Chapter 5. Cruel Summer
So cut the headlights, summer's a knife
I'm always waiting for you just to cut to the bone
Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes
And if I bleed, you'll be the last to know
Oh, it's new, the shape of your body
It's blue, the feeling I've got
And It's a cruel summer
With you
"Okay. Now we talk."
Buttercup sat on her bed, her shoulder and arm wrapped in bandages as well as her leg, which was lying straight over the sheets. She had changed into shorts and a fresh new t-shirt of her favourite band. Butch was sitting at her side, caressing her shoulder tenderly, a worried expression on his face. He had got rid of his sunglasses and wigs, but still wore his suit for the Prom. Their siblings were standing in the middle of the girls' bedroom, everyone still dressed up after the ball.
"Most definitely" Boomer agreed, shooting a glare at Brick's poker face.
"Only if Blossom is ready to listen to the whole truth, that is" Buttercup shot a death glare to her sister, who unexpectedly lowered her gaze.
"I… wanted to trust Brick, that's all" she murmured, meeting his eyes naturally.
Brick sighed as he scratched the back of his head and then turned towards the door, where the Professor suddenly appeared after a light knock on the door.
"Everything's fine, Buttercup?" he asked, his face pale and worried.
"Yes, Professor. Apart from being powerless" she glanced nastily at Brick "I think it's high time Brick told us the truth about what's happening."
"Most definitely it is!" Bubbles agreed, turning towards Brick with teary eyes "BC almost got killed in there!"
"That wouldn't have happened if only she hadn't meddled in my business!" Brick roared back at her, giving Buttercup a death stare.
"You weren't doing anything to help Butch!" Buttercup snapped back, frowning in pain as she flinched on the bed. "Nor to help us understand the situation!"
"Who the fuck told you so?! What the fuck do you know about me?! About what I've been doing for the whole fucking shitty year?!" Brick was furious and Blossom had to hold him by his arm.
"Enough. Enough" the Professor stood among them, holding his hands up. "If Brick had been keeping secrets for the whole year… it was… because of me and Ms Bellum" he gave Brick a regretful look.
"What the fuck are you sayin', old man!" Buttercup gaped at her father.
Professor Utonium gave her daughter a heartbroken look as he squeezed Brick's shoulder in apology. "You think Brick has been working for Darwin, but truly… he's been working undercover for me and Bellum. The whole time. The whole year. We were the ones who forbid him to meet you. To force him to keep silent about Butch. To disappear. We've known everything… all along."
Blossom grip on Brick's arm tightened as she heard those words. She held her breath, unable to say anything, her eyes wide and stinging. She saw Brick's shoulders lower, as if in defeat, and his hands rubbing his eyelids, a painful expression on his face. The Professor patted Brick's shoulder, giving it a grasp.
"You can go Professor. I'll handle this now" Brick nodded to the man, who left the room to the young without saying anything more.
A heavy silence fell among them. Everyone was weighing the words of the Professor.
"When I…" Butch started to say, looking sadly at his brother "…I did what I did, and got arrested, I called Brick. First thing that came to my mind. I knew I fucked up and I knew that every time I did, Brick would get me out of shit. And he still tried. But Darwin was deputy at the time and there was no way he was letting this escape. It was if he was just waiting for me…"
"He was" Brick exhaled, still rubbing his eyes, avoiding eye contact with everyone. "He was already scheming to screw one of us. Anyone was okay. He was desperately looking for a way to destroy the image of the Powerpuff Girls, but they were… faultless. So, he knew that at the time we Rowdyruff somewhat represented their… weak point."
Butch gave Brick a puzzled look and he got closer to his brother still sitting on the bed.
"The Greengang plan to rob the bank and the arrest… they were already orchestrated by Darwin. In that period, you were the weak link, Butch. You were depressed and frustrated and he knew. He'd been making all sorts of researches about us and the girls. He just used you. He got a grip on you, convinced you that the only way to get a new life was to live powerless. And he got to use you as his guinea pig for his Reagent X serum. I wasn't able to figure out his plan at the time. If only I did…" Brick clenched his fists, a sinister red light glowing in his crimson eyes "…I knew something was up, but I couldn't figure out what. His plan was too complicated and obscure for me at the time. I was just trying to get you out of prison, when I found out what he did to you. I couldn't image that someone like him had such a powerful weapon with him. The motherfucking Reagent X. When I realised what he had done to you… I… just wanted to… kill him" Brick stopped, closing his eyes for a second. Everyone in the room held their breaths, frozen in suspense, weighing Brick's words in their minds. "I was really going to. I had nothing in mind but revenge. But the Professor and Ms Bellum intercepted me and stopped my murderous intentions."
"Thank Goodness…" Blossom sighed in relief as she felt the need to sit on her bed, her Prom dress brushing in the movement.
Brick dejectedly glanced at her and then went back to his story. "They made me realise that killing him wouldn't have solved the problem of the Reagent X. How did he invent it? How was it made? Where was he keeping it? How much did he have? And above all… why did he create it? It was definitely a weapon created to get rid of the Puffs. So, the Professor and Ms Bellum couldn't deny the fact that it represented a real menace for the girls. They asked me to collaborate with them, so that we could get our hands on the Reagent X. So that we could analyse it and find a way to neutralize it. And to cure Butch, if that's possible."
"And why did Darwin want you on his team? Surely not because you're pretty and intelligent" Buttercup asked, looking suspiciously at him.
Brick drew a deep breath, glancing at Butch whose attention was focused intensely on him. He then moved his eyes to the ceiling.
"I need a smoke" Brick grumbled, rummaging nervously in the pockets of his black suit.
"I'm sure your lungs can wait a little longer. Out with the rest, now." Buttercup growled aggressively, as Butch pushed her kindly backwards against the bedframe, trying to keep her as still as possible.
"Fine then" Brick frowned as he looked all around him, his eyes stopping on Blossom. "He wanted me to work with him because he needed my blood" he noticed Blossom wincing and closing her eyes as if she was hearing something awful, which demanded her full attention "he needed my body to test his Reagent X. I made him believe I wanted to get rid of my superpowers too, that I only wanted to live a normal life and was tired of being treated as a super criminal; in exchange, he asked me to be his new guinea pig."
"Holy fuck, Brick… so he's been torturing you for all this time…" Butch winced.
"No, not really. He's been far less physical with me, since he's never trusted me at all. So, he would only get gallons of my blood every now and then, but he never tested me directly. He didn't want to leave any trace of Reagent X in my veins that could be used against him, the motherfucker. So, in return for his trust, the Professor has been injecting different kind of shit in my blood to alter the tests of Darwin, which have made me barf almost every night and managed to slow down Darwin's researches."
