Soup, Tea and Alice B.
By Yay Ninja Bob and Sofa King Danny
Authors' note: This first installment is a prologue written in 3rd person. Every chapter following this will be written in either Blossom, Bubbles or Buttercup's point of view. Don't worry, the chapters will be labeled with the characters, so there should be no confusion. The Blossom and Bubbles chapters will be written mostly by Yay Ninja Bob, and any Buttercup chapter will be mostly by Sofa King Danny. This opening (and the future epilogue) is written by both.
This fan fic will have multiple romantic pairings, including: BlossomxBrick, BubblesxMojo, ButtercupxBlossom and ButtercupxPrincess.
There will be some reference to drug use, a small amount of bad language and some sexual content. Nothing will go farther than what is appropriate for a rated 'T' story.
Prologue
"I don't wanna be a superhero any more."
Bubbles sat at the dinner table, awaiting her family's reaction to her big announcement. The Professor stared at her. The meaning of his expression was difficult to comprehend. Blossom slowly lowered the fork she had been raising to her mouth. Buttercup was gnawing on a chicken wing and did not look like she really cared. After a few minutes, Buttercup's voice finally broke the awkward silence. "Good," she said. "You suck at it."
"No!" Bubbles protested. She bit her lip tightly and tried to not let her emotions get the best of her. She had rehearsed this conversation many times in her head, and knew what she wanted to say. Now all she had to do was just say everything she had planned to say. Only the words just weren't there anymore. Her hands began to shake and she tried not to cry as she spoke. "Th-There are other reasons too. I want to go to a good theatre school. I want to work in theatre production! Be the one who builds the sets and paints all the pretty backdrops to the world's most famous plays and musicals! Some day I want to go to New York and work on Broadway!" She paused to take a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves before continuing: "And--and you see, there's no way I can d-do what I want if I have to save the day all the time here in Townsville!"
Blossom looked concerned. This was the first she heard of these drastic plans from her sister. "Bubbles, how long have you been feeling this way?" she asked.
"Well," Bubbles began, tugging on one of her pigtails nervously. "I never really realized it until last week. Y-you see, we were talking in class about what we wanted to do when we grew up, and no one really asked me what I wanted to do because they just assumed I'd always be a superhero." Bubbles frowned. "But I don't wanna be a superhero forever. And," she gulped before continuing, "I've decided that because next year I'm a senior, I-I need to start thinking about college and all that stuff, and, well… I don't want to be a superhero anymore. No-- I can't be one anymore." Her frown disappeared and her brow wrinkled in a determined look. "Not if I want to follow my dreams." She began to nod, as if she did it enough, it would become contagious to her family at the dinner table. "Besides," she continued, "Blossom, you and Buttercup don't need me anymore. I hardly do stuff anymore. 'Cept get in the way," she frowned a little. "I just think… it's for the best."
Normally, Blossom would jump in with the usual, "Oh, Bubbles, you don't get in the way! Don't beat yourself up about it!" but she kept quiet this time, letting her sister's words repeat a few times in her head. Bubbles seemed really passionate about her plans for the future, and in all honesty, Blossom felt a little envious of that. And although she never would have said it so tactlessly, she basically agreed with what Buttercup had said about their sister's fighting ability. However, this was a big decision and Blossom wanted to make sure her sister did what was best for her.
"Are you sure about this?" Blossom finally asked.
Bubbles nodded firmly. "I'm not a little kid any more," she declared. "I'm seventeen now. I know what I want to do!"
"Well," the Professor began, "I think that's very grown up of you to be thinking about your future so carefully, Sweetie," he smiled. "Why don't you tell us more about-- what was it?-- theatre production?"
Bubbles grinned, feeling totally relieved and accepted. As she talked excitedly about the art of backdrops, costumes and lighting, both Blossom and Buttercup couldn't help but turn their thoughts to their own aspirations-- or lack thereof.
The main reason Buttercup had stayed a part of the Powerpuff Girls so long was that it gave her an excuse to fight. But lately, she didn't really feel like saving the stupid town any more.
