TW: Suicide, very mild gore
The moment Isaac stepped foot in his local drugstore, he instantly felt all eyes on him.
As of late, this was nothing new, but the hateful stares still made him on edge every single time. As inconspicuously as he could, he ducked his head down and grabbed a cart.
As a general rule, he tried to avoid going out as much as possible, which was easier to do now than ever; shortly after the rumors about his involvement in the "Powerpuff Girl scandal," as it was often referred to, Antonio pulled him to the side and all but told him to put in his resignation.
"I know you didn't do what you're accused of, but," he sighed. "We've barely had a handful of customers in weeks. I get calls every single day demanding that you be let go. People have even showed up at my house and threatened my family…" he looked at him with an apologetic look. "Do you see where I'm coming from, son?"
And so, not knowing what else to do, he quit. Ever since Arturo left without so much as a goodbye and everyone else treated him like he wasn't worth their spit, work grew more and more miserable by the day anyway. He barely even went to school anymore, and slowly watched his grades drop lower and lower until it didn't matter, he'd have to repeat most of his classes regardless. But he couldn't bear the snide remarks, the shouted insults, the accusations.
But today, his mother holed up in her pitch black bedroom with one of the worst migraines she had experienced in months, begged him to run to the store "just real quick" and grab some painkillers and things for the house. And as much as he didn't want to, he couldn't in good conscience leave her in that state.
As he walked through the store his heart raced, and he tried desperately to avoid eye contact with whoever he passed, his eyes fell on a pink sparkly jump rope in the toy aisle with Blossom's image on the cardboard packaging.
"Can I have one Mom? Please?" his sister Megan pleaded with their mother just a few months ago when she saw one that looked just like it in a commercial a while back. "Jenny has a Buttercup one and always brags about it at recess. But I know it's just because she's just jealous that I can double dutch and she can't."
Their mother rolled her eyes and smiled. "Maybe for your birthday, if you're good," she said. "You should be more worried about getting your math grade up than getting a new jump rope."
Isaac walked over towards the shiny toy, and right next to him stood a mom with her two young children.
"Really?" she snorted. "You're buying that?"
He blinked when he realized she was talking to him. "I-It's for my sister-"
But before he could finish his sentence, she wheeled her cart in the opposite direction, clicking her tongue in disapproval. "The nerve of some people."
Why do you care? It's a damn jump rope! He wanted to shout after her, but he knew if he did, not a single person there would take his side. So he quietly threw the jump rope into his cart, and went ahead to get the rest of the things he needed.
As he shopped, most of the customers gave him a wide berth. He did his best to ignore the mothers hurrying their children away, the fathers standing in front of their families as if they thought he was a wild tiger ready to pounce, and the little old ladies who whispered amongst themselves, stealing a look every now and then that they thought he wouldn't notice.
Once he finished and got in line, his heart flipped when he saw who the cashier was; Melanie, the pretty blonde from sixth period World History.
Since the beginning of the school year they had exchanged fleeting glances and shy smiles, but he never had the courage to say anything more than "It's such a nice day out," or "What did you get on number three?"
He watched as she smiled and chatted politely with the customer in front of him, only for her face to fall the moment he rolled his cart up to her register.
"H-Hi Melanie," he gave her an awkward smile. "How have things been?"
She shrugged, looking past him in the distance. "Could be better."
As she scanned his items in silence, Isaac fidgeted with the zipper of his hoodie.
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said. "It's been a while since I've seen you and I was hoping you were doing alright-"
"My house got robbed last week," she said. "Cops weren't able to catch them in time. But if the Powerpuff Girls had been there…" she trailed off. "They took the locket my grandmother passed down to me before she died. I doubt I'll ever get it back."
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said. "But Melanie, you gotta know that those rumors-"
"Here," she shoved the bags towards him. She turned back toward the line. "Next customer!" she yelled.
Isaac sent her one last look, but she ignored him. He sighed, as he put his cart back, zipped up his hoodie, and walked out.
"Megan?" he knocked on his sister's bedroom door tentatively.
He heard her give an annoyed sigh on the other side. "Go away!"
