Real Family

by TeslaWisteria

Summary: The Rowdyruff Boys have been missing for years. No one ever took their lives, no records of them being placed in local or external jail. Not even a footprint or visual of them. What's more, when people claim to see them around, they're gone before anyone else can report it. During this time of peace in Townsville, will their first reappearance be destructive or constructiv

AN: I know I have a few stories like this on here, but I plan to finish this one! That said, I have my BF to thank, again for his edits to the chapter~! I only own the story, and I plan to change the current cover to my own orginal art asap! That said, the fan art is a piece by an instagram artist I like named Leechee Doodles, so please check her out~! Small potential tw for this chapter, minor abuse/near murder mention, and potential 'gore' warning, plus very minor swearing! Without further adieu please enjoy~!

Chapter 1: This is Pointless!

A group of four teenage girls sat on the grass in Townsville Park, idling the hours away. One, blue eyed and grinning, spoke up. "The town has been so quiet lately. No monsters, no major villain attacks, just... calm."

"You mean it's been slow. Dull. Boring. Right, Robin?" Asked one of her friends, whose black hair was chopped in a bob cut.

"Buttercup!" shouted a ginger haired girl, she looked a bit annoyed by the insinuation that it being peaceful was boring,"Just because we haven't had any really big problems in Townsville in a while doesn't mean things are boring! Besides you and Mitch have been pulling enough pranks to fill the time..."

Buttercup was about to argue with her sister when the blonde of the group spoke up. "Come on guys! We hardly used to get any days to relax, and we passed on a vacation because we went into the future by accident once. Plus, and we promised Robin we'd hang out today."

Robin smiled sheepishly, waving as Buttercup and Blossom stared at the two of them. "Yeah, yeah you're right, crybaby Bubbles," Buttercup smirked, teasing her sister.

Blossom was about to scold Buttercup when Bubbles joked, "At least I didn't use to lose control of my anger after every battle."

Buttercup playfully punched her in the shoulder causing both of them to laugh, and Blossom relaxed, a smile crossing her face. Robin hummed, looking around Townsville park, as she did she saw a blue jay and smiled softly. She was just grateful that she could hang out with her closest friends. She pulled out her sketchbook and began to draw when the bird flew away.

A round of shouts and giggles from the girls rang out. "Run Robin, run!" Buttercup cried with a bright grin on her face, Mitch had managed to sneak up on the girls. "He's got a water gun!" Bubbles warned, as Robin scooped up her bag and ran away laughing.

None of them noticed the blue jay just hovering in one place, nor that its eyes looked oddly red and beady. The bird seemed to scoff, disappearing in a small cloud of red smoke. Angry laughter followed its disappearance, and the smoke traveled far away from plain old Townsville. It returned to its master, a being with bright red skin, wearing a dress that almost matched in color, with red-pink fur around the collar of the dress and base of the skirt. A black belt sat in the middle of this dress, and he wore black thigh high boots. He smiled, laughing in agitation for all of 2 seconds as he took a breath, and said through his grit teeth,"You girls! Have you realized how much your joy irks me!? And yet, no matter what direction is taken, you just won't die! Your bubbly personalities were only ever truly dampened once! That sweet old Mayor was perfect, and taking his place was the key. Oh, but even in pain, you couldn't just let go like you wanted! I HATE YOU!"

A string of "I hate you's" followed, with the monster only known as HIM shattering, kicking, breaking, and burning the objects in his sight. The peace in Townsville, the Powerpuff Girls feeling joy, it all made HIM rage. The former Mayor of Townsville had died when they were 10, and he had tried to take advantage. He promised everything, trying to reach his way into the hearts of the people, which he managed to for a time. It was when the girls, with the help of Mayor's former secretary, were able to get him to stumble, and admit that he would imprison Townsville bit by bit, that the girls would strike back. That was 5 years ago, and even with HIM working with Mojo Jojo to train up the Rowdyruff Boys, it ate him up that he couldn't just act now. "Yo, we're back!" Called an all too familiar voice, causing HIM to halt his destructive rage.

HIM snapped his claws, as he let one thing cross his mind,"Be patient, it will all be done soon."

"Come on in Boys," he said, faking a perfect smile, as the rest of his room tidied itself.

The RRB walked in, their features older and expressions hardened. The three of them looked almost blank and expressionless, yet still terrifying. HIM's smile became more genuine, as he noted this, the more disciplined nature they were displaying chased away any worries that he had been having about any of their resolve's wavering. "Let's see how you did," he hummed, making an image of their actions appear in front of them all.

The boys had been sent to a basic electronic store, and were told to steal 3 separate things. They had no rules on what they could steal, just that they weren't allowed to get caught. HIM watched them enter the store, and paused to choose who to start with. A claw raised to his bearded chin in thought, when it dawned on him that Boomer had been exceptionally soft hearted lately. "Do you mind if we start with your performance," HIM asked Boomer pointedly, earning a head shake from Boomer.

Brick, and Butch looked over, just barely hiding their surprise, as HIM usually started with Brick. The image shifted over to Boomer, and walked through the store with him. He managed to put an employee at ease when talking to them, even being able to give them the impression that all he was doing was looking. Brick walked over to urge Boomer to hurry, even managing to slip the key to a display off of one of the employees before leaving Boomer to resume "browsing". Boomer stared at the key, a bright grin crossing his face as he snuck over to the case. He quickly opened it, snatched a small black box and closed it. The alarms almost sounded when a small bolt of lightning knocked out the security system and the three of them left. "Well done," HIM stated, somewhat impressed that this particular "tool" had gotten sharper,"You did almost get caught, but managed not to arouse suspicion when approached by an employee. You've improved Boomer, may I see what you stole?"