Buttercup's eyes fell on Blossom who sat across from her at the table. She quickly returned her attention to her plate of food. 'That's the reason why I should start thinking about finding a different ways of finding action,' she thought then. 'I can't hardly focus no more with her… being her… during a battle.' Buttercup began to think that maybe she should start thinking of a plan just like Bubbles had. 'New York? If I could get away like that,' she thought, 'then maybe I'd have a shot at getting over it-- try and start thinking straight again.'
As Blossom watched the Professor nodding and grinning as Bubbles spoke, and looking so proud of her, she couldn't help but feel a little ashamed of herself. She didn't have any plans like her sister, and the Professor seemed so pleased about the whole thing. "I thought about being a teacher once," she interrupted, feeling the need to have some sort of goal to share as well.
"Really?" Bubbles bounced a little in her seat excitedly. "Have you thought about a school?"
Blossom blushed a little. "Well, no," she admitted. "I said I only thought about it once. And once I thought about being a doctor, too. I'm just saying I've thought about my own career plans, as well," she said. "But I know I have a duty to Townsville. I just want to help people, so there's no need for me to quit the career I already have. I've thought about it, and being a super heroine is what's best for me," she finished with a proud smile.
"Oh," Bubbles said. She giggled a little. "I guess I shoulda known you wouldn't give up saving people," she smiled. She looked at her other sister who had been quiet. "What about you, Buttercup?" she asked. "You ever thought about being anything else?" she giggled some more. She couldn't imagine her sister doing anything other than beating up guys for a living, but she thought Buttercup may have her feelings hurt if left out of the conversation. After all, that's what had happened to her at school.
"I dunno," the green-eyed girl answered simply, poking at her food with her fork. "Maybe a pro-wrestler or something?"
"You'd never be allowed to participate in any sort of athletic field with your super powers," Blossom commented. "It'd be a disadvantage to the other participants."
"Well, same goes for Bubbles! She can't be using her powers to be paintin' things in a blink of an eye while it takes others months!"
"Now, Buttercup," the Professor began.
"No," Bubbles interrupted. "She's right." This was something she had thought about, only she forgot to mention it earlier. "I'm ready to give up my super powers. I've decided that, too. It would be selfish for me to keep them if I wasn't using them to save people anymore. Besides," she put on a weak smile, "I just want to be normal."
Buttercup huffed. "Give up super powers?" she shook her head, unable to imagine the scenario. "There's no way I'm ever doing that."
"So, then you and me will stay the Powerpuff Girls, right?" Blossom smiled hopefully.
Buttercup reflected on this. She didn't really want to be a superhero any more. But she definitely didn't want to give up her powers either. "I'm still thinking about it," she lied. That'd be a good enough answer for her to get away from taking Antidote X anytime soon, but just enough that her family wouldn't be too surprised if she ditched the superhero scene.
"Are you sure you don't want to think about this for a few more days, Dear?" the Professor asked his daughter.
"I'm sure, Professor." Bubbles smiled. She sat on a chair in the middle of the Professor's laboratory, swinging her dangling feet playfully and cheerfully. "I've never been more sure about anything else in my life."
"Once you take Antidote X, your powers will be gone. Now, if you ever change your mind about it, you can always take Chemical X, but there's no guarantee that would work. So there's a good possibility that this will be permanent--"
"I know, Professor," Bubbles interrupted cheerfully. "I'm ready."
Even though this was such a dramatic decision, it was one the Professor had secretly hoped his daughter would reach one day. He had always worried about his daughters' safety as crime-fighters, but Bubbles was by far the one he feared for the most. She was such a gentle soul, and so susceptible to the dirty tactics that villains used.
The Professor smiled at Bubbles and handed her a small vial filled with Antidote X. The young girl took it with a smile and drank its contents without hesitation. As she stood from her seat, she could feel her sense of balance changing. The Professor caught her as she fell backwards a little. "Oopsies," she giggled. She focused hard and straightened herself out. It was as if she was just learning to walk all over again. She held her arms out on either side and balanced every step she took carefully.
"I have a feeling there's a fun adventure ahead of me, Professor!" She grinned as she stumbled up the stairway with the Professor cautiously following behind her.
