It was the mild tremors on the floor and the faint screams, completely inaudible to those without super hearing, that alerted the two of them.
Blossom's glittery pink pen stopped writing at the same time as fiery red eyes narrowed dangerously.
"That better not be what I think it is..." Blossom spoke warningly.
"That better not be what you think it is either..." Brick looked angrier than Blossom.
From their peripheral view, the two redheads saw, on the large glass windows to their left, two trails of quickly fading green light zigzagging out of Pokey Oaks High and straight into Townsville, leaving behind a path of chaos and wild destruction.
"That dick-for-brains..." Brick growled under his breath even as the rest of the students stood up and rushed to crowd against the windows to gawk at the trail of debris, uprooted trees, upturned grounds, broken buildings and structures and trembling wide-eyed unfortunate bystanders.
Blossom closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her head throbbed painfully.
The classroom door suddenly banged open, and Brick's blond brother came rushing inside.
"Brick, Butch's fighting Buttercup–!" The blue ruff did a double take, blinking at his 'eldest' brother's furious face and Blossom's pained expression. And the boisterous crowd of honor students surrounding the large glass windows, many of whom had their phones out and cameras running. "–But I see you already know that..." He trailed off, standing awkwardly a short distance from the door. Privately, he wondered why he even bothered as he tried not to obviously look useless. Judging by the way everyone, even the teacher, was too occupied with the growing trail of expensive destruction the green puff and ruff left behind, he was mostly succeeding.
Brick stood up and shot darkly at his counterpart, "If your sister doesn't kill my brother, I will."
He strode towards the opened windows, the students fearfully parting for him like the red sea at his leaking furious aura, and shot off into the sky.
Blossom sighed in frustration, also stood up and quickly went after her counterpart, Boomer silently following behind her.
The two of them quickly caught up to the Rowdyruff leader, with Bubbles meeting them a few seconds later in the sky as they followed the trail of destruction carelessly left behind by their brawling black-haired siblings.
Rose pink eyes silently watched as Brick's face became more and more pissed off with every uprooted tree, upturned ground, broken infrastructure, and traumatized unlucky bystander the four of them passed by.
Despite the current situation, Blossom found herself actually preferring seeing her counterpart like this. No, not angry, but... open. The red ruff was quick to anger when they were young, and now, seeing Brick like this, with seemingly perfect anger management and control, all cold, indifferent, and detached...
It was alarming.
-M-I-A-S-M-A-
"Some of our important choices have a time line. If we delay a decision, the opportunity is gone forever. Sometimes our doubts keep us from making a choice that involves change. Thus an opportunity may be missed."
- James E. Faust
"This sucks." Boomer sighed, picking up yet another fallen tree. "Why do we have to be the ones to clean up afterwards?" The blue ruff complained, "We weren't the ones fighting..."
"It's because we're the only ones currently available." His counterpart chirped to him, clearing away a huge mess of rubble by generating a small tornado.
Currently, both Bubbles and Boomer were out helping with the clean-up of the aftermath of their black-haired siblings' rampage from Pokey Oaks High all the way to the city of Townsville.
"Talking to me now?" Boomer said casually, with a smile on his face.
Bubbles, though still not quite used to it, ignored her counterpart's poker face. "That should be my line!" she cheerily replied with a cute grin.
Ocean-blue eyes glanced at her briefly before returning to his work.
"Mm..." Her counterpart righted an uprooted tree. "Should be."
'Still uncooperative...' The blue puff mentally pouted.
Bubbles didn't notice that her pout wasn't just mentally.
'I just ended up encouraging her...' Boomer inwardly sighed.
"Well now, I wasn't aware of having used reverse psychology..." The blond turned his head away, replying with a blasé voice.
Bubbles frowned. "I'm naive, not stupid."
Boomer pointedly did not reply.
Bubbles huffed and strode directly over to her counterpart, forcefully shoving a huge uprooted tree into his hands. "I'm sorry for being too cowardly to give you a chance at first..." She sincerely said, nearing her face to his.
"..." Ocean blue eyes locked gazes with sky blue ones for a moment. "...At first?"
The blue puff pouted and opened her mouth, about to speak, when she noticed an unfortunate bystander. An old man was having trouble getting up after falling down backwards in shock when the two greens had earlier flown past him.
