Chapter 7

Lone Wolf

Fifth Grade

Brick climbed up a pile of broken concrete to get to a skyway that connected two buildings. The old industrial district was a maze of abandoned factories, empty warehouses, and rusted equipment. Old people said the factories used to be the lifeblood of Townsville, whatever that was supposed to mean. The businesses left when the monster attacks intensified back in the '70's. Several buildings had rotting floors and caved-in roofs, lots of ways to get around without being seen and lots of nooks and crannies to hide in. Lead-based paint was a godsend.

He could feel them above his head buzzing around like hornets. They were on their routine patrol, splitting up to police the suburbs, wharf, and university, then coming back together above downtown, leaving trails of light in their wake, visible even during the day, to remind everyone they were watching. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup were looking for a fight, petty crime, unusual creatures, a random villain, anyone they could beat up.

Brick jumped off the roof of a factory into a storage yard. His feet hit the ground harder than he meant to. A resounding 'boom' echoed through the space. Brick chided himself begging them not to notice.

Bubbles broke away from her sisters and flew down the alleys where old ladies got mugged by guys like him. She zig-zaged through them like she didn't care who she ran in to, and for the most part, she was right.

Brick ducked between some crates and trash. It smelled funky and there was something sticky under his shoe, but he couldn't get caught, not without his brothers and not right now. It wasn't that Brick couldn't take Bubbles, he could quickly beat her to a pulp if they went head to head. The thing was, she'd immediately scream for her sisters. And even if he could incapacitate her before she could do that, Bubbles wouldn't rejoin the other girls when they went back into formation a few seconds later. Then, Blossom would retrace Bubbles' path, and in an instant Brick would have two more Powerpuff Girls to fight. He was good, but not that good.

He held his breath, the smell was starting to get to him, he didn't like it at all.

Bubbles twirled between the buildings in sweeping loops, humming a song to herself. Brick felt his hair sweep back in her wake and some of the crates fell over when she passed. She looped down another street and away from him.

Brick continued on his way. He shrugged his shirt out and scraped his shoe on the asphalt to get off whatever had stuck to it. His destination was up ahead, it wouldn't be long.

Word had it that the Gangreen Gang had discovered an entire train car full of pharmaceuticals buried in the dump. In fact, about half of what they found were opioids. Brick didn't know if it was true, but either way, the gang's dealing business had suddenly taken off. Brick didn't want to talk to one of their street-dealers, he needed something special.

They had relocated to the old abandoned pickle factory. Nobody ever went down there anymore. There was no crew outside, too obvious. The Powerpuffs would have seen a bunch of low-lifes and investigated the area.

Brick knocked on a rusty steel door on the side of the building.

Big Billy answered. "Hello."

"I need to talk to your boss."

"Okay..." Billy didn't move out of the way. He stood there with a ridiculous smile on his face. Brick didn't know if it was a power move or if the guy was just that stupid. All Brick knew was that he was in a hurry.

"Who is it, Billy?" Arturo asked.

"Red-hat boy want to see the baws," Billy said.

Brick stepped around Billy. "I need to talk to Ace."

"Shit!" Arturo nearly jumped out of his skin, then quickly recovered. "He's not here."

Brick took a few steps toward Arturo. "Look, I ain't here to start shit, but I can if I have to. I want to talk to Ace." He towered over the guy as much as Billy towered over Brick, but Brick didn't have a dumb smile on his face.

"Fine," Arturo led him to the back of their hideout. "He's back here." He opened a door. "Ace, we've got company."

Ace and Snake were sitting at a table playing cards. Grubber was at a chemistry station in a corner. Snake jumped on the table when he saw Brick, like he was ready to fight. Grubber pointed a propane burner at him, as if that could actually hurt him.. Billy and Arturo kept behind him. There was a gun on the table in front of Ace, useless, just like the rest.

Ace remained exactly where he was. "Brick, my old friend. To what do I owe the honor of this visit."

"I need something. I think you have it."

"Oh, what could the great Brick possibly need from us?" Ace laughed tauntingly, and his crew laughed with him, mocking from all directions.

Brick ignored it and gave Ace a slip of paper.

"Sylo- Cyclo- Buter- Metha-" Ace stammered, sounding through parts of the word. "Doesn't matter. Yeah, I got it. I mean, I don't have any on me, but I can get it for ya's." He leaned back and crossed his arms. "Thing is, you gotta get me somethin'."

Brick grimaced. He should have seen that coming. More shit to do, more time, and he still couldn't use his powers. "What do you want, Ace?"

"See there's this... uh, phone book..." Ace rolled his hand.

"Why do you want a phone book? Planning on making some prank calls?"