"Megan, come on," he pleaded. "I just want to talk."
"No!" she yelled. "You ruin everything! All of my friends hate me now because of you!"
He opened the door just a few inches, and glanced inside his ten year old sister's room, covered to the brim in blue, pink and green. When she saw him, she glared at him from her bed, taking off her headphones. "Hey, I didn't say you could come in here!" she cried. "I'm telling Mom!"
"Mom is sick," he said. He walked inside with a plastic grocery bag in his hand, and sat beside her on the bed. "You don't honestly believe any of this, do you? That I did something to the Powerpuff Girls?" he asked. "Or that I'm working for some villain?"
"That's what everyone says."
"So you're just going to take the word of everyone?" he asked. "Over your own brother?"
She put her headphones back on, turning her attention to her portable CD player.
"Hey, look," he pulled out the pink jump rope and handed it to her. She put the song she was listening to on pause and looked up and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
"What's this for?"
"I saw it at the store today and remembered how badly you said you wanted one," he said, giving her a soft smile. "Now you can make Jenny and all your friends jealous."
She held the toy in her hands, and her eyes fell on the image of Blossom. Her eyes narrowed.
"Are you kidding me?! I can't go to school with this! It would just make everything worse!" she snapped, throwing the jump rope back at him. "None of the other kids even talk to me anymore because they think my brother tried to kill the Powerpuff Girls!"
Isaac looked down at the pink thing in his hands, and at his enraged sister.
"I was just trying to do something nice for you," he defended. "You've been in such a bad mood lately-"
"Because you ruined my life!"
"I didn't do anything wrong!" he yelled.
"Not even Mom believes that!"
This gave him pause. "What?"
"Yeah," she said, her eyes defiant. "She said she never trusted that green guy you were friends with anyway, and that he was 'a bad influence,'" she made quotation marks with her fingers.
"T-That's ridiculous!" he stuttered. "Arturo was completely legit when I knew him! I had nothing to do with him rejoining the Gangreen Gang, or anything he did!"
"Yeah? Well tell that to Mom!"
Megan indicated the conversation was over by turning back towards her CD player, ignoring him altogether. In a daze, he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
He passed by his mother's room, and opened the door as quietly as he could.
"Oh, thank god you're back," she breathed. Through the hall light he saw her reach out her hand towards him, and obediently he walked towards her and handed her the bottle of painkillers.
"You're a lifesaver," she said. She popped a couple of pills in her mouth and swallowed them down with the glass of water on her nightstand. Isaac stood there and watched for a moment before he gathered the courage to ask her what he wanted to know.
"Hey Mom," he said quietly. "You believe I'm innocent, right?"
She looked back at him in surprise. "What?"
"With the Powerpuff Girls," he said. "You know I'd never do anything to hurt anyone, right? The cops even let me go after a couple days because there was no evidence-"
"Where did all this come from?" she asked.
"Megan mentioned you said something to her about it.".
"Of course she did," she muttered. She gave him a tired smile. "Honey, you're my son and I love you no matter what."
"But do you think I did it?"
She rubbed her temples and took a deep breath. "Do we have to discuss this now? I'm already in enough pain as it is-"
"It's a simple question, Mom. Do you think I'm innocent or not?"
She sighed. "I don't know," she whispered. "I know things haven't been easy for you, and you feel like you have to take care of your sister and I. And I wish things were different; you're too young to have that much responsibility on your shoulders. And because of that, it's not unthinkable that maybe, if one of your work friends with a sketchy past misled you and told you he had connections to someone who could help out for a price…" she shook her head. "Your father swore up and down that everything he was doing was legit, until the moment it all caught up to him and he skipped town and cut off all contact."
"I'm not Dad!" he shouted.
"Keep your voice down," she winced. At his pained look, her face softened. "I know you're not, honey. I know."
He took a deep breath, trying to reign in his anger. "Even if that was true, then what could I have possibly gotten for it?" he asked. "Ever since I quit Si Senorita, I haven't brought home a dime."
"I don't know, sweetie," she said. "Maybe you are innocent; I certainly want to believe you're innocent. But with your friend going on the run right after all this went down, and you cooking for those girls that same night…" she sighed.
