"huh, your leg isn't looking very good" the doctor said as she examined Boomer's injured leg.
"is it not healing?" Brick asked, holding a fidget toy in one hand.
"no, no. it's healing alright. but its not healing in the correct position" she replied.
"see here? it's got an awkward tilt. we're going to need to do surgery to correct it" the doctor explained, brushing her fingers against the slightly tilted lower part of his leg.
"how did you break it exactly?" she questioned, causing the blonde-haired boy to tighten his grip on the pillow in his hands.
"he broke it while we were...fighting the powerpuff girls. our counterparts" Brick nervously explained.
"they're not your counterparts" she replied, confusing all three boys.
"what do you mean? they're our goody two shoes opposites" Butch scoffed while squeezing the stress toy in his hands.
"no one is anyone's counterpart. or anyone's opposite. that makes it sound like you're not your own unique person. instead, just the parallel of something else. like a poor imitation of yin and yang" the doctor spoke in a calm voice.
"come on, we need to get this fixed" she said as she got up off her knees.
"eh, its fine. we can easily fix this" Butch told her as he stood up off the nearby chair and walked over.
he grabbed Boomer's injured leg.
with a loud yelp from the blonde-haired boy Butch snapped the leg back in place, only to be shoved away by the doctor.
"don't do that! that'll only cause more damage and some of it might be permanent!" the doctor almost yelled at an unfazed Butch.
she took a deep breath before turning to look at a wincing Boomer.
"come on, we need to get you into surgery to fix that leg. your brother meanwhile is being put in time out. go to the corner" she said, first speaking to Boomer before pointing at the corner while referring to Butch.
"what!? I am one of townsville's most feared criminals and you just tell me to 'go to the corner' like a ugly puppy!?" Butch barked.
"yes, and that's what concerns me and all the adults in social services. children should not be criminals. superpowers or not you're children" she replied, giving him a gentle tap on the head.
both Butch and Brick froze in confusion and frustration while Boomer gave a silent nod.
"what is this place?" Brick asked, fidgeting with the toy in his hand. they were standing in the main entrance of the townsville orphanage. it was half way between townsville and farmville but despite the name it was mostly run by farmville.
"it's an orphanage. you'll be staying here until we can find you homes" the social worker with them explained.
"please don't separate us" Butch quietly begged.
"if that's what you want. we'll do what we can" the social worker replied, surprising all three boys.
"no one's actually said that to us" Butch whispered as he tightened his grip on his stress toy.
"well then this is the first. come on, I'll show you your beds" the social worker told the pair, signaling for them to follow him as he began walking away.
"this place is so big! and cozy" Brick commented. the orphanage's main hall was lit by the sun at day and by high up lanterns at night. it was spacious enough to fit a school gym. there were large stairs that led to the second floor of the building.
"I'm run around like a mad man!" Butch cackled.
the social worker grabbed him by the collar of his shirt when he tried to fly away.
"in the morning. you'll have more fun running around with the other orphans" the social worker told him.
"what's your name?" Brick questioned.
"call me Robert" the social worker told the red-haired boy.
"come on, we're going to your new room" Robert continued, dragging Butch towards the stairs.
Butch grumbled something as Robert let go of his shirt.
the two boys followed him up the stairs into a large hallway with six doors, all of them with names written on them.
they followed Robert to one of the doors last before the hallway bent into another row. the door had the names 'Violet' and 'Henry' written on it in crayon, other writing was there but it was so washed off you could barely see it, forget reading it.
Robert signaled for them to be quiet before slowly opening the door.
inside was eight beds with one bedside table each, each of them having a lantern on it. only one of the lanterns were lit, the one farthest from the door on the left. in the bed next to it was a girl their age who was fast asleep. she wore a white t-shirt dress and shorts while her elbow-length dark red hair was loose and spread out on her pillow. in the third bed on the right was a boy a few years older than them, also fast asleep. he wore the same thing as the girl while his shoulder-length black hair was tied in a small ponytail on his left side.
"that's Violet and Henry. make sure not to wake them up will you?" Robert told the boys.
Brick nodded while Butch gave him a mischievous smile.
"if you don't wake up either of them, I'll give you a piece of candy in the morning" Robert continued, causing Butch to violently nod his head.
"you kids should go to bed. its past midnight" Robert said, gesturing for the two to enter.
when Butch woke up, sunlight was shining through the window opposite of the door and the lantern that was lit the night before was put out.
he sat up to see Henry and Brick sitting on the floor, fiddling with some wooden device while Violet was drawing in a notebook on her bed. Brick's hair was tied in a high ponytail while Violet's was tied back in a low ponytail.
Butch yawned loudly, alerting all three kids to his presence.
"morning! they've already served breakfast but there's some strawberry bushes outside free to pick! most kids who miss breakfast just go for the strawberries in the summer and the chip bags they leave in the dining hall when it's one of the other seasons" Violet explained.
"thanks. I guess" Butch replied as he got off the bed and headed to the door.
he left the room and headed downstairs.
Butch stopped when he came halfway down the stairs. there were at least a hundred kids of all ages running around playing. all in the same orphanage uniform.
he looked up at the unlit lanterns and got a mischievous idea.
Butch flew up, stopping when the chitter-chatter of the other children stopped.
"he's flying!" a kid in their early teens exclaimed, pointing straight up at him.
"uh...hi?" Butch nervously replied.
"he's flying! he's flying!" the same kid yelled as he began jumping up and down, many of the children younger then him following.
"how are you flying!?" a older teenager called up to him.
he floated down until he was face-to-face with the teenager, leaning in before giving a mischievous smile.
"chemical X" he whispered before zooming upwards and grabbing one of the lanterns off its chain.
he inspected it, only to discover there was a huge piece that could've fallen out and injured someone at any moment.
"this things damaged!" he exclaimed with frustration.
he was about to put it back on the chain when someone called out to him.
"hey! what are you doing up there?" a worker asked.
"this things broken. I was about to put it back on" Butch replied without thinking.
"if it's broken just give it to me. for all you know it could fall and stab you in the head" the worker called as she raised her hand, ready to be given the broken lantern.
with a reluctant sigh Butch flew down and gave it to the worker.
"thank you! it wouldn't be a bother for you if you flew up later with a replacement for this thing would it?" the worker asked as she turned to walk away, with which Butch shook his head.
"how do you fly?" a toddler asked as they stood below him.
"what other superpowers do you have?" a preteen asked as they grabbed his leg and pulled him down.
"can you shoot lasers?" a teenager asked as they leaned in to look him in the eyes with a wide grin.
"chemical X. a lot. yes" he quickly replied, shaking the preteens hand off his leg.
"I'm gonna go get something to eat" Butch said before flying up and out of the room.