Boomer seemed oddly relieved, while his brothers smiled, both jealous and proud of his achievement. Boomer retrieved the box from his hoodie pocket, and HIM studied it, opening it carefully. His green eyes lit up as he said,"Not only an expensive item, but one Mojo's been trying to locate for an invention. Though I doubt you knew that much, I'm impressed. Keep this up, and we might be able to act sooner than expected."

Boomer nodded, still pretty relieved that he'd managed to improve enough to impress HIM. "Only notes I have are to act more quickly when leaving, and try not to get help from your brothers if you can help it, but all in all very good," HIM stated, looking at Boomer with pride.

Boomer nodded happily, and as he turned away, his thoughts still racing, HIM could only think,"Soon this will be mine, sharing the world's control with anyone would be a waste. That hopeful smile made me want to puke."

He turned to Butch, the pseudo video seeming to rewind back to the store's entrance, and the start of the day. "Since we're already in reverse, you don't mind going last this once, do you Brick?"

Brick's proud smirk for Boomer quickly faded, as he shook his head,"No, you're the one teaching."

Despite the tone of his voice, HIM could absolutely tell that he had hurt Brick's pride. It gave him a bit of joy, but he forced himself not to revel in it. So with that he turned to Butch, before watching his performance. As soon as he was inside, Butch seemed to relax: no twitching, no giggling. He had a plan in mind. He made sure to walk around for a bit, forcing himself into hiding old tells that would have gotten him caught in the past. Once he'd done a couple of rounds of the store, and he noticed the security was distracted by a sudden rush in the store, he went to a blind spot near the front of the store. He quickly grabbed a few small items from the display, hiding them away in the bag he'd brought with him. After packing the items away, he turned and walked away with a calm expression, and waited for Brick and Boomer at the door. The rest was self explanatory with him pretending that he'd already purchased the stuff in his bag, just before the security went out. "Making decisive choices, that was smart. Even feigning browsing was a good choice, that said you won't always have a cover, and you may want to destroy security measures on products in the future," HIM stated,"That and keeping your cool even after being approached by several customers and employees would be something I'd work on. That said, nice work, we should be able to drum up some extra income with those games over time."

Butch nodded, trying not to look smug as he turned away. His brothers nearly grinned, though HIM just viewed this as a very minor improvement, and that Butch still had a ways to go. "Once they're trained up properly," HIM thought, rewinding this view one last time, "They'll be adequate for their original purpose finally, and the girls will be gone forever. Though sometimes this process feels like it's going nowhere... Patience HIM, patience."

Brick stepped forward, and HIM started the video, watching his movement intensely. Brick entered the store, sliding in between customers and employees. He was clearly looking for something, and so began to move with a purpose. He snatched the ring of keys from behind the desk, and then began searching the displays. The key he handed Boomer was with the other store keys on a ring. Brick studied each case, before picking one to open and grabbing items out of it. No one took notice, as it was a quiet part of the store at the time. Once the case was closed, he briefly talked with Butch, before telling Boomer to hurry up. He handed off the key to his brother, before waiting at the front in a slightly different place from Butch. While up there, he managed to play it cool, even seeming to keep Butch in check until they left. His only near slip up was when security approached him to ask about the missing items. He made up the excuse that someone who looked similar to him had been in that area, but left before he rounded the corner. They seemed to buy his excuse, and shortly after they left. "You did incredibly well," HIM said coolly,"That said, make sure your excuses aren't too flimsy. They bought it, but not every person would, so keep your excuses feasible."

Brick nodded, though HIM could tell that he knew he could have done better. HIM once again kept his inner glee about this to himself. HIM even noticed that the brothers looked like they wanted to cheer him up, but refrained from doing so. "All in all, you won't always have each other to help you," HIM stated, trying to reinforce his points. "Keep yourselves at ease when doing these crimes, think outside the box when in tough situations, and use logic when approaching someone with a lie. Do we understand?"

All three boys suddenly stood at attention, and boomed,"Yes Sir!"

HIM smiled devilishly, nodding, newly invigorated by their renewed discipline. "With that said, let's end lessons as we normally do," HIM said with his grin becoming more intense.

The boys were kind of annoyed, as they hadn't been able to enact anything as far as fighting the girls again. All of these pop quizzes about situations where they had to fight the girls had become agitating. They answered the test questions all the same; HIM wasn't going to let them get out of it. As they went through the questions, each boy answered the questions with a forced fervor. As the questions droned on, Boomer began to space out, with the old questions that had been plaguing his mind as of late, rattling in his brain. "Why am I doing this?" Boomer thought, still mindlessly answering questions without needing to think on the answers.

"Is it just because I was built too? I mean probably, but those girls did nothing but exist," every repeat question fueled his thoughts,"Ever since I got...No! Ever since I saved Shadow, I've felt needed, wanted, and actually at ease. So every time he asks me why I'm still training for this, I can't really find an answer. I didn't even know I could speak to animals until I took him in. Everyday it's been fighting with my brothers, trying to make the girls cry, hurt people, and I don't even know why I do it. It used to be a thrill? Maybe... but, when we genuinely wanted people to like us, they didn't, and couldn't, and to hell if I blame them! I mean the only reason I even saved Shadow from Fuzzy's trap, was because at the time, I was getting worn down by being called stupid all the time. Now it's more of a joke between brothers, but at the time it wasn't. I am literally training right now! BEING WEAK ISN'T AN OPTION! WHY AM I STILL QUESTIONING THIS SHIT?! I really need to focus, damn it!"

It was as he reached the end of this line of questions, Butch elbowed him in the side. He blinked, refocusing on the questions HIM had been asking, before saying,"Sorry, repeat please."

The sheepish nature of his vocal tone made HIM giddy. HIM nodded, expecting a truly dark answer as he repeated the question,"The girls have you cornered," HIM started, barely missing a beat,"They have been insisting on your guilt for weeks, and though it's true, you finally have the opening to take them down. What do you do to inflict the most damage both emotionally and physically?"

