And today is the day we've waited for

[essbeejay]

(Edit: LJ has been under a massive DDoS attack for the past couple of days; I've been trying to post this since Tuesday AM. As soon as LJ is back I'll have this post up. For now... well, I'm glad I have an lj backup here on Dreamwidth!)

Currently working on fixing the links between chapters to make it easier to navigate here on lj. You guys look at this while I wrap that up.

More Than Human, ch7
(see here for previous chapters)

Title: More Than Human
Chapter 7: Cupid Stuck Me With A Sickness, or Hey There Mr. Blue, We're So Pleased To Be With You
Pairing: RrB/PpG
Rating: R/M, because they're teenagers and a good handful of them use terrible, filthy language.
Disclaimer: Pay your respect to Craig, not me.
Summary: There is no way I can make this sound original, ever. My attempt to write a believable RrB/PpG in high school fic. Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal. - Camus
Notes: Let's raise a glass to mathkid and juxtaposie, without whom I would surely be adrift in this vast sea that is fandom.

More Than Human, Pt. 1 - Junior Summer
July - Cupid Stuck Me With A Sickness, or Hey There Mr. Blue, We're So Pleased To Be With You
-sbj-

This isn't a date.

Bubbles checked herself in the mirror to make sure she didn't look too dressy. That, of course, only took maybe half a minute. Then she looked at the clock again-five minutes until they were supposed to meet. She didn't want to show up early, because then she'd look eager, and while she was kinda eager, there wasn't any need for Boomer to know that.

She floated downstairs, pausing at the door to the Professor's lab-she could hear him working, somewhere deep in there. After flipping the TV on and off, finishing a glass of water, and staring out the kitchen window for a while, another two minutes had passed.

“Rrrrmph!” she huffed, and jumped up and down a little in frustration. If anyone had been watching, she probably would've looked a little crazy. Then she cinched it by talking to herself.

“What's the big deal?! So what if it's kind of a date?! I like him, don't I? It's not a big deal! It doesn't have to be! We hang out all the time anyway! It's just like hanging out! Except we both like each other, and honestly, that's not a big deal, none of this is a big deal, I like him and he obviously likes me, and he's a nice guy and hasn't done anything weird or villain-y since-”

She halted, a sort of sadness sinking into her, overtaking the exuberance that had fueled her outburst.

Except he has done villain-y things, she thought desolately. He'd humiliated Ashley, and had almost attacked Will, and sometimes he said weird things that sounded like a joke coming out of other people but sounded like a threat coming out of him...

If she thought about it, the stuff wasn't that much different from what a teenager prone to troublemaking and pranking would do. But this was Boomer. A Rowdyruff Boy. His level of troublemaking and pranking went above and beyond the average person's, and she knew firsthand because she'd once been a victim of it.

Her anxiousness about the date-that-wasn't-a-date now tempered by her troubled thoughts, she glanced at the clock. She was late by a minute.

She didn't hurry out the door, even though she kind of wanted to. She could've flown faster, but she didn't, even though she kind of wanted to do that, too. And when she spotted him standing outside of the music store that was their meeting place, grinning into the sky as she approached, she didn't throw herself into his arms, though that would've been... nice.

She landed delicately on the ground, trying not to smile too broadly at him.

“Sorry I'm late.”

“That's okay. I would've waited for you forever.”

She smirked past the twinging in her heart.

“Very cute. But a simple 'Hi' would do.”

As she started to walk past him into the store, his arm suddenly reached out across her stomach, grasping her lightly at the waist and stopping her.

Boomer angled his face towards hers and said, “Hi.”

She stared at him, trying not to blush or reach for him herself. She almost brushed her hand along his, resting on her waist, but refrained from doing so.

“Hi,” she said quietly, half-smiling, and touched his hand, lifting it away.

She walked into the store, and felt Boomer behind her.

***

It was a warm July day in Townsville-not scorching, but maybe a touch outside of comfortable-and as Blossom floated along the sidewalk on her way home from practice, she huffed out a bit of her ice breath to keep her face cool. There was the faintest tinkling sound as the crystals touched her skin.

She was feeling better about the Officer Induction Dance since first being told of its theme, as the choreography wasn't nearly as... risqué as she'd feared, though she was still a little uncertain as to how the Professor would react. The girls had shown her the outfit they'd picked out for her, too, and even that wasn't so bad. About the only body parts exposed were her shoulders and legs, and her legs at least would be covered by a pair of nearly opaque stockings. She even kinda dug the corset top, and the boots, oh God, the boots. Blossom had a real soft spot for footwear.

Tomorrow the Company would be getting all its new members together (or at least the ones who weren't currently vacationing) to start rehearsing their big group dance. Mrs. Olson had asked the officers to bring any ideas they had to the table, and Blossom already had some things floating around her head-they could showcase each team individually, and then move into group choreography for the entire Company all throughout...

Her ice breath was keeping her cool, but she needed to stay hydrated, so she drifted into a nearby strip mall to pick up some water from a convenience store. She used her ice breath one last time-really, it was a handy power to have in this weather-to freeze half the water, then cracked the top open and sipped. On her way out of the small parking lot a sudden gleam of red caught her eye, and she paused next to a shiny red convertible.

Brick's.

Her eyes widened and she looked back at the row of stores, wondering which one he might be in. There was the convenience store she'd just walked out of, a bakery, a mattress store, and a Chinese takeout place at the end. None of them seemed like... well, like a “Brick” place, unless he had been hungry.

Blossom bounced on her feet a bit and looked back and forth from his car to the line of stores. Then she started to casually float by the store windows, peering in askance. He hadn't been in the convenience store when she'd purchased her water, and the bakery was empty, too. She half-heartedly swept her eyes across the expanse of mattresses, but didn't find him there either, and besides, she didn't know what he'd be doing there anyway. The Chinese takeout place was Brick-less, too.

Maybe she was mistaken. Maybe it wasn't his car.

Although, few people in Townsville had the money for a car like that, and even then, she was pretty sure Brick owned the only Coil in the city...

She shook her head. He wasn't here. She'd been mistaken. A faint disappointment tugged at her chest, and she distracted herself by chugging her water so fast the cold almost hurt.

They hadn't spoken since that day at the beach last month.