"Up to now, it seems" Buttercup commented, her voice low and raspy.
"So it seems" Brick nodded and took out a cigarette from his pocket, putting it between his lips.
"Brick… that was a trap to kill you, but you already know that, right?" the dark-haired girls asked him, a serious frown on her face. "When I entered the warehouse, Darwin's men thought it was you. They called your name and shot me. When they realised it was me, they tried to run and I shot them a laser, but I must have hit something that caused the explosion. I mean, the place was filled with explosives… it was basically a gigantic bomb."
"Yes, it seems a bit too generous from Ace's side to give me that piece of information so out of the blue" Brick mumbled to himself. "So, I guess my part in this play has come to an end, eventually. I've fucked up completely" he scoffed bitterly as he gritted his cigarette tightly.
"Probably fucking my sister helped with the fuck-up" Buttercup added, with a sceptical frown.
"Buttercup!" Blossom reprimanded her as her face flushed.
"You're probably right" Brick sighed as he leant against Blossom's desk. "I knew I had to keep my fucking distance…"
"Brick! I can't believe what you're saying!" Blossom stood up with her fists clenched, her red face frowned with disbelief.
"He started doubting me after we started seeing each other" Brick snorted, half amused half annoyed "I've totally betrayed myself. The Professor was right… I should've stayed away from you."
"Well, who cares!" Blossom exploded in a fit of anger "Darwin was just using you! My father and Ms Bellum were using you! That couldn't have been the right way of dealing with this folly!"
"I was so close to—"
"…to get yourself killed! That's the only thing you were close to!" Blossom roared, interrupting Brick halfway. "My father was injecting things inside you to trick Darwin and Darwin was using you in the worst ways possible, I can't believe you're here thinking it was the best plan we've had! It's been such a madness I can't even understand why you agreed with it!"
Brick shot her an incredulous scorn. "Hey, I was just trying to protect you all! Darwin was ready to directly attack you with his Reagent X loaded weapons if I hadn't slowed him down!"
"We should have fought together! We are a team! We fight together!" Blossom replied, her voice broken with rage and tears.
"Blossom's right" Boomer's steady and resolute voice suddenly said, interrupting the bickering. He stood up and got closer to Brick, then looked at Butch. "Dividing us has been Darwin's strong point. That's what he's been trying to do from the beginning. Tricking Butch, then taking Brick by his side… a few days ago he tried to contact Bubbles in private. He's been trying to split us, to spread bad blood among us. This must stop, now. We have to tackle him as a team, not as frustrated individuals."
"He has weapons that can use against us, I think you should've figured that by now" Brick insisted with a sarcastic smirk. "If I ever thought we stood a chance, do you really think I would have done all this pantomime for a whole year?"
Everyone took a few seconds to think about his words, but their expressions were clear: they knew both Brick and Boomer were right.
"So, now what?" Buttercup sighed loudly as leaned against Butch "I feel totally powerless right now."
"It shouldn't be for long, though. Those two bullets contained very little Reagent" Brick took the cigarette in his hand to play with it. "Plus, we now have a very little dose of updated Reagent thanks to you. The problem right now is…"
"That Darwin has said that the explosion was an attempt to his life" Blossom stated as she looked at her sister.
"A what?!" Buttercup protested, jumping on her bed in anger and immediately regretting it, moaning in pain.
"By chance, Darwin was sitting in the stadium gallery near where the warehouse was. The explosion has caused some structural damages and a few people were wounded, and now he's wearing a lot of band-aids on his face and has a fake bandaged arm and goes on the TV newscast suggesting that we are a public enemy or something like that" Blossom explained, crossing her arms.
"But people wouldn't believe him!" Bubbles protested, alarmed.
"We don't know, but Ms Bellum has immediately published a public statement" Blossom added "she has declared that Buttercup has been gravely hurt in the explosion and that was a trap prepared by someone to get rid of her. That Darwin's words of mistrust on us are creating a violent environment, dangerous for the Powerpuff Girls and for all the citizens of Townsville."
"So, she has started being the opposition, finally" Brick stated, heading towards the door. "She's been working in the shadows to understand who the fuck this Darwin is. Up to now, we only know the jerk comes from Citiesville, where he started working as a cop and then moved to Townsville. He's always been a pretty extremist who considers people with superpowers public enemies. He's convinced we all should be equal. That's what God wants us to be. Equals." Brick shrugged "If he found out that we Rowdyruffs were revived by the Devil, it would certainly give him a stroke. That could have been a winning strategy." He grinned as he opened the door.
"Where are you going?" Boomer asked him, frowning.
"To have my fucking smoke" he rumbled, annoyedly "plus, there's not much more I can do at this point."
"Brick. They tried to kill you" his blond brother insisted with a serious frown "if they have bullets loaded with Reagent X now, we're all in danger. Especially you. You can no longer go back to Darwin!"
"I think your brother is right" the door opened suddenly against Brick's face, letting the Professor and Ms Bellum inside. Brick groaned massaging his nose while the Professor searched for Blossom's eyes and he was immediately greeted by her rancorous gaze. Which he welcomed resignedly.
"Butch and Buttercup, you have to leave town and stay put until you gain your powers back. He won't have any interests in you until you stay out of town, powerless." Sara said immediately, pointing at the dark-haired couple.
"Regain my powers…?" Butch muttered, in disbelief.
"I'm working on that" the Professor stated, looking at him "I believe the Reagent X is not able to change the structures of your cells, but only to put to sleep the factors carrying your superpowers. You've been subject to a high dose of Reagent X, but it was still an early prototype, far from perfect. So, I might be able to reverse its effects. While Buttercup, you have been injected with a very low quantity, so we hope that with a few injections of freshly made Chemical X, you'll be able to regain back your powers in a short time."
"Blossom, Boomer and Bubbles" Ms Bellum looked at them "I need you to work with me in strengthening your positions against Darwin. You're right Bubbles, Townsville people still love you, but we need to remember them about it. For a while, I don't want you to wander around on your own, we don't know if Darwin will want to strike another attack on one of you. In order to take the complete control of the city, he'd probably want to leave you all powerless as soon as possible."
"Or dead" Brick jeered at her side, his unlit cigarette leaning from his lips.
"Brick. About you…"
And there went her breakfast.