"Are you alright, sir?" Bubbles asked, zipping over towards him and extending a helping hand with a gentle smile. "Here, let me help you-"
The old man slapped her hand away as he shakily stood up on his own.
"Get away from me, you freak!"
Bubbles froze.
Boomer's head whipped around towards them.
"Just because you look normal now doesn't mean you actually are!" The old man harshly spat, sending a scathing glare at both counterparts as he desperately hobbled away, "I don't know what the Mayor was thinking allowing you... you demons here in Townsville! You freaks stay away from us!!!"
Ocean blue eyes sharpened for a second, cracks appearing from where he was gripping the uprooted tree he was righting. His face was unreadable.
Bubbles was silent.
Boomer's eyes went to his counterpart's back.
"Bubbles...?"
"..." The blue puff slowly stood up from her crouching position and turned around to face him.
She had a small, sad smile on her beautiful face.
"You're not the only ones well acquainted with fear..."
Tick...
Tick...
Tick...
Tick...
Blossom pinched the bridge of her nose, mentally counting in time with the ticking of the wall clock, forcefully shaking away another forming headache. Rose-pink eyes glanced up at scowling red ones.
The two leaders sat on opposite armchairs, facing each other, left alone in the principal's office and forced to spend minutes in tense silence after the vice principal had yelled at them for an hour straight. Not even the pink puff's attempts at diplomatic placation could stop the aforementioned old hag's tirade.
'We weren't even the ones who fought...' Blossom thought, her lips thinned in annoyance. She continued mentally counting. She was more stressed than angry at this point anyway.
Tick...
Tick...
Tick...
Tick...
The ticking of the clock inside the office sounded more and more like a ticking time bomb with each passing second.
"'Not interested in a fight', huh..." Blossom harrumphed, leaning on the armrest of her chair, one hand massaging her forehead.
Brick, with his arms crossed against his chest, was unaffected.
Blood-red eyes slowly opened.
"You and I both know the blame for that lies on your side."
Blossom couldn't help but wince at that. Buttercup was the one who threw the first punch, no matter how much Butch was provoking her.
"Butch wasn't at the infirmary." Blossom stared pointedly at Brick.
"Why would he be there?"
Brick emphasized two words: 'he', Butch as a superbeing has no real need for the school infirmary, and 'there', Butch as a superbeing would not go to somewhere as lowly as a school infirmary if he ever needed medical treatment, which was obviously unlikely.
The pink puff settled for matching her counterpart's scowl.
"Tell your brother to stop goading my sister."
"Tell your sister to stop being goaded by my brother."
Blossom frowned.
"-'s looks." Brick added, deliberately belatedly.
Blossom narrowed her eyes.
"Then tell him to stop looking goading!"
"He's only goading to your sister."
The pink puff took one look at her counterpart's face and scoffed. "Apparently she's not the only one."
Brick scowled. "It's disastrous letting you run around with wrong ideas. Thanks to that fucktard, we now have to fill you in before you decide to act on your half-assed notions..."
"Are they half-assed though?" Blossom quipped challengingly.
"I can't believe you actually said half-assed."
"I can't believe you actually believe what you said will distract me."
"Worth a try."
"A half-assed try."
"You're only persistent because you've always been such a holier-than-thou busybody." A mocking smirk crossed her counterpart's lips. "The Professor should've named you Buttinsky*1 instead."
Blossom felt a temple vein pop*2.
"I'm only persistent because I care!"
"Yeah, about Townsville."
"In case you forgot, you and your brothers are part of Townsville now too." Blossom spoke firmly, looking entirely done with her counterpart.
Fiery red eyes widened in stunned surprise before arranging back into surly aloofness. Blossom's dislike of that expression was growing more and more. She forgot how easily her counterpart could make her lose her cool.
Speaking of which...
"Don't kill your brother." The pink puff sighed tiredly, leaning back in her armchair. "He still needs to help my sister with the cleanup."
Immediately getting his counterpart's seemingly non sequitur, Brick closed his eyes as he felt his temper rising anew at the mention of his black-haired brother. "I'll kill that shithead after."
"Before you do that, make him stop picking fights with Buttercup." Blossom said dryly.
"Oh?" The red ruff raised a brow, undertone mocking with a hint of curiosity. "Not gonna stop me?"
The two of them were only joking, of course, but the red ruff was still surprised at his counterpart playing along. He remembered how prissy and prudish the pink puff was.
