Tw: Mentions of abuse, suggestive scenes
"Bubbles! Bubbles!" Blossom ran down the hallway straight towards her and her sister's shared bedroom. Blossom threw open the door to a very surprised Bubbles looking back at her, the TV playing in the background.
"What is it, Blossom? Is everything okay?"
"It's better than okay! Come on, I'll show you!"
"What-" before she could finish her sentence, Blossom had grabbed her arm and was pulling her towards the kitchen.
"What's going on? Is this something to do with your session with Professor Marlow?"
"Oh, he's a genius! Who would've thought that something so simple would be so effective?" Blossom gushed. She pulled a random cup out of the cupboard and filled it up in the sink. Her hands were shaking so much with excitement, she had to be careful not to spill it.
"Look!" she said. She blew on the glass, and within seconds the liquid water turned to ice. When Bubbles let out an excited squeal, she couldn't hold back her proud grin.
"Blossom! You got your ice powers back!" she cried. She immediately pulled her sister into a hug, and together the two jumped up and down in excitement.
"I see Blossom has told you the good news," Professor Marlow appeared in the kitchen, chuckling. Blossom beamed at him.
"Oh Professor Marlow, thank you so much!" She set the glass down and ran over to hug him, earning her a surprised grunt.
"Ah! Well, you're very welcome Blossom. I'm just glad it's working," he gently patted her on the head.
"Have you gotten any of your other powers back yet?" Bubbles asked.
At this, Blossom paused. "I don't know, I haven't tried to do anything else yet. After I found out about the ice breath, I kind of freaked out and ran to tell you," she chuckled.
"Well, go ahead and test it out!" Bubbles said.
"Let's go outside first," Professor Marlow cut in, stepping in between the two. "As happy as I am for you, I'd rather not risk anything getting broken."
The three made their way towards the back door and out into Professor Marlow's wide, spacious backyard, just a few feet away from the woods.
"Alright Blossom, go nuts. Within reason, of course."
Blossom nodded. Once again, she tried to make herself float, but found that she was still firmly rooted to the ground.
"Well, I still can't fly," she said, frowning.
"Try using your laser vision," Bubbles suggested.
Blossom nodded. She aimed her gaze at a tree a good distance away, and tried to vaporize it into ash. She stared hard at the tall, wooden thing for about a good minute or so but it didn't even so much as start to smoke. She sighed.
"Nope. No laser vision."
Trying to hide her rising disappointment, she walked towards the woods and stopped in front of the closest tree to the house. Taking a deep inhale, she wrapped her arms around the trunk and tried to pull it out of the ground with all her might. When it stayed firmly rooted in the ground, she sighed in defeat.
"No super strength either," she muttered as she walked back.
"Hey, it's okay," Bubbles patted her on the shoulder. "You already got one power back; maybe it just takes a while for them all to come back."
"Maybe," Blossom admitted.
"You might be onto something, Bubbles," Professor Marlow said. When the girls turned to look at him, he had his hand on his chin, deep in thought. "Maybe it's just a bit of a process. It would make sense; therapy in of itself usually takes a bit of time. I don't think I've ever seen someone fully recover after just a few sessions," he turned his attention to Blossom.
"I believe I read in your file that ice breath was a power only you possessed. Is that correct?"
"Yeah, it is," Blossom said. "Do you think our special powers come back before our regular ones do?"
"I couldn't say for sure, but that does appear to be the case. But, there's only one way to test it out." He looked at Bubbles. "You had the unique ability to talk to animals, didn't you?"
"Yep!" Bubbles chirped. Her eyes lit up in excitement. "Does that mean-"
Professor Marlow nodded. "There's an animal shelter a short drive away from here. You can pick out whichever one you like, and then we can take it back here to test out the theory."
"Thank you Professor!" Bubbles cried, running over and pulling him into a hug. After a few moments she looked up. "I get to keep it, right? Even if I don't get my powers back?"
Professor Marlow chuckled, patting her head. "Of course Bubbles, it will be yours to keep, no matter what."
After Arturo left, Ace had sat there and stared at that damn picture for god knows how long.
Of course, he had remembered that birthday from years and years ago; it was probably the most fun he had had on his birthday up until that point. During his time in foster care, he'd consider himself lucky if his guardians so much as got him a pair of socks. And even before his mother's death, most of the celebrations he had were small dinners with just the two of them. They never had enough money to throw a big party, and even if they did, he rarely had anyone he'd want to invite.
"Did the thief finally leave?" Sedusa's voice asked behind him as she came down the stairs.
"Huh? Oh, yeah," Ace said as he stuffed the photo in his pocket. "He's gone."
"Good," she said firmly. "That's one less thing to worry about now."
"Yeah, I guess."
Sedusa gave him a hard look, as if she was trying to read his expression. For the second time that day Ace was glad he was wearing his sunglasses.
"Hey," she said, her face softening. "I get this is hard, but you did the right thing. You can't have anyone dragging you down; you're mayor now. In fact," she said. She walked over towards the coat rack and pulled on her jacket, taking the car keys out of her pocket. "I think I know something that will take your mind off of things."
Ace raised an eyebrow in question. "What are ya thinkin?"
"Come on, let's go for a drive and I'll show you," she said with a devilish grin, the keys spinning around her delicate finger.
Curious, Ace put on his shoes, grabbed his jacket, and followed her out to the car.
As they drove, he watched as they passed by place after place, including the bars, the arcade, and every single decent restaurant in town, debunking each and every guess he had one by one. By the time they had reached the edge of town, he was beginning to feel uneasy.
"Alright, I'm stumped. Where are we goin? You ain't plannin' on buryin' me out in the woods, are ya?" He asked, half jokingly.
Sedusa let out a high pitched, melodic laugh. "Now Ace, do you still trust me so little?"