She floated past the stores again, and a figure in the mattress store sat up from the beds. Blossom paused, watching as Brick turned and frowned at the mattress, then moved to another one, leaning on it to test its firmness, then laid down on it, once again disappearing from her line of sight.

Her heart started skittering about in her chest and she thought to herself, Stop that. Then she thought to herself, What's Brick doing in a mattress store?

Buying a mattress, obviously.

But what's he need a mattress for?

To sleep on, duh!

Her brain was being remarkably unhelpful. Whatever. She opened the door and decided she'd ask Brick herself.

***

Brick had been putting this off because going out to buy a new bed was like admitting that Darius had won-or felt like it, at least. But a month on the couch was all he could take. So here he was, bed shopping, because he couldn't spend an entire school year sleeping in the living room.

An entire school year. God.

Brick was trying not to dwell, but there were other things unsettling him. He hadn't been able to get through to headquarters, even just to call Penny. When he'd tried, it claimed the number didn't exist, though he suspected that really, the Boys' line had been blocked. Then, at the beginning of the month, a very unsettling thing had happened: he'd received a rent check.

JS handled the billing, so all the checks were technically supposed to go to headquarters. Normally, Brick would've written it off as a mistake and forwarded it. But considering the circumstances, he was pretty sure this was intentional.

He didn't spend money like his brothers, so he had enough saved up. He'd gone ahead and paid it, cursing Darius all the while. He wasn't sure what to do if they received another-no, when they received it. No amount of minimum wage jobs for teenagers was going to pay for their ridiculously high rent, not even if all three of them started working. Besides, Butch would just steal it. And Brick... there was no way in hell Brick would reduce himself to working a fucking job so beneath him. It was a waste of his talents.

The third and final unsettling thing-though on the unsettling scale, it didn't quite top the first two-was a note he'd received today, reading:

Troubles at home. I'll fill you in later.

-P

So even Penny wasn't permitted to initiate contact with the Boys. Brick had not been exaggerating when he'd first interpreted this whole vacationing in Townsville as banishment.

No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't kill Darius immediately. He had to take it one thing at a time, even if it meant admitting defeat in small ways like paying the God damn rent or buying a God damn bed. The whole bed thing was turning out to be a big ordeal, too; none of these mattresses were firm enough-

There came the sound of a very girlish throat-clearing, followed by a wary, “Brick?”

He shot up and found Blossom standing at the foot of the mattress he was testing out, her eyes wide with curiosity.

“What are you doing here?”

He stared at her for a second before replying, “Buying a mattress, obviously.”

Her face expressed the tiniest fraction of frustration at his response.

“I mean... what recent circumstances put you in a situation where you have to go out and buy a mattress?” After a pause, she added, “Obviously.”

When he didn't answer immediately, she continued, “Are you having trouble sleeping? Or... is it bad dreams?”

Brick almost felt offended that she could suggest he'd be affected by something as insignificant as a nightmare.

“I don't dream,” he said.

“You... you don't?”

“I mean... well, I dream, but I...” He sat down on another mattress and looked at her. “I'm in control of them. I lucid dream.”

Blossom looked a little impressed. “How do you do that?”

He shrugged. “I just... I've done it since I was eleven, I guess, or twelve. Something like that. One night I just realized I was in a dream and I've done it ever since.”

“So what does a person who's in control of their dreams... dream about?”

Coups. Ruling the world. Their own general awesomeness as a person. “Whatever I want.”

Blossom's gaze shifted from him to the mattress he was sitting on.

“How's that one?”

He bounced on it a bit.

“It's okay. A little too springy.”

“So what did happen to the other one?”

He sighed and stood. “The other one broke.”

“'Broke?' Broke how?”

He laid down on another mattress and immediately sat back up, cringing. Too soft.

“I kinda broke it.”

“How did you-” Blossom suddenly cut herself off, her voice squeaking in her hastiness to do so, and Brick looked at her, confused by the sound. She was burning red, so much so that the bottle of ice water in her hand was practically defrosting.

“Sorry!” she exclaimed frantically. “It's none of my business! I don't really want to know how you broke your bed at all! Forget I said anything!”

He stared at her a long moment, which only encouraged her to blush more.

“Well, unfortunately for me,” he started, and passed her to test out another mattress, “you are mistaken.”

He could almost hear her blinking. “Oh?”

The store employee came scurrying up to greet Blossom, making a point of avoiding the scary boy lying all over all his inventory.

“Oh no, I'm not buying,” she corrected him, shaking her head. He reluctantly turned to Brick.

“Is there anything I can help you with-”

“Save it,” Brick said. “I'm still looking. You're still waiting.”

“Brick,” Blossom said reproachfully.

“Blossom,” Brick intoned in a similar fashion, and Blossom huffed. A thought occurred to him, and he glanced at her.

“What are you doing here, anyway?”

Her eyes immediately widened and went to the floor, and she was quiet for a moment, as if she was struggling to think of an answer. Brick waited, his heart rate increasing just that much more.

“I just thought I'd drop by and say, 'Hi,'” she finally said, looking up and smacking her bottle lightly against her hand. “I saw your car in the lot.”

He stared at her, unsure of what to make of her answer and even less sure of what to make of his reaction.

There was a twisting in his chest as he forced his gaze away from her and mumbled, “Hi.”

As he laid down he could hear her shuffle a little bit closer.

“Hi.”

***

Buttercup was late.

It wasn't a big issue, because there weren't a lot of people out to see a knife demonstration, but she'd wanted to be up front, right next to the action. When she got to the kitchen specialty store in the mall, it'd already started, and she had to settle for peering over a couple of people's shoulders.

It would've been easier to float, but she didn't want to draw too much attention to herself. Buttercup in a kitchen store? She had a reputation to keep.

Of course, she was there to see a knife demonstration...

The guy nattered on and angled the blade of the knife-an eight-inch chef's knife-so the glare from the overhead lights glinted off its glossy metal. It looked gorgeous, Buttercup had to admit. Their knives at home weren't bad, but they were old, and even when Buttercup sharpened them now they didn't cut that well.

These glossy (and expensive) knives had no trouble. The guy rapidly sliced his way through tomatoes and cucumbers, then finely diced an onion and some garlic for good measure. Buttercup watched covetously, wanting the weight of the knife in her hand so she could do the same. With all the cooking she'd been doing, her knife technique was nearly as good as this guy's already.