Buttercup raised her head from the toilet bowl, moaning as she sat back against the wall of Butch's microscopic apartment. Then she felt it again, surging from deep down her stomach. She bent once again on the toilet, vomiting all the remaining.
"BC, are you okay? Need help?" Bubbles's voice came from the other side of the closed door, a caring and sweet tone in her voice.
Buttercup stood up, washed her face and her teeth quickly, then opened the door, showing her pale face to her sisters, who stood in the middle of Butch's apartment with a worried expression. Butch put his hands on her shoulder, massaging them lightly and planting a kiss on her dishevelled hair.
"You okay?" he asked her, sweetly.
"Yeah. Fuckin' RX. I hate that shit" she moaned as she sat on his bed.
"I know, babe. I've been barfing for weeks. It'll pass…" he sat by her side, caressing her shoulder. Since she had come home with him, after being hit by those Reagent X bullets, Butch had been the best boyfriend ever. Caring, sweet, never too suffocating. The idea that he had to bear all that symptoms all alone made her only feel worse. Maybe it had been better to be away from the Professor for a while; the idea that he had known all along what had happened to Butch and never told her anything made her feel so enraged.
"Yeah, but it's been two weeks already" Blossom protested, looking at her sister with concern "Are you taking your Chemical X shots regularly?"
And there went the other person she preferred not to see for a while. Since the big revelation that the Professor and Ms Bellum were behind Brick's deeds, she had been even more touchy about the topic. As if she and Brick couldn't have handled the situation better than that.
Fuck her too.
"BC, are you sure you're not pregnant?" Bubbles suddenly asked, giving a close look to her sister. Buttercup responded by pushing her hand against Bubbles's face, annoyedly.
"Fuck you, Bubbles. I'll leave the pleasure to you" she retorted as she kicked her sister away from her view.
"I'm just asking!" Bubbles giggled lightly.
"It's not funny" Blossom exhaled with a sigh as she rubbed her head.
Buttercup looked at her older sister: she didn't look very well either. She seemed to be exhausted by those two weeks of public fighting on television and newspapers against Mr Darwin, but she decided it was none of her business. She still didn't feel like forgiving her and Brick at 100%.
"Plus, I don't really think we can have children" Butch said nonchalantly as he lay on his back on the bed, but the inquiring glares he received from the sisters made him sat back up immediately.
"Excuse me what?" Blossom asked, frowning.
"Oh, don't tell me you believe that ridiculous story!" Bubbles grumbled, crossing her arms as she gazed angrily at him.
"Well, I know Boomer doesn't believe it, but Brick does… I'm in the middle as always" he shrugged with a smirk.
"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Buttercup asked as she nervously interrupted the two.
"There's this absurd story…" Bubbles said, pouting "…the Ruffs believe they can't have children."
"Then why the hell have we been using condoms?!" Buttercup asked Butch, making him laugh out loud.
"Well, because that's just something that we believe but… we can't be sure. I mean, once that shithead of HIM was so angered with us that he cursed us by saying that we would be the first and the last Rowdys on Earth and that his legacy will be ending with us" he shook his head with a strange grin on his face "Boomer and I thought he was just so terribly pissed off, but Brick… he was kinda shaken by what he had said. He's always believed HIM had cursed us and that for that reason we won't be able to have children. Boomer doesn't believe him, probably because you blond dorks plan on having like one hundred babies…"
"Three would be fine!" Bubbles replied with a deep blush.
"That's absurd" Blossom uttered in an irritated voice "…and you've never asked HIM about that?"
"Yeah, like, I totally would have! Just to save up on condoms at least" Buttercup added, looking at Butch with disbelief.
"I don't really wanna find it out now. When the time comes, I'll ask the kinky daddy about it" Butch shrugged, giving her a simple smirk. She wanted to reply, but realised it was a too heavy topic to be talking about in that moment. They were only eighteen, who cared about children and future and stuff? Still, she couldn't deny that something about that story had started nagging in the back of her mind.
"Anyway, I don't think that is true" Bubbles sulked as she pouted with her arms crossed.
"Why don't you and Boomer give it a try as soon as possible and let us know?" Buttercup grinned as she lay down on the bed and gave one last look at Blossom, who moved her eyes away from hers.
Fuck her.
And then Buttercup had to rush to the bathroom again.
Blossom opened her pink eyes slowly, staring curiously at the unfamiliar ceiling above her. It took her a moment to realise where she was and the incredible warmth coming from Brick's body by her side had been a great help.
She turned her naked body slowly under the satin sheets, snuggling under his heavy arm, her cheek leaning against his bare, bulky chest. She raised her gaze up a little, studying his sleeping face. He sure was beautiful. And sexy. He was letting his hair grow again and they had already reached his shoulders. She caressed them softly and he mumbled lightly in his sleep, a slight smile curling her lips. He frowned with his eyes close and a deep growl rumbled from his throat, as he rolled to the side and took her into his arms, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
Oh, I wish it was.
She closed her eyes, burying her face against his chest, inhaling his perfume of shower gel and cigarettes.
"Do you have to get up early?" he mumbled, his eyes still closed, as he buried his face in her hair, kissing her forehead slowly.
"I should, yes" she whispered as she softly kissed the hot skin of his chest.
"You're making it hard…" he hugged her closer to him "…to let you go".
She giggled lightly as she felt her nipple hardening against his chest and his big hands wander in soft caresses along her shoulder. His erection was pressing under his underwear against her lower belly and she felt her lower part tingling with arousal, even though they had been doing it all night. He had been so wild that for a moment she thought she was going to pass out. And yet here she was again, her body asking for more.
Even though I should have learnt the lesson by now.
She sighed softly and raised her head to his lips, kissing them slowly, intensely, almost painfully for a long moment. She wanted to savour every last second she could. Even if it hurt so much.
So much.
"What's wrong, Blossom?" he asked her as soon as they parted their lips.
She frowned at him, still too sleepy to be a good actress. "Nothing, why?"
"That kiss… was sad."
"No, it wasn't!" she protested.
"Not the kiss itself… but… you were sad while kissing. You've been sad for a while, actually" he stated as he rose on his elbow, looking at her naked body half covered by his sheets. His fingers caressed her belly, walking up her abdomen, tracing a straight line in the middle of her breasts. She shivered under his touch as she lay on her back, her long red hair widely spread on the sheets underneath her.
"It's just… you and Buttercup are basically hiding as criminals… and it's almost July already."
July.
"I know… but the situation seems to have calm down a lot since you and Ms Bellum have started your public protests against Darwin's politics… the shithead is losing a lot of consent. I think we'll be able to come back as soon as we finish producing the Neutralizer X" Brick said as he kissed sweetly her abdomen and then lowered down along her belly.