Boomer nodded, keeping the situation buried in his brain for a moment. "The answer would be, to take the weakest one," He thought, knowing fully that using the weakest sibling as a shield, hurting them, would be the best option.

He opened this mouth to speak, filled with the forced fervor from before, but instead of answering he said,"What's the point of this?! We've been doing these same quizzes, and different training sessions for years! It's never made a difference, or changed anything! If we didn't target them in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess! And we all might be in a better place!"

Boomer could feel his body go cold with each word, that wasn't what he wanted to say. Even if the words were unintentional, and fear gripped him after every word left his mouth, it felt good. He couldn't really describe the feeling, or the mix of feelings before he heard his brothers start to chuckle. When he looked up at HIM, his brain went blank, and he froze from fear. "Geez Boomer-!" Brick began to laugh, until HIM gripped Boomer by the neck.

Boomer clawed at HIM's arm, looking desperate as he did. "DON'T I TEACH YOU BOYS ANYTHING?!" HIM roared, as he threw Boomer across his domain.

Boomer attempted to stop himself mid flight, however HIM slammed into Boomer during the attempt. He clubbed Boomer with his claws, using his magic he sliced deep wounds into the boy's skin. Boomer attempted to dodge, throw punches back, kick, and even use his powers to defend himself, all in vain as HIM rampaged like a brainless beast. All of HIM's anger at the girls, and the peaceful state of Townsville clouded his ability to hold back. Granted, HIM didn't want to hold back in this moment, as he wanted this lesson to stick. He wanted to 'fix this particular tool', because it had in fact 'gone dull'. Meanwhile Brick and Butch had frozen, watching HIM literally trying to tear Boomer apart. When Brick's eyes met Butch's they both nodded in agreement. The 2 of them attempted to get between them multiple times to no avail, with Butch being silent from shock, and Brick apologizing for Boomer. "It was a joke!" Brick called, only to get knocked away suddenly.

Butch even had to pull Brick out of harm's way, and vice versa. It was when a crater was left by Boomer's impact with the floor, and Brick gave up, that Butch lied, shouting,"I PUT BOOMER UP TO IT!"

HIM paused, refraining from spewing fire onto the barely breathing Boomer. "What!" HIM snapped sharply, his head finally whipping towards Boomer's brothers.

Brick looked over, trying to warn Butch to stop, but Butch took a step forward, despite being terrified,"I put Boomer up to it! I dared him to pretend to care about the girls! I didn't think he'd actually do it..."

Before HIM could respond to this, Brick joined in, adamantly adding to the lie,"I told him not to take it that far, the dare was on who could get Boomer to do something crazy! I figured it would be something like stealing from the Professor's house! Not this..."

HIM then realized what he had been doing, and looked at Boomer. He had intended to teach him a lesson, but not to put him in this state. "They're obviously lying," HIM thought, stepping back from Boomer to allow his brothers to retrieve him,"But, killing him in front of them would weaken their resolve. Weak tools break more quickly, and if they aren't strong, they can't achieve my goals. Calm yourself, and regroup with a clearer head HIM. You need them, or most of them to complete this task, then you can wipe them out."

As Brick and Butch ran to collect Boomer, HIM spoke in a more subdued voice,"Class is out for the day. I took his punishment a bit too far, so get him home and fixed up. However, remember this as an example for the future. Wavering resolves will only ever result in pain."

Brick and Butch nodded meekly, quickly collecting Boomer, and flying off. HIM watched, his mind stewing in the earlier outburst from Boomer. "I'll need to nip that in the bud," he said thoughtfully before turning away from the boys.

"What the hell was that?!" Butch asked, holding their brother's legs as they flew.

"The f* if I'm supposed to know!" Brick argued back,"Didn't expect HIM to go all ape sh*t on him either!"

As the 2 boys argue about the ins and outs about what just happened, they just manage to get Boomer back to Mojo's lab. The two of them continued to argue as they carried him inside, and were met with Mojo calling out to them. "I heard you were coming home early and-!" Mojo Jojo stopped, he stared at the nearly dead Boomer, and both boys looked tense,"Get him to the main lab quickly!"

Mojo scurried ahead of Brick and Butch, flicking switches, and clearing space on a metal table to act as a temporary bed. He noticed Brick looking at him in shock, when they entered the room. "Look I don't have a hospital bed, this will have to do! Please lay him there carefully!" Mojo replied to his expression, and Brick and Butch did as they were told.

Mojo then jumped between different inventions, and beakers in his lab. He ordered Brick to move one of the barrels of an old death ray, and had Butch grab a few nuclear batteries he had 'acquired'. Then he quickly assembled the miscellaneous objects and old inventions, and fired up the machine. Initially Brick and Butch thought he was going to shoot Boomer to death. Though once the beam encapsulated Boomer, they noticed that his wounds were gradually closing. Brick sighed, releasing a breath he didn't even know he was holding, Butch seemed to join him. "WHAT HAPPENED!?" Mojo demanded, mildly losing his cool from earlier,"AND DON'T JUST SAY THAT IT JUST DID! YOU 3 CAN'T JUST MIRACULOUSLY GET HURT! IT'S NOT IN YOUR DESIGN!"

Mojo had grabbed the collar of Brick's hoodie, holding him closer to his level, much to the shock of both brothers. "Stop!" Butch yelled back, past Brick's stunned silence,"We didn't do this! HIM did!"

Mojo glared at Butch, about to scold him for arguing with him, when Brick carefully removed Mojo's hand from his collar,"He is telling you the truth."

Mojo stared at Brick, noting his subdued vocal tone,"Explain."