Finally, Sedusa came to a stop in a large empty parking lot right in front of an old superstore that had been closed down for years. Without saying a word, she turned off the ignition and handed him the pair of keys.
"Here," she said. "You'll need these."
Ace furrowed his brow. "For what?"
"I'm going to teach you how to drive," she said. "You can't expect people to take you seriously as mayor if you don't even have your driver's license, now can you?"
Ace wasn't too sure about that; he had doubts that the previous mayor could even read. But hey, if she was going to let him drive her Mercedes, he sure as hell wasn't gonna complain about it.
"You serious?"
"Of course I am," she said. "Now, let's switch spots and I'll go over the basics."
Ace jumped out of the car and eagerly did as she said. He listened vaguely as she told him how to adjust the seat and mirrors, where the brake and the gas were, the gear shift, and the turn signals.
"Now remember, you don't want to press too hard, especially on the gas. We're in a parking lot, you don't need to go that fast."
"Got it. Can I start now?" He could practically feel himself vibrating. For years he had eyed his coworkers jealously, many of who were not only able to drive themselves back and forth to work, but had their own cars to do it. They had the ability to go wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Meanwhile he was stuck bumming rides when he could and walking when he couldn't.
"Yes, go ahead. Just be careful."
As Ace put the gear into drive and lifted his foot off the brake, he felt the car slowly move forward.
"Okay," Sedusa said. "Now slowly move your foot towards the gas. When you get up to that streetlight up ahead I want you to use the turn signal and go left."
"Alright," he did as she said, making the car pick up speed. He turned just like she showed him, earning him a smile.
"Very good," she said. "Now, when you get to the other side I want you to make a right turn. We'll keep practicing for a little while, and if you do a good job, I might even let you drive us home."
They continued on like that for a couple hours; first in the parking lot, and then when Ace graduated from that, she took him to some nearby empty side roads to practice. Ace had to admit it was strange, being behind the wheel for the first time. Having so much power over something that could crush him in an instant; it felt good.
Of course, it also got a bit repetitive after a while; doing the same things over and over and going around in what was basically a loop.
"Alright, I think I got this," he said. "I wanna drive on a real road now."
Sedusa looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "You sure you're ready?"
Ace snorted. "Please. If the damn talkin' dog can drive, I think I got it."
She gave him an unreadable look. "We'll take the backroads."
Sedusa began to give him directions back to the mansion. Once they were on their way, they began to chat again.
"So, is this really the first time you've ever been behind the wheel before? Ever?"
"Well, yeah," Ace shrugged, keeping his eyes forward and trying not to feel self-conscious. "It ain't like my ma was around to teach me. The guys never learned either," he snorted.
"I did buy a bike a while back off of Tommy; he said he'd teach us all how to ride it. But Snake made me give it back because it was too expensive. That was about as close as I got."
Sedusa smiled, putting her hand on his arm. "Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore. Now, you can buy just about whatever you want."
"Yeah," Ace said, his smile fading.
"Okay, slow down a bit and make a left up here," Sedusa said, pointing to the road a few feet ahead.
Ace nodded, and wordlessly made the turn.
"Y'know, he got so pissed at me that day; he was cussin' me out and everythin," Ace continued, pressing harder on the gas. "I knew he wasn't gonna be happy, but man, I figured he woulda understood once I explained myself. But he was all hot and bothered because our asshole landlord was throwing a bitch fit about rent again. But how was I supposed to know that?"
"Ace, slow down. The speed limit here is only twenty."
"It's fine! I'm looking where I'm goin."
"Ace-"
"Alright, fine!" He slowly lifted his foot off the gas and watched as the tension in Sedusa's body started to relax. He laughed, and pumped the gas just to see her flinch.
"Ace, for god's sake!"
"You're a bit like Snake in some ways, y'know that? Always so high strung about everythin."
"I'm only high strung when I feel like someone is about to crash my car," she snapped. "Either slow down and be careful, or pull over so I can drive."
"I'm bein' plenty careful!"
"No, you're not!"
"Yes I am!"
"Stop, Ace!"
"Damn it!" Ace slammed on the brakes, but he was a few seconds too late. He hit a tree just off the side of the road, causing them both to jolt forward.
When Sedusa turned to face him, she had a small cut on her forehead, causing little streaks of blood to drip over her face. And for just a moment, he was looking at his mother's scarred, bloody face instead of Sedusa's.
"Shit! Shit! I'm sorry!" Panic started rising in him. He immediately turned his eyes away from her face and started blindly fumbling around looking for napkins, paper towels, anything that might stop the bleeding.
"Ace!" She snapped. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"
"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! Just- ya got bandaids or anythin in here?"
"No! I didn't think I'd need them!"
"Here," he threw off his jacket and held it up to her wound. "You alright?"
"I'd be better if you looked where you were going," she snapped. "What part of 'slow down' did you not understand?!"
"I didn't mean to!" he said desperately.
Sedusa shoved his jacket out of her face and threw it to the ground. She held her hand to her forehead and let out a long, suffering sigh when she saw the sprinklings of blood. She unbuckled her seat belt and reached over to open her car door.
"Get out, we got to check the damage. I swear to HIM, if you totaled my car I will bury you out in the woods for real. I've done much worse for less."
As she stepped out, slamming the door in the process, Ace stayed frozen in place. He desperately tried to get his rapid, shallow breathing under control, but he couldn't get that stupid image of his mother in her hospital bed out of his head. If he had been just a second slower, Sedusa could've… they both could've…
"Ace! What are you doing?" she demanded, knocking on his window. "Get out here!"
"Huh?" He blurted out, her voice lifting him out of his daze. "Yeah, I'm comin, hold on."
He stepped outside and walked over to Sedusa, who stood in front of the car, giving it a hard look.
