "This…," searching for the right way to say it but falling short, "Blossom, this isn't normal." She turned now to look at him, the stubborn set of her frame and eyes dared him to question her character further. "Even I know you need to keep this shit separate from your regular life."

Stunned by his words Blossom quickly jumped to the defense, "Detectives and scientists do this sort of thing all the time. It's perfectly normal."

Not exactly buying her answer he tossed back, "Yeah but they're fucking adults." Before she could correct his 'foul mouth' though he laid in with, "and I bet they sleep like shit too."

Furrowing her brow and walking to put her notepad on her desk she threw back at him, "you think I sleep like shit?"

"I know you sleep like shit." Butch smugly stood there with his arms crossed, skepticism was written on his face at any argument she could make about sleeping well.

"Well," she tossed her long braid over her shoulder, "I don't care about what you think, you don't know me."

"I know enough." Standing stubbornly, "you're going to get yourself and your sisters killed if you keep up with this shit." He hissed the last bit, not wanting them to catch what he was saying from downstairs. Not that they were actively listening for him.

At the mention of her sisters Blossom blazed, "we know what we signed up for." She was angrily hissing back at him, the last thing she wanted was for Buttercup or Bubbles to come up and investigate. "You've never cared before."

"Well I-," he stopped and blinked. In the reality of things he never wanted the girls to die, maybe get their asses handed to them on occasion but not die. He had seen true fear in Bubbles, cold down to your very bones fear, and he'd seen it twice. He'd seen the unease and caution on Buttercup when he told her she didn't want to fight those things. He'd felt that fear and uncertainty just as clearly as they did. Trying to backtrack he covered with, "Boomer is your friend and he cares about you three, and no one is allowed to make him miserable except for Brick and me."

This caught her off guard, surprised that Butch would be so defensive of his own brother and surprise at knowing that there was something else under the tightness of his jaw. Her face crumpled with a laugh, "why do I not believe you?"

"Look, it's not-," but Blossom cut him off.

"We know what we're doing." This was a lie she was telling herself; she really didn't have an idea at all about what was happening. "Brick has stressed this to me before, and I do understand the severity of the situation. We aren't little girls anymore."

"Wait, when were you with Brick?"

Ignoring him she moved forward and out into the hallway, Butch followed and as she closed her door behind them she said, "I love my sisters," the intensity and passion she stated this with Butch had no doubt, "I put their safety above my own and if I saw them doing what I am…"

"We'd kick your ass?"

Startled Blossom and Butch looked over at a grumpy looking Buttercup, hands on her hips. Blossom started, "it's not-," but Buttercup rolled her eyes.

"For once I agree with these douchecanoes," Butch was surprised at the backhanded compliment.

"Language," Blossom stated tersely.

Rolling her eyes Buttercup motioned at them, "dinner is ready." She started walking down the hall with the other two following her but she whipped around and faced Butch, "you better not've fucked with our shit."

"Buttercup, please," Blossom sighed, "watch the language."

Butch coyly stated, "oh I can't wait until you find my little surprise, Butterbabe."

"I will break every bone in your body, you motherfucker."

Heavily sighing as they descended to join the rest of the people in the house, Blossom muttered, "I don't know I keep bothering. Please watch your language. We have guests."

Boomer was folding a few pieces of paper and popping them into his pocket as they came into the living room and noticed Clark and Elizabeth already seated at the table. It would be a little cramped on one side with the number of guests, but the table was already loaded with all the fixings for a hearty family meal. Two large platters of spaghetti, one with meatballs and one without, two massive wooden bowls with a mixed salad, two bread baskets with steaming slices of garlic bread, an extra bowl of sauce, and two pitchers of water. It was a real spread and Butch knew if his mouth was watering than Boomer's had to be as well. Brick usually stayed more reserved in these situations.