As Brick and Butch explained the situation, Mojo looked increasingly uncomfortable. Not only had HIM nearly killed Boomer, but he'd also done it over what he viewed as a brief lapse in judgment. Mojo felt his blood run cold, as he looked at Boomer, a son he had created on his own. "Is he going to be ok?" Butch asked, looking away and blushing in embarrassment as he did.

Brick nodded, wanting to know too, as Mojo looked back at them. "It will take a while," he admitted, still shaken by the revelation, though he wondered why he was even surprised,"It might not be until later in the day before he'll be back with you. Back with all of us really..."

Brick and Butch looked relieved, even as Mojo muttered the last few words. They asked if they could stick around while he healed, to which Mojo agreed, knowing he wouldn't be able to focus on the current plan at this point.

As Mojo went back and forth between fine tuning the machine he made to save Boomer, and working on the invention that HIM wanted him to build for absorbing the girl's powers before death; he could feel a burning, a set of eyes that stared at him so intensely that it felt like his fur was burning beneath their gaze. He knew the boys didn't notice, but Mojo couldn't help it, HIM wanted Mojo to squirm until the boys left. Mojo didn't know what he wanted to discuss, but he wasn't exactly pleased by the idea of speaking with him until Boomer was fully healed. The idea to train the boys in combat, and general villainy to improve their chances to beat the girls had been his idea... initially. HIM had only jumped onto the idea when his last plan for domination had failed. HIM also gave tons of valuable information, from the increase in the girl's powers, to the best ways to train the boy's abilities to match the girl's new strength. Even HIM's failure to become the new mayor of Townsville, had opened the floodgates on information that gave new teaching fodder for the boys. Though, Mojo had a sinking feeling at this point, as his agreement with HIM left Mojo in a corner. He knew that when he agreed, that HIM would be allowed to silence his emotions when it came to the boys, and control him if need be. Even now, though his decision to agree to those terms, it ate away at him. It was when HIM's gaze began to feel unbearable, that Brick brightly exclaimed,"Boomer! Mojo, he's waking up!"

Mojo couldn't feel HIM's gaze, as relief washed over him. Boomer groaned in pain as Mojo, Brick and Butch tried to urge the blonde to take it slow. "You freaked us out dude!" Butch laughed, followed by Brick smirking.

Boomer smiled tiredly at the comment, joking back,"Can't get rid of me that easily."

Brick playfully punched him in the shoulder, almost like he was worried he would break him. "They may be villains like us," Mojo thought, not saying anything as Boomer teased Brick over his actions, "But they definitely care about each other more than the rest of us."

"We're just glad you're still breathing," Mojo interjected, before their jokes turned into a full on fight,"Go, relax!"

"Ok Dad!" All 3 boys replied before leaving the lab, making Mojo wonder where that had come from.

As he made sure the machine was fully shut down, he finally spoke up in the silence of his lab,"What do you want?"

HIM hummed, before seeming to slither out of a dark shadow in the corner of the lab. He walked over to Mojo confidently, a blindingly bright smile on his crimson face. "I just wanted to check on the preparations," HIM commented, his voice sounding overly happy as he looked down towards Mojo,"Make sure this was on track, even if others aren't."

"That can't be the only reason as, I'm known for being punctual, and on track," Mojo snapped back, seeming to nearly growl as he did.

HIM chuckled, a bit of demonic darkness causing a slight echo to his voice,"Don't be so serious! Aren't we in this together?"

Mojo huffed, still unsure of how he felt about his handling of Boomer. It was such a small thing, and yet his son came home nearly dead. "We are, as I did agree," Mojo finally answered, after a silence that may have lasted a bit too long.

"I did have something I wanted to discuss," HIM spoke, noting the conflicted angered look on his face,"But, it can wait until they're in bed, if that would be more convenient."

Mojo could sense a hint of sharpness in HIM's voice, only present in the word convenient, but Mojo nodded regardless. He wanted a little more time to collect his thoughts given how long it took to heal Boomer. The day was nearly over, but he still had a few things to do. HIM nodded as well, disappearing into a cloud of red smoke as his voice echoed off the walls,"Until later my friend."

While this was going on, Brick and Butch started grilling Boomer for answers. Where his answer had come from and why, but Boomer didn't know how to answer. "What do you mean, 'you don't know'!?" Brick exclaimed first.

"I just don't!" Boomer retorted, looking a bit annoyed,"I had the answer in my head and, that, slipped out instead!"

"Were you thinking about something before that?" Butch asked, surprisingly calmly,"I mean, that kind of stuff doesn't just slip out."

Brick nodded in agreement, both of them looking at Boomer with worry. Boomer closed his eyes, the moments of HIM ripping into him, punching him, and burning him nearly overrode the questions that had been in his mind before his near fatal error. When he opened his eyes, he sighed, seeing the worry on his brother's faces made him hurt. "Yeah," he answered looking away, annoyed with himself,"It's hard to articulate what though."

Butch and Brick looked at each other, and then back at Boomer. Remembering what he had just gone through was enough to get them to sigh, and Brick smirked before chopping him in the head. "HEY!" Boomer yelled, before seeing Butch laugh, and Brick's face.

"Idiot!" Brick yelled jokingly, causing Boomer to laugh.

"A*hole!" Boomer retorted playfully, laughing as he did.

"We know you are, but what are we!" Butch laughed, as he looked excited to be able to joke with him again.

The three of them joked, play fought, and 'tormented' each other for a while before sinking into their typical routines. Brick would spend time shooting targets with his laser eyes and flame breath, Butch would work out in the gym Mojo made for them, and Boomer would practice combat combos on the punching bag in their room. The three of them would rotate a couple of times before stopping for the day and going to relax, often depending on how intense training was with HIM earlier in the day. When they met up in the hallway on the way back to the room,"So what are we doing to wind down?" Butch asked Brick and Boomer.