Instinctively, Blossom shot up, covering herself with the sheets.
"The fuck, Blossom…?"
She bit her lower lip. "It's only… I think my father might come into the lab in any moment" she replied nervously, as she left the arranged bed they had prepared for Brick in the basement of the Professor's laboratory. They had been hiding Brick in there for almost a month and during the day he would work with the Professor in finding a way to neutralise the Reagent X. They were brilliantly working together and she would lend them a hand whenever she could, even though she found it hard to deal with the Professor the way she did before. She felt betrayed all over and she knew also Buttercup was thinking the same. The poor man was probably suffering as much as they were, but forgiveness was far from reach.
Strangely, Brick would sometimes spend words in favour of her father: she had never expected it from him. Maybe he felt he owed to the Professor for some strange reasons. Perhaps because he was hosting him in his own house? Perhaps because they were having sex inside the walls of his sacred home? She couldn't explain to herself how Brick managed to put up with the Professor and Ms Bellum when they had been treating him like a slave and a guinea pig for more than a year.
After a few moments, they heard the door of the laboratory opening from upstairs and the Professor's steps above their hands. He was whistling merrily, probably ignoring that his daughter was naked in the lower floor.
Brick and Blossom quickly zipped around the small basement, picking up their scattered clothes and getting dressed as fast as they could. They walked to the door and Blossom felt her eyes stinging lightly, so she closed them as tight as she could. Brick gave her a concerned look, but didn't say anything. He only kissed her forehead sweetly and then entered the laboratory, greeting the Professor.
She followed immediately after, being greeted by a scolding glare of the Professor, who preferred to stay silent – even though she knew that the fact that she had come out first thing in the morning from Brick's room couldn't have made him happy. But she didn't care.
She really didn't anymore.
In that last month her prospective on life had change drastically and now her priorities were so messed up that she couldn't believe herself. In so little time, she had to come to terms with the fact that her life couldn't go according to her perfect plans.
"You look pale Blossom, are you okay?" the Professor asked her casually.
"Perfectly fine, Professor" she answered dryly "I'll be going to see Ms Bellum now."
"Yes, of course…" he nodded, but then exhaled deeply and called her back "Blossom. I think we should talk about university. You haven't been saying anything at all to me, but it's almost July and…"
Blossom froze in front of the door. She felt the stares of the Professor and Brick on her back and a long shiver ran down her spine, a dense sense of nausea pervading her mouth.
"I… I have accepted Stinford, Professor."
"Oh! But that's brill—"
"Still. I have decided not to go" she turned, looking assertively at the two most important men of her life. Both had widened their eyes in surprise "I have already sent a deferral of enrolment to the university and it has been accepted."
The Professor sighed so deeply she thought he was about to have a heart attack, but Brick put a hand on his shoulder and pressed him down onto a chair.
"Are you sure about it, Bloss?" Brick asked her, frowning.
"She's not, obviously!" the Professor fretted, hysterically.
"I respectfully disagree" she snarled back, aggressively "I'm taking this gap year whether you like it or not. It's my life and I get to decide what to do with it. I know it's not your style Professor, letting other people decide about their lives, but that's how life goes. At least mine. I'll see you later" she slammed the door behind her back and zipped upstairs as fast as she could, closing herself in the bathroom. She slid on the floor, closing he arms around her legs and burying her face against her knees.
She had never felt so alone.
Robin widened her eyes as she saw Bubbles swallow the last giant piece of her pancake, topped with cream, strawberries, bananas and chocolate.
"Wow. You sure are hungry lately, Bubsy" she noticed with a smile.
Boomer smiled at the side of his blonde girlfriend.
"I'm hungry because I'm angry" Bubbles replied as she took long sip at her vanilla milkshake.
"No sight of BC, still?" Robin asked worriedly.
Boomer had joined the girls at the table of the DolceFragola, wearing his casual clothes, right after the end of his shift.
"How was the pancake, babe?"
"Incredible" she sighed with delight "even though I'm putting on some weight, lately. I wonder why".
"I wonder too" Robin smirked ironically.
"I don't care, you look gorgeous" Boomer kissed her head again and Bubbles giggled merrily.
"Thank you Boomie!"
"Plus, your boobs are getting bigger!" he smirked mischievously and received a light punch in reply.
"So guys, what are your plans now?" Robin asked looking at them curiously.
Boomer scratched his head dubiously while his girlfriend blew a few bubbles inside her milkshake.
"Mh… we still don't know… plus, with the tense atmosphere in town after BC's accident, we are not allowed to wander around alone. So, it's not easy to decide what to do with life right now" Boomer exhaled softly, playing with the fork on the table.
Bubbles grumbled nervously and finished her milkshake in one long sip. "This situation makes me so…!"
"Hungry?" Robin grinned at her.
"Yes! I'd eat another giant pancake right now!" Bubbles protested as she crossed her arm, pouting. "It's been a month since BC has moved to Butch in Citiesville and she's still powerless. She should have been better by now! And Brick and the Professor still haven't finished working on that thing… it's gonna be a wasted summer! It should have been the best of our lives! We should have been crowned at the last Prom! Everything's been a disaster!" she groaned as she slouched on the table.
"I'm sorry babe…" Boomer caressed her back softly.
He turned his head as he noticed the owner of the DolceFragola approaching to get Bubbles's empty dishes.
"I can take care of this!" Boomer said getting up, but she forced him down with a smile.
The owner of the DolceFragola was a sweet lady in her 60s, who had always treated Boomer with affection. He had always been so grateful for her trust. It had really helped him a lot. She had never treated him with suspicion or diffidence. She had been the closest thing to a grandmother he would probably ever had.
"Your shift is over Boomer, so you're staying here with your lovely girlfriend and friend" she smiled sweetly "I'm so sorry for the ruckus that new Mayor is making about you guys. But I get the feeling that the people of Townsville are becoming sick of his violent ways and aggressive behaviour. We all care deeply for our Powerpuff Girls… and recently for their Rowdyruff Boys too."
"…thank you, Geena…" Boomer smiled softly, his eyes a bit teary.
"Still, I egoistically want you to work here for as long as you want Boomer. I'll miss you terribly when you quit, you've been the best employee I've ever had!"
"Thanks, Geena! I'll keep working hard!" Boomer thanked her with a broad smile, interrupted suddenly by Bubbles, who stood up with a jerk.
