CHAPTER 4: INSTABILITY
"Let me get this straight. That is to say, allow me to situate the given information coherently. As in, permit me to align-"
"We get it Pops! We get it, get to the point…"
Mojo frowns at the black haired child.
"You will not speak to me, Mojo Jojo that way! I was nearly finished. You three boys went against my wishes to stay home and play video games to prepare a birthday present for tomorrow, correct?"
Brick nods.
"Yeah. Was gonna be the Puffs, but they got away due to a freaking behemoth."
The monkey- er, ape, raises an eyebrow.
"A monster from the isle assisted them? Helped them?"
A blonde head shakes vigorously.
"Nu uh! It was a girl!"
"A large female child pounded you, my boys, into the ground?"
Butch grumbles.
"Not our fault she was the freaking hulk…"
"They acquired a female gamma irradiated child?"
"NO!"
The unified shout shakes the observatory, waking the hours old Ruff. He floats out of the bed, towards the arguing family, rubbing his sightless eyes.
"They made another stinky stuff girl and pretended that she didn't have powers then had her POUND us!"
The boy bumps into the wall a few times before floating through the doorway.
"I, Mojo Jojo, do not see what this has to do with the state of my laboratory."
Boomer bounces up and down.
"Everything! See, we-"
Butch quickly covers his brothers mouth.
"It's a birthday surprise dang it!"
"Then you boys are out of luck. For not only do I, Mojo Jojo, not want a destroyed lab as a present, my birthday is not until November."
The boys stare at him with dropped jaws.
"Not… Till… Then?"
Brick groans.
"Then this was pointless…"
Mojo raises both eyebrows, looking behind the red Ruff, who was lamenting the pointlessness of the day.
"Boys, I was not aware you brought a friend over. One who can float..?"
Boomer grins and grabs the small ruff in a hug.
"Nooooope! This is our backup present! Meet uh… Uh… Did he tell us his name yet?"
With a shake of his head Brick retrieves the sleepy Ruff.
"Nope, I think we gotta name him. Doesn't make much sense since we named ourselves, but whatever. Hmm…"
Mojo steps forwards and studies the half opened eyes.
"The boy is blind, odd… So this is the reason that my laboratory is in disrepair? The birth of another son?"
Butch snorts and folds his arms.
"Yeah, he is the reason. It was Booms idea anyways…"
"Hey! Bricks the one who went through with it!"
A slight smile on his green face, the ape holds his arms out. Brick willingly places the half asleep child in Mojos arms.
"He seems a sweet boy… He has not spoken you say?"
"Nope. A bit weird if you ask me."
"It is odd, considering you boys. Of course, this is all together odd. Boys! Quit your arguing, your new brother is attempting to sleep!"
The two middle children quiet, watching their younger sibling yawn and snuggle in Mojos furry arms.
"A few simple tests ought to tell us more about him. Nothing dangerous I assure you."
-0-
"This may hurt a bit Bunny, but don't worry. It'll make you feel better okay? Buttercup, hold her down gently."
Bubbles watches anxiously as the thrashing Bunny was secured on the hospital bed, biting her nails. The confirmation that the vision of the original Bunny she had seen wasn't a dream put her on edge.
Blossom was on the other side of the room, reading instructions and processing data.
"She's averaging out Professor."
He nods and injects a bit more liquid into Bunny's veins.
"Keep an eye on that. If she goes above a hundred, she's in danger of completely destabilizing. Dying once is bad enough, we don't want her to die again."
Bubbles sniffles, hugging herself. Bunny was so close to exploding again, they were so close to losing her…
"Bubbles! I need you to prep the oxygen. Hurry!"
In a bright blue flash Bubbles was by the bed, holding the oxygen mask.
"Ready Professor!"
He secures it over Bunny's face, giving a sigh.
"Blossom, still average?"
"Down a little, closer to normal. Is she going to be okay?"
He smiles at her.
"She will. She needs some rest, and it would be best to limit her to the backyard. She over exerted herself fighting the boys."
