Fill in the Blanks
LuluCalliope
Chapter Thirteen
Buttercup sighed. "Let's just tell them what happened," she said to her sisters. After a few moments of consideration, they nodded with little reluctance.
"We each have our own special ability," Bubbles began. "I can speak different languages and talk to animals. Blossom can blow ice breath. But for a while, we thought that Buttercup didn't have a special ability. We later found out that she is the only person in the city of Townsville that can curl her tongue."
"Could," she corrected mournfully, sticking out her tongue. She rolled it around a little, but she couldn't curl it. I tried to curl my tongue, but…I just couldn't get the hang of it.
"A few weeks ago, we discovered that Buttercup did have another unique skill," Blossom continued. "She…can do a little bit of shape-shifting…wasn't that what the Professor called it?" Her sisters nodded. "We didn't want for her to play around with it a lot…but she's been doing accidental shape-shifting around the house."
"Accidental," Buttercup echoed. "Like I'll wake up one morning and my hair will be orange…or I'll grow fingers," she said, closing her eyes and furrowing her brow. As we watched in amazement, the fingers retracted back into her hand, and before long, it looked as if she had never had any fingers. "But I can do useful things with my power, apparently," Buttercup added. "I'm a quicker healer than I was before."
I was putting two and two together. If the Creature hadn't known about a certain Powerpuff Girl power, then he couldn't have taken it away. I knew, in that moment, that the Monster was truly evil—a perfect kind of evil that took every tiny detail into account—but it was also sadistic. And sadism is never truly acceptable, except on rare occasion.
There was a part of me that wanted to apologize, but I never got a chance to, because Blossom spoke again. "And we aren't going to escape again," she said carefully, "if we don't get another opportunity."
"But if opportunity comes around…" Ace's voice trailed off.
"Then we're going to run for it," Bubbles finished.
"But we're fresh out of ideas, so you don't need to worry your pretty little head about it," Buttercup hastily added, a small smirk dawning on her face. I sighed, hoping that that was the truth.
"Are you going to tell Him that we tried to escape tonight?" Blossom asked anxiously, drumming her palms on the floor, like I would have done with fingers.
"No," Ace admitted, and the girls breathed a small sigh of relief.
"What about my power? Are you going to tell Him about that?" Buttercup asked.
Ace didn't answer right away, and I knew that we were now on thin ice. If we didn't tell Him…if he found out that we had been keeping one too many important secrets…things could get ugly. But on the other hand…could we trust Him? Princess didn't, and I knew that while she herself wasn't the most trustworthy…she had a pretty accurate judge of character.
"I don't know," Ace answered. He tried to sound gentle, but his voice came out kind of wooden. "I don't know." The girls looked a bit panicked, and he added, "We are going to tell Princess, and the rest of the gang…and the RRRR." The girls wrinkled their tiny noses—I noticed that Buttercup had a more pronounced nose than the other two—as they mouthed to one another, "The RRRR?"
"They used to be the Rowdyruff Boys," Ace added, and the girls mouths formed the "oh!" of understanding…but they soon grew panicked. "We'll tell you our decision before we go talk with Him," he said, standing up. Blossom and Bubbles dashed out of Buttercup's room, and I heard two doors close in the distance. They were in their own rooms now, still freaking out and wondering if we were to be trusted.
And the green Powerpuff was wondering the same. "Are you going to tell them about our escape attempt?" She asked.
"Maybe," Ace shrugged. "But we will not tell Him. I swear on my dear late Aunt Sally's grave."
"How do I know you have a dear late Aunt Sally?" Buttercup asserted, her eyes narrowing. But the corners of her mouth twitched a little.
"I can't prove it to you," Ace said, exasperated. He threw his hands into the air. "What do you want from me?"
Buttercup giggled a little, but she stood up from the floor. Ace and I were standing in the doorway, getting ready to leave her alone. She walked over to us, and placed her hand on the door. She stared at Ace for a very long time.
"I'm going to trust you," she said at last. She started to close the door, but Ace stopped it with his foot. She stared at him, surprised.
"You think I have a 'pretty little head'?" He teased. Her frustrated groan was ruined by her amused smile.
"Goodnight, Ace," she chuckled, slamming the door. If Ace hadn't moved his foot, he would have probably broken a toe. He stared at the closed door for a moment before shaking his head with admiration.