"Bubbles, darling, you look pale… are you okay?" Geena asked, sincerely worried.
"I need the toilet" she moaned, moving a hand in front of her mouth, before zipping as fast as she could towards the toilet of the DolceFragola.
"And there goes the extra-stuffed pancake" Robin commented ironically.
The old door of the Otto-Time Diner opened with a slow, ominous creak.
The restaurant was shabby and sad, but HIM loved it all the same. His little corner of peace, away from his devil deeds, where he sometimes liked to play an almost human life. Almost. And just once in a while, obviously.
"I'm sorry, we're clooooose" the sinister voice of HIM echoed from behind the counter. Nevertheless, he heard some slow steps approaching and one of the stools at the counter creak as someone sat on it.
He cleaned his claws on his apron and got closer to the counter. When his catlike eyes met the ones of his most hated enemy at the other side, they almost lit up with joy.
"Oh my my… what is a little Powerpuff Girl doing all alone in my restaurant in the middle of a hot summer night?"
"I need to ask you something, HIM. About the Rowdyruff Boys."
Buttercup pressed her tongue against the popsicle softly, moaning with delight. At her side, Vanessa laughed amusedly, patting her shoulder.
"That's how it feels to be humans, BC! Long lasting pain!" she joked as she got a closer look at Buttercup's red tongue and at the little, silver piercing in the middle of it.
"It's not like we didn't feel any pain" Buttercup muttered, her tongue a little swollen and hurting. "It's just it would go away in a sec!"
"This will last for a few days" Vanesse winked at her "…but then, you'll get to enjoy a lot of nice tricks with this new baby on your tongue!"
"I'm so fucking looking forward to it!" Butch commented suddenly, jumping out of the tattoo shop with a satisfied grin on his lips.
"So? Where the fuck did you get this new incredible tattoo?" Buttercup asked ironically, putting her popsicle in her mouth and looking at him sceptically.
"You'll find out tonight" Butch smirked smugly at Buttercup "anyway, Jay did a great job, as always!" he pointed to his tattoo on his neck, a previous work of Vanessa's tattoo artist boyfriend.
"I'm glad to know" Vanessa smiled knowingly "Plus, I'm pretty sure BC's gonna like your new tattoo as much as you're gonna like her new piercings".
"Piercings? Plural? More than one?" Butch asked curiously as he raised an eyebrow at Buttercup.
"You're so intelligent, knowing that plural means more than one" Buttercup replied ironically as she kept on sucking at her popsicle.
"You can totally tell he's just graduated!" Vanessa laughed. "I'll go inside to help Jay. I'll see you later tonight guys!"
"Bye Van!" they both greeted her and they started walking away.
In a natural movement, Butch's hand intertwined with Buttercup's and she bit her popsicle harder, trying to hide the light blush on her cheeks.
That life in Citiesville had been somewhat intoxicating for her. Even though she kept on receiving visits and messages of worry and sadness from her family, she didn't want to admit she kinda liked that life. She certainly missed the thrill and the adrenaline of fighting and her superpowers, but living alone together with Butch was making her feeling independent and somewhat… a grown-up.
She liked living with him. They fought, they joked, they made love, they watched TV and played together, they cooked the meals, they talked until late night.
I love him so much.
She looked at him sideways and he noticed, giving her a smug smirk.
"Sooo… where are the other piercings?" Butch asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"I won't tell you" she replied dryly, almost finishing her popsicle.
"Can't you just finish that fucking thing? It's making me horny."
"Poor boy" she grinned as she gave one last, long suck at the stick.
After a few minutes, they reached the banks of Citiesville river. A few years before, it was just a polluted dumping ground, but the new Mayor, Dana Darwin, had redeveloped the area, making it a greener promenade for families.
In that hot summer days, they would spend their late afternoons there, enjoying the light breeze coming from the river, looking at the great bridge crossing the river and leading to Townsville.
"The new bridge is prettier than the previous one" Buttercup stated.
"Where's the old one?" Butch asked, frowning.
"We destroyed it. In the three days we've lived there in Shittiesville" Buttercup grinned nastily, meeting Butch's smirk of approval.
He suddenly bent against her, kissing her softly, making her moan. "Mhh. Orange popsicle."
"Lemon" she replied as she bit his lower lip.
"Can we make out already? I wanna try that new thing" Butch murmured against her lips.
"Wait a bit longer, shithead. It still hurts" she protested, arching back a little and sticking out her tongue to show the piercing and the still reddened tongue.
"Pff. You pussy" he snickered as he pushed her on the grass. Her short top tank showed her pierced navel – she had already got that one with him on her 15th birthday, making the Professor so mad – and he kissed her tummy slowly, circling her navel with slow circles. She relaxed her head back on the grass, looking at the clear July sky above their heads, enjoying the sensation of his caresses on her skin.
"Ah! I knew it!" he suddenly exclaimed excitedly as he got up on his elbows.
"What?!"
"The other piercing is here… I can see it poking…" he grinned triumphantly as he lowered his head on her breast, biting lightly her pierced nipple, poking from underneath her tight tank top.
"Good finding" Buttercup giggled amusedly as she got up and pushed him away from her.
"Did it hurt?" he asked, looking at it lustfully.
"A bit" she replied, shrugging "so. Time to show me your new tattoo."
"Ya sure?" he asked with a nasty grin, looking around to see if there was anyone nearby.
"Oh brother, it depends. Where did you get it?!" Buttercup widened her eyes, worried about where that shithead of her boyfriend could have got a new tattoo.
Butch quickly raised his eyebrows twice, giving her a daring look, and suddenly took t-shirt off, showing off his bulky chest and… his new tattoo, right in the middle of his chest.
Buttercup looked at it for a second and couldn't hide a broad smile on her lips. A tiny, yellow flower with its five petals stood out on the skin over his heart.
"It's… a buttercup" she bit her lower lips softly, trying to hide her stupid smile.
"What?!" Butch looked surprisedly at his chest "Oh fuck! I'm pretty sure I've asked for a rose blossom! What the fuck is this?" he then laughed.
"Oh fuck you, you jerk!" she pushed him back as they both started laughing like dorks. Dorks in love like they were.
She got on top of him, kissing him softly. "That tattoo is gonna stay there for a while, you know?"
"Right on my heart. Over my skin. Just like you" he whispered as he caressed her sweetly.
"So… we're staying together, right?" she asked sheepishly, crossing her arms over his chest and leaning her chin on her hands, looking up at him.
"Yes. If I could marry you, I'd just do it right away" he muttered as he caressed her hair lightly.