After the demo, she walked around the store, spending some significant time in the knife section. She was about two weeks away from completing the punishment the Professor had issued way back in March. A lot of her was looking forward to it, because there was a second cookbook by the same chef that had a bunch of recipes she really wanted to try... the Professor had just left it furtively lying around in her general vicinity...

While she'd kept it to herself, their father was a sharp man, and, after observing her in the kitchen muttering about the knives and seasoning and other cooking sundries, had offered to replace their knives if she found a decent, reasonably priced set. After researching online for a week, she had a good idea what she wanted.

She located her brand and settled on a standard chef's knife, a paring knife, and a cleaver. She stopped by the cutting boards and was very tempted by the thick, heavy wooden ones-they only had plastic at home-but that wasn't in her budget.

As she passed by the mixers, it suddenly dawned upon her how very... domestic she felt. Of course, the cutesy little aprons adorning the racks next to the mixers didn't help.

She frowned at them, then looked back at the section she'd just come out of. Chef's aprons over there by the knives. Girly little kitchen aprons over here, with the baking wares. Even kitchen stores were gendered.

She scoffed in disgust, resisting the urge to look at the mixers (even though she'd kind of wanted to) and made her way to the register. If the boys had been here, they'd have given her such shit. They knew she was cooking at home more often now as a punishment, but it was one thing to be told that and another to actually see her in action, or in a store, shopping for kitchen stuff. They'd have tailed her inside, drawn her to the ladies' section, and teased her about modeling some of those stupid aprons, like Mitch had done with the dresses...

She hesitated in line, glancing back at the aprons. She would've kicked the boys' asses, and forced aprons over their stupid fat heads, but there was a time where she might've-maybe-possibly-put one on for Mitch.

The boys were all vacationing somewhere. The twins' family took a road trip to Vegas every summer to visit relatives, Harry went to Florida to visit his Grandma, and Mitch had gone to Montana to see his dad. Well, presumably. She hadn't exactly talked to him, but she'd known him long enough that she knew without having to ask.

Last year Mitch had talked about bringing his dad back with him for a week (even though his mom wouldn't have liked that) so Buttercup could meet him. She assumed that had gone out the window. They'd never really made plans, anyway. But she wondered what his dad was like, all the same.

As she dumped her stuff on the counter, she ran a hand through her hair. It was down to her shoulders now. Getting long. Buttercup didn't like it, it was unmanageable. She'd only ever grown it long because he'd liked it.

Her eyes softened at the memory of cutting it herself-butchering it, really-and how her sisters had taken over, intervened, and been so-

“What the-Buttercup?”

Her head snapped up to see Butch gaping at her from the front of the store, in the main part of the mall. She didn't catch the subtle change in his expression at the sight of hers, still soft from reminiscing.

He stared, then slowly began to smirk as he held up a hand in greeting.

“Hey.”

She laughed, a harsh sound that dissolved the soft edge she'd taken on.

“Hey yourself.”

***

“Oh my God, check this out, check this out.” Boomer laughed as he swung an acoustic on and the hat that accompanied it. “This one comes with a cowboy hat.”

Bubbles laughed as she strolled up. “Too bad it doesn't come with the rest of the outfit.”

He grinned at her. “You're just itching to see me in some kicker jeans and chaps, aren't you?”

She opened her mouth and held it there for a long moment, contemplating.

“No.”

He took off the hat and settled the acoustic back down.

“The guitar even comes with a stupid horse on it, Christ.”

“I like horses,” Bubbles said as they walked around to explore the rest of the music store.

“You like your horses on guitars?”

“I like horses in general. But preferably the living ones.” Suddenly her face lit up in surprise, and she trotted over to a section of the store filled with African drums. “Oh my gosh, they have djembes!”

“What?”

She struck the skin of one of them and played a simple rhythm before turning to Boomer.

“Djembes. African drums.”

He was looking at her with what might have been a little awe.

“You play?”

She shrugged. “I have one at home.”

“How did I not know this?”

“You've never been to my house, obviously.”

“That'll have to change, obviously.”

She laughed. “Maybe.”

“Are there any other secrets I should know about you?”

“Just that I have a way with percussive instruments,” she said lightly.

“Like my heart,” he said, fluttering his eyelashes, and she pushed him away, groaning at the joke.

She wandered off to look at some keyboards set up nearby, and tapped a key. Boomer came up beside her and started to plunk out something classical that she couldn't quite place.

“So... have you thought about it?” he said casually, still playing. Bubbles wandered over to the next one and tapped another key.

“Yeah.”

“And?”

She looked up and met his eyes briefly, then let her gaze drift away.

“I don't know.”

“Would you date me if I brought about world peace and cured cancer?”

She laughed. “Make it happen and then we'll talk.”

“Close your eyes and I'll make it happen,” he said mischievously, wetting his lips.

“Right. Nice try.”

***

“So you're out buying knives?” Butch kicked her shin. They were both seated on either end of a mall bench with cinnamon buns in their hands. Well, sort of seated. Butch was really lounging, with his legs splayed along half of the bench seat and over the back.

“Bought 'em.” She pulled one out of the bag and held it up for Butch to see. He took it from her and started to open the packaging.

“No no no, none of that,” she said, and snatched it back.

“I just wanted a better look at it!”

“You with a sharp, dangerous object in your hands is not a good idea.”

He sneered. “Don't know if you've noticed, but I'm a walking dangerous object.”

“Congratulations,” she muttered and bit into her cinnamon bun.

“The boys are all gone, aren't they?”

“On vacation.”

“So what do you do for some real fuckin' fun around here?”

Buttercup drew her knees up on the bench. “I've been living here all my life and I still don't know. Sit around waiting for monsters to show up, I guess. We never used to go anywhere when we were kids because something was always attacking, like on a daily basis.” After a pause, her face clouded over, and she muttered, “We tried to go somewhere, once. But... we were afraid something would happen.”

He swallowed a bite and scoffed. “To your precious city?”

“Watch it, Dr. Evil,” she said shortly, glaring. “But yeah. So what?”

“So whatever.”

