Summary: After his parent's death, Brick is found in an alley where a man who gives him a job as a spy assassin. He willingly agrees, hoping that he will soon find his lost brothers and the murderers who killed his parents. And while on a mission, Brick finally finds his brothers… the murderers… and the mission of killing a girl whom he dislikes, but can't seem to kill. Her name? Blossom.
Disclaimer: I don't own PPG or this plot. I just read a story wherein Blossom is the assassin, so I turned it around and twisted it.
A/N: Author is currently sobbing over on how to add a downloaded clip to Window's Movie Maker. Tell her how, otherwise COME BACK LATER!
Chapter 1:
Brick's POV
"Please. Spare me," the man croaked, struggling to control his heavy breathing. I did not arch a single muscle from my position. The gun was pointed at the man's forehead, and an unreadable expression was plastered on my face. The man took this advantage to persuade me more.
Reaching into his gray suit's pocket, the man pulled out a thick wad of paper money. He smirked at me, but beads of sweat continued to run down his face. His armpits were sweating, and frankly, I found it had a foul smell. The looks of it only made him look pathetic, but he didn't seem to know that I knew this fact. People keep telling me to show emotion more, but I find that a waste of time.
"Here," he said, flapping the money about my face. It irritated me, but I kept still. "If you don't kill me, I'll pay you much more than those jerks do at that putrid company of yours."
One swift movement, and the sound BANG, echoed through the silent city night. I gave the little pistol a bit of a spin, then tucked it into my pocket. Some of those other guys wear black tight suits and tuck guns into their belts, but I hate tight clothing. One reason is the fact that I am very skinny.
I left his body soaking up in a pool of blood and stepped out of the alley. What would find his decaying body this time? Bugs, rats or the police? I snorted at the last choice. They never had a good job of doing anything. A man could get brutally killed these days right in their office right in front of them, and the stupid, four-stomach-layered dumbasses would still be sitting on the desk, munching on a doughnut before hobbling over to the body, wracking their short memory spanned heads for the killer. Then they'd completely forget what the killer had looked like.
I shot a quick look over my shoulder to check and stopped at the sight. It was a bony cat this time, inspecting, sniffing and maybe even tasting the body but I wasn't looking at it. I was looking at the alley.
How long has it been? I was six when Mojo (he's a human in this story) found me in the alley, so it must be around seven years. I don't know how old I am. The guys at the corp. wont give a damn about my age (I started killing so young, what do you think?!) or the importance of my birthday. Nor did I, either. But it would be nice with my family, my brothers and I all crowded around a birthday cake…
I shook the thought out of my mind and pulled my cap low over my head as I continued walking. Where were my brothers now? Probably kidnapped, tortured and enslaved by those who had killed my parents. They were going to pay soon, and as soon as possible. I didn't know when. I waited seven years to enhance the skills I never knew I had, so I guess I'm slightly grateful for Mojo finding me, even though he can be a real gorilla at times. (XD)
I looked up and blinked my half-lidded eyes. I've arrived at the building.
My steps echoed through the hallway. The place was disguised as an insurance company on renovation. When it wasn't, there would sometimes be a guy coming in with some special deal. We would usually accept, kill him, and take the money. It was a dull routine, to say the least.
"Oh! Brick! You're—"
"Not in the mood." I cut her off with a four, blunt words, and her face dropped. Her face flushed as she continued organizing the list of death sentences. It was Keane, a raven-haired woman who worked as a secretary here. She used to be some kindergarten teacher before she quit to join this corporation. I had no idea why such a gentle (not a compliment, NOT) and flimsy woman had come to join this assassination corp. Perhaps she was forced or threatened. Or maybe it was her reasons and was accidentally accepted. She must be pretty regretful. And despite her name, she wasn't too keen (lame joke). I continued on my way, hands securely in my pockets when she called out again.
"Oh! Mr.—Mr. Brick, sir!"
I abruptly turned and looked at her sharply. She blushed from the roots of her raven, chin-length hair. "What?" I snapped crudely. Keane had a knack for forgetting things. Must be the nerves. I had no idea why the corp. hadn't killed her yet (literally).
"I… um… he… the boss wants you in his office." She fumbled with her papers and held out one she had clearly creased. "Um, here."
I took the paper from her in a quick movement, and without lifting my head, asked her, "Did you read this paper?"