"If this whole thing happens again..." Blossom stood up and walked over to where her counterpart sat. She bent down, slamming her hands on Brick's armrests, their faces only inches apart.
Blood-red eyes were clearly reflected in tired rose-pink ones.
Pink lips curved up in a smile that was both playful and serious.
"If you don't kill your brother, I will."
Dark pink flats followed closely behind by a pair of blue wedges swiftly made their way towards the school infirmary. Furious pink eyes immediately focused on the sole occupant inside the room, sitting cross-legged atop one of the infirmary's white beds and looking oddly pensive.
"Buttercup." Blossom's gaze was piercing. "It's only been a week."
Buttercup had the decency to flinch and look down in shame.
Blossom shook her head. "You two really couldn't leave each other alone for more than a week?"
A giggle escaped from Bubbles' lips at that.
Buttercup glared, her eye twitching. The way her red-haired sister worded it, it sounded like she and Butch...
"Seven classrooms, four hallways, twenty thankfully unoccupied lockers, the school's front yard, the football field, and the gymnasium. And that's just Pokey Oaks High, never mind the damages to Townsville." Blossom listed off with an unreadable face. "The school's cutting off the rest of the day and had to rearrange things so that schedules don't fall behind too much and classes can continue next week. The silver lining is that today is a Friday." Pink eyes glowed dangerously.
Buttercup flinched. No, she was not cowering in front of her seriously pissed off 'eldest' sister.
"Buttercup, you shouldn't have been so quick to anger. I am not in the mood for this. It's stressful and just plain difficult enough with the boys' unexpected return..." Blossom sighed, massaging her temples. "I don't need you adding to it."
Buttercup winced.
Ouch. Busted...
"So what's my punishment?" The black-haired puff spoke nervously, "Detention for the rest of the year? Permanent grounding? Lifetime imprisonment in maximum security? Burning my blanket...?"
Blossom's glowing pink eyes narrowed, unamused.
"Consider yourself lucky that we managed to talk the principal into an understanding. It's only fitting that you spend at least an hour or two after school from now on up until you finish fixing the damages you brought to the school and then to the city. As the other one to blame for this mess, Butch will also be joining you, of course."
A wide-eyed Buttercup shot up at that. "What!? But-!"
"Don't even think about complaining, much less escaping," Blossom hissed glacially. "The vice-principal directly called both Brick and me just to make sure that you and Butch actually do your punishment!"
Rose pink eyes narrowed into slits, glowing even more. Buttercup couldn't help but shiver, and not just because the temperature inside the room had dropped. Unlike her, when Blossom got angry, seriously angry, she got cold. The madder she was, the colder the surrounding temperature became.
"I had to endure all of my classes seated right next to my counterpart, multiplied by the fact that I have to bear with this for a whole year. I was looking forward to going home, the only time I could relax. To my surprise, I found myself forcibly summoned to the principal's office with none other than Brick, only to be yelled at by the old hag of a vice-principal for an hour straight. So Buttercup, deal with it, just like I damn well did!" A quietly observing Bubbles flinched and she couldn't blame her black-haired sister for cowering away from Blossom. "You should be thankful I'm not forcing you to drink Antidote X while you fix the school and the city."
"But then I wouldn't be able to fix anything-" Buttercup quickly puckered her own mouth shut as Blossom's face worsened.
"Buttercup," the Powerpuff leader's face and tone were below freezing temperature. Condensation started escaping from her lips. "There's a reason why Brick and I try so hard not to fight each other. You have no goddamn idea how much effort we exert to not let loose..." Like you and Butch carelessly did.
At that moment, very fortunate for Buttercup, the school doctor entered the room. With the return of the boys, the girls (most especially Buttercup) felt that they would be seeing more of him throughout the year.
"Well, aside from a lot of cuts and bruises, there's nothing really wrong with Buttercup here." The school doctor spoke to the three of them. "The more serious injuries had already started healing themselves, no doubt because of the Chemical X in her blood. I see no real reason to keep her here any longer-"
"Finally!" Buttercup whooped and immediately jumped off the white bed she was sitting on and made a mad dash (quick escape) out the door, much to the amusement of the school doctor and Bubbles. Blossom sighed and offered an apology to the school doctor for the inconvenience. She then left, followed by her blonde sister.