“So anyway.” She peeled off a piece of her bun and popped it in her mouth. “We don't get a lot of attacks these days. 'Cept for the monsters. All the villains got older, and some of them even retired, so we don't see them around as much anymore. Mojo's still active, but even he only shows up every few months or so.”

“What about Him?”

Buttercup shot him a sharp look. “I thought you'd know.”

“We ain't seen the guy since we left,” Butch said, inhaling the rest of his cinnamon bun.

She stared at him, suspicion etched all over her face. “He disappeared not long after you guys.”

They sat there in silence until Butch reached for her cinnamon bun. She came to and jerked it away.

“You're not even eating it!” he cried.

She responded by stuffing the rest of it in her mouth.

He held out a hand. “Spit it out. I'll still eat it.”

“Yuir difgufting,” she managed. “And no.”

“Wanna go somewhere?”

She looked up. “Like where?”

He hitched up his shoulders. “Eh. Your sisters and my brothers are around if something happens to Townsville. We've got speed. We can fly. We can go anywhere we want.”

She smirked. “Like Hawaii.”

“Like Hawaii. Or New York.”

“Los Angeles.”

“Paris.”

“Venice.”

“Australia.”

“Toky-why the fuck would you want to go to Australia?”

“To club some koalas and wallabies,” Butch responded. “Finish your thought.”

“Tokyo.”

“South Carolina.”

“Okay, now you're being stupid.”

“North Carolina.”

“All the places in the world and you're naming fucking states.”

“You ever been there?”

“...No.”

“Then shut the fuck up. Wisconsin.”

Buttercup snickered. “For the cheese?”

“And the awesome party times, fuck, I don't know. Idaho.”

“Colorado,” Buttercup said, grinning.

“Ohio.”

“Texas.”

“Oklahoma.”

“Montan-” Buttercup stopped, though she didn't mean to. It was just the name of a state. Just because Mitch was there didn't mean she wasn't allowed to say its name. But even so, she stopped. She didn't mean to. Hadn't meant to.

The abrupt way she'd cut off had caught Butch's attention, and he was staring at her. She'd told him where Mitch had gone, and for a second she thought he might ask her about how they'd broken up again.

She sat back against the bench, directing her gaze to the denim of her jeans and ready to refuse to answer if he asked.

Instead he nudged her knee with his foot.

“Hey. Let's go fucking do something.”

***

“I think they want us to leave,” Bubbles whispered in an undertone.

“What?” Boomer whispered back at her. “What gives you that idea?”

“Well, we've been in here so long without buying anything, and they keep looking at us...”

“Forget them. We're allowed to come in and browse.”

Bubbles looked uncomfortable.

“We should leave. I mean, if we're not-”

Boomer groaned and caught sight of a harmonica display. He strode over, snatched one off the rack, and marched it over to the register.

Five minutes later they were outside the store as Boomer played Dylan's “Just Like A Woman,” seated like a hobo with a harmonica. Bubbles stood next to him fidgeting, but was polite and didn't say anything.

“I think this counts as loitering,” she said once Boomer finished his song.

“No, this is more like advertising,” he said. “Free advertising, no less! 'Come into this music store! Learn the secrets of awesome harmonica playing! Be like this guy over here...'”

He trailed off as he took in her nervous face, her gaze fixated on the store employees who kept shooting them dirty looks through the window. He made a mental note to slash the employees' tires later.

He stood and held out a hand to her.

“Come on. Let's go.”

Bubbles smiled gratefully at him, but didn't take his hand. They started floating side by side through the lot, and after a moment Boomer lifted the harmonica to his lips again and played a little of The Beatles' “Love Me Do.”

She giggled. “Where'd you learn to play the harmonica?”

He paused in his playing long enough to grin at her. “Just picked it up.”

“Hey!”

Boomer and Bubbles looked up to find Butch and Buttercup coming towards them, snowcones in hand.

“Hey!” Bubbles waved as they came up. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Walkin',” Butch replied simply.

“Ooh, what flavor is that...” Bubbles hovered over Buttercup's snowcone, and Buttercup handed her her spoon.

“I dunno. Red flavor.”

As Bubbles partook of her sister's refreshment, Boomer glanced at his brother's snowcone, then looked hopefully at Butch.

Those green eyes narrowed and shot a warning beam at his brother's feet.

“Dude! I didn't even ask!”

“You asked with those stupid puppy eyes of yours.”

They started bickering and trailed the girls as they walked ahead of them, until they rounded the corner and Buttercup halted.

“Holy shit,” she whispered.

All three of them looked up to see her wide-eyed and gaping at something further down the street.

“What? What is it?” Bubbles asked.

Buttercup practically flung what remained of the snowcone at Boomer (“Sweet!”) and took off, sailing towards the opposite end of the street and stopping in a parking lot half a block down. The rest of them exchanged a glance, then took off after her.

She was gazing upon a sparkling red convertible with such reverence that it wouldn't have seemed out of place for her to kneel and offer up a sacrifice. Butch and Boomer recognized the car.

“What the hell is Brick doing here?” Butch said, wrinkling his face and looking around.

“Maybe he got hungry?” Boomer suggested, indicating the bakery and Chinese place.

Bubbles was staring through the window of the biggest store.

“Or lonely.”

“Huh?”

“Guh,” Buttercup only intoned, still taking in the Coil.

Bubbles pointed, and the boys followed the line of her arm to the inside of the mattress store, where Brick and Blossom could be seen chatting. And rising off a bed. Together.

The snowcone in Butch's hands melted down into watery slush. He chucked it.

Bubbles zipped into the store, Boomer and Butch behind her (they left Buttercup to her private time).

“I think it's between this one and that one,” Brick said, indicating two different mattresses.

“That first one was firmer,” Blossom said, pressing down on the mattress in question.

“You think? I don't know, I thought-”

“Hey, sis,” Bubbles said loudly, and Blossom jumped. “Hey, Brick.”

“Bubbles!” A flushed Blossom turned to greet her sister, flanked by Brick's brothers. “Um, hi!” She started to flail about. “I was just, um, just, just-”

“Bed shopping with Brick,” Bubbles finished, her eyes twinkling innocently, and Blossom looked like she wanted to crawl in a hole and die somewhere. “Didn't you have dance practice?”

“It's done! I was in the neighborhood! I was just thirsty!” Blossom cried, pointing out her near empty water bottle as if it meant something.