"Well, it's not pretty, but it still looks drivable," she said, eyeing the small dent. She turned her glare onto Ace, who flinched.
"I'll pay to get it fixed," he promised. "It'll be good as new."
"You better," she said.
"Look," Ace said. "I really am sorry-"
"I don't care," she bit back. She walked over toward the driver's side and hopped back in. And like a dog with its tail between its legs, Ace followed her lead, claiming the passenger's side.
Sedusa's unspoken demand was clear; she was going to be the one to drive them home. And Ace wasn't about to argue with her.
The drive home was done in silence, with Ace stealing glances at Sedusa every now and then, her hands gripping the steering wheel so tight her knuckles looking as if they were about to pop out of her skin. He knew she was pissed and had every right to be, and he didn't want to be the first one to break the ice.
His thoughts drifted to the many times in school where his mother was called, and she was forced to leave work to pick him up.
"I can't believe you, Ace!" she'd snap at him as soon as they were in private. "Ya know this is costing me half a day of pay?! I hope ya like ramen, because that's all ya gettin' for the next week!"
"It ain't my fault! That asshole Johnny started it-"
"Hey, who the hell taught ya to speak like that?" she'd say, wacking him upside the head. "When we get home, you're gonna go straight to ya room and stay there. I don't wanna see ya for the rest of the night, ya hear me?"
Whenever they fought, it was usually intense, but it was the cooling off period Ace hated the most; the time when he was no longer angry but didn't know if his ma still was, and if something he said would set her off again.
Sometimes they would go days without speaking to one another, leaving him feeling like he was the last person on earth with no one to turn to. Sometimes his ma would knock on his bedroom door a few hours later and tell him she made them dinner, her way of apology. And sometimes he would put on her favorite movie right at the same time he knew she'd be coming home from work, and ask her if she wanted to watch it with him.
"Well, how can I say no to James Dean?" she'd say good naturedly, staring at the image of the leather jacket wearing movie star onscreen. They'd sit together in silence, her cigarette smoke coating their tiny living room with its musky smell.
He looked down at his thumbs, wishing Sedusa would say something.
When they eventually got home, Ace helped her inside and towards the couch.
"I'm gonna go check the bathroom, see if we got a first aid kit or somethin," he mumbled, still avoiding eye contact. He made his way toward the bathroom and checked the medicine cabinet, smiling when he found an old box of bandaids. On his way back, he also grabbed a washcloth, making sure to douse it in soap and water.
"Here," he said. He sat beside her, and began to clean the blood off her face. "You sure youse alright? You don't wanna get checked out at the hospital or nothin?"
Sedusa gave him an incredulous look. "The hospital? When did you become so concerned about my personal well being?"
"It's just…" Ace stuttered. "Car accidents can be some scary shit, y'know? Better safe than sorry."
Sedusa once again searched his face with her prying green eyes, causing Ace to fidget nervously.
"Your mother died in an accident, right?" she asked.
At the mention of his ma, he tensed. "So what? Lots of folks die in car accidents."
"Right," she said. "Well, my head does hurt a bit, but it's nothing I can't handle. You're not the first man who's made me bleed, you know. And I doubt you'll be the last."
Ace couldn't help but to flinch at that.
"So all that stuff you told me back in the day about ya old man and scumbag husband. That was… that was all true?" He asked after a moment.
Sedusa narrowed her eyes. "Of course it was true. I show you the scars myself. What, did you think I faked them?"
"Well, it ain't like ya got a reputation for always tellin' the truth."
Genuine anger flashed in her eyes. "You stupid asshole," Sedusa stood up and stormed towards the stairs. "You know what? I need to take a nap. I'm done with you for today. I tried to be nice and cheer you up and all you've done is crash my car and call me a liar."
"Wait!" Ace followed her, panic rising within him. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to offend ya. I just-" he paused. "Sometimes I still don't know if I can trust ya."
"I could say the same thing about you, so I guess we're even," she snapped. "I'll tell you one thing though; I may lie about a lot of things, but not that. Never that."
There was a moment of silence between them. Ace thought back to the little snippets his mother had told him about his father before she left him; about his rage, his jealousy.
"Ya father said he'd kill me if I got pregnant, y'know that?" she snapped at him once, right after they had an argument and Ace told her he wished he lived with his dad instead. "Said he already got dumped with two boys from his skank exes. I shoulda known then he was a bastard, but I was young and dumb. I smartened up eventually, and you should be glad I did! The way you run your mouth, he wouldn't have put up with ya the way I do, that's for damn sure," she shook her head, her brown eyes looking off into the distance with pure disgust. "Any man who puts his hands on a woman is trash if ya ask me, just trash. They shoulda locked his ass up and thrown away the key."
Shortly after her death, when the cops were cleaning out their apartment, one of them had found a photograph in his mother's room that he had never seen before.
"You wanna keep this?" the cop asked him.
It was a picture of a middle aged man he had never seen before, standing next to his ma, who looked as if she was barely out of her teens. He had straight, chin length dark hair, green skin, and a pointy nose that looked almost exactly like his. He wore a top hat and an old dusty suit, and had his arm tightly wrapped around his ma's shoulder as if she belonged to him, showing off his long, dirty nails.
It didn't exactly take a genius to figure out that the man in the picture was his father.
"Alright," he shrugged, showing no emotion on his face.
He had kept that picture with him for years, staring at it for hours and hours at a time. Whenever one of his foster parents would beat him or do something even worse, their faces would morph together with his dad's in his dreams.
"You know I ain't like them, right?" he asked, the question coming out more desperate than he intended it to.
Sedusa looked at him for a moment in silence, sizing him up before she broke out into a smirk.
"That's why you're still alive, Mayor Copular."
He grinned, relief flooding through him. "Youse wouldn't wanna watch a movie and have a smoke with me, would ya?"