"Heh, nah. This one's more like a client list." Ace pulled Snake off the table and motioned for the rest to chill, snapping his fingers and pointing in various directions. His crew went back to what they were doing and he sat back down. "One of Townsvile's biggest suppliers, he got himself pinched by the Powerpuffs. And the cops, they got his phone book. It's a list of all the people he was supplying for. It sure would be nice if we got our hands on that book."

"I get you the phone book, you get me the stuff I need?"

"It's being held at the courthouse evidence locker. I'd get it myself, but them Powerpuffs got this city locked tight. Someone with superpowers could probably get in."

If that was what it was going to take, Brick didn't have a choice. "When I get you the book, you better have the pills for me. I'm not going to another location."

"Yeah, I'll grab 'em while you're out."

"You know what I'm going to do if you don't have actually have it, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, superpowers. Go," Ace said waving him off.

Brick turned and walked past Billy and Arturo. Snake eyed him on the way out.

There was some kind of parade or whatever in front of city hall, so there was a huge crowd. The Powerpuff Girls were there, talking to the mayor and the mayor's assistant.

Since they were distracted, Brick could blend then do whatever he wanted once he was in the building. He went in and dashed past the metal detector.

The evidence locker was on the fourth floor. Some recruit-level officer sat at a high desk typing something into his computer. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I need to get in there." Brick stood on his toes to look taller. He could barely see over the edge of the desk.

The peon looked down at him. "Sorry little boy, are you looking for your momm-"

Brick jumped onto the desk, took the guy's face, and pushed it down into the plastic. No one told him what he could and could not do. He let the guy take a couple ragged breaths before telling him what he wanted. "Open the door."

The officer reached for something on his belt. Brick broke that hand. He didn't care what he was trying to do, it pissed Brick off that he wasn't immediately doing as he said. "Try something else, and I'll break your spine. Open the door. You have three seconds."

The guy whimpered.

"One."

"I need to type into the computer!" The officer interrupted.

"Fine."

The officer pressed a button and there was a loud 'buzz'.

Brick opened the door, dragging the officer with him.

More whimpering came out of the peon. Brick wasn't leaving anything to chance. They went into the locker together, and Brick threw him onto the floor.

"Where are the drug cases?" Brick asked, pushing his weight into the guy's chest.

"I don't know! I've never been in here!" the peon pleaded.

Sadly for him, Brick believed him. He let his eyes glow. "Then you're useless."

"What's going on here?" An elderly officer in a police uniform strode down the stacks like he owned the place. The second he saw Brick, he drew his gun.

Brick lunged forward and crushed it in his hand, then he slammed the officer's head into the ceiling. Bits of plaster rained down, adding to the man's impotency.

Two other officers appeared, their guns already drawn. They fired a single bullet each before Brick dispatched them.

Brick punched the first in the head. Her skull slammed on the metal racks that held the boxes of evidence. The second Brick decided to get creative with. He twisted the officers arm, and with a light jab, broke it at the elbow. Now free of movement, Brick pulled the hand that still held the gun to the officer's head.

Her eyes were terrified, but Brick had known worse. He didn't even want to be there, they had forced him by getting violent first.

He wrapped his finger over hers and pulled the trigger next to her ear. 'BANG'

The bullet went into the radio on her shoulder, yet they all flinched. Brick never understood that, like guns were scary or something. Bullets were nothing. He shot all their radios and threw them into a pile on the floor. They huddled around each other.

"I'm looking for a phone book, he explained, "a list of drug buyers."

They all looked at each other, bewildered by what had just happened.

Brick took a cleansing breath to regain his composure. He took his hat off and smoothed his hair. Normal people scared so easily, but it was hard for scared people to think. One last breath, readjusting his hat and he was ready to continue.

"If you tell me where it is, I won't have to look for it. If I have to look for it, I might get frustrated." He narrowed his eyes at each of the officers. Their mouths and eyes moved but they didn't say anything.

"Fine." Brick picked up the old guy. his name tag indicated he was a captain, someone important. "I like to start at the top. Important people are perfectly willing to let their underlings die to protect themselves. But if you threaten someone important..." Brick let his eyes glow with intensity.

"There." The captain pointed to a box on the rack. That always worked, every single time. "It's in there."

Brick opened the box and found the phone book wrapped in a plastic bag. It was a black leather composition book with strange writing and a bunch of numbers. He stuffed it into his shirt and went back to the captain.

"You have what you came for. Now go," he said.

"A coward. You higher-ups always are." Brick punched the captain in the gut for it. He went down like a bitch and Brick didn't even punch him very hard.

"Why are you doing this?" One of the other officers, one who's nameplate designated her as a sergeant, asked.

"I have my reasons." Brick punched her too, almost feeling bad that they went down so easy. "You should have let me in," he told the peon.

"None of you know who stole this thing," Brick explained. "Could have been anyone. Understand?"

