The teens were lying on the floor or sitting against the walls of the Survival Room, drained of their energy. The doors, which had been closed during training, were now opened, and Professor Utonium, Mojo Loud, and Dr. Parra ran inside. They were pale with worry, and they leaned towards those in the worst condition.
Professor Utonium ran towards his daughters, checking on each girl, kissing them on their forehead or patting them on the back as he confirmed their injuries weren't life-threatening. Red Uto was sitting a bit further, recovering slowly, and didn't notice when the man bent next to him, even though Parra had already given him a quick medical glance. Because this wasn't to check the severity of his bruises and cuts, but on him, out of worry.
The man cupped Uto's face as he checked for trauma or brain damage, asking questions.
"Are you okay, son? How do you feel?"
Red Uto was overwhelmed with this attention and confused. He couldn't answer anything since he wasn't able to define his own feelings: he wasn't angry at the Professor for invading personal space; he wasn't being treated like a soldier who would need care if broken. It was plenty confusing for him.
Blue Boom tried to stand up, but he had to sit down again, his ears buzzing. He had overdone himself for sure, checking a surrounding with a few less than forty superpowered teens, all flying, fighting, and yelling instructions. And all that after receiving an electric discharge through his body.
Parra kneeled next to him, murmuring comforting words in Purepecha, as he helped him sit up. The boy threw up when he tried to stand up, so the man guided him back down until he felt better.
Not far away, Mojo Loud was checking on his boys too. Not as tenderly as Professor Utonium or Dr. Parra, but he moved from one to the other, checking for bleeding, stopping it when needed, or patting them once he confirmed they weren't seriously hurt.
Thornton watched all of this, confused. Since he was the strongest and toughest, it was usually him who stayed on his feet, the one who had to provide first aid for his brothers. It felt strange to be able to just sit down and tend to himself with ease, knowing others had taken care of everything. Yet instead of feeling relieved or grateful for being able to focus on his own wounds, he found himself watching Red Uto and Blue Boom—and the care their fathers gave them.
He patted his chest. There was no injury there, no broken bones; still, there was a feeling of emptiness, a hollow that sank straight into his stomach.
"Damn, I think I'm jealous," said Box, chuckling.
"Yeah, I wish Professor Utonium—the one I know—were here too, to pat my back," said Bubble Cop, looking at the adults with piercing yet sad eyes.
Thornton glanced at his own shoulder. An intrusive thought filled him again: Mr. Thornton picking him up from school, patting his shoulder, asking about his classes, telling stories from his own sophomore years. None of that had ever interested Butch—"Butch," the only name he had had, the one the couple had used when talking to him, until the portals opened and his world was invaded by other "Butches" who started calling him "Thornton"—yet at this moment, he felt cold, and he missed that hand on his shoulder and the man's voice asking how his day had been.
"Hey, Punk, how much longer do you need to finish the Mirror?" Kiwi asked.
She tried to sound indifferent, but she was just as jealous as everyone else—everyone watching Mojo and Utonium and the kids who had their full attention.
"I bet I can have it working in three days," Punk Brick replied.
Thornton took one last glance at his brothers and walked slowly outside. Others followed him.
Everyone said they would take a nap before dinner, but the nap lasted twelve hours. When they woke up, it was already late morning. No one was surprised that the Ghosts were the ones oversleeping this time. They had taken the whole "teamwork" thing seriously and absorbed most of the impact of the attacks. But right now, judging by the way they were sleeping, it was the complete opposite of their usual straight, disciplined appearance.
In fact, all the kids took photos of them. Red Uto had fallen asleep with one boot off and the other loosely laced. Thornton, who had even taken a shower the night before, had forgotten to dry his hair. He was sleeping on top of the towel, wearing only his underwear.
After giggling over their little prank, they headed to the kitchen and planned everything for the next three days.
"We can't bring Him here. If something fails, this will be our only shelter," Buttercop observed.
"We also don't know if Him's magic will be enough. What if he's still weakened after bringing you guys here?" Skye added.
"When we opened the portals to try to bring the boys back, we used the energy of the whole neighborhood, and probably two more. And that was only one portal," Kiwi said.
"If Him's magic isn't enough, then we'll need some extra power." Bluee bent over a printout of the Mirror, jotting down all these observations.
"I think I saw electric towers on our way here; there must be a terminal nearby," Chatter Butch concluded.
With that, everyone went their own way.
When Thornton woke up, he went to the small clinic where Blue Boom had stayed so Parra could check on him. The dark-haired boy found both of them asleep: his brother on the bed, the sheet pulled up to his ears, and to his right, the man slumped in a chair, nodding off. On the other bed was Bloom, bored, since he couldn't just stand up and leave.
Thornton nodded in greeting and stood next to Blue Boom. He leaned down slightly, but when he heard his brother snoring softly and rhythmically, he stepped back, a frown on his face.
"What happened to your hair?" Bloom hadn't wanted to ask, but it was impossible not to notice the giant cowlick sticking out of Thornton's head.
"I slept on top of my towel," he answered, rubbing his eyes, still tired.
Bloom nodded in understanding.
"I thought you were just trying to scare us, but it was actually the worst fight I've ever been in."
He stopped there. He wanted to say something about the Ghosts and their training in the Survival Room, but decided it would be insensitive.