Buttercup felt her skipping a beat.
"Are we already talking about marriage?" she laughed.
"Yeah. I'm not against it" he smiled nonchalantly "I mean. I love you, I want to stay with you forever. That's enough for me."
"Marriage is a serious thing" Buttercup replied, furrowing her eyebrow.
"So are we" he smiled back serenely, stirring something inside her stomach. Seeing him so sure, so calm, so serene about it… it almost made her believe it could be true. As if he was seriously proposing to her.
"Mh-mh" suddenly, a light cough of disapproval caught their attention, making them both sat up on the grass.
A young woman was standing a few steps away from them, wearing a light white camisole and long black trousers. Her hair was long and dark-brown, in contrast with her icy grey eyes. She wore a perfect make-up.
Buttercup gave a quick look at Butch's baggy skater pants and then at her green top tank and extra short shorts and felt somewhat out of place.
"I'm sorry for interrupting you guys, I was just having a short walk here and… I'm the Mayor of this city, and I wanted you to know that it's forbidden to stay without your t-shirt on in this area. You know, it's a family's place…" the woman said kindly and Butch gave her a sly grin, before putting his t-shirt back on.
"Sorry Miss" he replied and he got up immediately.
Buttercup sat still on her knees, goggling at her.
Oh brother.
She totally knew her.
"You are… Dana Darwin" she said in a breath as Butch widened his eyes at the woman in front of them.
Bubbles kept on staring at the little white box in her hands. Why was that happening to her? Why always her?
There were a thousand thoughts running through her mind in that very moment and she couldn't focus on just one.
Suddenly, she heard the door of the laboratory opening and the Professor yawning as he made his way to the living room.
Immediately, she put the white box back inside the white paper package and pushed it back inside the garbage, trying to hide it as well as she could in the middle of the rubbish.
"Bubbles?" her father asked, looking perplexed as he saw her daughter rummaging in the middle of the rubbish bin.
"Mh, yeah Professor?" she smiled back, hiding the garbage behind her back.
"What are you doing?"
"Erm… I'm… taking out the trash! Since Buttercup's not here, that's… she… would usually do it! Now I'll do it!" she sounded extremely nervous. She was good in keeping secret, but not at faking she didn't know one.
"Um… okay…" he nodded frowning "…have you lost anything? Inside the…"
"Oh, uhm… yeah. I was looking for my new brushes and I thought… somebody had thrown them by mistake but… no, they weren't there" she replied, her voice softening as she looked at the garbage bag. "I'll take it out now."
She swallowed hard as she felt a terrible sense of nausea rising from deep withing her gut, her lips trembling and her eyes watery as she crossed the lawn in front of her house. That secret was too big, too heavy, it was pressing on her stomach like a giant stone.
She paused in front of the garbage bins and for a moment she felt the need to look again inside the black rubbish bag she was holding in her hands. She shook her head vigorously, before suspiciously looking right and left, making sure nobody was around. She then put the garbage bag inside the large bin in the street, carefully pushing it under other bags already inside. Far away from her reach. From everybody's reach.
Another secret to be protected at all costs.
Dana looked at Buttercup for a few seconds and widened her eyes too. "You are…"
"The girl your dear husband almost killed!" Butch growled at her, closing in the distance between them.
He so wanted to punch her in the face, but he was against using violence against women. Powerpuff Girls excluded.
"Brother" Buttercup sighed as she got closer to them "Darwin's her brother, Butch".
"Whatever" he replied in a huff, his eyes locked on Dana's in an aggressive glare.
"I'm sorry" Dana said with a calm voice, lowering her gaze on the ground. "I really am, Buttercup Utonium."
Butch looked warily at her, but felt Buttercup's grasp on his shoulder, asking him silently to calm down.
He breathed deeply as he followed Buttercup closing her distance and standing in front of the woman. He didn't trust her, still his sixth sense told him differently. She didn't look anything like her brother. She felt different.
"You know what you brother did to me?" Buttercup asked her, a serious expression on her face.
Whoa, cool don't-fuck-with-me Buttercup in action here, Butch thought with a grin.
"Yes" she replied with a serious expression on her face "But do you know what you Powerpuff Girls did to my family?"
Both Butch and Buttercup gave her a quizzical look.
Dana sighed softly, moving her gaze towards the bridge. "We used to live in Townsville when we were children. Until one day, a giant orange monster with multiple eyes started attacking the city, destroying our neighbourhood… you girls managed to defeat it, only by using the Powerpuff Dynamo."
"Uh oh" Buttercup muttered and Butch looked at her in confusion. "That's the stupid robot the Professor built years ago and that was totally uncontrollable."
"Uh oh" Butch replied, sensing where that was going.
"Our house and our father's shop were completely destroyed by the Dynamo's missiles, so we were left with nothing. We were forced to move to Citiesville, where our father started working in the maintenance service of the… previous bridge" she added with a small smile.
"Oh brother" Buttercup hissed, closing her eyes.
"Oh fuck" Butch confirmed, frowning.
"Yes. After you Powerpuff Girls came to Citiesville and destroyed the bridge, things started to go worse and worse for our family. That's when my brother's rage became uncontrollable. He only wanted to take his revenge on you, who were the cause of our family's demise."
"That's comprehensible. I would have too" Butch nodded, totally convinced by her words.
"Butch" Buttercup hissed with a vexed look on her face.
"What?! It's not only we Rowdyruff, you've fucked up too!" he grinned conceitedly.
"Yeah, well, that wasn't voluntary… we were trying to help but…" Buttercup tried to explain.
"But you couldn't keep your powers under control, yeah" Dana nodded "that's why my brother thought that people shouldn't have superpowers, that we all should be equal. At least, that was his… starting point" she sighed, biting her lower lip. "Now things have… gone a bit… out of control…"
"That's the inebriating power of having big powers" Butch grinned, nastily.
"Inebriating power? Mh?" Buttercup looked at him, frowning.
"What can I say, I'm a fuckin' poet" he shook his head in self-adoration.
Dana couldn't help but smile softly. "Yes, you're probably right" she stopped for a second. "I'm sorry that Devon's obsession had to hit you both. I'm so sorry. He had started with good intentions but now… he's gone haywire, his obsession is making him doing things I… never imagined he would do. Violent things. Awful things. Plus, there are some powerful people who keep on pushing him over the edge."
"Yeah, Daddy Morbucks is certainly taking advantage of the situation" Buttercup sighed, crossing her arms.