"I love you, and I promise that will never change. Now, can we please talk about this later?" She laid back down in bed, her hand rubbing her temple once again.
With one last look, he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
When he made his way back to his own room at the end of the hall, he looked down at the pink jump rope still in his hand, discarded and unwanted.
It was always going to be like this. Nobody believed him, not even his own family.
He looked towards his closet door, and wondered how much weight it could hold if something was hanging from the top of it.
He took the jump rope out of its packaging and held it out to its full length. It was longer than he thought, maybe a good four or five feet. He tied one end into a makeshift noose, and threw the other end over the door, closing it tightly.
What am I thinking?! He asked himself, after he looked at where his mind was about to lead him. This is the stupidest thing ever, and probably won't even work-
Then it won't work, another voice contested against the first. Maybe someone will see and step in. Either way, your problem is solved; your mother or sister will step in and prove they still care, or it will work and you won't have to think about it anymore.
He sighed, and took a deep breath as slid his head through the makeshift noose.
When Ace got back to the tiny hideout that Mojo had set up for them, the first thing he saw was Macho and Arturo walking out, their hands filled with bags of food, clothes, and personal items.
"Papi, what about the others? Can't we at least wait until they get back?"
"Mijo, they might not even be coming back. We got to go now-"
Both father and son stood frozen in their tracks when they saw Ace and Billy staring back at them.
"What's all this?" Ace asked, gesturing toward their last minute attempts at packing. "You guys plannin' on going somewhere?"
"We're leaving town," Macho stated bluntly. "We saw what you, Mojo, or whoever else did to City Hall and we're not sticking around to see the shit show."
"I didn't do shit man, that was all Snake," Ace snapped.
"What?!" Arturo cried. "Snake did that?"
"Yeah," Ace said. "Jumpy bastard really made a mess of things."
At this, Macho's eyes fell on Ace's bloody T-shirt. "And that?"
"It's Mojo's," he shrugged. "Which means that we don't got to worry about him no more. You're welcome for that, by the way."
"Maybe you're lying, maybe you're telling the truth. But frankly, I don't care anymore," Macho said. "Everything you and your friends get involved with ends in disaster, and me and my son are getting out of here before we end up in the crossfire."
"C'mon Papi," Arturo cut in. "Since they're already here, can't they at least come with us?"
"And put us at even greater risk if the cops find us? Hell no," Macho said. "They can stay here and hide, run, or do whatever the hell they want, but we're not getting involved in it."
"That's not fair!" Arturo yelled. "They helped me free you, and put their own freedom at risk. Now you want to leave them behind?"
"This isn't just about me, or even just about you," Macho said. "What about your mother and sisters? You want to involve them in all this mess too?"
"We're already involving them in our mess if we go to them at all, but that's what family is about," Arturo retorted. "You've never even given them a chance, especially Ace. He's just as much my family as you are, and if you're not gonna let them come along, then you can just go without me."
"Mijo, this isn't a debate," Macho looked toward his son. "I'm your father, and I say we're leaving together."
"The man said he doesn't want to go," Ace spoke up. "And if he doesn't want to go, then he ain't going."
"Stay out of this," Macho snapped.
"Y'know it's funny," Ace said, strolling towards the older man. "You like to play the "family" and "father" card a lot for someone who hasn't been a part of your son's life for the better half of it. In fact," Ace grinned, revealing his fangs. "If we're goin' off the past decade, I'd say I've been more of a father to him than you have-"
Before Ace could flinch, Macho punched him in the face. He felt a familiar throbbing pain on his lower lip, and tasted iron. He spit out the blood, and turned toward him, smirking.
"Papi!" Arturo exclaimed. "What the hell?!"
"You son of a bitch!" Macho yelled. "Don't you ever claim to know my son better than me, you got that? Or I'll beat your ass so bad there won't be nothing for the cops to find."
"You're only pissed because you know I'm right."
Macho tried to punch him again, and this time, Ace responded in kind. It had been a while since he got in a proper fistfight and he was a bit rusty, but nothing could beat the adrenaline rush of finally getting the chance to beat the shit out of the man who had been grilling his ass for weeks.
