CHAPTER 6: DREAM OF YOU
Nothing started off a school day better than a fond farewell to the Professor. The added bonus of having a small child join in was the icing on the cake; a promise of a happy home to return to. Now, the only thing standing between Buttercup and lunch was…
"Hey Butts!"
…. an annoying freckled idiot who thought it wise to get between her and food.
"Miiitch… Move."
"Nope! Tell me what happened over the weekend!"
"No."
"C'moooooooon!"
"MOVE. Before I make you. I'm not afraid of Ms. Keane giving me detention!"
He quickly backs up, grumbling as she snatched up her food.
"You still gotta tell meeEE-"
With one swift movement she's picked him up by his shirt collar, carrying him with her to the school courtyard.
"Yeah yeah, we gotta get to the rest of 'em first before I tell ya. Sheesh.."
"My lunch…"
"What do you want more, lunch, or answers?"
"...Uh…"
"Thought so."
"Wait I didn't decide yet!"
"Too late, Bloss, catch!"
"Wait, Buttercup don't!"
Another swift movement, and Mitch lands on top of Blossom.
Nothing more than a typical lunchtime at Pokey Oaks Elementary.
-0-
Brick never wanted to hear that voice again. That creepy, lilting, drawn out drawl sending shivers down his spine. Never again. His very soul felt dirty thinking about that… thing… To be associated with it, even for such a short time, to have it be the reason he's alive…
Perhaps that's one of the reasons he jumped on the idea of a fourth sibling. A sibling untouched by that nasty darkness. Someone that thing couldn't use against him.
He knew it would be too good to be true. The cloud of pink smog surrounding the sleeping boy pushed them all back, laughter filling him with a dread that only the devil Himself could induce.
"Release my son, you creature, you devil incarnate, you BEAST!"
Compared to Him, Mojo was kind. Mojo listened. Mojo CARED. Mojo freed them from a life of serving under the Devil Himself.
And now he was trying to take the youngest.
"Noooow nooow Mojo, that's no way to speak of an old paaaartneeer..."
"How dare you insinuate that I knowingly, willingly worked alongside an abomination such as yourself?!"
A lilted sigh echoes in the room.
"Such strooooong words coming from a talking monkey... one that neglected to inform me of our precious new son~"
"Our- why you-"
Brick quickly sets a hand on his fathers shoulder, glaring at the pink cloud. Mojo calms slightly. Slightly.
"What do you want with Bull, Him?"
"I can't see my neeeeew son?"
His grip on Mojos shoulder tightens.
"He is NOT. Your son."
Hims face forms from the smoke, gleefully grinning down at them.
"Oh my dear boy, thaaaaaat's not up to your discretion! You see it is up to him to make that choooooice. Just as you boys did once..."
His face curls into a snarl.
"Before that foooooolish monkey stooooole you away from me..."
Mojo is pushed back with a yelp, Butch catching him and tossing him at a cushioned chair. The two remaining Ruffs quickly rise to their elder brothers side, cracking their knuckles.
"We ain't yours ya freak, never have been never will be! Get yer claws offa the blind dork!"
"Yeah! We worked hard to make him and teach him! We love him!"
"What the blonde dork said!"
It looks at them for a moment before bursting out into laughter.
"Looove?! What does love have to do with it?! You're just like those girls, creating new life to cover your MISTAKES."
They tense.
"We're nothing like them, you take that back!"
"Oh hohohoho..."
Smoke billows around them, cutting off any escape routes.
"You reeeeaaaally don't see it?"
Pink particles part, showing a shaking, still sleeping Bull at the desk. A claw appears, gently stroking down his spine.
"It's not myyyy tale to tell, but the parallels are sooooo obvious..."
Red, Blue, and Green energy builds in their respective Ruff, taking aim at the claw as the rest of Him appears. He clicks his tongue.
"Nooow now booooys, you don't want to harm the sleeping beauty. Besiiiides, I believe you'd be veeeeery interested in this tale."
Faint sounds of Mojo pounding on the smoke behind them begin, along with muted panicked yelling. Him had them trapped... and yet...
"What tale?"
That grin would never fail to be unsettling.
"Threeee little girls, exhausted and alone, had an ideaaaaaaa..."
-0-
Being alone was fine. After waking up, she could still hear the Professors speech through the walls, behind the sound of the video she was watching. Silly puns and interesting experiments abound, hosted by a funny, tall man.
Singing along with the theme song was fun too. Er, chanting.
"BILL BILL BILL!"
Blossom had these episodes memorized. Watching Buttercup nearly strangle her after the third one was funny, even Bubbles laughed! Apparently that happened a lot.
It ended up in a noogie contest somehow, that was fun. Bubbles won it.
A soft click nearly escapes her notice, followed by the tell tale sound of a lock being turned. That.. that was alright, right?
Yeah, it was fine. She didn't need to go out until the Professor came back anyways. She had snacks, juice, and her iPad to watch Bill Nye on. Oh, and Blankie and Octi! They'd keep her safe.
Yes, all was right with her little world. Although having her siblings present would be nice, school had to be attended. She'd see them soon enough.
That's a funny smell... she didn't recognize it, but it felt familiar.
"Oooooh myyyyy, what do we have heeeereee?"
Shivers go down her tiny spine.
"The loooost little sooouul that THEY stopped me from grasping..."