"Isn't that my line?" Boomer asked jokingly, and Butch punched him in the shoulder.

"We still have a score to settle," Brick replied in a dark and mischievous voice.

Butch laughed and retorted,"Ready to get your a* handed to you again?"

"Bold of you to assume that I won't win," Brick taunted playfully,"You gonna be our impartial judge Boomer?"

Boomer laughed, knowing that he'd be fighting the winner in "Haunted Reign", he nodded,"Just need to do something real quick, and I'll be right there."

"You backing out on us Boomer?!" Butch laughed,"Scared we're gonna kill you over our decision?"

All three briefly flinched at the wording, but tried not to let eachother see it. "Nah!" Boomer answered with a chuckle, trying to avoid the conversation becoming tense,"Just forgot something before we left earlier, I won't take long."

Brick got an evil grin on his face as he raised his hands like claws,"Don't take too long, or we'll hunt ya down Boomer."

Butch joined in, rolling his eyes back into his head,"Or we'll just eat you in front of Mojo."

"Pfft-!" Boomer replied, covering his mouth as jokes like that didn't happen too often between them anymore,"Damn you're cringe! But wait... PLEASE NOT MY ENTRAILS!"

His brothers burst out in laughter, just like he did at the start. His fake dramatics made the joke even more cringe between them. Brick and Butch headed back to their room, only telling Boomer to be quick, as they wouldn't wait for him all night. Boomer agreed, smirking at their jokes before heading back the way he came, only making a left at the halfway point. The door he opened led to a room with a simple throw together playpen fencing in over half of the room. There was one tiny half window towards the back of the room, and long fluorescent bulbs lit up the room. They were on most of the time to be fair, but they had been turned off earlier by Boomer as a means to not draw attention to the room while he was away. He beamed, glad to see that Shadow still obeyed his instructions when it came to people entering the room. He stared at the hay filled litter boxes at the back of the room and made a mental note to clean them tomorrow. "You there Shadow boxer?" Boomer asked, leading to a small black bunny running towards him, and jumping into his arms.

Boomer laughed, calmly petting the rabbit, as he loudly squeaked,"WHERE WERE YOU BOOMER!? YOU'RE LATE!"

The rabbit's red eyes looked at him intently, even while he was being pet. "Sorry Shadow," Boomer replied, his eyes looking softer as he felt bad,"I got delayed, training ended early, but not as a reward."

Boomer trailing off nervously made the black rabbit worry. "Wait, what happened? You almost never look like that after a training day!"

Boomer stared at Shadow, trying to decide if telling him what happened was a good idea. He sat on the floor with Shadow, and as he did Shadow hit his thigh with a thump. Boomer smirked, almost laughing at Shadow's indignant expression, before asking,"You're not gonna be my fluffy buddy unless I tell you huh?"

Shadow pushed out of his arms, almost falling over himself before thumping his back paws on the floor hard. Then he replied,"Darn right! You tell me everything! It's not fair if you leave me in the dark this time!"

Boomer began to laugh at how cute he was in his protest, much to Shadow's annoyance. Shadow huffed, looking a bit embarrassed, and attempting to look away, when Boomer caught himself finally,"Aw, don't shrink like me. You're just always going to be a cute little puff ball."

"I know," Shadow pouted, as Boomer smiled thankfully, grateful that he had a pet like him.

"You really want to know though," Boomer sighed,"It's not going to be an easy pill to swallow, for you or me."

Shadow looked back, as he was still partially turned away,"Of course I do. I don't care if it's the scariest thing in the world! I want to know because you matter to me! You're my family!"

Boomer felt a flicker of realization, as a knot began to form in this throat, and tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. "Are you ok?" Shadow asked, hesitantly hopping up to his lap again.

Boomer quickly wiped the tears forming in his eyes away, and the realization was pushed to the back of his mind. "Yeah," he said laughing,"I'm good!"

Shadow looked at him expectantly, but he could tell what ever happened just now, it wasn't necessarily a sad thing. Boomer petted him with a soft smile, and then said,"Alright, here goes nothing..."

He explained what happened earlier, and as he did, he noticed Shadow's emotions fluctuate. From being scared or terrified one moment, to being confident or relieved the next. When Boomer had finished speaking he looked worn out, scared, and relaxed all at once. Shadow stayed quiet for a moment, before he began to cry and say,"You need to get out of here."

"Shadow-" Boomer tried to reply, only for Shadow to continue,"He'll kill you eventually! I know it!"

"And go where?" Boomer asked, while Shadow took a breath,"I don't have a physical home outside of this one."

"It doesn't matter!" Shadow squeaked loudly,"I know the forest outside of Townsville like the back of my paws! I'd be able to find someplace for you!"

Boomer carefully picked up the now shaking bunny, and began to try to calm him down,"HIM does too you know, he'd still find me."

"Then we'll go further!" Shadow replied, looking up from the position he was held in,"He's not your family! He doesn't care about you! He will kill you!"

Boomer sighed, feeling bad for telling him, but in this case it was unavoidable. "My brothers are my family though," he said bluntly,"So even if I ran away, they'd be left here, and killed too."

Shadow huffed thoughtfully, seeming to understand his point. "They did prove that today," he said, before he looked up at Boomer again,"Is that why you started crying?"

Boomer nodded, a smile on his face. As he was about to elaborate on that point, he and Shadow heard his brothers. Boomer looked at the time, realizing he had been in here too long this time. "Are we skipping blueberry snacks today?" Shadow asked quietly, looking disappointed.

Boomer shook his head, almost laughing as he answered,"No, I'll give you them before bed, and extra because of today. Now go hide."