"She has spunk!" He said with a tone of begrudging respect and…something else. I didn't like it…whatever it was, and I blew another raspberry to change the subject. "I don't trust Him," he told me, stuffing his hands into his pockets. We walked over to the makeshift pantry, searching for something to eat. "And I think that there shouldn't be any harm in keeping a few more secrets from Him." I did point out the cons against this. "We've seen worse than the likes of Him," he pointed out, but he failed to list any of them…with the exception of the Powerpuff Girls.
"Look, we'll talk it over with everyone else tomorrow…let's see what they think."
I nodded in agreement. We did eat the cereal—which was stale and old—in the lounge. We passed out in there, and I didn't dream at all.
And when I did, all I saw was a world that was a bright, shimmering red…and black. And I was hot…like I was on fire…and there was a terrible sound, like the earth was yawning beneath me, swallowing up screaming people.
I woke up sweating, shaking, and confused.
"We shouldn't do it," Princess said firmly, her decision made. "He killed Fuzzy. I know it. And I won't let Him do anything to the girls as long as they're here." She was wearing funeral attire—even some silly looking black veil thing made from lace.
"I don't know," Butch said. "They could use it to escape!"
"I thought of that," Ace said. "But I don't think that they'll be able to use it."
"Why?" Big Billy asked.
"First of all, if they are telling the truth, she can't use that power very well. She's learning how to use it."
"True," Boomer agreed. Brick, for lack of a reason, punched his brother in the arm. "What was that for?"
"Shut up," Brick muttered, listening to Ace speak.
"Second of all, we'll be expecting her to pull off something like that. And…" He exchanged a quick glance with me. "I don't think that they'll try to escape if they don't have a good opportunity."
"While we're on the subject, did any of you look into improvising?" Princess brought up. We all stared at her blankly, and she groaned. "Maybe there's a book around here on how to be a great actor in less than twelve hours," she said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes. She noticed, and she started scolding me. "If you want to end up in the hospital, like my father, do yourself a favor, and mess everything up tonight." She smiled, but her eyes were full of horror. "Just go ahead! Mess everything up! I'd be better off dead," she actually said to herself.
"What did you say about your father?" Snake asked slowly. I was ready to put two and two together again, but I didn't want to. Somehow…even with Princess, who was as delicate as a rhino…I didn't want for her to suffer.
"The Nightmare did this to Daddy," she explained softly. "He offered him an ultimatum: my contributions to the project, or…our deaths. He put…Daddy in the hospital…just to show what he could do to me." She shuddered, and some tears splashed onto her cheeks. "I am in SO much trouble here. And Fuzzy was in an even worse situation. The girls…we may not always see eye-to-eye with them…but the Professor shouldn't go through what Daddy went through!" She sniffled, but she stood up, her eyes glistening and wet. "The Professor returned my call…and I told him to get out of the city while he still could. I don't want for Him to attack anyone as a warning to the girls…and if we make things seem perfectly okay…like the girls have been on outstanding behavior…then other people will be safe." She closed her eyes. "I called the Mayor, and I begged him to get out of here. He won't listen." She smiled wryly. "He's more stubborn than I give him credit for sometimes…and not even a room of Turkish delight will sway him." She opened her eyes, and she suddenly was furious again. "Do you want to know what Mojo thinks of all of this? He's almost on the same page as me, believe it or not! And I know what he's making! Some of the things he's making…they're awful, and he feels…awful making them!" She shook her head. "I don't even want to talk about it."
This speech, which was more passionate than most of the ones politicians make, left us speechless and feeling even worse. I was grateful that it hadn't been made in the presence of the Powerpuff Girls. I don't know how they would have reacted.
Princess left us then, wishing us half-hearted luck on delivering the report to Him. "Oh…and by the way," she added, pausing by the exit. We hadn't bothered to lock it when she came upstairs. "I know that you're not going to tell Him about Buttercup's powers. Because you're not going to tell Him about anything I just told you…and you haven't told Him that I'm not…as thrilled about this as I should be." She thought about that last part. "Well, I suppose that goes without saying." She slammed the door, and I heard her steps pounding down the stairs.
We exchanged worried glances. We were in so much trouble…and there was nothing that we could do to stop it.
A/N: So, to make a long story short: Buttercup has a new power that she can't use, Princess's daddy is in the hospital, the Professor is being forced to get out of the city, and Mojo Jojo might start having second thoughts about this. This is getting very tension-y! By the way, thanks so much to all of you who reviewed! The feedback was unbelievably helpful, and I truly appreciate it! :)