After Carrie let him into her apartment and helped him get settled, Arturo gave her an embarrassed smile.
"Hey, thanks again man. If you didn't give me a place to crash, I'd be screwed right now," he said. "I promise I'll try to find a job as soon as possible and work on getting my own place."
She nodded. "So what exactly happened between you and Ace? You said his girlfriend lied about you?"
Arturo frowned. "It's a long story but yeah, that's the gist. She told him I stole some of his cash for our date. Which obviously I didn't do."
"Huh, that sucks," she said. "Why did he believe that? Did you guys have some money go missing or something?"
"He found some cash in my room. I got no idea how it would've gotten there unless she planted it on me," he said. "But… I did also take some cash without asking a little while back."
"Why?"
Arturo sighed. "Remember that friend I told you about who killed himself?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I felt horrible about it and was trying to do something nice for his family, y'know? And Ace promised me he'd help me do it but he kept dragging his feet and I knew it wasn't gonna happen," he shook his head. "But it ended up all being for nothing anyway. His mami didn't want anything to do with it and I got robbed on my way home."
Carrie shook her head. "No offense, but you guys sound like a mess."
Arturo sighed. "Yeah, I guess we are. I used to be able to talk to the dude, y'know? But after my papi left and he took over Townsville…" he trailed off.
"I should've gone with him when I had the chance. Now… I don't know if I'll ever see him or my family ever again."
Carrie rested her hand on his shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look. "Do you have any way to contact them?"
Arturo nodded. "I got my mami's phone number and address. I don't call her much because it was always so expensive being out of the country and all, and most months she can't afford her phone bill. I could try sending her a letter, ask how she's doing and if she's seen Papi yet. I just hope she won't be mad at me."
"That's a good idea," she said. "It could give you some piece of mind, at least. Maybe you could sleep on it, really think about what you want to say."
The rest of the day passed by uneventfully; mostly, they sat around watching TV and ate leftovers for lunch. When Carrie announced it was time for her to get ready for work, Arturo nodded.
"You want me to walk you there?" he offered. "It's getting late and I know this ain't exactly the safest area."
Carrie shook her head. "No, but thanks. My car is in the shop, so I've been carpooling with some of the other girls. I'll be fine."
"Okay, well if you change your mind, let me know."
"Thanks," she said, breaking into a smile. "You know, not to get sappy or anything, but you're probably the first person I've met who's bothered to worry about my safety."
"Really?" he asked. "Not even your parents or anything?"
Carrie shrugged. "Always tried to tell them as little as possible as a general rule. They were, I guess you could say, 'the strict type.' I was never allowed out of the house except to go to school and church. As soon as I got some friends who could drive, I started sneaking out at night, and left home as soon as I hit eighteen. If anything sketchy happened, I was basically on my own."
Arturo nodded. "I was split from my folks pretty early on so I've been on my own for a while too. Well, unless you count Ace and the guys," he said. "My papi got locked up when I was eleven and I haven't seen my mami or sisters since he took me to America with him."
"That's crazy," she said. "They didn't put you in foster care or with a relative or anything? Just left you to fend for yourself?"
Arturo fidgeted. "Well, I stayed with my papi's cousin for a bit, but it didn't last long. I don't really like to talk about it, it wasn't exactly a good time."
Carrie nodded, looking down at her watch. "Alright, well I really gotta get moving if I don't want to be late." She put the pocket knife in her pocket and slapped her hands to her thighs, pushing herself off the couch.
"Make yourself at home, okay? You're welcome to anything in the fridge, I won't be home until after midnight."
"Thanks man," Arturo said. "And… stay safe tonight, alright?"
"Ingleberry!" Samson jr's voice snapped. "You know the drill. Put your hands behind your back through the slot."
Snake was immediately roused from his cot, flinching on reflex at the sound of the guard's voice. Groggy but tense, he reluctantly did as he was told.
As Samson cuffed him, he tried not to wince as he purposely forced the cold metal to press into his wrists as tightly as possible. The man shoved his hands away after he was done, and when he opened the door, he looked angrier than Snake had ever seen him. He roughly grabbed him by the arm and led the way.
"I guess it really does pay to have a rich daddy," he snapped as they walked down the hallway.
Snake looked over at him in question, daring to speak. "W-What do you mean?" He thought back to the conversation he had had with his dad when he visited. His eyes lit up.
"You… you mean my lawyer'sss here?!"
Samson's scowl deepened at the sound of Snake's voice. "Howard fucking O'Connor, I can't believe it. If I had done even half of the shit you did, my old man would've thrown me to the dogs himself." His grip on Snake's arm tightened, and he stopped in his tracks, forcing him to turn around and face him.
"Don't get too excited yet. No matter what happens, it ain't like you'll be walking away scott free. All the money in the world won't erase the fact that you're a murderer. And as long as I'm here, I sure as hell don't plan on letting you forget either."
When they got to the visitation room, Samson shoved him inside so hard he nearly fell to the ground and slammed the door. When he regained his footing, he felt a wave of relief to see a short, balding man with glasses staring back at him.
Snake couldn't help but notice that this room was different from the one he was sent to when his family came to visit. There was no plexiglass or phones, just a small table with two chairs facing each other on each side. The man sat in his seat, staring back at him with his hands folded on the table.
"I assume you're the lawyersss my father sent?" Snake asked as he took the opposite chair.
The man nodded. "Uh yes, that's correct. My name is Howard O'Connor," he reached out his hand for Snake to shake, before seeing Snake's cuffs and awkwardly putting his hand down. Wordlessly, he took out a handkerchief and wiped down his brow before pulling out a sheet of paper from his briefcase.
"Anyway, I've been reviewing your case with my team for the past few weeks. Now, I have some good news and some bad news."