A collective sigh of relief fills the room.
"Professor, what did she do?"
He frowns.
"It would appear that her powers are currently… Emotion based. When they're triggered, she's more vulnerable to destabilizing."
Blossom rubs her chin thoughtfully, turning to the numbers.
"You really didn't expect this, did you…"
"I did, just not so soon. Nor did I expect her powers to be a symptom of destabilization… A relapse was inevitable."
"What do you mean, inevitable?!"
Buttercup glares at her father, floating up to his eye level.
"Buttercup, Bunny's very form is unstable. Changing her base is difficult, let alone making sure those changes stay. She's a bit of a wild card…"
"Then fix her already! You're the genius!"
"Buttercup, enough. The Professor didn't mean for this to happen. If anything, it's our fault she's in pain."
"Our fault?! Why I oughta.."
Bubbles sniffles, wiping her eyes.
"She's right Buttercup… We made her wrong, the Professors just cleaning up our mess.."
The green puff pauses, then floats to the ground.
"... Yeah… Guess that's right…"
"Now girls, it's not entirely your fault either. I take a part of the blame, both for not being there for you when she first came to be, and for being overconfident in my own abilities to keep her stable."
They all look at each other, and Bubbles starts to giggle.
"What are you laughing at you big baby?!"
"N-nothing just… Just glad… Glad she's okay…."
The giggling becomes contagious, and everyone in the room began laughing and smiling in relief. The youngest would be fine.
-0-
"Boomer, if you do not get out of the way of the light, then I cannot study the slide properly. Do not force me to have your brothers remove you."
Boomer pouts, floating away from Mojos enormous microscope and back to his brothers. Brick was holding the sleeping Ruff, a cute bandaid on his upper arm from the blood sample taken.
"What's he gonna learn from the little guys blood anyways?"
"Probably some crap about white blood cell count… Maybe even figure out why the little dudes blind. What do you think boss?"
Brick rolls his eyes.
"Pops ain't concerned about white blood cells. He's looking for chemical X concentration, and how much using Booms hair and radioactive snails affected him."
"What about the tail?"
"Hard to get that part wrong Boom. Though the age might affect him a bit…"
"Mister Courage is kinda old…"
"Cease your prattling! I cannot focus like this! Shoo, shoo!"
Brick motions for his brothers to follow him back to the bedroom.
"Aight Pops, we'll tuck 'im back in bed."
Mojo grumbles, shooing them away. He, Mojo Jojo, has very important work to do!
With a gentle push, the nameless Ruff was tucked into bed. Butch frowns, studying the sleeping face.
"Did we ever look like that…?"
Boomer hums a bit, zooming off to find Mojos scrapbook.
"Is he… Getting what I think he's getting?"
-0-
"She's waking up again!"
Light purple eyes slowly open to an odd scene, at least to her. Blossom was on the other side of the room, speaking in hushed whispers with the Professor. A small plastic… Cup with tubes connected to it was on her face, the air flowing through it soothing.
"Bunny, are you feeling better?"
Bubbles hovers over her, blue eyes filled with worry. The puff in question nods, moving to sit up.
"No no, you still need to rest!"
She gently pushes Bunny back down, sitting by her head.
"Blossom and the Professor are making you some painkillers, and a pretty bracelet to tell us when you're destabilizing."
Bunny frowns, confused. Weren't her sisters the ones in the beds? Bubbles still had some bandages and fading bruises, and she could still see a cast on Blossoms leg. But Buttercup…
"Where Buttercup…?"
The blue puffs face brightens and she giggles.
"Well, after you finished stabilizing, she went back upstairs to fix the floor and the ceiling with Mister Electricity man. She burst through the ceiling to come save you earlier!"
She puts her arms up, waving them with a large smile on her face.
"Bubbles, you can grab that story book now. She'll be able to appreciate it now that she's awake."
Blues eyes widen with a squeal, and Bubbles is off for 'The Fluffy Bunny'.