"Papi! Ace! Stop it, both of you!" Arturo tried to pull the two men apart. He grabbed his father by the arm and tried to pull him away, only for Macho to elbow him, causing his son to fall on the ground.
"Mijo!" Macho cried the second after he realized what he had done. The fight completely forgotten, he rushed toward his son's side as he was holding his eye in pain.
"Oh Mijo, I'm so sorry! I didn't know-"
"You fucking bastard!" Ace cried. "What the hell did you do?"
"I wasn't paying attention!" Macho cried. "He caught me off guard-"
"Oh, so now it's his fault that you hit him?"
"Don't put words in my mouth!" Macho snapped. His eyes softened as he turned toward his son. "Are you alright?"
"His eye is going to need ice before it swells. I'll take care of it, you've done enough." Ace walked up toward Arturo and helped him up. "C'mon, let's go inside."
Arturo shot a look back at this guilt-ridden father before taking Ace's hand. "Thanks, man. You've always been good to me."
"I'm sorry about what happened, man," Arturo said apologetically as Ace held a makeshift ice pack against his eye. "You didn't deserve that."
Ace, his face bloody and bruised, shook his head. "Tell that to your old man. Though I doubt he'd listen to ya if you tried. It ain't nothin' new though, I'm used to everyone thinkin' the worst of me."
Arturo shot him a guilty look. "I believe in you. I know this all has to be one big misunderstanding."
Ace shifted his position, groaning in pain as he did. "I'll give your old man one thing. He sure does know how to throw a punch."
"I'm sorry," Arturo said helplessly.
"It ain't your fault," Ace said. He took the ice pack off and examined Arturo's face, noticing with a frown that a black eye was already starting to form. "So, what are ya gonna do? Are you gonna listen to your old man and run?"
Arturo sighed. "I don't know man. I mean, I love him, and I'd love to see my Mami and sisters again, but he treats me like I'm still the ten year old boy I was when they sent him up the river," he sighed. "And I just wouldn't feel right leaving you and the guys behind. Not like this."
Ace nodded. "You've always been my little buddy. It would suck losin' you after everything, especially with Snake goin' down for murder."
"The cops caught Snake?" Arturo exclaimed.
"Worse," Ace said. "He's turning himself in, all because his stupid sister guilted him into it."
"Ay dios mío," Arturo whispered. "Poor bastard. It must really be eating him alive. Mojo must've been threatening something awful with his sister if he was willing to do something like that."
"Don't feel too sorry for him," Ace snapped. "He jumped the gun without using his head, and now he's choosing to throw himself at the mercy of the cops, of all people. If he would've just come to me when Mojo sent him on that fucking mission, I could've helped him out long before shit got this far."
"I don't blame him," Arturo's voice was low. "We all do stupid shit when it comes to helping family."
Ace raised an eyebrow at him, and Arturo looked at him, his eyes glossy.
"You remember Isaac, that kid I used to work with?" Arturo asked. "He killed himself this morning; his kid sister found his body. I saw it on the news."
It took a second for Ace to remember any Isaac, until he thought back to the potion and the Powerpuff Girls…
"Oh," was all he could think to say. "I'm sorry man."
"It was because of me," Arturo said, looking down at his feet. "Because everyone blamed him for what happened to the Powerpuff Girls. I never should've gotten him involved-"
"Hey, hey don't do that. Listen to me," Ace grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him. "Whatever that kid did to himself, it ain't your fault. You don't even know if it had anything to do with the plan."
"Why else would he do it?" Arturo asked, his voice cracking. "He was always happy and smiling and shit. Frankly, it made him stick out like a sore thumb but he had no reason to off himself other than this."
"Maybe he had that depression, or whatever," Ace said. "Some people act like the jolliest motherfuckers around, and you don't even know they're suicidal until they go home one day and blow their brains out. I saw a TV special on it once."
"It wasn't that, man!" Arturo snapped. "It was because of us, because of me."
There was a moment of silence between the pair, before Arturo spoke up again.
"I just-" he sighed. "If my Papi found out what I did, I don't know what he'd think of me."