Snake stiffened, bracing himself for the worst. "Bad newsss first. Pleassse."
The man nodded. "Right. Well, we did come to an agreement with the prosecution regarding a plea deal. You can avoid trial, and the death penalty… if you agree to a life sentence."
Snake felt all of the blood drain from his face at this proclamation. "L-Life?" he squeaked.
"With the possibility of parole in 25 years," the lawyer added. "And I even managed to talk them into putting you into the minimum security wing. I've been there a few times myself to visit clients. It's not exactly a country club, but it's decent all things considered. Clean, safe…" the lawyer trailed off as he looked Snake up and down. "Which seems like an improvement to where you're at now."
Snake sat there, dumbfounded. Life, he was getting life in prison.
He imagined his future before him, spending the rest of his time on earth sitting in a jail cell. Any chance he had of building a better future for himself; of finding a career, getting to see his friends again, be with someone he loved… all of those possibilities were gone now. Nothing but four concrete walls, forever.
Of course, he always knew it was a possibility, but somehow he had deluded himself into believing that his family being back in the picture might change things. It's his fault really; he never should've hoped. He was getting what he deserved after all.
He waited for the tears to come, but to his surprise his eyes were completely dry. Maybe there was a limit to how much one could cry, and he had already used all of his up.
"Are you alright, Mr. Ingleberry?" the lawyer asked, his voice bringing Snake back to the present.
"Alrightsss? Yousss told me I'm gonna spend the ressst of my life in prissson, and yousss asking if I'm alrightsss?"
"I know it wasn't exactly what you wanted to hear…" the man trailed off, looking uncomfortable. He took out his handkerchief again, wiping his brow. "Do you have any questions?"
Snake forced himself to sit up straight and focus on the options in front of him. If he pleaded guilty, he'd be sent to jail for the rest of his life. But if he didn't…
"Whatsss… what are my chancesss if I went to trial?" he asked.
"Honestly? Not good," the man said. "More likely than not, the jury will find you guilty. Regardless of the explosion, you and your gang haven't exactly built up a lot of good will with the citizens of Townsville. Especially as of late," he said. "Not to mention, the whole process could potentially take months, or even years, especially with City Hall being destroyed. Meanwhile, you'll be stuck waiting here until you're sentenced or let go."
Snake's thoughts immediately went back to Samson. He couldn't imagine spending years down here; he was already starting to feel himself unravel after a mere few weeks. Or has it been months? It was hard to keep track.
But… could he handle a life sentence?
"If I agree to thisss deal," he said carefully. "When will they move me?"
"Within a few weeks, most likely. A month tops," the lawyer said. "It really depends. Sometimes bureaucracy can be unpredictable."
Snake swallowed. "And… and you're sure I'll be safe there?"
"Well, I can't guarantee your safety anywhere, especially not in prison," he said. "But you'll get to move around and interact with other people, and most of the inmates are fairly docile. Where you'll be going, it will mainly be for petty criminals and older inmates who no longer pose a threat."
And no Samson jr. Snake thought to himself. He took a deep breath, and mentally said goodbye to his future.
"Okay," he said, nodding. "I'll take the deal."
The lawyer grinned, relieved. "Great! Here's a pen. Uh," the lawyer gave his handcuffs another weary look.
It took some maneuvering from them both to get Snake to be able to sign the paper with handcuffs on. But sure enough, they were able to work it out.
"I really should've asked them to remove these," the lawyer mused. "But you can never be too careful. I once had a client try to strangle me after telling him he was denied bail. You just never know what you're going to get sometimes."
The lawyer looked down at the paper and Snake's wobbly signature before tossing it back into his briefcase.
"Alright, it looks like we're good to go. Do you have any more questions before I leave?"
"Can you tell my family?" the words were out of Snake's mouth before he could stop them. "I-I don't think I can tell them myself."
At this, the lawyer's face softened. "Sure kid, I can do that for you."
"Thanks," Snake said.
As the lawyer knocked on the door to let the guards know they were done, he spared Snake one last look over his shoulder, almost looking guilty.
"Stay safe, okay? You'll be outta here before you know it."
"Oh, thank you again, Professor Marlow!" Bubbles cried from the backseat of the car. She snuggled the black and orange tortoiseshell cat to her chest.
She could hardly believe it; Blossom was starting to get her powers back and it would only be a matter of time before she'd follow suit. But even better than that, she finally got to have a pet of her own!
Shortly after the shelter employee showed them to the cat room, the little thing immediately took an interest in her, rubbing her legs and climbing onto her lap after she sat down.
"She's normally not that friendly," the worker said with surprise. "Looks like she's really taken a liking to you."
"Where is she from?" Bubbles asked.
"Nobody knows," the worker shrugged. "A young woman dropped her off a few years ago, said she found her roaming the streets. She hasn't had many potential adopters take an interest in her because she mostly keeps to herself."
"Aww, you poor thing," she patted the cat's head sympathetically. Bubbles turned toward Professor Marlow. "This is the one I want."
Professor Marlow chuckled, his eyebrows raising in amusement in the rearview mirror. "You're very welcome, Bubbles. I must say, I've always liked cats myself. Your little friend will be a welcome addition to the home."
"Do you know what you want to name her yet?" Blossom asked. She reached over and scratched the cat behind the ears.
"I'm not sure," Bubbles admitted. "She's kind of round, like a pumpkin. Ooh, how about Pumpkin? That's cute!"
Blossom gave her a skeptical look. "Isn't that usually a name for orange cats?"
"She's part orange," Bubbles defended.
"Pumpkin is a wonderful name," Professor Marlow chimed in. "Either way, I'm sure whatever you choose will be lovely."
After Professor Marlow pulled into the driveway, the three of them and their new furry friend made their way into the house. Once they had gotten settled, he turned toward Bubbles.
