I ignored it. I always ignored it. Ever since the accident, I tried my best not to get involved. Buttercup didn't want me and Bubbles didn't need me. Whatever had happened, they would patch it up. They always did.
Besides, I had plans that night.
So I ignored the sobbing of my sister in the next room as I put on my earrings. I ignored my other sister laughing on the rooftop as I grabbed the pink jacket out of my closet. I ignored the Professor yelling as I applied my make up. It had all happened before. It was bound to happen again. Bubbles and Buttercup would be best friends again before they went to bed.
"Blossom!" The Professor yelled for me as I headed down the stairs. "Can you please get your sister for me?"
"What did she do now?" I sighed, stopping at the front door. I didn't want to get involved. I just wanted to get out the door.
"She got into a fight with Bubbles. Something about Buttercup not wanting Bubbles to go on a date with anyone." He looked defeated.
I scowled, floating up to the rooftop. Everything had to be about her. I flew up to her right and yanked her off the roof, pulling her to the ground.
"Hey! No fair! You can't just sneak up on my right side like that!" She yelled at me, yanking out of my grasp about halfway down.
"You know very well what you did, Buttercup!" I scolded her, though I was a little lost on the issue myself. Most of my anger came from her making me late.
And she smirked. "Don't talk to me like you're my mother, Blossom!"
My response was no different than the thousands of fights that were so similar. "But I'm the leader! And I'm you're sister! And what you did to our sister was--"
"Blah, blah, blah." She actually rolled her eyes at me. I almost punched her.
"Buttercup! What is wrong with you?!"
Then the Professor stopped our fight before it could become physical. "Blossom, go inside."
And my plans were shot. "But, Professor!" I protested weakly. I really wanted to go out tonight. But all he did was shake his head. There was nothing to do about, so I headed inside.
Damn her! Were my immediate thoughts as I got into the house. I got onto the couch and looked out the window at Robyn's house. She was waiting for me, I just knew it. I scowled at my sister as she walked in laughing. She had destroyed my plans for the evening and was laughing? "What are you laughing at?"
"Everything." She replied simply, still laughing.
"You're so immature! How dare you laugh like that after what you did!"I called after her as she headed for her room. The Professor wouldn't let any of us leave for the night and she was laughing about it. The nerve.
"You're going to have to stay home tonight, Blossom." The Professor said, seeming to answer my thoughts. "I want you to keep an eye on your sisters and make sure everything is alright."
Another night ruined by my sister.
The news spread around the school like wildfire. Mitch Mitchelson had been found dead in some alley. Gang activity, supposedly. I made a mental note that we should probably track down the Gang Green Gang to see if they had anything to do with it after school as I sat down in the courtyard before the first bell.
"Hello, lovely." Robyn smiled as she walked up to our usual meeting spot. Since Elmer and Mary didn't usually didn't show up right before the start of class, we had the spot to ourselves. "What happened last night?"
"Trouble at home. Bubbles and Buttercup got into a fight, so the Professor made me stay home to make sure nothing serious happened."
"Oh, boo. Maybe another night, then." She had such a perky smile for so early in the morning. "Shame what happened to Mitch isn't it?"
"He had it coming." Elmer had arrived far earlier than he usually did. "He treated everyone like crap."
"He may have deserved a good beating, but not to a bloody pulp in the concrete." Robyn retorted, scooting over to give him some room at the table. "When was the last time he picked on you anyways?"
"Four years, I guess. Maybe you're right. Should have just broke his legs. Then he'd have to suffer without football."
"When did my friends get so morbid?" I asked, staring at the two of them across the picnic table.
"Honey, our best friend is a super hero. Sometimes, it's the only way to stay sane."
The bell rang before I could come up with a suitable retort, so we each rushed off to our classes. After that, it was a pretty uneventful day. Most people were so busy mourning Mitch that nothing would happen around the school. Until lunch, that is.
I was headed to the library like I always did during lunch, when I noticed someone decided to pick on Buttercup again.
Except, she didn't just take it this time. She rushed one kid who had been unlucky enough to be near the guy who decided to give one last laugh in Mitch's honor. She was about to punch the kid, when an administrator walked up to her and told her to let him down.
I walked over towards her anyways. Just in case. She had been acting weird since last night. Then the teacher stumbled backwards as Buttercup laughed at her. "Buttercup!" I shouted as I waded through the people that had gathered around the scene. "What has gotten into you lately?" I couldn't believe she was doing this.
And she started laughing harder, lowering the hood of her jacket. She started laughing even louder as she floated up to one of the tables, kicking food trays left and right around the room. Something just wasn't right with the way she looked around the room.
"Buttercup, stop this," I hissed as I climbed onto the table to get next to her, "Stop this right now!"
She laughed at my face this time. "Oh, but Sister, I was just about to answer your question. Oh, and I have another question to answer too."
My jaw dropped as I listened to her.
"What happened to Mitch Mitchelson." She started, a smug grin on her face as she took a step that made everyone flinch. Isn't that something you've all been wondering? Yeah, I heard you all talking. About how Mitch was so great and Mitch was so much fun…." She finally stopped grinning. "Bullshit!"
"Mitch Mitchelson was an idiot!" She continued. "He thought he could get away with being the leader of all your little tormenting ways day after day! He thought that there wouldn't be any consequences!" By now, the crowd had tripled in size from people who ate outside and teachers still in class wanting to know what was going on.