That pink cloud wasn't there before... it looked soft, maybe she could touch it! Oh, what if it was cotton candy? Tiny hands grab at it, pulling some off.
"What? What are you doing?!"
She puts it in her mouth then spits it out, ew, tasted just like it smelled. Gross. The pieces reform with eyes, glaring at her.
"Truly a wonder how stupid you are..."
Stupid...?
"No matter. I still have use for you. Now, SLEEP."
Some of the cloud goes right up her nose before she can react, and she passes out.
-0-
Dark dark pink suffocating no no not again not again she didn't want to be here again
These thoughts weren't his. But they did help him identify the... color? He was seeing. Pink. It was uglier than the book on colors had described.
No no don't touch don't touch them no never never ever never
He had to follow the trail. There was nothing else to do but put one foot in front of the other on the fluffy looking ground. If it even was ground that is, the description matched 'clouds' more closely.
Don't you dare don't you dare DON'T YOU DARE
The voice presented in the thoughts was familiar. So was the smell and feel of the place, had he been here before? Perhaps. But not in body.
STOP STOP NO DON'T STOP PLEASE
Closer and closer he went to the voice. It... she was in pain.
Why did he care? That was the question. He didn't know the voice.
Gone footsteps new scared wait purple curious confused wonder what
Purple... was that the color she wore? His brothers had said it before in reference to him... was she purple?
"Are you purple?"
She jumps, chains rattling. Eyes filled with liquid... water? He touches right below his own eyes to where the liquid rested on hers.
What was she doing?
Purple friend stranger friend stranger scared him? No no no run please run please please please
Why would he run?
"Weeelll welllll, welcome to my... humble aboooode..."
A claw settles on his shoulder.
"I didn't expect yooooouuu to have suuuuuch free reeeeeeiign here, Disciple."
Disciple... it felt right, like Bull.
Yes, that is who he is.
"I didn't inteeend for you to seee her this way... only aaaafter she agreed..."
Agreed to what...?
-0-
He, Mojo Jojo had no idea what had happened. Moments before he had been enjoying time with his sons, naming the youngest.
And now his children were trapped inside a (cloud? Fog perhaps) with a being no mortal man (or ape) should ever face alone.
Frankly, he was terrified.
"Release my sons at once you unnatural being of dubious creation!"
Pounding on the substance did nothing good, simply resulting in injury. All four of his children were trapped inside.
Bzzzt. Bzzzzt.
Oh thank gods. Wait. No. That was Utoniums emergency number...
"Utonium! I regret to inform you that you are not alone, isolated, in your state of emergency! For I to am facing a situation of grave anxiety!"
Odd. No immediate voice, simply static covering the muffled sounds of arguing.
"Utonium, please respond as your lack of voice is-"
Fumbling, then loud and clear, the Professors distressed voice.
"Jojo! How did you free the boys?!"
"I- I- what?"
"My daughter, the new one- Him attacked her during the conference- she's fighting against him but I don't know-"
"Utonuim, I fear we face the same situation! My youngest- created after my boys encountering your youngest- is currently being held captive by Him along with his brothers! I cannot get beyond the barrier it constructed!"
A scream, rather girly given the Professors age, pierces his ear followed by the sound barrier breaking. Thank gods both of their phones were set to deal with such a noise.
"Bunny, BUNNY!"
"Utonium, what happened?!"
-0-
"Girls? What's wrong?"
"Miss Keane, something's wrong with Bunny!"
"How do you..?"
A holographic map is shoved in the poor woman's face, a tiny purple dot shooting across it.
"She can't fly! She can't fly and her bracelet says she's destabilizing and the Professor won't pick up! Please, please tell our teacher where we went and that it's an emergency!"
Recess was the girls favorite time of the school day. A time to spend with friends, playing games on the playground equipment. Miss Keane was currently on duty, supervising the children. She was used to the girls leaving for emergencies, although those were usually either crime or monster related, rarely a family emergency.
"I'll explain the situation to her, but please hurry back, or remember to have the Professor excuse you afterwards-"
They barely stayed long enough to hear her remind them to call, shooting off through the air in the blink of an eye. Sandra had heard the full story from John, about the little girl he brought back from the dead. Or rather, the part he hadn't told his daughters.
"A dream Sandra. A dream told me to bring back the missing soul! I thought it was insane. Two overlapping voices and the image of my girls clutching that piece of cloth."
She raised an eyebrow, setting down her cup.
"John, you're not making much sense."
"I-I know. However, neither does creating life from sugar, spice, and nice things. Nor little boys from snips, snails, and puppy dog tails."
Weekly brunch. A good way to keep up with the girls lives through the Professors eyes.
"So you're going to follow the dream, so to speak?"
He stared down at his coffee.
"I have nothing to lose in my investigation. These... beings, have a chance of being associated with HIM, however... I have proof that they're against him."
-0-
It didn't make sense. Between the odd environment, chained child, and literal devil whispering in his ear, he had no idea how he came to be in this situation.
But he didn't feel tired here. That was a change. And, glancing towards the grinning creature, to his advantage. All the focus was upon the one in front.
Wait, why would he attack? The creature had done him no harm, no foul. Only tortured the girl in front of him, for seemingly no reason.
He had to have a reason, right?
What was that word again?
Disciple, disciple...
Just what did that mean?