"After what he had done to you, Buttercup, I had a big argument with him. I couldn't stand the idea that he's becoming such a violent individual. Greedy and absolutely power-hungry. We haven't talked to each other ever since. I… hope everything will be fine, in the end. I hope Devon will come back to Citiesville to live a serene life, far from revenge and hate and violence. In the meanwhile… I can only guarantee for your safety here. As long as you're in Citiesville, I won't allow him or his underlings to cross the borders to get you. You're under my protection." She smiled sweetly, bowing her head a little. "I hope you'll believe me."
"We will" Butch pressed his lips together, nodding seriously.
Dana nodded a little to herself, before turning towards her driver, who was waiting for her at the side of the road not far away. "Well… I obviously cannot guarantee I won't arrest you for public indecency! I'll let this one slip!" she laughed lightly.
They laughed too. "I promise I will keep my t-shirt on and my hands in the most decent places, Ms Darwin. At least in public."
A knocking on the door. A knocking he knew too well.
Fuckin' finally.
"Come the fuck in" Brick growled as he put on his cap.
The door of the basement of the lab opened and closed, letting Blossom inside, a guilty look in her eyes.
Brick crossed his arms, flexing his muscles under his black tank top, staring at her with his best angry look.
"So?" he asked, an aggressive husky tone in his voice.
To hide the fact that he was hurting so bad.
So. Bad.
"I… I'm sorry. I've been busy, lately" she replied, her voice a little shaky.
He scoffed. "Blossom, I know pretty well when a girl wants to break up with me. So get straight to the point."
"I…" she gaped at him, sincerely lost "…I don't want to break up with you" she replied, embracing herself and making her dress sway. It was pink and with a wide knee skirt, with a waist belt tied right under her breasts.
"It doesn't look like it" he scoffed nervously again, leaning against the table with his hands in his pockets "You've been fucking avoiding me for two weeks, Blossom."
"I've always replied to your messages" she retorted.
"Yes, with monosyllables. And I've never seen you, not even once. And we live in the same fucking house" he rasped, clenching his fists in his pockets. He was dying to get closer to her, to embrace her, to push her down on the bed. But something was off. It had been off for more than a month, he knew that, but he had decided to ignore it. Up to this point.
"I…" she breathed in deeply, stopping for a few seconds. "I'm living a strange period of my life and… I needed time for myself. To properly think what to do next. And when I'm around you, my judgment gets… clouded."
He jeered again, shaking his head. "Yeah, well… update me on what has been going on in that beautiful mind of yours that was too risky to be polluted by my presence."
Blossom's body became rigid and she leant against the door, as if she needed assistance. Assistance he was no willing of giving her.
Just fuckin' say it. It's over. I'm tired of you, fucker. Just say it.
"I… I'm leaving in a couple of days".
The… what?
"Leave for… where?" he raised an eyebrow. "Have you decided to go to university?"
She shook her head lightly. "No. I… I'm going to New City for a while."
Brick raised both of his eyebrows, giving her a quizzical look. "What?!"
"Brick, I know this seems to make very little sense…"
"Yeah, because it's makes fuckin' none? New City? Why?!"
He took his hands out of his pockets and got closer to her, but she immediately flinched against the door, so he stopped. She looked terrified by… him.
"Blossom, what the fuck is going on?"
"Nothing. I just need… to be alone for a while."
"Then go to the fuckin' university!"
"I can't!" she immediately bit her lower lip "I mean… I don't want to. Not until I understand what to do with my life."
Brick sighed with exasperation. "Then, why the motherfuckin' New City?! It's on the other side of the country!"
"I want to experience cold winters" she smiled sheepishly, but he wasn't buying her attempts of changing the topic.
"Blossom… what the fuck is going on? I know… it's been more than a month. I knew you were acting strangely, but… now…"
"You have to trust me, Brick" she suddenly said, her eyes meeting his "I did trust you back then, I even fought against my own sister to give you my whole trust. Now I need that favour back, Brick."
"This doesn't make me feel fine at all" he gazed at her doubtfully "I was fuckin' risking my life to save you all, back then. What are you up to now?"
"It's nothing risky, Brick" she sighed, nervously.
"Then, all this situation doesn't make fucking sense, Blossom" he roared, zipping towards her and punching the wall behind her back, making her flinch. They now were a few inches away, their breaths mingling together. "Why. Are. You. Going. To. Shitty. New. City. Tell me now." He hissed, balefully.
She swallowed hard, but stood his gaze, unwavering. "I want to go there because in New City there a lot of super heroes with different super powers. Their presence in town is regulated by law and they work together with the police department according to organised schemes and routines. I thought I could understand a bit more of how they manage the city and try to bring their model to Townsville. That's all."
Brick grinned sarcastically. "That's all you wanna do? Then why keep it a secret from me? Why hiding for weeks?"
Blossom closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "Because… because… because you're not part of the project, Brick. I need to go alone."
And there it goes.
It hurt. Like a good punch in the stomach.
You're not part of the project.
Brick needed a second to regain control over his breath, over the rage and pain that were gathering in his stomach, making him forget how to speak again.
"Yeah, so… get the fuck out of my life, right?" he whispered as he withdrew his arm from the wall, away from her.
"No" Blossom's voice trembled and her eyes started to look glassy. "I don't want to break up with you".
"So, what the fuck do you want from me, Mr Commander and Leader?" he jeered, but there was no trace of irony in his face. Only pain he was no longer able to hide.
"I… hope you can wait for me…" now she was crying, her voice broken "…until I come back here."
"And when will you?"
"I don't know…"
He scoffed slowly, shaking his head. "Pretty selfish, don't you think?"
"No!" she cried "It's not! I'm doing this for you, Brick! It's… for a whole year, you've just done what others told you to do, you've given up on your life. I want you to decide what to do with your life without… my hindrance."
"Maybe it was foolish of me, but I thought we could decide together what to do next" he stared at her and he could feel his eyes stinging. He raised his own temperature, making those tears in his eyes evaporate instantaneously.
"No. We can't." she closed her eyes, letting a stream of tears run along her cheeks.
He got closer to her and, by force, closed her chin in his hand, pushing her face against his; he kissed her harshly, forcefully, almost painfully. He lingered there for a few seconds more, before letting go of her.
He then pushed her face away, turning his back.
"Then get the fuck out of here, Powerpuff Girl."
Bubbles woke up with a startle. She sat up on the bed, looking around her. Something must have happened; a bad feeling ran along her spine, making her shiver. She embraced her naked body, looking at Boomer, who was sleeping on his belly by her side. His naked back raised up and down rhythmically, he was sound asleep.