Bubbles turned from her flustered sister to an unflappable Brick. “What are you doing bed shopping?”

“He broke his about a month ago,” Boomer interjected. Bubbles' eyes widened slightly.

“Is that so? Congratulations.”

“Everybody keeps taking that the wrong way,” Brick muttered, and started to make his way to the register. He pointed at the one Blossom had suggested. “I'm going with that one.”

Butch fell into step beside him. “Because your girlfriend said so?” he muttered in a voice only Brick could hear, and Brick whirled on him, glaring.

“That's not fucking funny,” he snarled as Bubbles continued to tease her sister in the background. Boomer was enjoying the remains of Buttercup's snowcone. Butch was staring at him, his green eyes dark and his expression grim.

“Really? I think it's fucking hilarious,” he said flatly.

Brick glared at his brother a moment longer, then scoffed in disgust and paid for his new bed. He ignored the weight of Butch's gaze boring into his back as he made arrangements to pick up his mattress later, after driving his car back home. Fuck Butch and his moods. He could get all pissy over absolutely nothing.

Brick continued to ignore him as he pocketed his receipt and floated back, past the girls and Boomer and towards the exit. Outside he found Buttercup standing in front of his car, her pupils dilated.

“She's beautiful,” she breathed, angling her head slightly, and Brick felt a little glow of pride at the compliment.

“You've got good taste.” The rest of their siblings joined them.

“Buttercup?” Blossom asked. “Are you okay?”

“I looked under your hood,” Buttercup said to Brick, her pupils returning to their normal size as her X-ray vision clicked off.

He smirked. “Like what you saw?”

She looked a little... well, really, the only word for how Buttercup looked was lusty.

“You do have one hell of an engine.”

“Are you two done having eye sex yet?” Butch snapped, and Brick, Buttercup, and Blossom all shot him a furious look.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Buttercup griped.

“His problem is he's a whiny little bitch,” Brick answered.

“My problem is you're a giant fucking prick,” Butch retorted.

“Will you all stop with the language?!” Blossom cried.

“War!” Boomer suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs. “What is it good for?”

“Absolutely nothing!” Bubbles responded.

“Why are you suddenly so God damn moody?” Buttercup demanded.

“I'm not!” Butch snarled.

“Then stop PMS'ing!”

Bubbles looked a little desperate. “Um, war? What is it good for?” she attempted. Buttercup and Butch went right on arguing.

“Will you please cut out the cursing?!” Blossom shrieked.

“This is what I get for interacting with other people,” Brick announced, and muscled his way into his car. “I'm fucking leaving-”

A sudden tingle rippled through Brick's body, and he snapped to with a jolt, head swiveling around to examine the street. Nothing. But-

His blood was pounding. The world seemed suddenly to take on this otherworldly feel to him alone.

Him.

All three of the girls' cell phones went off. Blossom got to hers first.

“Mayor? What's the trouble?”

***

The boys went with them-Boomer, because he didn't want to leave Bubbles, Butch, because, in his own words, he “could really use to punch something,” and Brick, because he wasn't about to run away.

The feeling intensified, made his scalp tingle as his hair stood on end. He trailed after the group, eyes attempting to take in everything as they flew through the city.

“I see it,” Blossom announced, and dived.

They all stopped just above the cloudy mass of black fog that curled lazily along the street, no more than two feet high.

“Do you think it's safe to land?” Bubbles asked.

They all looked around; most of the townspeople in this area had been evacuated, but some stragglers were still scurrying away, though the fog. Nothing appeared to happen, save for the gentle displacement of smoky black tendrils as they ran.

“It looks like it's okay,” Buttercup said, but she didn't land.

“What if it's okay to humans, but deadly to... to us?” Bubbles said, eyes widening in a little fear.

“Better to play it safe,” Blossom said quietly, but then a light scuffling sound behind her drew her attention. Brick had lowered himself to the ground and was staring up at them as the black mass swirled around him.

“It's fine,” he said, and he swept his eyes around the area, still looking for Him.

As they all landed, the girls more warily than his brothers, he took in the area the black fog covered. It appeared to be two, maybe a maximum of three blocks in each direction, and not spreading.

It may have been his imagination, but it sounded like there was the faintest high-pitched sigh as he looked around.

“Did you hear that?” he asked quietly, and everyone looked up.

“Hear what?” Boomer asked.

“I didn't hear anything,” said Buttercup.

Blossom edged closer. “What did it sound like, Brick?”

He didn't answer. But he did look at her, his eyes catching on her face, and-it was a fleeting thought, really-he hoped that whatever Him wanted had nothing to do with her.

The smoky black fog at his feet curled that much more sharply, became that much thicker, and hissed faintly at him.

The sound of a small blast interrupted the eerie silence, and they looked to see Butch, faint green steam rising off his mitt and the blackened area of the street that he'd hit. The black fog had shifted, though it didn't appear to have recoiled, merely-as with the townspeople running through it-displaced by the blow, briefly exposing the street before it crawled back over to reclaim it.

Butch shrugged. “Was worth a shot.”

A blink later, all the fog had disappeared. Just like that, it was back to being an ordinary section of the city, save for all the empty buildings.

Bubbles gasped as Buttercup muttered, “What the hell?”

“Where did it go?” Blossom said, brow furrowed as they all scanned the area. She and her sisters spread out, instinctively, protectively.

“Is it gone?” Boomer wondered.

There was a sudden familiar shiver that rippled in the air, and Brick hastily darted a glance at his brothers. They showed no reaction whatsoever.

“No,” he said quietly, hearing a familiar high-pitched voice speaking with his own. “It isn’t.”

The rest of the world was suddenly moving in slow motion, his brothers and the girls nearly frozen in time. Brick watched the dark, shadowy figure just beyond them.

“My boy,” It said. “It’s been a long time.”

“I guess so.” Brick’s voice was flat. His eyes drifted over to Buttercup and Butch, in the midst of taking off to get a better view. Blossom’s eyes were still moving, though at a quarter of the speed they had been mere moments ago.

The shadow chuckled. “Is that all you have to say?”

“Not like I ever had that much to say to begin with.”

There was a sinister smile curling along that figure’s face.

“But so much has happened since we’ve seen each other. This-” And here the figure indicated the six boys and girls scattered amidst the debris. “Being the least of it.”

