Disclaimer: None of the characters are owned by me.
Buttercup: The Perfect Little Girl
CHAPTER 1: Dreams and Reflections
"And we'll call you Buttercup, because it also starts with a B". Exclaimed an excited Professor Utonium at his newborn daughters. Not that everyone would notice at the time but to Buttercup this was her earliest memory and it was not a sweet one like her sisters.
She could remember it so clearly as if it were yesterday, with excited eyes she looked towards her father, hoping for a name that would define her in the same way he had named her sisters. Blossom was named for her openness toward him as she had spoken first, like a flower blossoming. Bubbles was named for her bubbly nature for she had burst out in a fit of giggly laughter upon hearing Blossom's name. But Buttercup, what was that supposed to mean? Named after a flower? Named after her sisters? She felt as if she was last, had no name worthy of her nature.
"Because it also starts with a B" Echoed again in her mind as she crossed her arms grumpily.
"Because it also starts with a B" Suddenly, Blossom, Bubbles and the Professor were laughing at her.
"Because it also starts with a B" The whole room was in a whirl, she could hear everyone's voices laughing at her.
"Because it also starts with a B" There was the Mayor, the Narrator, Mojo, HIM, Talking Dog, Miss Bellum, Miss Keane and her class, the Professors and her sisters. Everyone in Townsville was laughing at her.
"No, no" Screamed Buttercup as she instinctively squeezed her eyes shut and tried to hit the taunting phantoms. The floor disappeared as she started falling into the blackness, the voices following her, taunting her as her world went black.
"No." Whispered Buttercup softly as she sat up in bed. "The same nightmare for the 3rd time this week." She whispered as she hugged herself softly and lay herself down genteelly so as not to wake her sleeping sisters. "Why do I have to have such a stupid name anyway?" She wondered as the hall light faintly illuminated her watery green eyes. Eventually, she would sleep. But not before asking herself the same question over and over again.
Though it was late, Professor Utonium had little reason to sleep. Bills, bills, bills. The insurers had told him they would sooner give Jackie Chan a policy than insure anything in his home. Lucky for him he had his patents and inventions, otherwise… Well he shuddered to think otherwise, he got up from his study and walked down the hallway to check on his angels. The prides of his life, how fortunate a man he must be to blessed with them he thought. When he reached the doorway he inspected his sleeping daughters, Blossom so smart and intelligent, Bubbles so cute and lovable and Buttercup so… he hesitated to think of a word, tenacious and determined. How long had it been since he had a talk with Buttercup he wondered to himself, he cherished the moments when Bubbles and Blossom came to him seeking advice and comfort. For all the superpowers and physical abilities they had, they were still after all 5-year old girls who still needed a parent to be there for them. Buttercup however seemed to take the weight of the world upon her small self, she never really did open up to him and kept to herself a lot of the time, ever since she had been born rarely had he a good word to say to her, it was always "Buttercup take a bath" or "Stop scaring your sisters" and "No more monkey business".
Instead of frowning he smiled, oddly enough. "She's Perfect." He thought to himself as he walk back downstairs to the living room. Sitting down on his easy chair he opened the evening edition of the Townsville Gazette, something he rarely had the time to do in the day light because of the busy lives he and the girls led. On the front page was the headline "Buttercup Bashes and Bruises Bad Bird." Below that was a picture of his middle daughter decking what looked like a 20-storey tall version of Tweety Bird from the cartoons.
This drew his attention away from the newspaper and back to Buttercup. At her age, he had been just like her, a total Brat with a capital "B". He remembered the time he had pulled a young Miss Keane's hair in kinder garden, he chuckled and wondered if she ever forgave him for that. He wasn't the class bully because to be a bully you had to have a gang of friends. No, he had been a prankster, never really listened to the teacher, always up to something naughty. Even after the girls had saved his young self from Mojo it had taken sometime for him to reform. It was only in high school did his interest in science peak and it would be a long time before Buttercup reached that stage. He knew exactly how she felt, even though an only child his father never really had time for him, like himself his father was a researcher but not in the field of science but consumer goods, working for one of the big Japanese conglomerates. He forgot which one. Once he had been old enough, he had left home and only wrote back occasionally to his mother. He hoped Buttercup wouldn't do the same someday; it would just break his heart. Despite appearances he loved her as much as her sisters and hoped she knew that.
"Still, maybe I should take the opportunity to get to know her better" He thought to himself. "I just have to remember what it was like when I was young."
END CHAPTER 1