-0-
"Oh Boss no you didn't!"
Boomer giggles, cooing over pictures of a baby Butch dressed in various outfits.
"I did. Think of it as payback for having to change your diapers since Pops was still in the hospital from the latest Puff beating."
"Ooo! You're dressed as a hedgehog in this one! It goes so well with your hair…"
-0-
Welcome back to Townsville. But please, be quiet. Our three little girls are exhausted from yesterday. After that beating they took, anyone would be.
Oh? What's this? A small lump squirms through the covers towards our heroines, her tiny hand reaching up to grab onto whatever she could.
"Buttercup… Stop it… Buttercup…!"
Blossom fumbles, pausing when the hand on her ear wasn't in fact, Buttercups. Two wide purple eyes peer from beneath the covers. The tiny girl scoots up more, wrapping her arms around Blossoms arm.
With a smile, she's lifted up and held to the pink Puffs chest.
"Not just a dream…"
-0-
"Girls! Girls, breakfast is ready!"
Blossom slowly opens her eyes, hugging a warm bundle to her chest. Her sisters rub their sleepy eyes, fumbling out of bed towards the bathroom.
"Mm… I had the weirdest dream last night…"
Buttercup mumbles, brushing her teeth.
"Bunny was back, and she was tiny, like a mouse…"
Dragging a brush through her hair, Bubbles nods.
"That was my dream too… She was so tiny…"
A small smile on her face, the pink Puff floats up. A tiny yawn comes from the pile of blankets, brown hair poking out the side.
"You know Buttercup, Bubbles, you could take a moment and look under the covers."
"Why would we do that Leader Girl? Did you find Bubs snake?"
Blossom shakes her head.
"Even better than that, plus she released it outside ages ago."
Bubbles bites her lip with a nervous laugh.
"Hehe.. Yeah… Outside…"
A small head pops out of the covers, tiny hands rubbing purple eyes.
"Bubbles… Where did you put the snake?"
"N-nowhere!"
Buttercup waves her toothbrush in her younger sister's face.
"You better not have put it in my rat cage Bubbles! I spent forever on those!"
"You mean you tortured the poor things! They're traumatized!"
Gentle hands pick up the sleepy child, floating her over to the arguing siblings.
"You're going to have to get used to this Bunny, they do this every morning."
The two pause, turning to look at their elder sister.
"Bunny..?"
Bubbles squeals and grabs onto Bunny and Blossom, squeezing them both.
"YAYITWASNTADREAM!"
The green puff reluctantly joins the group hug.
"Yeah, I knew that…"
"Girls, breakfast!"
-0-
"Ah ha! I, Mojo Jojo, have created the perfect breakfast!"
He, Mojo Jojo, steps back to admire his culinary creation. Omelets dyed in his boys signature colors, along with a new, dark purple one.
"BOYS! I HAVE ACHIEVED CULINARY PERFECTION! COME, FEAST!"
"Quit yellin' Pops! We've been at the crummy table for like twenty minutes!"
Brick rolls his eyes, adjusting the still sleepy boy in his arms.
"You mean you've been at the table for twenty minutes Butch. Booms been helping me dress this one."
The green Ruff huffs, tapping his fork impatiently.
"Whatever. I'm hungry!"
A blonde head pops up next to him.
"When aren't you hungry?"
"When I'm full idiot!"
"Full of what? You're always full of hot air, so shouldn't you never be hungry?"
Butch glares at his redhead brother as he sets the sleepyhead in a chair.
"No you idiot!
"You need a better insult."
"Then how about-"
"SILENCE! QUIET! CALM! There will be no crude language, potty mouths, or swearing at my table!"
All three boys go silent, staring at the table. The fourth and smallest ruff sitting confused, head tilted with a frown.
"Much better. Now, feast my children!"
-0-
Seven follows, better than I had expected honestly. Sorry for taking months to post this update, writing brain went bleh for a while. I'll try and get Chapter five out asap, I just need to refine it.
Thanks for reading!