Only Brick could see Him, and now He snaked from one superbeing to another, pausing at each one and carefully inspecting their faces.

“You thought you were escaping your life-escaping me-and yet, here you are-”

“Coming back wasn’t my choice,” Brick said with a shrug.

The shadow paused at Boomer. “Hm. You’ve gotten much better at controlling that temper of yours.”

Brick smirked, smug. “When it counts.”

“Does she?”

Suddenly the figure was wrapping itself around an unaware Blossom, its black mass slithering up her legs, curving along her midsection and peering into her face.

Brick shot down the sudden snarl that rose to the back of his throat. “That one? She barely counts for anything,” he scoffed.

The figure considered Brick a moment, then slowly eased itself away from Blossom and circled around him.

“You’ve gotten good at many things, my boy,” Him said ponderously, then leaned in. “Yet, self-awareness still isn't one of them. And while we're on the subject, your lying could use a little work.”

The corner of Brick’s mouth twitched. The silhouette continued to examine him. When He spoke again, that high-pitched tone nearly rumbled into a low, threatening growl.

“I was very unhappy with you when you left.”

“Your happiness was never really a concern of mine,” Brick replied, not masking the contempt that crept into his voice.

“You were a source of great pride for me,” He went on. “And, naturally, great disappointment.”

“We’ve all got to let go of our darlings sometime,” Brick said sagely. “Birds gotta fly, and all that garbage.”

“I put too much faith in you,” He growled.

Brick smiled. “Coming from you, that’s a well-earned compliment. Are you seriously suggesting I humbled the Devil?”

A wave of hatred radiated from the black mass swirling around him, then quickly settled. Brick simply waited.

Seeming to reach some inner decision, the figure circled behind him and said in a light tone, “So tell me what you think of this new project of mine.”

“You're talking about the black fog? What do I care? I was never into your dumb games,” Brick said disinterestedly.

“It feeds on turmoil,” His voice went on, giddy with delight. “Turmoil of the heart.”

Brick narrowed his eyes. “What are you getting at?”

“An unsettled, conflicted heart is of significant interest to this… creature.”

Brick made to respond, but his attention was suddenly on the five persons around him, all of whom seemed to be screaming at him in slow motion. Blossom was running in his direction, eyes frantic, her arms extended, reaching-

His eyes went wide and he looked down, the entirety of that black mass pooling at his feet, converging at a single point: Brick.

“It means you’re in a lot of trouble, my boy,” Him laughed viciously, and Blossom suddenly crashed into him, sending them both flying yards away against the asphalt, the black mass licking at their heels.

“Brick!” a plethora of voices suddenly echoed, and he lifted his head, dazed. A dark shadow skittered like a giant roach on steroids toward him, and he gasped, flinging Blossom away and rolling backwards to his feet.

The mass moved like a liquid and a solid all at once, and reared up, aiming for him.

“Brick!” Blossom screamed on the other side of it, and it suddenly whipped around, its attention on her.

“What the-” Butch said as the remaining four of them came up.

Brick’s eyes were glued to the mass as it… turned from him to Blossom again and again, seemingly unable to decide who to attack.

“Enough of this crap,” Buttercup grumbled, and shot a green blast of energy at it.

With catlike reflexes it dove down, narrowly avoiding the blast, and Brick fired one of his own, a move that inspired it to take on him after all. It ducked out of the way and flew towards his face, smacking against the green shield Butch formed like a dome around him.

It butted against the shield a couple of times, avoiding several other green and blue blasts fired at it, then disappeared into the asphalt.

“Oh, fuck,” Brick whispered. “Butch! Shield off!”

“What?!” Butch cried. “Where the fuck did it go?!”

Suddenly the black mass shot out of the ground at Brick’s feet, bounced off the inside of the shield, and dove for Brick again.

“Shield down!” Brick snapped, rolling and ducking out of the way. “Shield down, God damn it!” He fell back against the wall of the shield, then hit the floor as it disappeared.

With Brick on the ground, the mass bulleted toward him, rising into a spiked edge aimed at his heart.

Butch threw up a vertical flat shield and arced it back towards the ground, attempting to squash the mass as Boomer and Blossom snatched either of Brick’s arms and dashed him out of harm’s way.

“It’s dodging every fucking thing we fire at it!” Buttercup shouted, sending blast after blast at it with none of them connecting.

“How are we supposed to stop this thing?!” Bubbles shrieked, alternating between firing blasts from her fists and her eyebeams. “What does it even do?”

Brick merely panted for breath, glaring daggers at the thing that seemed hellbent on attacking him. Butch was trying to contain it between flat shields as Buttercup and Bubbles fired at it again and again-

Blossom was at his side, frantic concern etched in those features of hers.

“Are you okay?” she asked, voice edging on desperate as she shook his shoulder, and in the distance the mass abruptly turned its attention to them.

It snaked away from the three that were attacking it, flattening itself between Butch’s shields and jetting towards Brick, Blossom, and Boomer.

It spiraled into a sharp point again, and Brick flung Blossom out of the way.

“Get out of here, Brick!” Boomer leaped in front of him, forming a bat between his fists and pulling it back.

Brick took off as Boomer swung.

The spike shattered as Boomer connected with it, the pieces of it scattering across the ground like glass. Almost instantly it was forming again, each piece connecting with another as they fired off into the air after Brick. Boomer shielded his face with his arms as they cut through the air, slashing the sleeves of his shirt.

“Cover your ears!” Bubbles shrieked, and then let loose with a shrill, earsplitting scream.

The boys hadn't reacted as fast as the girls, and for the briefest second Brick could feel his brain painfully vibrating in his skull. Even once his hands were muffling the sound he could feel her scream; it rattled every bone in his body. He dimly registered glass shattering and thought that giving a superpowered girl the ability to scream her head off was oddly appropriate.

Bubbles' scream had its intended effect, and the black mass twisted in the air, writhing as if in pain. It fell to the ground, landing at her feet.

She ran out of voice and scrambled back, away from it, but then hesitated. It simply writhed on the ground, and Brick narrowed his eyes in thought.

Butch floated up, wanting to get a better look at it.

“Watch it!” Buttercup shouted.