The officers that were still conscious nodded meekly.

Brick left without another word, breaking the door handle so they couldn't get out. He quickly got back to the lobby, he had already wasted enough time.

Through the big windows of the courthouse building, Brick could see the Mayor and his squeeze were gone, as were most of the Powerpuffs. Only Buttercup stood there with her arms crossed, watching the crowd.

Buttercup, the best option. She'd want to fight him one-on-one. She wouldn't call her sisters for help, though they would come see what was going on.

Too risky. No, he needed to get those pills. That was all that mattered. She'd see him if he tried to run and there was no back exit, but he could still blend in to the crowd. He pulled off his cap, and shoved it into his pocket as far as it would go. It was a big red bullseye on his head.

He ran his fingers through his hair. It was long and shiny. Like his hat, it was his signature. He took really good care of it and nobody could take it away from him. It also made him stand out in a crowd. He had to get rid of it if he was going to get by Buttercup.

He went into the lobby's bathroom. There was a mirror with a crack on the corner. He broke it off and went into a bathroom stall. The base of his long hair went between his fingers. With a deep breath, Brick pulled his hair against the edge. The strands came free and he dropped them into the toilet.

A quick check in the mirror and his hair still shined even in the dull florescent light. Brick swallowed, there was only one thing to do and he had to do it fast, he was in enemy territory. He scraped the edge of the mirror against his skull and took off all the hair. He went as quickly as he could without attracting attention. In mere seconds, he was done. He looked like a kid with cancer, but totally different from how he usually did.

Buttercup was still there when Brick made it outside. He went into the crowd, so many adults towering over him. It was annoying, but he could deal with it for a minute.

Brick felt Buttercup's eyes scan over him, but he kept walking like nothing was going on. None of the normal people even looked at him. Buttercup's vision passed through him and moved to the next section of the crowd.

Brick high-tailed it back to the Gangreen Gang's place, putting his hat back on before he knocked. Some new kid Brick didn't recognize answered instead of Big Billy. and there were even more people inside, probably for protection.

Brick found Ace right where he left him. "I got your stuff. Do you have mine?"

"Yeah, I got it." Ace shrugged. "You go first."

Brick pulled the book out of his shirt and placed it on the table in front of Ace.

"Oh! He did get it! Look boys!"

"Yep, that's it alright," Arturo said, thumbing through the pages.

"Now give me mine."

"Give it to him, Snake."

Snake appeared behind Brick and produced a bottle of pills.

Brick took it and unscrewed the top, inspecting the contents. There were 30 of them and from Brick's research, the pills looked right. Of course if they weren't, Brick would hunt each and every one of them down. "What am I supposed to do next month?" he asked.

"Brick, if this pans out you just made me a shit-ton of money. I'd offer you a partnership, but we're full up. So, how's about this, next month I'll give you my entire supply of that stuff. Should last you a good five years. Deal?" Ace stuck his hand out to shake.

Brick shook his hand. Five years of not having to worry about this. By then he could figure something out.

Ace leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Nice doin' business with yuz'. Now if you don't mind, we got a card game to get back to." he gave a half-smile.

Brick started on his way back. It was getting late and he was hungry, but he had what he needed, that was what mattered. He couldn't see or hear the Powerpuffs flying around, they must have gone home for the day, but he didn't want to press his luck. The sidewalks were probably fine as long as he didn't do anything to stand out.

He walked down Mercer Street toward home. The buildings felt huge. It was like he was seeing them for the first time. He was always so used to seeing them from way above, but from the ground, they were so tall. Brick wondered if the normal humans ever felt like that.

"Well, well, well, What do we have here? Looks like I caught me a Rowdyruff."

Brick sighed, the voice breaking through his thoughts and giving him a headache. This was what he was trying to avoid by not using his powers. He put the pill bottle into his sweatshirt pocket and turned around to meet his challenger. "What do you want, Blossom?"

Blossom stood tall and raised her chin with a smile. "Nothing."

Buttercup and then Bubbles flew in from wherever they were to join their sister. Brick didn't take his eyes off of Blossom while they surrounded him.

"Uh oh. Too late." Blossom chuckled. "We got you. You're going to jail."

Brick growled. He was not going to jail, not ever. There'd be no one to break him out.

"Ya gonna cry?" Buttercup taunted. Bubbles and Blossom giggled like girls always did, like they were making fun of him.

Of course it would take all three Powerpuff Girls to take him down. They were always weaker than him and his boys. And he was going to make them hurt for it.

"It didn't work that time," Blossom said.

"Doesn't matter, we're still gonna beat you up," Buttercup said.

"W- why?" Bubbles asked. "Why are we beating him up?"

Buttercup rolled her eyes and put her fists on her hips. "Cuz he's a bad guy."

