"It's nothing, Bubbles. Calm the hell down," Buttercup groaned, clearly annoyed.
"It's not nothing! You're hurt! That's not nothing!" Bubbles cried, griping her sister's arm.
"It's not that bad, it's not even bleeding anymore," Buttercup rolled her eyes. "It was twice as bad last night. It's healing, Bubs. Chill out."
"It's healing, not healed! It should be gone by now!" the blue puff was nearly crying now, clutching her sister's arm.
"We don't heal that fast, brainless. I'm fine. Now let go! We're going to be late for school!"
"Buttercup, listen to me! You should stay home! Let the Professor look at your arm!" she sniffed.
"The only thing wrong with my arm is you crushing it! Let go of me!" Buttercup growled. At this Bubbles gasped and quickly released her arm. She barely had time to apologize before the third puff threw the door to Buttercup's room open.
"What are you two yelling about?! We're going to be late for school!" Blossom scolded, leaning against the door frame.
"Buttercup is hurt!" Bubbles replied, practically running to her red headed sister's side.
At this Blossom raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at Bubbles before turning to Buttercup. She looked her over and sighed. She didn't see any new bruises or cuts on her sister, just the ones she had gotten last night. All three of them sported injuries from last night's crime fighting, but it wasn't anything too serious. Nothing to be concerned about, at least.
"It's nothing, Bloss. Bubbles just saw that gash I got yesterday, the one from being slammed into that street sign? It's nothing serious," Buttercup grumbled, staring lamely at her sister.
"It's bad, Blossom! It should have healed by now, but it didn't!" Bubbles exclaimed, looking desperately at her.
"Let me take a look at it," Blossom replied, walking up to her raven haired sister. Buttercup just sighed and outstretched her arm for her to look at. She examined the cut her sister's left forearm. It was still an open wound, but had shrunk considerably from what it was the night before. It wasn't that bad. As far as Blossom could tell, the only thing her sister had to worry about was the scar it was definitely going to leave, but Buttercup didn't seem to mind her scars. In fact, she showed them off.
"Just put a bandage on it, okay?" Blossom sighed. "The last thing we need is for you to get an infection,"
Buttercup just rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. The two remaining sisters could hear her close the bathroom door and rummage through the medicine cabinet for the bandages kept there.
"Thank you, Blossom," Bubbles sighed, smiling brightly at her sister. "I know it was probably nothing, I just worry about her sometimes... You know she won't take care of stuff like that unless you make her,"
"I know. Just... Give her some space, okay? You don't need to hound her about every cut and bruise she gets. She's sixteen years old. She can handle herself," Blossom said, patting her sister's shoulder comfortingly. "Now let's finish getting ready, okay? School starts in fifteen minutes and you aren't even changed out of your pajamas yet,"
Bubbles gasped, as if just realizing her attire, before rushing out of the room to change. Blossom laughed lightly at her sister's antics before heading to her own room to finish getting ready.
Bubbles had been staring at her blank sketch book page for roughly ten minutes. She was starting to get really frustrated, which wasn't an emotion she felt often. The assignment for her painting class was a portrait, which was standard. They've done portraits before. She did a rather lovely portrait of the Professor a few weeks back that he ended up framing and hanging in the living room.
But this time they were assigned to do a portrait of some different, someone you wouldn't be expected to paint. And she had no idea who to do. Obviously she couldn't do another piece starring her father figure, or either of her sisters. She pondered painting one of her classmates, but that was too ordinary, that wasn't unexpected! She couldn't do the Mayor, Miss Bellum, or any of her other friends either.
She groaned, resting her head on her sketch book and closing her eyes. Maybe she could make someone up! Or use a character from a cartoon! But... That would be lying, wouldn't it? She didn't want to lie...
Suddenly, she felt someone touch her shoulder, causing her to spring up from on top of her sketch book and yelp.
"Calm down, Bubbles! It's just me," her friend Elliot laughed, taking his hand off of her shoulder. "What, were you asleep or something?"
Bubbles and Elliot had been good friends since he moved to Townsville. They were ten then, and their friendship has lasted through the years. The brunette boy was always nice and had a real talent for making her laugh.
"No, I wasn't. But you scared the heck out of me," Bubbles replied with a smile, motioning for her him to sit down next to her. "What brings you over to my table anyway?"
"I wanted to see if you could come over to my place tomorrow night," he replied.
"For what? Are you throwing another party?" she asked, grinning at the thought. A party at Elliot's meant their group of friends hanging out at his house, staying up all night eating junk food and watching bad movies.
"Not really, but I invited Robin too. They put that one really bad zombie movie on Netflix, you know, that one where they had all the actors playing zombies wear baby powder as face makeup?" Elliot asked, laughing. "I want to show it to Robin, and I thought you'd want to be there when she sees it,"
"Of course!" she laughed with him. "Yeah, I'm in. I'll have to tell the Professor I'm going to someone else's house, though. He doesn't like me hanging out with guys after dark,"
"That's fine. I'm going back to my table now, though. Text me later, okay?" he asked as he got up from his seat.