She smirked again. "Well, wouldn't ya know it?! There are consequences." She nodded and placed her hands on her hips. "Good old Mitch learned that last night. Oh yes. He learned his lesson, but sadly for him… it was a little too late."
In that instant, all I could think of was the similarity to a car wreck. It was horrible and you wanted to ignore it, but you just could not look away.
"I killed Mitch Mitchelson." She said calmly, as if she had said what her own name was. "I beat him dead. I killed him. It was me."
The room turned into noise at the revelation. I couldn't believe...how could my sister kill anyone.
She shattered a window with a laser, once again gaining silence. "That's better. As I was saying-"
"Stop this." I hissed again, yanking her arm so she was facing me.
"Stop what?" She laughed in my face again
She's just trying to get attention...make the world about her again. I thought as I looked into her eyes, which defied everything I was thinking. "You're acting crazy! Now stop it! Stop these lies!"
"Lies?" She smirked, as if she thought I was cute. "Lies?!" She laughed even louder than she had before.
"You have to be lying," came a squeak from behind us. Bubbles approached her slowly. Tears streamed down her face, and she shook like everyone else. "You wouldn't kill someone, Buttercup…. You couldn't…. I know you would never do something horrible like that."
I just watched as she bent down to pat our sisters head. Maybe she would regain some sense and tell the truth. "Oh, Bubbles." I heard her whisper. "Well that just goes to show you," She started, brushing her hand through Bubbles' pretty blonde hair, "…Just how much you don't know me!"
She had flung our sister by her hair before I realized it, before the scream even registered. How could she do that?
Buttercup laughed, lifting off the table. "I'll say this!" She shouted loud enough for anyone in earshot. "Mitch Mitchelson got what he deserved! And soon you'll all get a taste of what he got! That, I can promise you!" She then let loose with that horrible laugh before blasting through the roof of the cafeteria.
"Buttercup!" I finally shouted, giving chase. "Stop right now!"
We chased her through the sky for some time before she spun around to face us. "What!?" She screamed at us.
"Where do you think you're going?" I started, but the cell at my side interrupted before I could continue. Only days ago, it had seemed so convenient, but now I wanted to smash the hotline. I turned on the speaker as I flipped it open. "What is it, Mayor?"
"An apartment building on 38th and Main is on fire! The building's going to collapse any moment now and there are still souls to save! Hurry!"
"We'll be right there, Mayor!" I shoved the little device back into my jacket pocket. "Let's just put this behind us for now, and we'll discuss it later," I shook my head. My sister was really grating my nerves, both of them were, but we had to work together. "Right now we gotta go!"
"I ain't going nowhere." She said in that calm tone again with a scowl.
"What!?"
"You heard me."
We just stared at each other for a moment with Bubbles shifting her gaze from one of us to the other. I was the leader. How dare she disobey a direct order.
"Buttercup..." Bubbles started, focusing on our sister. "we have to save all those people. They could get hurt… or worse…."
"I ain't saving anyone! Not anymore!" I wanted to knock some sense into her, the only way she'd understand. But Buttercup knew neither Bubbles or I could ignore our duty. And she used it against us. "Now, you two go on and save the day. Me? I won't have any part in that stuff anymore." She started laughing as Bubbles started on the water works. I just blinked as I listened to her gloat. "That building must be about ready to give way any moment now. You gonna go save 'em? Hm? Be the hero? Be loved? Forget about your sister, yet again?"
I did what I always did in these situations. Where I had to make a choice between my family and my job. I did what Buttercup, good old straight forward Buttercup, would do if the situation were reversed. I got the job done. "Come on, Bubbles..." I said, hoping that Buttercup could see the pain this decision caused me, the pain of all the decisions I was forced to make as the leader. "We've got work to do." I bolted for the smell of burning brick.
The fire was easy to take care of. Freezing flames while Bubbles dashed through to save those still inside. But we didn't just stick around till the fire trucks came. We waited for ten extra minutes for Buttercup to say "About time," or something along those lines.
Then Bubbles started sobbing silently and it hit home. Buttercup hadn't followed, had never intended to be around, and would not likely be around much longer. "What are we gonna do, Blossom?"
"I know what I'm going to do." I lifted into the air and got ready to dash for home. As unlikely as it seemed, I thought she might go there first. "I'm going to catch up on years of sisterly bonding."
A streak of blue cut her off. "You can't do that! Every time you two ever got alone, you end up fighting."
I popped my knuckles. "What did you think I meant?"
"Stop it!" She pushed me hard. "You're acting like Buttercup used too!" She pushed me again. "Are you going to run away too?" She pushed me so that I slammed into a building. "What happened to my rational sister?"
The blows hurt, but the words hurt even more. "When did you become so forceful?"
"I don't want to lose both my sisters." She responded calmly, smiling. "Let's go stop Buttercup from doing something stupid, without a major fight, please."
I nodded, though I still intended to put my sister through a good beating for the troubles she was causing us. We headed home.
The lights had been turned off when we got there. Obviously, Buttercup had been home. I just hoped she hadn't hurt the Professor. "Check the lab." I said before flying up to the second floor. Then she heard the crying in Buttercup's room. Just a light sobbing. She edged closer to her sister's room, getting ready for a fight that was likely to happen. But as I saw inside the room, I only saw the Professor, holding the green blanket she had once found so dear. "Professor...what happened?"
"She accused me of not loving her, lying about it, and then she ran away." He said absentmindedly, looking around at her things.
I didn't hear what else he had to say because I was already out the window, zooming towards town to find my sister.