“Careful!” Blossom cried, and the mass suddenly seemed to reach for Butch, who halted.

Bubbles is still closer to it than Butch, Brick thought, remembering Him's words. An unsettled heart...

She only knew joy and how to exude it. She was more comfortable with her heart's feelings and desires than anyone else here.

Brick ignored what that really meant in regards to himself (Him was always playing stupid, emotional games like this, that bastard) and merely thought this: Bubbles is the way to stop it.

Even now the black mass was gaining strength again. It moved quicker, lashed out, and, as everyone fired at it, it dodged every blast and zipped towards Blossom.

Brick's eyes flashed and he sped down, forgetting to think. He was cursing himself an instant later, because Blossom was perfectly capable of flying herself, and had taken off on her own. His intervention was completely unnecessary; he wasn't even close enough to her to save her, and now, now the black mass turned and sped in his direction.

You fucking idiot, he thought viciously to himself.

Bubbles plowed into him, darting him away with the mass in hot pursuit. Brick couldn't have asked for a better opportunity.

“I know how to stop it!” he shouted at Bubbles as they picked up speed and began to pull away from their attacker.

“How?!” she cried back.

“Just land!”

Her eyes looked hesitant, but she dutifully landed, Brick at her side. They turned to see the black mass hurtling towards them out of the sky, their siblings following.

This'll work, Brick thought. There's no conflict in this girl's heart for this thing to feed on.

“Brick,” Bubbles said, voice tense and wary. “What now?”

Their siblings were screeching at them to get out of the way. Brick stood his ground, with Bubbles growing more frantic at his side by the second and the black mass nearly upon them, too close to focus on anyone other than Brick.

“Brick-” Bubbles started, and he looked her dead in the eye. He snatched her by the arm and wrested her in front of him just as the mass twisted into a menacing, pointed spike, and speared her in the chest.

He felt her body jerk under his arms from the impact, every last bit of it coiling into her and disappearing. There wasn’t even an entry wound.

She wobbled as she turned, her eyes wide with shock and glassing over even as she looked at him.

This'll work...

He stared at her as she buckled to the ground, clutching at her heart as she fell, and he felt the tiniest twinge of guilt.

Something plowed into him, tackling him to the ground. He hit the street hard, sending asphalt flying everywhere as his body carved a deep trench into the road.

“How could you?!” Blossom was screaming at him as she punched him, her fists connecting with his jaw, his stomach, his ribs on every single hit. He fumbled for her wrists, trying to stop her, and then she was suddenly hurled off of him and someone else's hands flew to his throat and squeezed.

He had just exhaled and his lungs were immediately protesting the lack of oxygen. He tried not to struggle for breath-it was demeaning and pathetic-but with no air in his lungs and his windpipe being crushed it was impossible to avoid.

He only saw her eyes, sharp and bright and a severe, glowing green.

“You better have a good fucking reason, Brick,” Buttercup snarled, her grip tightening even more.

He tried to punch her but she was too far for it to make a difference, tried to break one of her arms but they were absolutely immovable. Her expression hardened and she squeezed-

A flash of green later she was whacked aside, and Brick gasped desperately for breath as Butch stood over him, glaring at the girls.

“Don't protect him,” Blossom said viciously.

“I told you, you ain't my leader,” Butch said, his voice low and threatening. “So don't even fucking think of ordering me around.”

“Get out of the fucking way, Butch,” Buttercup growled.

He only looked at her, and green sparks began to flutter across his fist, building to a glowing green.

“Wait,” Brick gasped, pulling himself up, his gaze catching on the unmoving girl splayed across the street, “I can explain-”

“Do it fast, bro,” Butch said, never once removing his eyes from Buttercup.

“She saved you!” Blossom shouted, her voice heavy with anger and betrayal. “It was coming for you, and you-” She shuddered under the weight of her grief, her rage, unable to continue.

Brick looked at her and realized he couldn't tell them it was drawn to a conflicted heart. They'd never believe it, and besides, he'd never... Him was playing games, He always was, and Brick knew himself, he knew there was only one thing his heart wanted, and it wasn't-

“Spit it out,” Butch urged, and Brick struggled to his feet. As he did, he finally saw Boomer, standing a ways away from all of them. Boomer only stared at Brick, his expression conflicted and uncomprehending. Bubbles was visible behind him, and from this angle she almost looked like a tiny angel on his shoulder, reaching out to touch him.

“There's nothing in Bubbles for it to feed on,” Brick said, shifting his gaze from his brother to the girls.

“What does that mean?” Buttercup demanded.

“It targets...” Brick racked his brain furiously for a suitable explanation, and all he could think of was a book title, over and over. “It targets people with... with darkness in their hearts.”

Blossom blinked, confused. There wasn't the slightest change in Buttercup's expression.

“Bubbles... she's always bright and happy. There's no darkness in that girl, no... evil thoughts or tendencies. That's why, even when it dropped right in front of her feet, it didn't go after her-”

Blossom's eyes widened, and she suddenly looked stunned and trapped, evidently remembering how the mass had hurtled towards her.

“You're lying.”

They all looked at a sardonic Buttercup, her mouth twisted into a little sneer.

“How do you know?” Brick asked.

Her gaze darkened. “Because you said it goes after people with evil thoughts, and it didn't once attack me.”

“You never got close enough,” Brick said confidently, and that sneer faded, just slightly.

“How do you know what it's after?” Blossom suddenly spoke up. The viciousness in her voice had disappeared, but her words were still edged with a warning.

Brick returned her level gaze and said quietly, “Him told me.”

A faint rustling drew their attention, and everybody looked to see Bubbles, slowly sitting up. Inwardly, Brick heaved a gigantic sigh of relief. There would've been hell to pay with her sisters if he'd been wrong.

Now they flew to her side. The blonde’s eyes were heavy-lidded behind her loose hair, the dilated pupils slowly focusing. Blossom had her sister’s face in her hands and cried her name over and over again. Buttercup pushed Blossom aside and pressed a hand to Bubbles’ heart.

The boys looked on. Brick’s gaze drifted to Boomer, whose expression was stricken and wide-eyed.

Buttercup darted a quick glance down the collar of Bubbles’ shirt. “There’s no blood,” she said, disbelieving. “There’s no cut, no nothing-”

“Bubbles?” Blossom whispered, stroking their sister’s hair. “Bubbles, can you hear me?”

