OJR Presents

OJR Presents

Chasing Buttercup

A PPG/RRB fic

Author's note:  This just came to me in a flash one night.  Any Kevin Smith fans will recognise the scene a little.  I'm going out on a limb but I'm kind of sing Sniper's version of events to begin with, only the green and red pairings have not occurred, vis a vis Boomer and Bubbles are an item but Butch and Buttercup aren't.  Sorry for being lazy but this fic needs them to be friends but not in love, so continuity is the first thing to die.

Butch sat on his bed in his new home in Townsville.  He laid back and sighed contentedly.

"Yeah, this is the shit dude!"  he said aloud.  The soft deep green covers wrapped around him like a warm embrace.  He closed his eyes.  The light doze overtook him quickly and he was soon dreaming.

"Buuuuutch…."  The voice came from out of the blackness.  He strained around to see.  The darkness fizzled around him until it was a deep, cloudy mist.  The voice continued.

"Buuuutch, I'm here sweetie…"  The voice was very familiar.  It was sweet and melodious but had a slight deep gravel to it, more husky than masculine.  It called, siren like, to him.  However, he didn't have to go looking for it.  A shadowy figure sailed toward him.  He recognised the figure, clad in a flowing white nightgown, instantly.

"Buttercup?"  He looked quizzically at the raven-haired girl swooping toward him.  His accelerated mental maturity giving him butterflies where every other five year old would be screaming about cooties.  She looked divine, her sheer garb flowing about her, an aura surrounding her, her eyes sparkling, skin silken, lips… He shook his head and thought "Dude, I'm five!  She's five!  This is fubar!"  He then realised that he didn't lust after her as such.  He found her beautiful, more beautiful than any rare flower or artwork.  But the feeling was just her proximity, even imagined.  He'd felt it before, but belligerence and fear of being seen as 'wussy' halted it.  However, all those defences were down, after Boomer and Bubbles started getting all lovey dovey.  She gave him the 'look'.

"Butch…you're blushing."  Her mitt touched his cheek, and a feeling of rainbows splashing in his head as she giggled."

"Buh…huh…ter?  Ummm…"  He babbled, wide eyed and frozen, the hardman of the Rowdyruffs, paralysed by just being near her.  She leaned up and closed her eyes, her lips close to his, her breath spicy and warm…

He shot up with a start, his epiphany ended abruptly.  Thoughts swam through his head, feelings locked inside burst through like a flood on a dam.  The only thing that snapped him to reality was his brothers entering the room.

"Hey dude, you look like you saw a ghost."  Brick looked a little concerned.  Boomer, on the other hand, being Butch's twin and being in love himself with another "Child of X" saw the look on his face, the rumpled sheet and the blush and knew what it was.  After all, he'd sat, dumbfounded, himself not long ago having just woken up.

"Dude!  You were dreaming about Buttercup weren't you!"  He beamed, although it was a little of a long shot.  He wasn't disappointed as the shell shocked Butch turned in surprise.

"How…how did you…how could you know?"  His face was a picture of bewilderment.

"You don't wake up from a dream in a sweat with a blush looking like a deer in headlights unless it's major.  Anyhow, you don't get scared of nightmares and I only know one thing that could shake the hard ass Butch…that green puff!"  He grinned triumphantly.  He'd nailed it and knew that Butch was head-over-heels, prime time, grade A in love with Buttercup.  Butch broke into a soppy grin, forgetting his pride for once and clasping Boomer by the shoulders.

"Bro!  You gots to tell me how to woo that puff!  I gotta know!"

"Geez, calm down man, you'll give yourself a hernia!  Alls I can say is tell her.  Just pick a moment and tell her.  I'm sure she'll say yes."  At this, Brick had to interject.

"I dunno, we did try to kill them, remember?"  He looked a little sceptical.  "She may have forgiven you, but you'll have a hard time convincing her.  Remember how cold Blossom was to me when we first came onto the scene?"  This was well noted but Butch was undeterred.

"Hey, I'm Butch, I ain't afraid of nothin'!"  He was a tad overconfident when he said this but his heart was set now.