She blinked and her cheeks turned an exceedingly light shade of pink. "Um… no. Should I? I wasn't told…"
"No," I said quickly and straight out. Then without another word, continued down the hall with the paper in my hand. It read:
Please come to my office immediately. An urgent mission for you is at hand.
And by the way, Keene is no longer useful to this company. She will be given a death sentence. It is at the bottom of this letter. Make sure she didn't and doesn't read it.
BossI crumpled the paper in a ball and tucked it into my pocket. Then I looked up and immediately knew that I had arrived. Without bothering to knock, I swung the door open.
"Brick, my boy," said the boss, facing the window. The back of his chair was the only thing I could see. He thinks that this act is cool sometimes. "Come in, come in. Take a seat."
I sat calmly on the chair in front of his desk. It was the seat I would always take when he called me in. He hasn't been calling me in for a while, and having to take 'orders' from Keane didn't make me very happy. But I don't care that much. Nothing would make me happy until I am reunited with my brothers in avenging my father and mother's death.
"Brick, how are you?" he asked calmly.
"Nonchalant," I replied coldly. He laughed.
"Brick, Brick, Brick… you should show emotion more."
It was one of those again. I get them all the time, but unlike all the others, I did not reply. I knew better than to contradict my boss. He had some temper. But that doesn't mean that I'm frightened of him. In fact, I don't like him at all, but I want to keep my job.
After several seconds, he spoke again. "Oh well, it helps slightly in your missions, I presume? …Nevertheless… I'm betting that you are eager to find out what your new mission is?"
I nodded heartily and he spoke again. "Well, it's like this… you'll be pretending to become an sentinel for Mr. Utonium… he wants protection for his daughters you see…" At this point, I could tell that he smirked. "But it turns out that you're the exact thing that they want protection from…"
I nodded understandingly, not asking for an explanation. Sometimes the boss would get someone killed just because that person insulted him. So here you can see why I have declared that he is a short-tempered person.
"A man will come by here," the boss continued, "and he'll take you to their mansion. The Utoniums are pretty wealthy. Just imagine, three bodyguards…"
I raised my left eyebrow. Three bodyguards? Was boss using three assassins for this mission? I usually worked alone… and I wanted to keep it that way.
"He has three daughters," the boss said. He had a thing about pausing at times. I have a feeling he knows that I'm thinking. "Each with her own guard; all from different companies. I don't know about those other guards, so this may be your most difficult mission yet…" I snorted silently at that. "…You'd have to kill everyone who gets in your way. Kill all witnesses. Watch out for hidden cameras…"
I nodded as he spoke. I knew all those things.
When I was finally able to leave his office, I walked back down the hall and reached into my pocket for the paper.
Make sure she didn't and doesn't read it.
I crumpled it up again, but this time, kept it securely in my fist. Keane was still sitting timidly on her desk, organizing the papers. I stopped in front of her desk and waited for her to notice me. When she did, she nearly fell off her chair. "B-Brick—sir," she stuttered. "How…how can I be any of service to you?"
She had asked a dopey question. It might have been her last words. But I made sure it wasn't. Opening my fist, I gave her the paper. "Read it," I said plainly.
She nervously picked up the creased paper from my hands and held it up to read it, as if it were a bomb ready to go off any second. When she had finished, her eyes widened and the paper dropped from her hands, glided to the desk, and onto the floor. Her jaw twitched, and she looked up at me. I wore a bored expression.
Keane stood up, causing many papers to fall to the floor. Her blue eyes were watery and she struggled to smile. "Well… this is it," she said. "I thought this might happen… he always gave me those looks, tiny hints and deathly words… it was frightening…" She closed her eyes. "I had my reasons for coming here, but it just wasn't… I quit teaching little children, what I loved to do for that reason…" she opened her eyes. The quaky smile remained on her face as she looked at me. "Well… bye, Brick. You may kill me now." She closed her eyes and waited willingly for a blow at her heart. But it didn't come.
She opened her eyes slightly, expectantly. "Um…?"
"Go."
"Huh? What…?"
"I said go," I repeated. "Leave town and go back to being a teacher. Never come back."
Her eyes were wide open by now. "Brick… why are you…?"
"Don't you want to go back to doing the things you love?" I said. "No one will look for you. Now go. Get the hell out of here. If you come back, I'm going to really kill you. Now leave."
Keane smiled. "Thank you, Brick," she said. She turned to climb out the window. I watched her leave before turning in. That might've been the last I ever saw of her.
But I soon found out it wasn't.