"Would you like to try a therapy session now, or did you want to wait until your friend gets a bit more adjusted?"
"We could try now," Bubbles said, holding the cat tightly to her chest. "Is that okay with you Pumpkin?"
In response, the cat let out a squeaky 'mew.' Bubbles smiled.
"I'll take that as 'cat' for yes!" She turned toward her guardian. "We're ready!"
Professor Marlow chuckled. "Alright, let me make some tea and then we can get started."
After the kettle was ready and Professor Marlow motioned for Bubbles to follow him, Blossom gave her a quick hug.
"Good luck!" Blossom said. "I'll go watch some TV while you guys are busy."
After Professor Marlow led the way into his dark-wooded study, he reached his arms out for the cat.
"Alright, I'll hold Pumpkin so you can focus-"
When he tried to reach for the cat, she let out an indignant squawk that almost sounded like a scream. She dug her nails into Bubbles' shirt and clung on for dear life.
"Ow, Pumpkin! No claws!" she scolded the cat.
Professor Marlow let out a surprised chuckle. "Well, she's certainly bonded to you quickly," he said.
"Yeah, poor thing. She's probably just a bit nervous," Bubbles said, petting her back soothingly. "It's okay Pumpkin, you can stay with me if that makes you feel better."
"Are you sure, Bubbles?"
"Yeah! It's fine!" she said. She took a seat on the couch, the cat resting against her chest.
"Alright," he said, pouring her a cup of tea. "Has your sister told you what to expect?"
Bubbles shook her head as she took a sip from her cup. "Not really. But I know what hypnosis is. There was this villain we fought a long time ago who was a zombie but used to be a magician. He tried to hypnotize Blossom with a pocket watch, but she outsmarted him before she could fall under his spell."
Professor Marlow blinked a few times in surprise. "You… fought a zombie?"
Bubbles nodded. "Yep! He got killed during one of his shows a long, long time ago because he stole this little girl's stuffed bear, and he came back to life to get revenge."
Professor Marlow opened his mouth to speak before closing it.
"Let's put a pin in that and come back to it later," he said.
"Alright, we'll start this off slow. I want you to lie back and close your eyes; take a deep breath in and out. Empty your mind of anything and everything aside from the sound of your breathing."
Bubbles did as he said, trying her best to empty her mind, but after such an exciting day it was hard to do. Her mind ended up wandering once again to Pumpkin, and what the Professor would say once he met her. Would he let her keep her? She knew he didn't like cats that much. But then again, how could he say no if she already had one? No, he wouldn't force her to give her up! There's no way! And once they were all reunited, he might even be so happy that he'd let Blossom get a cat, and Buttercup too once she woke up. Then they'd all be sisters like she was!
"Okay Bubbles, now this might be tricky for you, but I want you to think back to when you first started to lose your powers. What happened on that day?"
Oh right, she was supposed to be being hypnotized.
The smile on her face faded as she forced the image of her sisters and their cats out of her mind and back onto the task at hand.
"Urm, I think we first started to notice something was wrong when Mojo robbed Townsville Bank. I gave him a good knuckle sandwich, as Buttercup calls it, but it didn't really hurt him that bad. He just kind of seemed surprised and laughed it off. Then Buttercup called me a weak crybaby, but I told her that I wasn't a weak crybaby and she was just being mean. Blossom then yelled at us to stop fighting and focus. Then she tried to take down Mojo herself but she couldn't either, and Buttercup got really mad and punched Mojo as hard as she could, but he ended up getting away," she said.
"I see," Professor Marlow said. "And what happened after that?"
"We ended up catching Mojo a few minutes later, but he definitely didn't make it easy. He was this close to getting away," Bubbles said, thinking back to the desperate chase scene. Even though they were still able to fly, it almost felt like they were only able to do so in slow motion. At least, compared to how fast they were able to fly before. "Blossom thought we were just tired, but after it happened a couple more times with other villains, we had to go to the Professor for help."
"And what did the Professor do?" he asked.
"He ran a couple of tests. He told us we had lower levels of Chemical X in our bodies than what we were supposed to have, and so he gave us some Chemical X shots. Buttercup hated those."
"Ah yes, I remember reading about the Chemical X treatments in your file. Apparently they didn't last long?"
"Yeah, we would feel super energized and powerful for a little bit, but then it would be back to the same," she said, frowning. "Until our birthday and we all got sick and lost our powers for good."
"What happened after you lost your powers completely?" Professor Marlow asked.
Bubbles thought back to their first day of school after the information had leaked. "Some of the kids were kind of mean about it. Princess and her friends teased us about 'being nobodies' now."
"Kids can certainly be cruel," Professor Marlow sighed. "Were you bullied for long?"
"No, because the Professor pulled us out of school. After…" Bubbles cringed. Vivid images of her old school janitor flooded her mind. Those awful men, the blood, his cries for help…
"After what?"
"Mr. Reeserson, our school janitor… he was killed by some robbers on our way home from school," she said, her voice starting to crack. "I wanted to help him! I really did! Blossom called 911 and everything but by the time the ambulance showed up…" tears started to spill from her eyes, the only thing pulling her back to reality was the feeling of Pumpkin shifting her weight on her chest.
"Oh my," Professor Marlow said. "It must have been a truly awful thing to witness."
"It was," Bubbles sniffed.
"What would you have done if you had your powers?"
Bubbles paused. "W-What do you mean?"
"I mean, if you had your powers, would you have saved Mr. Reeserson?"
"Of course!" Bubbles said.
"How exactly would you have gone about it?"
Bubbles felt her eyebrows furrow in confusion. "I… I don't understand."
"It's just a simple mental exercise. Sometimes, when a traumatic event happens, it helps to figure out what we would've done differently if we could," Professor Marlow explained. "It puts you back in the driver's seat, so to speak."
