Authors note: I must forewarn that some chapters will be a lot longer.

Chapter 4: The First Objective

It was getting even later at the mansion and reaching around 11:40pm. The clock was ticking away as people seemed eager for the contest to get underway. Buttercup was just sitting around alongside Butch. The two of them had lost interest in the conversations with the rich, though they were somewhat unable to believe that they were expected to stay in the forest area until the contest is over. So far she wasn't having any trouble with Butch.

"Ugh… I'm bored of just sitting around…" Butch suddenly groaned as he came up with an idea to pass the last twenty minutes. He stood up and faced her, holding his hand out in offering. She looked at it confusedly. "Let's dance," Butch told her. He received a sarcastic look for a moment before seeing her look away, slapping his hand away, dismissing his offer. "I told you, I don't know how to dance, and I don't even like it either," Buttercup hissed, though his hand continued to be held out to her. "Not even for sixty-five percent of the treasure?" he offered like it was a bribe. She didn't know whether it was cute in a pathetic way or not, but she knew if she did turn it down he would just pester her until she agreed. Buttercup sighed, grabbing his hand. Butch helped her up with a smile.

"If you try anything, I swear, I'll…" Buttercup tried to threaten him while following him to the general dancing area. "Will you relax? I'm not always making evil plots all day. Just follow my lead," he reassured, even though he did miss the old days when he could wreak havoc at any general time, but he knew she was probably referring to something else. Butch just smirked, putting a hand on her back and pulling her a bit closer. "…where'd you learn to dance anyway?" Buttercup questioned while following him through the motions of one footstep after another. "I kind of don't have a job. And when my bros were out I got bored. So I just went and learned it," he explained, just trying to enjoy the waltz that they were doing.

Midway through the dance, the clock struck twelve with a loud dong noise. Every light in the house went out simultaneously. They were both confused by this, but they found Mr Francis wheeling himself downstairs. "Well, everyone… it is time for the contest to begin…" he declared through the speakers in his throat. Buttercup blushed before moving Butch's hands off of her, just trying to ignore the moment they just had, though he enjoyed it. "The power dies at night… so does life… the mansion is the only safe place… the first objective of the contest is find this item… I wind and grow up things, slowly taking it over… I may seem like a weed, but I am beautiful," he read aloud in a clear riddle of some sorts. This was the oddest part to them.

Butch could only rub the back of his head, trying to think of what he meant, though he noticed everyone practically pouring out of the dark mansion already. "…it sounds like a flower…" Buttercup came to the conclusion. It was the only thing she could really think of it. The two of them approached the front door, noticing Mr Francis watching and most of the butlers were gone. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something was making her not want to go outside, like a shivering feeling up her spine that refused to go away. She peered into the darkness of the night, though the fact that they both had night vision was a reassuring element to them both. "Come on, Buttercup. Let's split up. Grab any flowers you find and we'll meet up here," Butch told her. Buttercup just gave a nod of agreement, trying to keep her strange fear in the back of her head before the two of them darted off in separate directions into the dark forest, leaving two respective green trails behind them.

Butch was flying, while suddenly noticing that the trees were extended a lot higher up, and the leaves were strangely all a charcoal shade of black. He couldn't even see the moonlight that would beam through them. If it wasn't for his night vision, he would have already hit a tree a long way back. He swore that he could see movement every now and then. It was odd to him, but he presumed that it was just an animal. Suddenly something came into view. He took notice of a garden of flowers all arranged together. He just floated down and began picking them. They weren't anything special common, wild flowers at most. However, each flower he picked began to wilt instantly in his hand, confusing him more. "What kind of flowers are these?" Butch wondered before hearing a loud crack of a twig snapping.

"Ah! Who's there?!" Butch asked, turning around. A set of metal claws were revealed in front of him, attached to a very skinny arm slamming onto the ground from behind a tree. He heard a snarling noise and watched as a skinny figure crawled out from behind. It looked and felt like it had been deprived of food for years. Its eyes were hollow and it had razor sharp teeth. The person crawled on all fours, with long legs. Each hand had long hook-like claws instead of fingers. Butch took a step back, his eyes widened. "W-what the… what are you?!" he yelled in fright, seeing another one of the creatures crawling onto one of the tall tree branches and another one coming out crawling beside the tree like a bug.