Bubbles was busying herself by pouring water into all the glasses and Blossom indicated at the two chairs on one side and the opposite head, "as our guests," she sounded so proper and a bit teasing, "you three will sit on that side." Boomer and Butch exchanged a glance and took their places as the Professor and Brick exited the kitchen with a few bottles of salad dressing and the salt and pepper shakers. Brick was surprised to see his brothers sitting on one side but one glance at Blossom's posture answered his question.

The girls took a more cramped position on the end with the four seats but Buttercup plopped down at the chair beside him, followed by Bubbles between her and Blossom. Blossom was eager to sit beside Elizabeth and the woman seemed to welcome the red head with warmth. Butch was on Brick's other side and jerked when he felt someone kick him in the shin, Buttercup on the opposite side of him sniggering under a disapproving look from Bubbles.

"This is why we can't have nice things," Boomer declared as he took a drink of water from the glass in front of him.

"Please," the Professor started, "everyone dig in. And thank you, Brick and Bubbles, for assisting with this meal." Being called out like that Brick felt his ears burning with that crimson flush, looking down at his empty plate as he swallowed and exhaled.

"Sure," he managed, but caught Blossom looking over at him. The faintest smile was on her lips, but before he could even return it her head was turned over towards Clark as he spoke to her in regards to some work she had asked him about earlier that day.

Once their plates were loaded and the clinking of silverware commenced Bubbles gushed, "I didn't know you could cook, Brick, you'll have to write down the recipe you used for the garlic bread."

Buttercup was sopping up some of their homemade sauce with hers and took another bite, nodding in agreement. "Iffhs gud." She managed through the corner of her mouth while she chewed.

"Ewwwww, you're so gross," Bubbles laughed at her sister and an actual forehead slap came from Blossom as she grumbled about 'manners' or something along those lines.

If Brick took a step back from this and looked on it as an outsider this would look like people who truly enjoyed each other's company. Boomer was telling Clark an animated story, though what about he wasn't sure. Bubbles and Buttercup were gossiping with Butch, he wasn't sure what else he'd call it. Elizabeth and the Professor were in a serious discussion before breaking to listen in and comment on the end of Boomer's tale and what about Red… ? When he looked down the table and caught her looking over at him, she'd appeared to be studying him closely for a moment there because he seemed to catch her off guard.

He felt his lips flex into a small grin, and although slightly flushed now she returned it, giving a nod before taking a bit of her own bread and appearing quite pleased. But now he felt Butch clap his hand onto his shoulder and he was taken out of the quiet of his head and brought right into the moment, the chattering not even close to subsiding.

"-you should've seen him, dude can really be persuasive." Butch bragged about Brick.

Buttercup simply waved a dismissive hand and dug into the salad portion of her meal now, "I mean maybe Boomer, 'cause he's got that whole 'pretty boy' façade going on but Brick?"

Jokingly taking insult Brick leaned towards her and with half lidded eyes he expressed, "you'd be surprised how quickly I get people to do what I want." Her reddened face was enough to send him and Butch into laughter, and admittedly the boys would agree as a whole that between last night and now the world didn't feel like it was so against them existing.

With her head on her desk Chief Rosa only slightly ignored the crinkle of the brown paper bag and the wafting smell of spring rolls and sesame chicken coming from her right. Matsuo was pulling the applications on the desk out from under her, "take a break, Miranda, we can continue to look over the applicants after."

Sighing she sat up and looked at her lieutenant in an exasperated manner, she'd been looking over applicants to replace Lieutenant Gideon for weeks now and they were getting nowhere. "I'm just not satisfied with the selection," she popped open the container of sesame chicken, the steam leaving only a faint dampness on her nose. Picking up the rice container she proceeded to pull some rice into her container with her chopsticks, "sure, some of them are perfectly qualified but they come off as pigheaded on the phone, or their accolades were pretty much handed to them." Stirring her dinner together in the container she lamented, "I just want someone who knows what they're doing and is passionate about their goddamn job."