Shadow jumped quickly once Butch and Brick started calling for him again, and Boomer made double sure he hadn't left anything out before he left the room. His brothers had made it halfway down to the room as he left it, closing the door quietly. As he headed towards them, Butch called out,"You'd said it'd be quick dude!"

"Yeah sorry!" Boomer called back, running back towards his brothers,"There was more than I thought there was to it, so it took a bit longer."

"What were you even doing?" Brick laughed, "You're not Mr. Details!"

Boomer laughed back,"Unless it was something Mojo wanted me to do before."

"Is he still making you clean out the old labs?" Brick asked,"You know if you need help, you can just ask."

Butch stayed quiet, knowing that he probably would be complaining the entire time. Boomer nodded,"I know, that said, wasn't it you two who complained about me slacking too much?"

Brick and Butch nodded, deciding to ignore it, though Brick had a sneaking suspicion that something else was up. They went to play the video game and ended up being pretty rowdy while they did. When it was time for them to go to bed, they hadn't even noticed how much time had passed. The boys only knew that they needed to go to bed when Mojo came in and warned them that he'd be training them in the morning. The boys whined, but started getting ready for bed anyway. As they took their turns in the bathroom, they seemed to get a bit stressed when Boomer said he'd be back the room soon. Boomer noticed his brothers worry, and half thought about inviting his brothers back to the room where Shadow was staying, but decided against it. Instead he smirked before leaving the room, and joked,"I didn't know my brothers were big old softies. I'm not going to explode if I take a step."

"Aw shut up!" Brick and Butch retorted, much to Boomer's delight, he even laughed when something hit the door as he left.

Shortly after Brick and Butch had finished laughing at Boomer's joke, the silence caught up with them. "That, HIM, was nuts, where did that come from?" Brick asked, looking at Butch with an almost blank and icy stare.

"Hell if I know," Butch answered, not looking back at him,"Wish I did..."

Brick and Butch stayed silent after that, both of them not able to truly relax, both of them constantly checking the door, when Brick noticed Butch twitching a little. It was mostly his fingers, but it was his legs too, and it began to look almost rhythmic. "Today was way too much," Brick muttered, not realizing that he said that out loud.

"No shit," Butch said in response,"HIM literally almost killed that idiot."

Brick blinked a couple times, before groaning at the situation,"We all died once, and yet this was the thing that actually got us terrified huh?"

Butch laughed dryly,"He is our brother, and cooties are definitely a little kids thing."

Brick snorted, nodding in agreement. "Is that the first time I've seen someone's bones?" Butch said in a haunting tone.

Brick nodded, answering,"I don't think any of us actually were up close to someone in that state."

"Then I don't buy that HIM gives a shit!" Butch said, slamming his fist into the side table on his side of the bed,"Why do I think if we weren't useful to him, we'd be dead right now!?"

Brick felt his veins go cold, as he stared at Butch for a moment. He thought about his question, wondering if he was right, and even if he only wanted to be their "dad" to win one over on Mojo at the time. Granted, they didn't actually choose anyone at the time, but it still rattled around in his brain. He finally answered, feeling surprisingly sure about his answer, "Maybe, with a day like today... I wouldn't be surprised at this point."

Butch began to breathe hard, and Brick took this as his cue to leave, he needed to think, and Butch wasn't going to calm down with someone in his space. "I'm gonna get a glass of water," Brick said,"Be right back."

Butch nodded, his face holding a cold expression, that was hard for those who didn't know him to understand. Brick knew he made the right call as he closed their bedroom door quietly. He sighed as the door closed behind him, his heart was racing with each thought that ate away at his current foundation. As he walked away he had a few thoughts enter his mind, about if they should stay, about his views on finally beating the ppg, amongst others. It was as he was about to enter the kitchen that he heard Mojo cry out,"WHAT!?"

Brick froze, choosing to chase the thoughts away and listen to what was going on. "It's obvious Boomer is wavering," HIM said coolly, his heels clicking as he walked,"If he's teetered that far already, there won't be any defeat for our foes."

Brick's heart began to race as the conversation continued. "So you want me to kill him just like that!?" Mojo argued, nearly screeching,"How will this aid with anything!? Especially if the other two will have less power than the three of them!"

"Oh no," HIM stated coyly,"I didn't mean simply eliminating him, no. More like granting his powers to his brothers. Taking him out by draining him completely would be less painful wouldn't it?"

Brick noticed the silence that permeated the room, his eyes darting towards the floor as HIM seemed to hum inquisitively. That seemed to be enough for Mojo to respond hesitantly,"I- suppose..."

"Have you gotten soft?" HIM seemed to mildly hiss,"Or did you forget that they didn't want either of us until recently?"

"I haven't!" Mojo argued defensively.

"Then what?" HIM cooed, his voice sounding like a mourning dove as he did,"We may have been proud of them for that, but we also should punish their weaknesses. If Boomer is failing that former pride, should he really be a part of the shared future of us villains?"

Mojo once again fell silent, Brick silently begging him to speak in Boomer's defense. "I-uh- no but, how are you so sure this isn't just a lapse in judgment?" Mojo asked, still sounding hesitant to agree with HIM on th plan.

"A lapse in judgement I understand," HIM said, trying to sound kind and considerate,"But, did the boys tell you everything he said?"

Brick knew they had his teeth grit as Mojo answered,"Of course they did, their brother was dying!"

HIM chuckled walking in what Brick could assume was the act of circling Mojo. "Did they tell you they lied to protect him?" HIM asked seemingly amused by Mojo's squirming, but still, trying to find an additional weak point.

"I know that!" Mojo snapped,"They didn't want to watch their brother die, and you already knew because of who you are!"

HIM scoffed annoyedly, but said,"That's true, but their brother wasn't, he felt more empowered with each word. He could be a problem...do you want us to fail?"