"It don't matter what he'd think of you," Ace said. "After everything he's done? He sold drugs to people, and he abandoned his wife and daughters to do it. And then he left his only son in a foreign country in the hands of a monster when it all caught up to him. Does that sound like someone who has any right to call others out on their bullshit?" Ace shook his head.
"I know you love him man, but it might be time to cut your losses. Don't let him take control over your life again, just because he thinks he knows what's best. Only you know what's best for you."
Arturo looked at him sadly. "He'll never forgive me if I stay here."
"The way you put it, it sounds like he might not forgive you anyway if he learns the truth," Ace pointed out. He took off his bent, beaten up sunglasses and looked Arturo in the eye. "Your family is your family; I respect that. But do you really want to spend the rest of your life with people who you have to keep secrets from to earn their love?"
"I…"
"Look," Ace put a hand on his shoulder. "Your old man may like to think his shit don't stink, but us? We know who we are. We know all the bad shit we've done and stick around anyway because it don't matter. Nothin' matters, except us. And if that ain't family, then I don't know what the hell is."
Arturo looked down at his feet for a few moments, absorbing Ace's words. He nodded, as they made more and more sense.
"Alright," he said. "Alright, I'll stay. But how are we going to convince my dad to let me?" He said. "If I try to say no he'll probably drag me out of the country kicking and screaming."
Ace smirked. "I might have an idea on what might convince him to let you go."
The plan was simple, yet effective.
All Ace had to do was point out the obvious; with Mojo and his bodyguard dead, his hideout, and all the money he stole from them, was free for the taking. All they had to do was walk in, find out where he kept it, and take what was theirs.
"Mijo," Macho cried when Ace and Arturo walked back outside. "Mijo, I'm so sorry, you have to know it was an accident. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, he's fine," Ace said. "No thanks to you."
Arturo laid out the deal plain and simple, and for once, Macho was willing to listen. He was to let him stay, and in exchange they would get him all the money he needed to get safely across the border and provide for his family. Macho was weary about this at first, and tried pleading with his son to leave with him.
"Mijo," he said, his eyes full of tears. "You know I only want what's best for you, right?"
"I know," Arturo said, his voice cracking. "But I have to stay behind with Ace and the others and help him sort things out. It's where I'm needed, just like Mami and the girls need you."
It wasn't a clean process getting their hands on the money. It took forever for Ace to find where Mojo kept his safe, and even when he did, it was with a fair amount of disgust that he realized he'd need Mojo's handprint to access it.
"Billy," he said. "Go get Mojo. We'll need him for this."
It took a few more orders and thinly veiled threats to finally convince the soft-hearted giant to pick up Mojo's bloody, rotting corpse off the floor and force his hand onto the scanner, shaking and crying the whole time.
Once the boys got what they came there for, Ace handed Macho the agreed amount sum and gruffly wished him safe travels. He gave Arturo one last, desperate look.
"It's not too late to change your mind," he begged. "We can be a family again, just like when you were a boy."
"I'm not a boy anymore," Arturo said, as firmly as he could. "I'm a man now, and I need to stay here and stand with my brothers."
"I love you. I hope you know that."
"I do. I love you too," he smiled softly, his left eye forming a deep purple around it that stood out against his green skin. "Tell Mami and the girls that I think about them every day."
With one last nod, Macho grabbed the money and took off. The moment he was out of sight, Arturo cried silently by his side.
"Hey man, it's alright," Ace put his arm around his shoulder. "You did the right thing."
Surfer: Yeah, poor Snake indeed :(
PPGGuy06: I'm a little worried for them too, to be honest.
GGGFan: Things definitely seem to be getting worse and worse for the boys, Snake especially at the moment. And yeah, Billy still does pretty much everything Ace tells him, for better or worse.
Anon: Yeah, poor boy is going through it. :( I don't envy him one bit
K: It does really suck for them, only able to be honest with their feelings when they can't be together
HER: Thank you! But yeah, when Ace agreed to do HIM's bidding, this is not the outcome he had in mind lol
Thanks to everyone reading! Feel free to let me know what you think! :D