"Well," Bubbles paused. "I guess I would've… fought the robbers off?" she started.
"Yes, go on."
"I would've… punched them and kicked them, as hard as I could," she said. She imagined herself doing it, the way she had done with other criminals in the past. "I'd… I'd hurt them and make them bleed, like they did with him. By the time I was done with them, they'd be begging me to take them to jail. A-And then, they'd be sent away for years and years, and never get out and Mr. Reeserson would still be alive and everything would be okay!"
Bubbles heard her voice speed up with every single word until she was gasping for air at the end.
"Alright Bubbles, I'm going to snap my fingers, and when I do, I want you to open your eyes." Bubbles heard the snap, and as if by reflex, her eyes flew open.
"Here," he said, handing her a tissue with a sympathetic smile.
"Thanks," she said, wiping her tears. "Did I do a good job?"
Professor Marlow smiled. "You did great," he said. "Now, why don't you try saying something to your new furry friend?"
"Okay," Bubbles reached her hand out to pet the cat, who purred at her touch. "How are you today, Pumpkin? Are you excited to be living with me and Blossom and Professor Marlow?"
At this, the cat gave a wary look in the man's direction, but otherwise stayed silent.
"Hmm," Professor Marlow said. He stood up, and started to walk toward the cat. "It's alright, little one," he said, gently reaching his hand out. "You're safe here-"
Right before he could pet the cat, Pumpkin darted towards the other side of the room and hid behind one of the book shelves.
"Pumpkin!" Bubbles yelled. "Come on, it's okay! You don't have to hide from us!" She walked toward the cat's direction, but as soon as she did, it only raced off in the opposite direction.
"Perhaps let's try later," Professor Marlow said. "Maybe Pumpkin is still adjusting to her new environment."
"Yeah," Bubbles said, looking towards the direction of the terrified feline. "That's probably it."
As Arturo waited for Carrie to come back home, he figured he'd surprise her by making her dinner; his own way of saying thank you for letting him stay at her place. Unfortunately, she didn't have much in her kitchen to work with, but he was able to fix a decent meal with half a box of pasta, some marinara sauce, and some parmesan cheese he found.
It was close to midnight by the time he was done, just a little before Carrie told him she'd be home. And sure enough just a few minutes later, he heard a key unlocking the door.
"Thanks again for the ride, Raven!" She called back behind her shoulder. As soon as she set her stuff down, she collapsed onto the couch, giving Arturo a lazy smile.
"Ugh, I'm beat," she said.
"You okay?" Arturo asked. He walked over to her, and took a seat by her side.
"Yeah yeah, I'm fine," she waved him off. "You know. Just tired."
"I made you some dinner," Arturo gestured over towards the kitchen. "It's spaghetti. I can fix you a plate if you want."
Her brown eyes widened in surprise. "You made me dinner? You really are a sweetie pie," she leaned over and kissed him. She sighed. "Do you think you can save it for later though? I can never eat right after work."
Arturo's face fell. "Oh. Yeah sure, we can have dinner for breakfast tomorrow or something."
Carrie gave him a placid smile. "That sounds wonderful."
After Arturo got up and put the pasta in the fridge, he turned back to Carrie, who was lazily watching TV on the couch.
"Hey, do you mind if I sleep down here tonight?" Carrie asked. "I don't feel like getting up to go to bed."
Arturo raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Uh, yeah that's fine. I don't mind sleeping on the floor."
Carrie let out a snort. "The floor? You don't have to sleep on the floor silly."
"What do you mean?"
Carrie patted the other side of the couch. "You can sleep here with me."
Immediately, Arturo felt his face start to redden. "Carrie… are you implying what I think you're implying?"
Once again, that devilish smile appeared on her face. "Why don't you help me pull out the bed and you can find out?"
Never one to question a good thing, Arturo jumped to her aid. Once the bed was set up, they both hopped on and Carrie pulled him into a long, lazy kiss.
"You're sure in a good tonight," Arturo said once they both came up for air. She laughed, her nose wrinkling in a way that melted his heart.
"What can I say? I'm happy to see you," she said.
He pulled her in for another kiss, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. She started to pull his shirt off over his head, and Arturo slid his hands under her blouse and unhooked her bra.
"Wait," he said, pausing the make out session. "You got protection?"
"Protection?"
"Yeah. You know, a condom?"
"Oh, right. Right right right," she said. "There should be some in my purse. By the coat rack."
Arturo nodded. He got up and grabbed it, a black thing with pink polka dots. As he unzipped it and reached around, he paused when his hand landed on something that felt like a pill bottle. Curiously, he pulled it out and gave it a hard look.
The bottle itself was unlabeled, but when he opened it, he saw that they were identical to the white round pills she had given him back when they first met.
"Hey Carrie, what's this?" he asked, the bottle in his hand.
"Hmm?" she turned her head, and her face fell slightly when she saw what he had.
"It's nothing, just something for pain," she answered quickly. "Did you find the condom?"
"Carrie," he asked slowly, walking towards her. "Is this the same thing you gave me when we first met?"
"Mmm, maybe," she said. "Why? Did you want one? Because that's all I got."
"No! I just-" he paused. "Did you take one earlier tonight?"
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Maybe. Why?"
"Oh mio dio," Arturo muttered to himself. "That's why you're acting like this!"
"Like what?"
"Like this!" Arturo gestured wildly. "All sleepy and horny!"
"Why are you making such a big deal about it?" she asked. "Do you want to have sex or not?"
"Not while you're high!"
"I'm fine! Look at me! Do I seem out of it to you?" she snapped, her irritation starting to break through the effects of the drug.
Arturo sighed. "Do you take them often?"
"What are you, my mother?"
"Look," he reached down and grabbed his shirt from the floor, pulling it over his head. "I ain't trying to judge you. I just… is this a thing I should be worried about?"