Mojo became silent again, seeming to give up a bit, not able to respond. "Do you remember our agreement?" HIM asked more calmly.

"Yes," Mojo said numbly,"I do."

"Do you think your feelings, or care for the boys, would interfere with this plan?" HIM asked, almost sounding cold and calculating.

Mojo stayed silent for an exponentially long stretch of time, at least that's how it felt while Brick stood there listening. "It might," Mojo gave up fully, much to Brick's horror and disdain,"Do what you must, though I don't think killing him is necessary."

HIM chuckled, muttering something about how he didn't care, and he would be dead by morning. As Mojo began to nearly cry out in pain, Brick blazed back to their room. When he entered the room, Butch looked at him in surprise, the door had slammed behind him. "What the F-!" Butch started to exclaim when he finally looked carefully at Brick's expression,"What the hell's going on?"

Brick quickly explained what had happened, every detail, and the strange agreement that HIM and Mojo seemed to have. "Are you kidding me?!" Butch whispered, shooting a glare towards Brick.

"The f* would I lie about this!?" Brick snapped back quietly,"We need to get him out of here!"

"How do we do that?!" Butch argued, his gaze hardening,"HIM will target Boomer before he even leaves the house!"

"Unless HIM goes home tonight," Brick muttered,"He prefers his domain to being out here most of the time."

Butch nodded, agreeing with that thought. "Boomer still isn't back yet," Butch replied, "Want me to keep an eye out?"

"No," Brick said, shaking his head,"Don't need them to catch us, we can just listen."

Butch nodded, seeming to have forgotten about their heightened hearing. "Ok, so when he does leave, what's the game plan?" Butch asked,"You know he might still come back."

Brick nodded, understanding that potential issue,"One of us is going to need to stay here, just in case Mojo is the one who alerts HIM to what we're doing. The other is going to lead Boomer through the hidden passages to the safest escape route."

Butch sighed,"We could just go with, I mean based on what you said, won't he just kill all of us at some point?"

"If we go with him, it'll just paint a bigger target on his back!" Brick retorted, not happy with the idea of staying either,"Boomer's the one who's in immediate danger here, and as much as it sucks, or as weird as it might be to think in these terms...we need to put him first."

"Wait for Mojo to go to bed, and then get him out of here? Or...wait until a few hours after he's asleep?" Butch asked, having just noticed the HIM had left in the midst of their conversation.

Before Brick could answer, Boomer came in through the door. His expression looked calm, and content, like he didn't almost die earlier that day. Both brothers tried to appear calm, but they were failing miserably. "You guys look like you saw a ghost," Boomer joked, causing his brothers to laugh,"You guys honestly don't have to be this freaked, Mojo wouldn't have let me die anyway."

As Boomer smirked in confidence, Brick and Butch could feel a twinge of dread but kept smiling and laughing. "You're right," Brick said, giving a look to Butch as he did.

Butch took this as a hint to start aiding in his escape later that night. The three brothers started bsing each other for a while, until the exhaustion of the day hit them. When his brothers were asleep, Boomer took a breath and began to think about what Shadow had said earlier. How he said he needed to leave, and that HIM would kill him at some point. "How would I even get out of here?" Boomer thought briefly,"Would HIM use Shadow as a means to keep me here, or use him to drag me back if I left? Probably, but it's way too late for this, I can't even think straight! Damn it, I should just sleep!"

Boomer quietly and frustratedly pulled his half of the sheet over his head. As he sank into deep sleep, Butch started listening intently to Mojo, and what he was doing. Butch watched Boomer, noting that he was able to fall asleep properly, and sighed. "At least he'll have energy when he leaves," he muttered, still not entirely sure he could believe what had happened recently.

He silently watched the clock, pretending to be asleep when Mojo checked on them. He even overheard a short conversation between HIM and Mojo on the phone, and sighed grateful they planned to get Boomer out of there after Mojo went to bed. Once the clock hit 3 AM, Butch sighed thinking,"Go time, if I push it too much longer, it'll be daylight."

Butch gently elbowed Brick, causing him to be mildly annoyed until realization hit him. "Ok let's go," he muttered while sitting up.

"Want me to get him up, or do you want to?" Butch asked, standing up to get out of his way.

Brick sighed, a soft annoyed smile crossing his lips,"Knowing you and him, you'll end up waking Mojo up, I got it."

Butch chuckled quietly, crossing his arms and smiling smugly, as he did, Brick annoyedly turned towards Boomer and began to shake him. To both of their surprise, Boomer woke up relatively quickly, even in spite of being in deep sleep not long ago. "What's going on?" Boomer asked, sitting up tiredly.

Butch and Brick walked through the situation quickly, quietly, and tentatively, as Boomer listened. Both brothers looked urgent as they explained, and Boomer began to have Shadow's words echoing in his brain. "So what's the game plan?" Boomer asked, noting his brothers staring expectantly.

"I'm going to guide you out the secret exit that leads towards the forest outside of Townsville," Brick replied bluntly,"Butch'll cover us, until we're outside. Then I want you to run. Do not stop."

Boomer noticed Butch giving an almost Cheshire Cat smile, like he knew this would be how Brick would run this anyway. "And you guys," Boomer asked, raising an eyebrow,"HIM's going to kill you if he finds out, especially if he already wants to kill me."

Brick placed a hand on his shoulder, a confident smile crossing his face as he answered,"We'll reach out to you when things die down, and if we have to we'll catch up."

Butch nodded, adding,"We'd rather have you alive, we'll take the consequences as they come."

Boomer nodded, still not sure about leaving them behind, but he knew that they wouldn't let his weasel out of it. "Ok," he said,"I'll grab what I need, and then let's go."