"Well, she's coming over with her sisters today, and time and tide wait for no man, bro."  Brick slapped his brother on the back, internally wishing him luck.  He didn't want to see his brother get burned but, judging by Boomer's situation, they'd get on like a house on fire.

Surely enough they arrived, Bubbles, Boomer, Brick and Blossom retreated to the boy's room.  Butch approached Buttercup.  She was holding a football and grinned at him.

"Hey Butch, you wanna go throw some pigskin?"  She smiled at him.

"Uh sure…"  He was already a little giddy from being around her, like she was giving off some kind of pheromone.  They wandered into the back yard and started to play.  They threw the ball at incredible speed, at which nobody without super reflexes and speed would be able to catch.  After a short while Butch decided that the time was right and he approached Buttercup.

"Hey, getting tired?  I haven't even broken a sweat yet."  She grinned, in a manner that made his stomach do back flips.

"Buttercup…there's something I have to tell you…it's a little hard to say…so don't interrupt before I finish or I'll never get it all out."  She looked at him, inquiry and a little doubt scored her previously smiling features.  He began, taking a deep breath before almost blurting out his confession.

"Buttercup…since I've met you I've felt a certain way…What I mean to say is I love you…"  Her face turned to a look of shock, almost approaching terror, a mitt to her mouth.  He continued with his speech, passion building in his words, emotion spilling into his eyes.  He choked the tears back as he spoke, with more maturity and vibrance than any of his peers could muster.

"I can't tell you how it's hurt me…hurt to just stand by as I loved you…not knowing what you felt.   I've hidden it till now.  I know we've gotten close friends…and I know you're probably hating me for this…but I'm willing to risk it all to take it to the next level.  And if there's any hesitation…think about it…and don't throw me away."  He fell silent.  Her face was unmoving.  Expectancy played across his feature, which was already a little red from the emotion of it.  She looked like she was going to speak, but instead she shot off into the heavens.  He stood, paralysed with a mix of fear and disappointment before steeling himself to chase her.  He caught her easily and grabbed her arm.  She wheeled on him, tears streaking her face.

"What the hell are you trying to pull huh?"  She screamed at him, her voice cracking and her shock pouring out through the words.  Her fevered rant continued.

"Who do you think you are!?  Have you forgotten who the fuck I am!?  I'm a Powerpuff Girl, I've got responsibilities!  I was happy as it was!  We were friends, nothing more!  Couldn't you leave it at that?  You expect me to turn my whole life upside down just because you've got a fucking crush!?  You were trying to kill me a few weeks ago for Christ's sake!  And you expect me to just forget all that?"  He recoiled at her harsh words, each one like a razorblade at his heart.  He dumbly looked at her and stated matter-of-factly

"If this is a crush I don't think I could handle the real thing."  He felt the pricks behind his eyes.  Buttercup, on the other hand was screaming through her tears.

"WHAT?!  It's okay for you, you insensitive jerk!  It's just a switch for you and stuff but for me?  It's a change in my whole life!  It was just me, my sisters and the Professor!  You just think you can waltz in like that?!"  She turned away and looked ready to fly off.  He grabbed her arm again.

"Can't you find a place to love me somewhere?"  he said hopefully.  She span round, her wet eyes ablaze and smacked his cheek, hard.  He recoiled and she growled her final words through her sobs.

"Love you?  I HATE YOU!"  She zoomed off as it began to rain.  Now it was Butch who was shocked.  The slap had hurt, but the words were like a knife in the stomach.  He felt ill and the rain mixed with the first tears that had ever rolled down his cheeks.  Her declaration of hate echoed through his mind.  He sank to the floor, then to his knees, splatting in the wet grass.  He began to wail into the floor, crying rage and sorrow while smacking the ground, splitting it open and shaking the trees.  He gathered himself up enough to sit on the grass, sobbing softly.  He, the hard, the brave, the fearless…reduced to a wreck.  He felt like a bad joke.  He managed to crack a hollow smile in his sorrow.

"Guess the fairy tales are wrong…"  Happy ever after, he could almost laugh at the cliché.

AN:  Well, yes, depressing, but the lovey dovey stuff needs to be counteracted.  R&R if you have anything to say.  I know it's not massively in character, and could easily be part of a bigger story.  So if you wanna use the scene, ask me and you'll most likely get a yes.