Sitting on the opposite side of the desk, his tie knocked over one shoulder and ankle crossed at the knee, Matsuo was pulling lo mein up towards his mouth, "you could always promote within." He simply smiled with satisfaction as he heard Miranda give a choking cough and could feel her eyes narrowing a burning spot on his face. Shrugging, Matsuo reached for a spring roll, "there are plenty of good candidates here, Bryant might be open to taking the test."

"He's so young though," she pondered this, picking up a piece of broccoli before popping it into her mouth.

"You say that like we're practically crippled and gray," he chided, "I know Marley would make more sense out of those two but he's a victim of his temper. Maybe," he ran through all the potentially qualifying officers and detectives within the unit, "maybe Doc or Jeanine?"

Rolling backwards in her chair just a bit Miranda smacked her face with her own hands, "Jeanine is too meek and Doc is a people pleaser. Plus Jeanine said she's trying to get pregnant so I doubt her husband will want her to spend hours upon hours here and not with their family."

"That's fair," Matsuo agreed, "you should hear Luke after I've barely been home."

A slight smirk made it's way onto Miranda's lips, "oh trust me, Luke has my number and doesn't give me any peace. All the more reason to get a second lieutenant hired."

Digging back into her meal Miranda continued a few quips in Matsuo's direction at any possibilities from their department. They were hardly halfway through when a small tremor moved through the ground, the water in her cup jostled by the change. Looking at one another they braced as another tremor moved through the ground, Miranda muttering, "please let it be just an earthquake," it had been a few weeks since the last large monster attack and she had been enjoying the overall peace from that.

Just as another ripple of movement made it's way through the building Officer Marks dashed into the doorway and the phone on her desk began to light up. Miranda picked up the phone with a weariness, "yes?" Undoubtedly speaking to someone from dispatch while Matsuo stood and motioned at Marks.

"Where is it?"

"Downtown, approaching the art museum, it's a big sonovabitch." Monsters were nothing new for the Townsville PD but it didn't mean they wanted to deal with the creatures exactly.

"Call the mayor, call the girls down- if it's as big as you say we need to send down most available units to evacuate the area and set up a perimeter. No one in once it's up-," she was already standing and reaching behind her with one hand for her vest while giving out orders.

Matsuo was already jogging down to his own office to retrieve his firearm and vest, Marks close on his heels as police sirens began to scream into the dusk of a once peaceful Sunday evening.

Butch patted his stomach with satisfaction as he leaned back in his chair, "damn, that was good," simple words sometimes were all that needed. Brick was taking another bite of the homemade chocolate chip cookies as Bubbles was twittering away like a little bird. He had to admit though, he liked the cadence of her voice while she was going over the little details. Even Butch was more subdued from his seat.

Boomer was helping Buttercup clear the table and load the dishwasher although she would have preferred to attempt this on her own and without the blonde buzzing around the kitchen by her elbow. "Watch out!" She leaned forward but Boomer already twisted his body and caught the large platter. He smiled sheepishly and she practically ripped it out of his hands, glowering at him, "you need to tell people if you have butter fingers."

"I don't usually," Boomer started, but Blossom entered the kitchen behind them with several glasses and he took in her expression. "Hey, I am excellent with my fingers." Holding up both hands he wiggled all ten digits, and although he didn't mean it in a sexual manner both Buttercup and Blossom's faces reddened.

"Dumbass," Buttercup turned away and finished loading the dishwasher, but Boomer only chuckled over her shoulder. "Knock it off," giving his arm a light shove in her frustration.

Elizabeth had already returned to monitoring Mojo downstairs, and Clark was sitting and chatting with the Professor at this time. As Bubbles stood to pull the platter of leftover cookies from a protesting Butch and Brick a familiar and loud pulsing buzzing came from the signature phone.

Dashing to grab the phone Blossom answered, "yes Mayor?"

The Professor was already standing and taking the tray from Bubbles while Buttercup was wiping her hands on her pants as she exited the kitchen. "Oh c'mon…" she grumbled, just wanting to enjoy a quiet Sunday evening.