Brick came up beside Boomer, who whispered, “I don't understand.”

“Need me to explain it again?” Brick said.

“No, I mean...” Boomer glanced at him, his brow furrowed. “I don't understand how you could do that to her.”

Brick stared at his brother, digesting his words. An unsettling feeling took root as he glared at Boomer, daring him to elaborate.

Boomer broke his gaze first, shifting his eyes almost guiltily back to the girls.

Suddenly Bubbles moved to stand, eyelids still drooping, her limbs dangling like dead weights at her side. Blossom and Buttercup hastily stood.

“Bubbles,” Blossom said again. “Are you okay?”

“Brick,” she murmured, her voice rougher than any of them remembered it. “You're an asshole.”

Brick blinked, and suddenly a powerful beam of blue struck him in the chest, sending him flying.

“He kinda deserved that,” Butch observed.

Bubbles' eyes snapped open, suddenly focusing, and as ribbons of black twisted out from where she stood she grabbed both her sisters by their necks and flung them into the sky.

The girls hit the side of a building with a large CRACK as spiderweb fractures issued from the impact, and the boys stared at Bubbles, agape. Brick clambered up to his feet, a good distance away.

Where Bubbles stood was now her black silhouette, eyes burning blue. Those orbs of blue light narrowed, and then fired singeing beams at both Brick and Butch.

Brick dove out of the way while Butch threw up a shield to deflect the blast. Brick immediately bulleted toward her, bringing his arm back to fire a blast-

Her silhouette dropped into the asphalt, much as the mass had when it attacked Brick, and he halted.

Suddenly that black mass tore out of the ground, socking him square in the gut, and as he flew back doubled over in pain it took on Bubbles’ silhouette again, shooting towards Butch and tackling him before he could fire or shield himself again.

She-or it, or something-morphed into a shapeless black mass again, enveloping him like a net and crushing him into the ground.

“What the fuck?!” he wheezed, trying to blast it away before it could suffocate him. “It’s like she’s turned into fucking Venom or something!”

Blossom and Buttercup dragged themselves to their feet, having recovered, and at the sight of the mass attacking Butch they, Brick, and Boomer all made to tackle it.

They all fell together in a mad tangle of screaming loose arms and legs, wrestling with the squirming black… thing. Suddenly it constricted, and the five of them were blown back in all directions, each recovering just in time to see it rising once again in Bubbles’ form.

Brick lifted his arms to fire when Blossom shrieked, “No! That’s Bubbles!”

In response, Bubbles swiftly spun, firing blue blasts in all directions, each striking them all in the chest and throwing them to the ground.

Amidst the fizzling blue smoke Butch coughed and grumbled sarcastically, “Yeah, that’s Blondie, alright.”

Bubbles turned to where Buttercup was shifting to stand, and took to a run in her direction, transforming once again into a black mass just before it delivered a sharp uppercut to Buttercup’s jaw.

As she sailed into another building, the mass turned to Brick, shaping into Bubbles once more and firing an enormously powerful blue blast at him, one that knocked him into the side of another structure.

“She’s going to destroy the whole city at this rate!” Blossom cried, dodging the concrete debris.

“The city?” Butch said incredulously as he threw up shield after shield to keep from getting hit. “Not to sound clichéd here, but I’d be a little more worried about what she’s going to do to us.”

“We need to get that thing out of her,” Blossom went on, dodging various other blue blasts. “How do we get that thing out of her?”

The blue beams suddenly stopped, and as Blossom paused, Bubbles rose up behind her and whispered in a strange, foreign voice, “You don’t.”

She knocked her sister forward, and Blossom winced as her shoulder ate the asphalt.

“Sorry about this, cutie.”

Bubbles whipped around just in time to see Boomer slug her in the face with his bat.

She hit the ground as a black mass and rose up again as Bubbles, bouncing back towards him as he readied to swing again.

She suddenly stopped in mid-air, her black silhouette pulling away so the real Bubbles hovered, staring at him. He blinked, the bat in his hands crackling blue.

The darkness skittered back, drawing away from her body and forming a black dome around them as she reached for his face.

The bat gave one last spark, then faded. Bubbles' hand was cool against his skin, but it was the expression that did him in-that aching, conflicted expression on her face.

“I really like you,” she whispered, and his eyes went wide.

After a second to process the info, he beamed. “That's awesome! Also not really surprising, I mean, I'm a pretty likable guy-”

Boomer could hear their siblings pounding on the dome, shouting. He eyed her.

“Are you still psycho Venom Bubbles? Because they're probably pretty worried-”

“But I don't know if you're any good,” she went on, seeming not to hear him or her sisters.

His face fell. “But... I'm working on it! I can learn! You can teach me!”

“This is hard for me, you know? You were so mean to me when we were kids-”

“And I'm sorry. I mean it. I'm really, really-”

“And even now, you do things that make me wonder... but being with you makes me so happy,” she said softly, tears shimmering in her eyes.

The dim glow of something bright and warm began to build in his chest, and he looked elated. “You're happy? With me?”

“I want to be,” she whispered, and then he started to say something else but stopped because she kissed him.

The black dome encasing them was suddenly sucked away into the ether, dissipating like smoke. Their siblings staggered forward, blinking to get their bearings.

“What just…” Butch started, then stopped as his eyes focused on the scene in front of him. “Happened.”

He, Blossom, Brick, and Buttercup all stared at the couple in the center. Bubbles was floating in the air, holding Boomer’s stunned face as she kissed him.

A dark cloud passed over Brick’s expression.

Bubbles slowly lowered herself to the ground, pulling her lips away from Boomer’s and burrowing her face into his neck without looking at him once, as if she was afraid of what she might see. Her hands fisted in his shirt, and then, in a voice so tiny only he could hear her, she whispered-

Boomer’s eyes widened even more, and he swallowed, overwhelmed by the weight of emotion behind that small voice of hers, the desperation in her grip as she clenched his shirt in her hands. He couldn't even lift an arm of his own to embrace her.

Their siblings remained equally stupefied, and could only watch. And as Bubbles pulled back, just a bit so she could look at him, it felt like all the world was watching as Boomer's eyes softened and a furious blush rose to his face.

-end Ch. 7-