She got up delicately and looked around the dark apartment of the boys, but nothing seemed off. But a sense of uneasiness lingered in her chest, making it harder to breathe.
She took out a piece of paper and left a message for Boomer on the night table, saying she was going home. Even if she wasn't supposed to be going around on her own, lately things seemed to be pretty calm in Townsville.
July was ending and so was the campaign of hatred Darwin had started against them, seeing how the population had begun to grow tired of him.
Serves him right.
She got dressed quickly, unable to shake off that feeling from her skin. Also, her secret had been weighing on her stomach for too many days. Probably it was high time to face the truth. At least with her sister. At least with Blossom.
She drew a deep breath and exited the apartment, zipping through the night sky quickly and silently.
Not even after a minute, she landed in the lawn in front of her house. The light of her room was on. She smiled, seeing Blossom's silhouette from behind the curtains.
But she couldn't even put a foot down.
Something suddenly hit both her calves, burning like hell and hurting like fire, and she fell to the ground. Bubbles didn't have the time to speak, because somebody from behind put a handkerchief on her mouth, pushing her down on the grass. She was feeling extremely weak and powerless and soon everything became black.
"Holy fuck, Brick" Boomer commented as he looked at his brother, lying inside the trunk of Butch's car, completely wasted.
Brick shot him a death glare. "The fuck you want" he mumbled, handing him a bottle of rum "come here and join your ol' brother!"
"How much have you drunk? I haven't seen you this wasted in years!" Boomer replied, goggling at him.
"Leave me alone" Brick scoffed, taking another sip at his bottle of rum.
The number eleven or twelve, probably. He didn't remember. He couldn't care less.
He had called his brothers and had met with them in Citiesville, in a hidden corner on the banks of the river. Butch had arrived with Buttercup's car and now he was lying completely drunk in the opened trunk, looking at the sunset sky above his – swirling – sight.
Butch was sitting on the ground, his back against the car, while Boomer was standing in front of them, nervously looking at his mobile phone.
"Put that thing down" Butch sighed as he took a sip from Brick's bottle "We're here to support our heartbroken bro".
"I'm not heartbroken, you shithead" Brick replied as he took his bottle back, taking a long sip.
"Well, I'd be heartbroken too if Bubbles doesn't respond my call or my messages soon" Boomer bit his nail, nervously looking at the screen "She hasn't seen them since this morning!"
"It's a family thing" Brick snickered bitterly "she will stay silent for two weeks and theeeen… boom! You'll no longer be part of the project!" he took another sip, but the bottle was empty. "Fuck…" he mumbled as he let the bottle slide on the ground. He let his head lie on the bottom of the trunk while his legs were swinging outside of it, his eyes staring blankly at the pink shades of the sky. Pink and red were mixing together and that…
He stood up quickly, zipping towards the edge of the river, barfing all he had drunk in the dark waters of the filthy river.
"The fish will be delighted" Butch snickered, amusedly.
"Fuck, Brick… by the way, where's Buttercup?" Boomer asked his brother.
"At home, she went to see Blossom off. Probably with Bubbles. I can give her a call if that's make you feel better." Butch replied, smirking.
"Yeah, plea— wait, Blossom's calling me" Boomer said with a frown, picking up his phone call.
Brick gave him a sideway look full of hate.
Yes, call my little brother, you…
And then he had to barf again, all of his nauseous pain pushing in his stomach like a 100kg weight. Only earing her name him feel sick.
Brick raised his head back to look at his reflection in the water.
Pitiful dickhead.
In that moment, his phone started vibrating in his pocket. He growled in pain and then answered with a drowsy voice to the unknown number.
"Yeah?"
"Brick!"
"…mh?"
"It's me, Jenna Hampton."
"…mh?"
"Oh, for God's sake. Miss Secretary! You're secretary at Darwin's! I've been working with you for a whole year, dammit!"
"Oh, yeah… the fuck you want? If this is another trap of Darwin's, tell him…"
"No, Brick. There's no time for this. You listen carefully to me. You can believe me or not, I don't care, but Devon's gone totally out of his mind and now he's got Bubbles."
"He… what?!"
"I don't know if it's true, but he thinks that she…"
Brick's eyes widened as he stared at his reflection in the water.
Bubbles opened her eyes slowly, her ears ringing, her body heavy. A sharp pain in her legs made her groan as she realised she was lying on a doctor's examination table inside what it seemed to be a hospital room.
Her legs were bandaged and blood-stained and several bruises tainted her pale skin.
She wasn't healing. She could tell.
She shut her eyes.
Fuckity fuck.
As she painfully sat on the table, she realised there was somebody sitting at the other side of the room.
It was Devon Darwin.
He was wearing a white suit, white as the room they were in, white as the devilish smile on his lips.
"Good morning, Sunshine" he greeted her cheerfully.
Bubbles just moaned and she rolled her eyes.
Holy fuckity fuck.
She'd been captured and filled with Reagent X. She could tell. That was a serious pain in the butt.
"What do you want from me?" she blurted out with an annoyed sigh.
She hated him. She hated him so much that she was feeling her hardcore side infuriating inside her. But she was feeling too sluggish to even raise her hands.
"Oh, Bubbles, dear. Your tone really hurts me" he giggled merrily as he got up, moving towards her. "I was so happy to finally get the chance to know you better. Especially now."
"What do you mean?" she glared back at him, suspiciously.
He slowly put a small white box on the table at the side of the bed. A small box she knew too well. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath.
"Familiar?" he asked her, a tone of satisfaction in his voice.
"Where did you find it?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"Oh my dear angel, you were too suspicious with that garbage bag. A little bit of nonchalance and my spies wouldn't have had a single doubt. But you were too careful in hiding it away from everyone's eye. So… we decided to give a quick look at your garbage and… what a lovely surprise!" he said in a fake sweet voice, as he took the box and let the content of it slide on the small table.
A white plastic stick with a pink cap fell there, a little screen on it showing a simple word: pregnant.
"So, Bubbles… when are we expecting this little RowdyPuff baby to arrive?"
She sighed deeply, looking at the pregnancy test on the table.
Holy fuckity-fuck fuck fuck.
I'm drunk in the back of the car
And I cried like a baby coming home from the bar
Said, "I'm fine, " but it wasn't true
I don't wanna keep secrets just to keep you
And I snuck in through the garden gate
Every night that summer just to seal my fate
And I screamed for whatever it's worth
"I love you, " ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?