"We'll be right there, Mayor," hanging up the phone Blossom directed immediately to her sisters, "this thing is breathing fire and is causing destruction downtown by the art museum. Suit up in your uniforms, girls." Immediately the three dashes of light sped off upstairs, and rummaging could be heard.

Butch thought aloud, "I guess it has been awhile since we had a monster attack in Townsville."

The Professor looked tired, "which means the system I have rigged in the water will need an update. Again. Those pulsations are supposed to keep the monsters at bay but it's never a guarantee."

"I didn't know there was anything like that set up," Brick remarked.

Clark came up beside the Professor and suggested, "let me take a look at it with you, John. I'm not switching shifts with Liz until 6am, so I have some time."

The Professor only waved him off, "I appreciate it, Clark, but it's been my job to get that system running more efficiently, I'll let you know if my data doesn't bring up anything usable."

Already the girls were downstairs and tying their shoes on, their uniforms were crisp and pressed, the material ideal for fights like this. Although all the boys had seen them decked out before it only made it more attractive getting a more up-close visual.

"Be careful, girls," the Professor started to move forward but Blossom already had the door open and was shooing both Bubbles and Buttercup out.

"We will," she turned only briefly to look at the boys, "we'll see you at school tomorrow." Dashing out after her sisters, the rosy pink light fading and joining the pale lime and sapphire hues in the dark sky.

"We can help finish cleaning up," Boomer offered, but the Professor only smiled, "you boys have helped enough. I appreciate it."

"When do you think we can come and see Mojo again?" Surprisingly enough it was Butch asking this question, and although he wasn't nearly as driven by emotion as his brothers were when it came to their family he did, it was just far less visible on the surface.

Exchanging a look with Clark the Professor mulled it over, "Thursday?" And Clark nodded in agreement.

"As long as it's after school of course, but Thursday should be alright with me. I think Liz has that day off so my student will most likely be here."

"Then we'll be here Thursday," Brick said. He peered over in the living room at the blank television and indicated to it, "you don't keep the news on to see how the girls are during the fight?"

"God no," the Professor exhaled, "I have a hard time seeing my girls get hurt, I know they can handle themselves but they're still my perfect little angels." He had all a father's pride as he said this.

"Just seems like anywhere we go, if they are fighting a monster then it's broadcast and on." Brick remarked on it. It was true though; bars, hotel lobbies, restaurants, sports bars, diners, friend's houses, people were always tuning in to watch the Powerpuff Girls fight monsters and crime. It was only ever the bigger stuff though, and now that the police department was far more competent they hardly ever touched robberies or similar incidents.

"Well, thanks for letting us come by," Brick started.

Boomer jumped in, "and feeding us! That was really nice of you, Professor Utonium."

"Yeah," Butch gruffly agreed, but there was a faint smile on his lips.

"We were happy to, please feel free to contact us any time if you have any concerns and we will see you on Thursday." He led them to the front door as the three young men gathered themselves and continued to politely excuse themselves. "Keep staying out of trouble," he called with a friendly smile, Clark waving beside him in the doorway.

All three Rowdyruff's climbed into Brick's car, giving their own nods before the door closed on them.

Taking the backroads to their home the three of them were relatively quiet, they could see the bright orange seeping across the sky from the direction of downtown Townsville and knew that there were fires that the girls were likely working on controlling. As they approached their neighborhood, delayed but satisfied Boomer spoke up, "I think I want to buy a car of my own."

---

Note: I just wanted to say thank you so so much to everyone who has commented or reviewed this story. I was really stuck and knew I needed to make adjustments and part of me wanted to scrap this whole story and revisit it later, but you guys have really made me feel like this is a pretty unique and interesting story and I was able to clearly make those changes without sacrificing the story I want to tell. I'm even working on a possible sequel (or continuation of this story) for the future.

Also more monster is coming up in part 9, I hope to get the update out faster as I really wanted to focus on the relationship/ character building for this and part 8.

Thanks for sticking with me!