Chapter 10

[Broken Notes Vol1: Screaming Flux

It took a few moments for Buttercup's eyes to adjust to the near-darkness. She heard splashing below, where Bubbles helped Blossom to disentangle herself from tentacles protruding from the water. Surrounding them was vast, empty darkness, though some unseen source of illumination provided a low light that was enough to see clearly.

Her sisters flew up a few dozen feet to hover beside her. Buttercup noticed sores on Blossom's arm left by the suckers of the tentacle. Whatever they were facing right now was able to hurt them.

"Buttercup doesn't remember," Bubbles said matter-of-factly.

"Just stay sharp," Blossom said with her usual authority. "The Gangreen Gang--"

But she was cut short. Even the inky water below disappeared, leaving them in a wholly-black void as a voice spoke out, emanating from no particular direction. "Well, boys, what's this? Someone's come back to play." She recognized the overconfident, sneering tone as belonging to Ace.

"Ssshee doessssn't remember," hissed Snake.

Billy guffawed, adding, "I wanna see it again! I wanna see it again!"

Ace chuckled, "I'd say that deserves an encore."

Buttercup felt Blossom's hand grip her shoulder firmly. "Be strong, Buttercup. They can't keep this up forever. Just wait for an opening."

Buttercup nodded and put on a tough face as the scene of their living room shimmered into view. This depiction of their house was empty, devoid of furniture and decorations, looking as though everyone had moved out. Buttercup saw herself sitting in the middle of the floor in her nightgown, legs crossed. She held her blankie, which she hadn't seen in years, in a deathly tight hug, one hand raised so she might suck her thumb. She was crying, rocking gently back and forth.

Buttercup saw her other self shake her head in denial of some unheard question, pulling her thumb free and gripping the blanket tighter. She choked, "I don't wanna fight anymore. I don't wanna fight! I'm just a baby. Leave me alone!"

Blossom squeezed her shoulder again to remind Buttercup of her presence.

Still unseen, Billy tittered, practically singing, "Just a baby, just a baby!"

Buttercup scowled, feeling anger but not embarrassment at a sight so foreign she failed to associate it with herself. Surely this was just a poor joke. She shouted into the barren room, "This ain't no dream of mine!" She strode over to her false self and lashed out, bending downward as she landed a punch on "her" cheek with all the force she could muster.

The sniveling girl-child rolled across the floor several times, lengthening as she went, the green of her nightgown spreading. When the motion stopped, it was now Snake who lay on the floor. He was still, and his neck bent strangely.

Almost immediately the scene faded into inky blackness, and Snake with it.

"Okay, girls, just two more," Blossom said. "Good work, Buttercup."

"You're gonna regret that, snot-for-brains!" Ace said.

When Buttercup next blinked her eyes, she beheld the image of downtown Townsville streets. Almost before the fact had registered, she was trapped in the crushing grasp of hands bigger than she was. She cried out in pain as her body compressed, barely registering Bubbles's scream to her left. She strained hard against the impossible force of the hand but made little headway.

Forcing her eyes open through the pain, beneath her chin she saw a green, pudgy digit which, despite its larger-than-normal size, could only have been Billy's. On the streets below Blossom crouched, preparing to attack.

Before Blossom took off, her eyes and mouth widened as something plunged into her abdomen. It looked rough, like a lizard's tail, except almost as wide as she was. Blossom looked on in a mixture of horror and uncertainty at the unfamiliar sensation, watching the foreign thing slowly and unceasingly plow deeper. Though it must surely have gone deep enough to pass through her body, it did not emerge from the other side.

Buttercup caught a glimpse of Ace, who, unlike Billy, was of his normal stature. The strange appendage seemed to be protruding from his chest.

Buttercup strained harder against the hand she should have been able to burst from. Blossom began to panic now, making small gasps and squeaking sounds in quick succession as she tried to grab and push away the thing, but it just slid through her grasp like it was too slick to hold.

"Hee, hee," Billy chuckled, giving Buttercup another agonizing squeeze. "I'm gonna go play with my baby dollies." He turned to the side and began walking away, his steps thundering.