"Will do! See you later, Ellie!" she replied, grinning as he laughed at her nickname for him.
She smiled down at her sketch book. At least she had tomorrow night to look forward to. Now if only she could think of someone to draw...
As she tried to ponder, she started getting a really eerie feeling come over her. She felt like she was being watched...
She quickly turned to the window, and as expected, nobody was there.
She sighed. She's got to stop being so paranoid all the time...
Running. She had to concentrate on running...
Bubbles sighed and slowed her pace down to a jog. How was she supposed to concentrate on running when she had a portrait due next week, and she didn't even know who she was painting yet? Honestly, Gym class was just a waste of time for her. She did more than enough exercise fighting crime on a daily basis; she shouldn't have to take Gym! She should be working on her classwork, not trying to run a mile on a stupid red track!
"Hey," came a breathy call from behind her.
Bubbles slowed down her job even more until Robin finally caught up to her. She was panting an awful lot...
"Are you okay?" Bubbles asked, worried about her friend.
"I'm fine!" Robin breathed out. "I only have one lap left until I'm done. God, I hate running,"
"Me too," Bubbles agreed, smiling at her. "So, are you going to Elliot's tomorrow?"
"Yeah, to watch that zombie movie? He said it's really bad," Robin replied.
"It is really bad, which is why I want to see it again,"
They both laughed at her little comment. Bubbles grinned at Robin, and then noticed something above her head.
Then she froze completely. She stopped running, she stopped laughing, and she probably even stopped breathing.
A green streak of light that tore through the sky. It was fading quickly. Bubbles hoped she was just imagining it, but she knew she wasn't.
"Hey, Bubbles? You alright?" Robin asked, gently shaking her friend's shoulder.
This is what snapped Bubbles out of her thoughts and sent her shooting off of the track and back into the school building.
She had to check before she started coming to crazy conclusions. Maybe Buttercup was just skipping class! She's certainly done it before! And maybe the sun was in her eyes, that's why the green streak looked darker than normal!
The Rowdyruff Boys haven't shown their face in Townsville since they were twelve. That's five years! Why would they be back now?
But there she was, in her Chemistry class. Bubbles could see Buttercup sitting at her desk through the small window on the door.
Her hands were shaking as she sent her sister a text, asking her to meet her outside the classroom.
Bubbles watched through the window as Buttercup, who must have felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, discreetly check her phone under her desk. She looked up at the door and stared at her sister for a moment, before getting out of her seat, grabbing the bathroom pass, and leaving the classroom.
"What are you doing, brainless? Shouldn't you be in gym right now?" Buttercup asked. Despite her grumpy tone, she didn't seem all that mad to have gotten out of her Chemistry class.
"That doesn't matter right now! Where's Blossom?" Bubbles asked frantically.
Buttercup was about to make a rude retort, but stopped. Her sister looked genuinely scared, and it unnerved her. "What's going on? Bubbles, did something happen?"
"I'll tell you after we find Blossom!" Bubbles cried.
"She has AP Physics this period," Buttercup replied.
"That's just down the hall!" Bubbles exclaimed, already texting Blossom to meet them in the hallway. As soon as the text sent, she shoved her phone in her short's pocket and took off running down the hall.
Buttercup easily caught up to her, and they both waited outside the Physics room for about a minute before Blossom finally came out.
"What's this about? I can't just miss class, guys," Blossom scolded, moving to stand next to Buttercup.
"I think I saw a Rowdyruff Boy!" Bubbles exclaimed, barely able to contain her anxiety.
Blossom's eyes widened slightly. Buttercup's jaw tensed.
"I mean, I didn't see him, per se, but I saw a streak of light, the ones we make when we fly! And since it wasn't any of us, it had to have been one of them!" Bubbles explained.
"Which one of them was it?" Blossom asked, trying hard to keep a straight face. Of course, the thought of the Ruffs being back in Townsville made her anxious too, but she felt she had to appear calm to keep her sisters from panicking.
"The streak was green, so it was..." Bubbles paused, trying to remember the boy's name. "Butch, I think that's his name,"
"Yeah, it's Butch," Buttercup grumbled. Her whole body was tense and her fists were clenched.
"Calm down, girls," Blossom responded, sounding very diplomatic. "All Bubble's saw was a streak of light. That doesn't mean the Rowdyruffs are back. But it does mean that we have to stay alert, okay? Keep your guard up. If they're back in town, they could be planning anything. We have to be prepared for the worst,"
The other two Puffs nodded. They had to be prepared for the worst...
And there's the first real chapter! The Rowdyruff Boys still haven't made an official appearance, but they will in the next chapter.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!