-
It was the death of dawn. I stifled a yawn as boss spoke with the man who I assumed to be the one taking me to the mansion. He had raven hair and green eyes. He wore an indifferent look on his face as he talked. I continued to examine him until the boss pointed at me. The man followed his gaze.
"He may look young," said the boss, "but he's one of my best men. I'm sure that you will accept him…" He turned to me. "Brick, this is Butch Johns. He is also one of the bodyguards, and he'll be taking you to the Utoniums' mansion." When Butch turned to look at me more intently, the boss shot me a malicious smile, saying, 'He may end up dead.' I nodded at him.
"So, should we be going now?" Butch asked me calmly. I nodded colorlessly and followed him out the door. Boss watched me leave.
I tried not to look at Butch as he
and I walked down the hall. His name sounded slightly familiar.
Silence stretched between us for a long while until he said something
without looking at me. "Tell me the truth. You're still an
adolescent, too, aren't you?"
One word. If one word of his
sentence were not included, then I would not have answered what I
did. And that word was 'too', meaning that he had something to
hide as well. "Yes."
Butch smirked and chuckled very lightly. "So am I. It seems that all three of us are a bunch of kids looking after girls against killers. But we aren't underestimated. And we have great abilities to prove that fact as well."
I nodded.
"So is there a secretary around here?" Butch asked, looking around.
"She got fired yesterday," I replied casually and convincingly. "We're still looking for a new one."
"Oh," Butch said.
When we arrived, a limousine was waiting before us. I was unimpressed. Butch didn't expect me to. It was almost like he knew all about me. Butch climbed onto the driver's seat.
"They let you drive?" I asked neutrally.
"They think I'm eighteen," he replied. "Lucky we're slightly mature-looking for our age…. Or maybe grown-ups underestimate their ages. Real grown-ups look like grandpas." He looked up. "Get in the Passenger's seat."
Wordlessly, I obeyed. After several minutes of driving, I broke the silence. "So what's it like working for the Utoniums?" I strangely felt open to this guy. It was like he was my very own brother. And I didn't even know that I knew what that felt like.
"It's all right. His daughters all have different personalities. They can be pains in the butt sometimes, but I'll say one thing positively. They've got the looks… but that still doesn't make up entirely for my butt pains." He said the last sentence quickly, and I knew immediately that he didn't mean it. He seemed to know the fact that I knew, and he chuckled.
Silence one again stretched once again between us, and we didn't speak again until we arrived at the mansion. It was bigger than I expected, but I remained unimpressed. I had faced larger things. I guess.
Wordlessly, Butch pulled in and climbed out of the car. I imitated him and followed him into the mansion. It wasn't until we neared the inside when Butch spoke. "We gotta meet Utonium first. He has to know that you're here."
I nodded and we continued walking up the white steps. When we got inside, I examined my surroundings. White. Marble. Precious stone and gems. All those things were meaningless to me, but if boss looked at all these, then he'd go insane. The sight was almost funny. And I haven't laughed for seven years.
"Oh, Butch! …Have you seen my ribbon? I couldn't find it in the laundry…"
A voice interrupted my thoughts. By instinct, I looked up and at the stairs was a redheaded girl. Her hair was incredibly long; it reached her knees. She was wearing a light pink dress and fuzzy pink slippers. I caught her eye, and she blinked at me.
"Oh, hey, Blossom," called Butch, breaking the silence. "Where's your dad?"
"Oh, um… in the library I suppose," she responded. "Butch, who's that?"
"Oh, it's Brick… Brick um… what was your last name again?" he hardly gave me enough time to open my mouth when he said, "Okay, that's not important. (She rolled her eyes at this) He's one of the bodyguards."
The redhead heaved a great sigh. "When will daddy learn that three bodyguards are too much?" she said, mostly to herself. "Our security is freakishly high enough already… I'll have a talk with him later, right after I find my ribbon… MY RIBBON!" she turned bright red and sped off up the steps. I watched her leave. What was her problem?
As if reading my mind, Butch said, "She thinks she looks terrible without her ribbon."
"But she looks great enough already without it," the words were wrung from me.
Butch chuckled. "Yeah. Now, we should get going, shouldn't we?"
I nodded, my mind continuing to run normally. Butch turned around and started heading for the corridor. I sneaked one more look at the stairs before following him.
Blossom, right? Blossom Utonium…
--
A/N: I didn't mean to be so mean to Ms. Keane, but at least we're all happy now right? :D Okay, okay, who am I trying to kid? DON'T KILL ME!!