Okay, continuing my new policy, here we go with the next seen.
4.Butch's Search
The fresh air punctuated up Butch's throat. Okay, fresh wasn't exactly the right word. Maybe "stagnant" would be a better word to describe the smelly, downtown atmosphere. He took a deep breath. Why did he have to do this on his day off? He knew why, but he still wanted the question answering.
Earlier in the week, a rather angry Sonic had briefed all the members of the SSR about the government policy on the recapture of the escaped villains. It wasn't a pleasant experience for any of the members of the SSR, mainly due to Sonic's absolutely foul mood. Butch suspected that the powers that be above him were putting the pressure on him remorselessly to clean up the mess, and he was quite naturally attempting to shift it onto his staff.
So after the usually speedy Hedgehog had spent an entire hour lecturing them on the situation generally, he'd processed on to informing them on policies relating to individual mutants. Butch had been drifting off for a long time by then in the uncomfortably hot room, but when Sonic set up the fifteenth side, he'd frozen solid.
"This," Sonic had said, pointing to a picture, "is an extremely dangerous creature. Although it may appear to be child like and innocent, it is actually an insane, murderous monster, and it must be captured. Dead or alive." The picture had been an artists (probably Bubbles') impression of SP.
As more details of SP's powers had leaked out to the other heroes, Butch had become more and more concerned. A typical conversation went like this.
"She doesn't sound too hard."
"Yeah, and they're offering a large reward for her."
"I could really do with that, and the opportunity to be in Sonic's good books for a while."
"But if she is like Spider-man, she'll be pretty quick."
"Then we'll have to hit her hard first, to stop her getting away…"
Butch generally superficially joined in with these discussions in a "ladish" sort of way; he had a reputation to upkeep. But inside he was worried for the child, technically his child.
A discussion with Buttercup had also put him in difficulty. Rather stupidly, he'd asked Buttercup what had caused her to let him back into the marital bed.
"Are you no longer upset that I lied to you?" he'd blurted out idiotically. Buttercup had just smiled at him.
"I'm still annoyed," she'd said, "but your defence for SP reminded me of the caring man I married. And the scuffle with Boomer and Bubbles afterwards reminded me of your toughness too."
Butch himself couldn't actually remember spending much time showing off his caring side to Buttercup before they married, but he was quite pleased with the tough bit. However now he was in a hole. He had to save SP from his fellow heroes, to stay in Buttercup's affections. That was his reason, and he was sticking to it.
But in his heart he knew it wasn't true. He wasn't a young, fit career criminal anymore. He was thirty three, tired, slightly fat and mellowing. He drove an SUV, he owned a dinner suit and last week he'd brought a broadsheet newspaper.
And as he thought about SP, he remembered her smile, her innocence, and just her presence. She just felt like his child. And he felt ready to be a farther.
And he'd be dammed if one of those idiots in tights were going to take her away from him. Not even Sonic. So now he had to find her before someone else did. Or worse she hurt someone again… or Bubbles got her.
The major problem was, he had no idea where to start looking. No one had any idea. They were fairly sure that she was in the city, as there had been a couple of sightings, but it was just like trying to find MJ when she'd gone missing. If she had no objective, no fixed location, it was very difficult to track her down.
There were some clues though. Butch was standing over one now. It was a pigeon skeleton, striped of its flesh. This was a typical sign of a Spider-puff feeding; Blossom had informed him that she and Eddy had often found a rather sheepish MJ in the garden surrounded by them.
But unless MJ had been to this rather run down neighbourhood alone, then it wasn't her. It had to be SP. And the acid on the bones were fresh. She was close.
Butch nodded to himself, and then looked around for somewhere dark and dank, the sort of places Spiders like. The perfect place was nearby, a collection of bins in a nearby dark alley. Carefully, he approached. Suddenly, he heard rustling in the bins. His heart missed a beat. Maybe, just maybe…
As quick as a flash, he rocketed over to the bins, and pulled the lid off. A cat jumped out via his face, and sprinted away. The Green Ruff threw the lid away, in disgust.
"BUGER IT!" he shouted, and he kicked the bin flying. It rattled off a wall, leaving a sizable hole, before falling over. As the echoes dyed away, Butch's anger cooled. She'd probably sensed him coming. If she could fly and web swing like MJ, she'd be miles away by now. With a heavy sigh, he decided to go check out the local orphanages again. What else could he do?
Okay, I said they'd be short. Still, I hoped you'd enjoyed it. Okay, please review and I'll try to update soon. Thanks!