"You know what, I can't deal with this right now," she said, getting up to go to her room.
"Carrie," he said, reaching out to grab her hand. "I care about you, alright? I don't want you to hurt yourself. I'm not trying to judge you to tell you what to do, I'm just asking. As your friend."
"I only take them when I'm working. That's it," she insisted. "And it's not every shift either."
"Then why-"
"There was a guy at the club who was being dumb. It's no big deal. I handled it and he got banned."
Arturo's stomach dropped. His face started to heat up in anger. "What did he look like?"
Carrie looked at him for a moment, an eyebrow raised. "What? Are you planning to beat him up?"
"Maybe."
"Like I said, it's fine," she said. "I was just a little shaken and one of the girls offered me those to calm me down."
Arturo shook his head. "That's what you were doing with that guy at the park," he said. "I knew there was something suspicious going on, but with everything that happened after, I never thought to ask about it."
Carrie's face darkened. "That was Carl, a former customer. I'd buy stuff off of him only when the other girls were out," she said. "I've been avoiding him ever since."
"Well, if he goes near you again, just let me know and I'll take care of it," Arturo said. And he would, too. People underestimated him because of his height, but he was the fastest of the Gangreen Gang, and could take down a guy before he even knew what was coming.
"And I want you to have this," Arturo reached in his back pocket and pulled out his pocket knife.
She reached for it and held it in her hand uncertainly. "Really?"
"It's the least I can do," he said. "I know the types of guys that run the streets here. And if you run into one, I want you to be able to defend yourself."
She looked at it for a moment before looking back at him in surprise. "Thank you," she said. She put it off to the side and sighed, plopping herself back on the couch. She looked up at Arturo, her shoulders slumped and her eyes exhausted.
"I want out. Out of this apartment, out of my job, out of this town."
Arturo took a seat beside her. He put his shirt back on and put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "We could leave, you know. It's not like either of us have any ties left here."
"And where would we go?"
"Anywhere," he said. "Maybe… I don't know, when I write to my mami I could try asking if she's got enough room down there for us."
"Mexico?" Carrie asked uncertainly.
"You said you wanted to travel the world. It might take a while to save up and go through the details, but it would be better than here."
Carrie was silent for a moment. "I do have a bit saved up…" she shook her head. "What would we even do in Mexico? I don't even speak Spanish."
"We could do whatever we want, and I could teach you. Maybe we can open up a restaurant together. I've always kind of wanted to do that."
"Well, we don't have to go to Mexico for that."
"True," Arturo admitted.
Carrie shook her head. "I don't know, I'm too tired to think about this right now. I'll have to think about it."
"Sure," Arturo said. He looked down. "Did… did you still want to sleep down here with me?"
Carrie hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I guess."
Arturo grinned, and together they laid back and got under the covers. Absentmindedly, he began to run his fingers through her red hair.
"And you know, if you're still in the mood when we wake up…" he said. "I would be totally down if you wanted to have a little fun."
"So, how did the hypnosis session go?" Blossom asked.
Bubbles sighed. She ran her brush through her wet hair as she and her sister prepared for bed.
"It went fine, definitely wasn't as fun as I thought it would be though. I had to talk about Mr. Reeserson and what happened to him," Bubbles flinched once again at the memory.
"Oh yeah," Blossom said, her voice quiet. "He asked me about when we started becoming superheroes and I had to talk about all the stuff with Mojo and how he tricked us," she frowned, before perking up.
"But, I did get my ice powers back, so I'd say it was worth it. Did you make any progress with Pumpkin?"
Bubbles shook her head. "She kind of got scared off and I haven't seen her since. I'm a little worried. She was so friendly earlier."
"Maybe she's just nervous being in a new place," Blossom shrugged. "Kind of like how we were when we first moved in."
"Yeah, that's what Professor Marlow said too."
"I'm sure she'll pop up in no time," Blossom assured her. "You just gotta be patient."
"I guess," Bubbles nodded. She put the hairbrush down on the dresser, giving her reflection one last look. "Is it okay if I turn off the lights?"
"Sure, go ahead."
Bubbles did so, and crawled into bed, closing her eyes and waiting for sleep to overtake her. Slowly, her thoughts drifted towards Professor Marlow, Pumpkin, and Mr. Reeserson, all turning into one jumbled mess she couldn't make heads or tails out of. Once she felt herself start to drift off, she was taken out of her dream state by the feeling of four little paws walking on top of her.
"Pumpkin?" she mumbled, half asleep.
From the faint glow of the hallway light coming though her cracked bedroom door, she saw the outline of the black and orange cat looking down at her.
"Pumpkin!" she cried. As her sister furrowed her brow in her sleep at the noise, she whispered a quick 'sorry' before turning her attention to the cat.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!" she whispered, scratching her behind the ears. "I was afraid you didn't like me anymore. Professor Marlow said-"
"Bad," Pumpkin meowed at her, the word clear as day to Bubbles ears.
"I… I can understand you!" Bubbles gasped, barely able to contain her excitement. "I can't believe- wait, what do you mean bad? What's bad?"
"Bad man," the cat meowed again, her ears pointing in opposite directions. "Bad. Scary. Dangerous."
"Oh no, was your old owner mean to you?" Bubbles asked, concerned. "Don't worry Pumpkin, you're safe now."
"Not safe here. Bad, scary man," Pumpkin said, her back arched and her fur standing up. "Not safe. Not safe."
GGG Fan: Yeah, poor Billy indeed. He just wants everyone to get along and be happy :( And yeah, not Ace's best decision
Anon: Aww, thank you for continuing to read this story!
Sorry for the wait! Hopefully the extra long chapter makes up for it lol. And of course, as always, feel free to let me know what you thought! :D