Buttercup turned up the volume on her iPod, trying to drown out the thoughts that were crowding her head. But there was too much on her mind for heavy metal music alone to do the job. "I need to mellow out," she muttered as she reached for a tray she had stored on her desk. She peeled off the aluminum foil covering it to reveal several moist, delicious brownies. They had been a gift from the Gangreen Gang. When she was younger, she'd had the embarrassing experience of thinking she was in love with the Gang's leader, Ace. But by now she had gotten over that incident and was just friends with the Gang. She knew it was probably wrong to hang out with villains, but she didn't think they were really too bad, deep down. After all, they were willing to share their special brownies with her. Buttercup chewed a few of the brownies and after only a few minutes, began to feel much better. She sat with a quiet smile on her face, erupting into small laughing fits every once in a while.
"Working on Broadway," she said with a short laugh, forcefully popping an entire cannabis dessert square in her mouth, before reaching for another. "I could do that if I wanted to. But why would I want to do something lame like that?"
She then answered her own question. "Because you'd be able to get away from her."
She closed her eyes and reclined a little against the headrest of her bed. Her mind drifted back to the memories of her recent fights with crooks in the past week. The thrill of crime fighting used to be the action. A naturally euphoric feeling stirred within her whenever her adrenaline pumped madly as her fist met the jaw of some unlucky thief, villain or monster. It was still something she enjoyed, but lately the feelings stirred up from the action were only second to another.
Normally, when she'd recall a fight, she'd remember the cracking of bones and the slow motion sight of faces hitting pavement-- the sounds of monsters whimpering as they fled and robbers' regretful pleas-- the feeling of strength and empowerment. But lately her mind only recalled beads of sweat, slowly and gracefully gliding down fair skin and disappearing between a small peak of cleavage-- the sounds of hard grunts as her subject of desire landed blows to the enemies-- the sinful, but incredibly satisfying, tingling feeling that vibrated throughout every inch of her body. That long, flowing red hair had a hypnotic sort of power over her, and she only snapped out of her mesmerized, lustful state at the sound of zipper sliding open.
Buttercup's eyes shot open and she slowly retracted her hand from her pant's zipper and sat up straight. As her heart pounded, she laughed nervously at herself. She looked at her reflection in the mirror that hung on the opposite wall. "You are some kind of sick," she told her reflection, who seemed to return an indifferent shrug of her shoulders.
She laughed again, falling backwards on the bed once more. She stared up at the ceiling. "I am so stoned," she chuckled to herself.
Blossom sat at the mirror and combed her hair. Really it was just something to do while she thought about the day's events. She liked that her sister was going to put her artistic talent to good use. She had more passion in that than she ever had for the superhero life. But Buttercup was more on her mind at the moment than Bubbles. What did she mean by "I'm still thinking about it"? Was she seriously considering giving up crime fighting?
Just then the hotline began to buzz in the leader's room. She quickly answered the phone. "Yes, Mayor?"
"Blossom, the Rowdyruff Boys are causing trouble at the abandoned warehouse on Wexler Avenue!"
"Again?" Blossom sighed. The Rowdyruff Boys had lost their super powers over six or seven years ago. They were more so an annoyance than an actual threat. "Okay, Mayor. We'll be right on it." She hung up the receiver and pulled on her jacket, before walking to her sister Buttercup's room across the hallway.
The door to Buttercup's room was closed. She knocked. "Buttercup, we just got a call from the Mayor. Are you coming?"
Silence.
"Buttercup?" she called again.
The door opened slightly and a pair of green eyes peered through the two inch gap.
"Are you okay?" Blossom asked. She couldn't see anything but her sister's eyes and had no way of judging just what her emotion may be.
"I think I'm going to stay here."
"Oh," Blossom said, a little surprised from the answer.
"You can handle them on your own, right?"
"Yeah," Blossom answered, feeling a little confused as to what her sister may be thinking and feeling. "Yeah, of course."
Buttercup shut the door again. Blossom spent another two minutes staring at the closed entrance and waiting. She though for sure her sister would change her mind any moment then. But she didn't, and eventually the time came for the super heroine to fulfill her duties.