Brick couldn't argue that, he was bad, bad as they come.

"And he needs to be punished." Blossom spoke in that high and mighty voice, god he hated her.

"We don't beat up Mojo or Princess despite all they've done..." Bubbles argued weakly. "It's not right."

"Not doing anything, huh? What's that?" Blossom pointed to the bottle in Brick's sweatshirt pocket.

"None of your business!" Brick snapped, pivoting his sweatshirt behind his back so they couldn't see it with their x-ray vision. The girls recoiled. He lost his cool for a second. Brick took a controlled breath. He needed to get back, and getting beaten up wasn't going to help him do that.

"The only reason he wouldn't tell us is because he has something to hide," Buttercup argued.

"It's obviously drugs," Blossom said. "And having drugs is against the law."

"I say we confiscate them." Buttercup came at him first with a kick. Brick sidestepped and punched her into Bubbles.

Blossom's fist broke across his face before he could react. Reality felt like it split through his skull.

Brick saw pink and unleashed his eyebeams, barbecuing Blossom.

Buttercup came back with a gut punch, Bubbles kicked him, and he went down. He couldn't breathe and used his arms to block their hits to his face.

They stopped beating on him for Blossom to reach into his sweatshirt pocket. Her fingers were like a claw ripping him open. She grasped at the pill bottle.

Brick gripped her wrist to stop her when Bubbles punched him in the face. Buttercup pinned his arms and Blossom reached in.

They were going to take it. He couldn't fail. Not now, not when he was so close.

The sky was red. Every part of his body hurt and the pain wouldn't stop. A demon stuck her claw through his belly, ripping him apart, over and over.

Brick cried out and his skin exploded. Everything was fire and the Powerpuff girls were blasted away.

He was back up, floating above a crater. Smoke rose into the darkening sky and dirt rained down around him.

One chance, Brick made sure the pills were still secure and took off toward his brothers. He had no idea how he did that explosion thing, but he didn't have time to think about it. It was a straight line to the old car factory and the red streak he left in the air was a dead giveaway. He made a hard left and landed to double back. He made it to his hideout in time to see the girls hot on his trail.

"Where'd he go?"

"Search for him!"

"No time. He could be anywhere in the city by now!" They used their x-ray vision to look for him in the wrong direction.

Satisfied they weren't going to find him, he descended the steps into an old monster bunker the people used to use in the olden days. It was made of steel and concrete, x-ray vision wouldn't work there, the Powerpuff Girls would never find him. It was dusty and the floor was always wet, but it was safe. The door scraped open.

Butch and Boomer were huddled in a corner.

Butch shook, his head swung back and forth, and his shoulders were permanently tensed at his ears. Boomer held him from behind, bite marks on his arms where Butch tried to chew his way out.

"I got your medicine, Butch." Brick opened the bottle and fished out a pill.

"What took you so long?" Boomer asked.

"I got held up by the Powerpuffs. Hold him still."

Boomer held on tighter while Brick put the pill near Butch's lips. "Butch, open your mouth."

Butch swung his head the other way. "NO! STOP!" He thrashed around trying to get Boomer off of him, chewing his tongue. He kicked at Brick.

"It's over, you're okay," Boomer said.

Butch bit into Boomer's arm as hard as he could. Boomer saw it coming and made his skin tougher. Butch's front teeth cracked and broke right out of his mouth. He screamed with jagged bits of bone sticking out of his face.

"Calm him down!"

"What do you want me to do, sing him a song?"

Brick clenched his jaw and pinched Butch's nose.

"BRICK! HELP!" Butch pleaded, blood pouring out of the empty holes in his gums and partially chewed off tongue. "MAKE THEM STOP! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!" He sucked air in rapid breaths, like his lungs couldn't get enough.

Brick stuck the pill into Butch's mouth and closed it. He squeezed Butch's jaw shit with one hand and massaged his throat with the other. "Swallow, Butch, fucking swallow."

Butch swallowed, one eye half open, pleading with Brick to make the torture stop, as if Brick could have stopped it. Butch went limp and Boomer and Brick let go of him.

Brick collapsed and squeezed his temples. Boomer walked around to get some distance from what had happened. What a fucking day.

"Did they beat you up?" Boomer asked.

Brick turned away. His body hurt from his beating, but he shrugged it off. "Yeah."

"We thought you ditched us for good."

Brick's teeth clenched and his hand went to his bald head. He reminded himself to kick both their asses for thinking that he would leave them.

"Is it going to work?" Boomer asked.

Butch sobbed in the corner, his shakes calmed to a persistent shiver. The pill was starting to affect him.

Brick wished he could make Butch forget. He wished they could all forget. But it was finally over, at least until the next time they died. Hell would always be waiting for them.