Brick nodded, helping him grab the things he needed, and allowing him to sneak off to grab 'a few last minute things'. As Boomer hurried over to Shadow's room, he grabbed the kennel he had stored in the closet not far away. "K," he muttered tensely,"The kennel, a few treats, food, and toys if I can fit any toys for him. Plus I can't be gone too long. This should get interesting, especially since this all seems a little too easy at the moment."

"What's going on?" Shadow whined quietly, as Boomer entered the room,"Boomer?"

"You were right, and my brothers are helping me get out of here," Boomer answered, trying to stay focused on his task,"And, knowing HIM, he'd use you to get to me, so I'm getting you out of here."

Shadow went silent, even quickly scurrying into his kennel when Boomer set it down. As Boomer did a last double check of the few things he grabbed for Shadow, the rabbit squeaked from in his kennel,"Is everything going to be ok?"

Boomer sat down in front of the kennel, a soft smile crossing his lips as he carefully reached his fingers through the door of the kennel. Shadow scooched forwards, and as Boomer scratched his head and chin awkwardly he answered as certainly as he could muster,"Yes, I promise bud."

After a few seconds of this, Boomer stopped, and warned Shadow about his flight speed before heading back to the room. He swung the backpack with the few items he would need over his shoulder with Brick giving him an odd, questioning stare. Brick would have asked about the kennel if this was any other time, but given their need to move he didn't. Though Brick and Butch had a million questions swimming around in their brains about the kennel and extra bag. Neither of them asked though, as Butch suddenly turned his head to listen. "Mojo's up," Butch muttered,"I'll keep him busy! You 2 go, get!"

Brick smirked, leading Boomer along as they just managed to sneak past Butch and Mojo in one of the halls. As they moved along, Brick would occasionally look back to make sure Boomer wasn't far behind, or to internally question the extra stuff Boomer was carrying. As they got to the hidden exit, Brick sighed mixed on how he felt about the future, if Boomer was really going to be ok. "You good there?" Boomer asked, a reassuring smile on his face.

Brick shook his head, forcing a less concerned expression on his face,"Nothing, just lost in thought...you need to go!"

Boomer nodded, knowing he didn't have time to press him on it, he slid past him. "Reach out when you can," Boomer said with a smile, one that Brick returned.

"I will," Brick replied,"And I'll watch until you're out of sight."

Boomer nodded, and took off feeling a mix of fear and excitement. Neither he, nor Brick, and Butch, noticed that HIM was watching, and left to chase after Boomer. They couldn't have known, but as Boomer got further from home, he felt a sense of dread. Before he had time to process this, he noticed a beam of energy flying towards Shadow's kennel. He just managed to pull him close to his body, the projectile flying past them. "Hold on, Shadow!" Boomer warned as he picked up pace, while looking over his shoulder at HIM.

Shadow was terrified, but more so when he heard HIM speak shortly after Boomers warning. "YOU THOUGHT THAT YOU COULD GET AWAY!" HIM shouted, throwing another energy beam at them, but more specifically at Shadow's kennel.

Boomer once again barely dodged the attack, his ankle getting nicked by the blast. The sharp burning pain radiating harshly as Boomer tried desperately to ignore it. HIM suddenly appeared in front of him, causing the blonde to skid to a stop, and whip around to try to change directions. "YOU'RE REALLY SO CERTAIN THAT YOU'LL HAVE LUCK ANYWHERE ELSE! ON TOP OF THAT, YOU'RE WILLING TO ABANDON YOUR OWN FAMILY! YOU REALLY ARE USELESS, AND I SHOULD HAVE ENDED YOU AGES AGO!"

Boomer was horrified, only just avoiding a barrage of blasts for HIM, as he felt angry that he would lie about this whole situation. He used his sonic scream to blast HIM back, and flew past the demon as he tried to keep from falling. For a long while, Boomer and HIM would throw shots back and forth, and even at one point the fight almost resulted in Shadow and his kennel almost slamming into the ground. Boomer just barely caught the kennel and tried to properly get away. The fighting loop was wearing on his energy, or lack thereof. Boomer was only able to keep going due to pure adrenaline, but even that was failing. Shadow tried to reach out to Boomer to ask if he was ok, but HIM caught up and started to use his lessened focus to keep blasting, punching, jabbing, and piercing Boomer. They were just over the forest that was on the edge of Townsville, and Boomer couldn't keep up with the blows. Each attack geared towards Shadows kennel would be deflected, or guarded against, only for HIM to use the distractions he made to inflict additional damage to Boomer. The last dealt blow sent Boomer flying into the ground, and the kennel crashing not too far away from Boomer. "Move!" Boomer thought, trying to force his body to act, despite the fact that it currently couldn't,"Move you idiot! At least for Shadows sake!"

"End of the road Boomer," HIM cooed, his footfalls getting closer,"If you could have kept your mouth shut! I could have still used you in a living capacity, it's too bad really."

"Leave him alone!" Shadow cried from his kennel, causing Boomer to cry.

HIM's laugh started off soft, and then built up slowly, until it turned into a full blown demonic cackle. Boomer could see a growing light in the area, and braced for the worst, when he suddenly stopped. "I can't deal with witnesses yet!" HIM hissed, seeming frustrated by another person walking closer,"Though I guess I can let you rot. No one can, or will want to save you anyways. Plus, I can still collect your powers once you're dead, they won't be as potent, but they should still suffice for increasing your brother's strength."

HIM began to walk away, and as he did, he said,"Until we meet again Boomer."

HIM's voice faded with each word, but if felt like sound in general was fading too. Boomer tried to force himself to stay awake, but it felt like his body was fighting him the whole way. Each cry that emanated from Shadows kennel became quieter and quieter, until the other person ran over. "Shit!" They exclaimed, as they desperately checked him for a pulse.

Boomer felt them attempt to pick him up, but beyond that, nothing, as the exhaustion caught up with him and the world went dark.