"I'm surprised none of you passed out," Thornton said instead.
Still, he stayed in the room. He didn't need to. Blue Boom wasn't seriously injured, and Dr. Parra was far better than Thornton at taking care of the wounded. Yet, Thornton didn't want to leave.
"Yeah, I guess a broken leg isn't that bad after all," the redhead answered bitterly. "So… it really will take two days to regain our healing powers?"
Thornton nodded.
"It usually takes that long."
Bloom glanced at the cast.
"How…? Where…?" He wasn't sure how to put it into words, so he changed the subject. "I can't even imagine Butterscotch putting a bandage on properly. Bubble, probably, but for sure not Butterscotch. Or any other of the Greens. "
Thornton let out a bitter snicker.
"The three of us had to learn first aid, but I'm actually in charge of our health."
He sat on the edge of the bed, his mind drifting. Saying out loud how things worked in Mojo Jojo's army forced him to remember, once again, the way Utonium had hovered over Red Uto, and how Parra had fallen asleep beside Blue Boom after walking him to the clinic.
The feeling of not being needed mixed with the aching void in his chest.
Bloom stared at him in curiosity. Then he looked again at his cast.
"Parra said this was a good cast. He even commented that you could be a great doctor if you want to".
Thornton shuckled with bitterness and stood up. He waved goodbye and left.
Once in the corridor, Thornton let out a sigh. It was heavy, as if he had held it for a while and now finally had freed it, even if he had just felt the need to sigh a few seconds ago.
But, he didn't feel any lighter. He remembered the words Bloom had told him, Parra's belief that he could be a great doctor. Just because he did what he had always done. He felt weak, as if his body suddenly weighed a ton and he was unable to carry it. He started floating. He could; his flying power was just fine. He still could feel that heaviness inside him. And he didn't know why. And why Parra's words and his image nodding off on the chair next to Boomer kept coming to his mind, making him feel heavier and heavier.
He decided to check on Red Uto. After all, it was also what he used to do: after checking for the injured brother, he would go to the brother whose healing powers had fixed any non-death-threatening injury and reviewed what had they done wrong during the mission to get into this problem.
But, when Thornton entered the improvised bedroom, he didn't find his brother there. Everything was neat. And for the first time, he noticed only the Ghosts' mattresses were neat and ordered among the chaos of mattresses, sheets, and clothes the other teens threw around. Only Mili's things were organized, and yet not so organized.
Thornton havored. He wasn't sure what came next.
He went then to the Meeting Room. There, he found Red Uto doing what he did best: scheming a battle attack. But this time, he wasn't surrounded only by books, notes, and maps. Mili was there, along with her sisters and the Chill Ruffs. They had already marked the best places to lure Him into, as well as the escape routes.
Thornton could have walked in and pointed out the mistakes, the dangerous zones, the weak areas no one had noticed yet. Instead, he turned around and walked away, annoyed by the same empty feeling that had been haunting him.
For a second, he felt the urge to stop and look back—but he didn't. The hollow in his chest grew heavier. The last thing he needed was to turn around and realize that Red Uto—Brick—hadn't even noticed him coming or leaving.
He flew in a flash to the Green House. He needed to get out of his head, into his own space—the corner Mojo Jojo had never managed to turn into crops, where herbs grew happily and in complete disorder.
But the place was already occupied.
Bash and Bubble were there.
"You still look terrible, Bubble."
"Don't even mention it. I was sick with worry that you'd get hurt in the Survival Room."
"Aw, come on. You know I'm the toughest girl in our world."
"Yeah. And in this one too, apparently. But that's not my point." He sighed. "You don't need to act as if everything will crumble if you're not watching over it. You still have me. And your sisters."
She giggled.
"I'm the scout. I'm supposed to open a way in and make an exit when needed. I don't need to be protected."
"I know. But I want to protect you."
"You want to protect everyone."
"I have to protect everyone." He hesitated. "Except you. You may even be stronger than me—but I still want to."
She fell silent. She knew he meant it. And that he was telling the truth. She had just never thought she could be protected. Instead, she gave him a soft hit with her head on his shoulder.
Hidden among the leaves, Thornton listened. And he felt the same doubt twisting in his chest. His brothers had been chosen by their families. Professor Utonium, the Powerpuff Girls, and Parra had made that clear enough.
He had been chosen, too—by the Thorntons. And for the past six or seven months, they had tried to make him feel like part of their family, not a replacement for their lost child. Not a soldier. That part would have remained a secret if the Puffs had understood that the existence of the Ruffs wasn't known to anyone else. Then he could have kept playing the role of a normal boy who had finally reunited with his lost brothers.
But now they knew Butch wasn't normal. They still didn't fully understand how different he was. Not even the Puffs did. And with the appearance of the other Ruffs, those differences had become impossible to ignore. It wasn't noticeable only to the girls. The boys felt it too.
They all knew their lives were far from normal. They were soldier children, after all. They knew there was another kind of life—one most kids called normal—where living in a house, going to school, and playing soccer was the rule. But that life had always been blurred for the Ghosts. For Up Beat. For the Twins. For every kid he had met so far.
And in the life he knew so well, he was the scout. The protector. The one who patched others up. Not the one being protected.
He wasn't sure he would ever know how to accept that. Or if he even could.