As the three walked through an empty hallway, Blossom thought back to the day's previous events and suppressed a wince as she felt another headache start to bloom. "At this rate, I'm afraid Pokey Oaks High, let alone Townsville, won't survive..."
All the lights in the Rowdyruff house were currently turned off, though with the three occupants' enhanced eyesight and night vision, they might as well be on.
"You fucked up." Brick said flatly to Butch, who was silent, sitting cross-legged atop his bed. The black-haired ruff's head was bowed, bangs shadowing his eyes, mouth set in a flat, unreadable line. All of his limbs were thickly wrapped in bandages, due to the beatdown the red ruff gave him earlier.
Brick was standing outside Butch's bedroom, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, talking to Butch through the open door. His back was turned towards the still and silent form of Butch. Brick knew his black-haired brother didn't want anyone to see him when he was in a weak state.
Boomer stood quietly next to Brick, frowning as he silently spectated.
Without looking back, Brick threw a small bottle of pills in Butch's direction, landing it perfectly atop the bed and next to the green ruff. The half-empty bottle rolled a little, the pills inside making a light tinkling noise as it did so.
"Tell me the truth." Brick spoke after a long moment of tense silence. "Did you forget or did you not?"
"..."
"Well...?" The red ruff's tone was an even mix of inquiring, demanding and warning.
Butch's fists clenched further.
"...I didn't."
The green ruff's voice was soft and subdued, yet his two brothers heard it loud and clear.
"Didn't what, didn't forget or didn't-"
"I forgot, alright!" Butch suddenly shouted at Brick, "I fucking forgot-"
"Liar."
Brick's draconian voice was cutting, and Butch and Boomer flinched.
"Tch..." Butch turned his head towards the glass balcony doors to his right, away from his bedroom door.
"Double the dose." Brick ordered his black-haired brother.
"I'm already taking double." Butch scowled. Those meds fucking tasted like Antidote-X.
"Then double it again." Brick ordered in a final tone, his narrowed eyes starting to glow. Boomer silently winced.
Butch irritably cursed, grabbing the bottle of pills.
Brick let him vent.
He waited until his black-haired brother stopped cursing and casually spoke, as if talking about the weather, "Just so you know, we're telling tomorrow."
Butch and Boomer froze.
"What!?!" Forest green eyes shot up towards his blond brother. "But then they'll know-"
"And whose fucking fault is that?"
Brick's demonic voice cut him off.
Boomer lowered his head, bangs hiding his face. "..."
At that, the green ruff gritted his teeth and turned his head away once more.
"Let them know..." Butch scoffed dismissively.
Brick closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose, forcefully calming himself. Without opening his eyes, he directed towards Boomer standing at his side, "You okay with them knowing?"
The blue ruff kept quiet.
Butch angrily shot back to his 'eldest' brother, "Are you?"
"What do you think?" came the scathing rebuke.
Butch stubbornly stayed silent.
After a long while, Brick finally opened his eyes and let out a tired sigh.
"...Just remember, it wasn't your fault." The red ruff said at last, straightening and walking away, leaving Butch to wallow in silence in his bedroom.
The blue ruff gave one last glance at his black-haired brother before quietly closing the bedroom door and following Brick downstairs.
"...Are you really okay with telling?" The blond finally spoke after the two of them reached the kitchen.
"Doesn't matter if I am or not." Brick simply answered, immediately heading straight for the coffeemaker. "We need them to know and we hate it."
"..." Boomer quietly watched his red-haired brother's back as he worked. "Brick... couldn't we just move...?"
"Heh." The red ruff sneered, "Do you really think we would be here if we could?"
Boomer's reply was quick and sure. "Yes."
Brick scowled. He couldn't really refute since it was true. "Tch..."
"And it's not really because of that either..." Boomer added, unnecessarily speaking what all three brothers knew to be true.
Brick scowled further. His narrowed eyes started glowing and the mug of coffee he was holding in his hand started boiling.
"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
IV. The Inevitable
(or in which the Greens are dead, if not by each other's hands, then via enraged 'eldest' siblings)
Author End Notes
*1: Buttinsky - a person given to butting in; a troublesome meddler (taken from Merriam Webster website)
*2: See Cross-Popping Veins from TV Tropes
The Reds' scene at the principal's office was fun to write.
Blossom actually swore, wow...
Oh, so Brick's not allowed to see Butch like that but apparently Boomer is? And what are 'it' and 'that'...?