Butch gulped, believing he could take them on singlehandedly. The first one he saw let out a loud echoing screech that hurt his ears. The one that was highest up in the tree jumped downwards to him, screeching and swinging its claws. He ducked under, it watching the beast splat onto the ground behind him. The other two came charging towards him immediately. Butch's eyes glowed red firing a ray of heat vision in front of him across the ground, lighting part of it on fire. The monsters stopped instantly and stalled, though the one behind him was standing back up, growling and throwing a claw at him. Butch noticed and blocked it with his arms, the metal claws digging into his arm. He just gritted his teeth and forced himself forward, grabbing its arm and throwing it over his shoulder into the burning fire. He watched it run out of the fire, screeching in pain as it scared the other two into making a getaway. "…I wonder if I can back out of this…" Butch wondered before grabbing one of the still living flowers, but it wilted away again. He was getting angered by this. "I hate flowers…" he mumbled before flying off, wanting to search the forest for flowers that didn't just wilt, and mentally hoping those things would leave him alone.

Buttercup was flying around, looking left and right for any sign of a flower, even a dandelion. She was surprised by how there didn't even seem to be a simple weed growing. Finally, a view of a house in the near distance caught her eye. She landed and began to approach it by foot, though when she got closer, she realized that it was far beyond old and abandoned. The ceiling had mostly fallen apart, and the door was long gone. She just sighed, wondering if the ruins of the old home might have anything growing inside of it. She entered inside, looking around and seeing furniture buried under the old debris, like those who presumably once owned it had never had the chance to gather it before moving.

Buttercup explored most of the house. It was all the same, just caved in ceiling on top of everything that used to reside within the home, but finally she came to one room that seemed surprisingly clean. It was seemingly a form of child's room. She saw odd scribbles written everywhere on the wall done in black ink, the doodles depicting a very tall person, but it was practically just stick figures. Buttercup picked up a book that was resting upon the small bed and flipped it open. To her confusion, every single page had only one word on it. She just groaned, not liking the way it was written and not knowing who in their right mind would do this. She began to put the words together slowly. "I-saw-an-odd-man-today. He-was-outside-my-window-but-my-room-is-high-up. I-opened-my-window-and-talked-to-him. He-said-he-wanted-to-take-me-to-a-great-place-befo re-they-came-to-get-me. I-really-wish-I-knew-what-he-meant-but-mommy-and-d addy-seem-too-busy-packing. I-plan-on-going-with-him-next-time-he-comes. He-left-me-with-a-pretty-flower-too," the journal read after putting the words together.

Buttercup noticed something stuck at the end of the book which was a grey rose. She just picked it up with a smirk. "Heh. This contest is going to be easy," she exclaimed with pride before noticing something outside the window and hearing a light tapping noise on the glass. At the other side of the window was a man standing at the window. Buttercup was confused since the room she was in was on the second floor. She hesitantly opened the window. "Uh, hello?" she greeted him. The man was wearing a fedora that he took off and held over his chest, revealing to be bald. "Hey there, young lady… I see you are in a troubling situation…" the man started, holding out his hand in offer to her. His hand was extremely large, but his arms were like sticks.

"Troubling? It's just an old house. Can't be a big deal…" Buttercup replied until she heard a loud banging noise. She rushed out of the room, looked downstairs and found something battering at one of the room doors downstairs. The loud echoing screeches already made her quietly hide in the child's room. "Well? They do not like to mess with me. Come now. I can keep you safe," the man continued holding his hand, but Buttercup remembered what the journal read. "I can protect myself, thank you very much," she declined. The rose she held lost a petal, but she watched as the tall man's face began to twist and melt off, razor sharp teeth revealing, and his eyes falling out like they were fake. "COME HERE!" he roared, reaching his long arm through the window and grabbing her while she was stunned. He dragged her out the window. Buttercup gasped, seeing the two same monsters that Butch encountered that were climbing up a nearby tree. "W-what the…! What are you?" Buttercup asked, narrowing her eyes at him. "We're just hungry…" his voice echoed as he licked his teeth since his long tongue couldn't reach his lips. They were ready to eat her alive.

End of Chapter 4