Buttercup craned her neck painfully to keep Blossom in view, watching helplessly as the distance between them grew. Blossom, now slightly bent over, breathed only in interspersed, squeaking gasps as she pressed firmly on the intruding appendage from either side, still not slowing its progress.

"Gonna put baby green in a diaper," Billy bellowed as he walked. "Ooh! I'm gonna pop off their heads and switch 'em around!"

Buttercup was distracted from Blossom's plight by Bubbles's scream. She looked to her left to see Billy's thumb pressing on her sister's neck, pushing it against one of his knuckles.

Buttercup felt a primal, frightening rage begin to overtake her. The world seemed to quake, blurring in her eyes. Conscious thought fled as she screamed in fury. She felt a sort of pleasurable relief as she poured that fury into her eye beams, sizzling the flesh of the hand that held her. This even as she struggled anew against its grasp, trying as hard to tear into its flesh as to push it away.

The whole of her being seemed supplanted by violent wrath . Sound and feeling were muffled and distant. Only fleeting sensations came to her through the haze. Grabbing. Pulling. Biting something that was both soft and unyielding. Screaming. Snapping. Warm, red liquid flowing onto her face, dripping almost ticklishly beneath her shirt collar. At some point the world disappeared.

Some time later, she opened her eyes to the sun peeking through the heavy clouds and her ears to the chirping of a nearby bird. She felt cool, damp grass on the back of her neck and arms. Hearing movement to her side, she turned to see her sisters slowly coming to as well. They were lying on the lawn where the swirling portal had once rested.

Buttercup sat up and looked at her hands, flexing her fingers, clenching and unclenching. They felt a little sore, but otherwise fine. She turned her hands over, then again, noting them to be clean. She looked at Blossom, who was standing and brushing herself off. The welts on her arm were gone. Her shirt was torn open, but her stomach was clean and unmarred.

Buttercup opened her ears further, hearing people talking, cars running, televisions blaring, water flowing, and electricity humming.

"What happened?" she asked, still sitting and marveling at her hands.

"You and everyone else in class, even the teacher, started falling asleep," Blossom said. "Bubbles and I managed to keep each other awake. We were going to wake you up, but then everyone turned to smoke and disappeared. We spotted that portal from in the air and went in. I think we should go and tell Professor everything, but that's the gist of it."

Buttercup nodded and hovered up onto her feet. "Are you two okay?"

Blossom exchanged a glance with Bubbles, who shrugged at her, before saying, "Yeah, I guess. And you?"

Buttercup nodded as she took a step to stand beside Blossom. She spread her hand open, palm flat, gently caressing Blossom's exposed abdomen. It felt cool in the open air, its smoothness confirming to her hand what her eyes had told her.

Blossom laid her hand over Buttercup's and held it still. When she looked up, Blossom asked, "Buttercup, what is it?"

"You're not hurt?" Buttercup asked in turn.

"No," Blossom said, pulling Buttercup's hand away and grasping it tightly. "I guess it was all just a dream."

"Blossom..." Buttercup began, still in a daze. "What did I do?"

Blossom opened her mouth but did not speak. Uncertain what to say, she closed her mouth and grew thoughtful.

Meanwhile, Bubbles answered, her smile seemingly genuine. "Don't worry, Buttercup. It was just a dream. The Gangreen Gang must be fine, too."

"But--" Buttercup spat, though she was quickly interrupted by Blossom.

"Shh," she said, giving Buttercup's hand a gentle squeeze and smiling weakly. "It's okay. Let's just go home and fill dad in, all right?"

Buttercup considered this for a moment before conceding with a nod and a strained smile of her own. They returned home in a flash of light, quickly sharing the details of their latest encounter, though Buttercup felt almost as much an outsider to the ordeal as Professor must have.

In the days that followed, no one saw (and the girls were unable to locate) the Gangreen Gang. Fortunately, even Grubber and Li'l Arturo, whom Buttercup had not battled, were missing. That, at least, was some slight comfort.