Party Girl
Sophomore Year - September
Bubbles pulled on a comfy pair of pajamas, made herself a nice cup of tea, and fired up her laptop for a nice romantic comedy. It was the rare Saturday when she didn't have a date, and she was looking forward to some 'me-time'.
She had just started streaming 'The Diary' and wrapped herself up in her blanket when a pair of texts chimed on her phone. Both were from Dee Dee.
[We're going to the party]
[I'll pick you up in an hour. Be ready.]
Bubbles typed out a response. [I thought you didn't want to go. Why the change of heart?]
[Beau will be there]
Bubbles should have expected that. She opened her closet to pick an outfit with a sigh. Now she'd have to spend the next two hours getting ready to go to a party she didn't want to go to anyway. She texted back and forth with Dee Dee to coordinate.
There was a light knock at her door. "Come in."
Blossom entered her room and threw herself onto Bubbles' bed.
"Yes?" Bubbles asked, pulling a knot-front crop top over herself to see how it might look paired with shorts.
"I have nothing to wear," Blossom mumbled into Bubbles' sheets.
"Yes you do, you have tons of stuff."
"And Jared has already seen me in all of it."
"Would you like to borrow something?" Blossom and Bubbles regularly shared clothes, being nearly the same size and shape was awfully convenient, it was almost like doubling your wardrobe.
"He's already seen me in your stuff too."
"You could try Buttercup."
"She wouldn't even let me look," Blossom grumbled. "I don't want to wear her drab punk clothes anyway."
Bubbles took a breath and hung up everything she knew she didn't want. She rolled onto her bed and came face to face with her sister. They looked into each other's eyes for a few moments.
"Here's what you do, find a top you haven't worn in a while and pair it with a skirt that you have never paired it with. Go with something daring, really knock his socks off." She bounced off the bed again and went back into her closet. "And use an accessory you never use."
Blossom sat up like she had just had an epiphany. "I'll do just that. Thank you, Bubbles." She laid back down. "Looks like you're getting ready for a date."
Bubbles made sure her door was locked. "No date," she whispered, just in case. "I'm going to that party with Dee Dee."
Blossom's nose wrinkled knowing exactly what party Bubbles was talking about. "Gross. Why?"
"Because she wants to go and I need to keep her out of trouble."
"That guy right? What was his name?"
"Beau. It's an on-again off-again thing with them."
"How so?"
"She only likes him when he doesn't like her. If he shows the slightest bit of interest, she is already over him. Then, she gets jealous if he even talks to another girl."
"Sounds toxic."
"Yeah..." Blossom didn't know the half of it, but DeeDee was her best friend and she wouldn't just leave her. "I need to save her from herself."
Blossom sighed. "That shouldn't be your burden."
"We're superheroes, its what we do."
Blossom came down the stairs slowly, letting her boyfriend take in the view. She had decided on a striking pink skirt with a black blouse and a pair of black heels. At Bubbles' suggestion, she had a black purse that had a rose gold plated chain strap around her shoulder. She had spent the last hour and a half on her hair and makeup. The combination must have had the desired effect, he stood up from his seat on the couch with his mouth hanging open. Bubbles did tell her to knock his socks off.
"Hi Jared."
He was wearing his usual pastel shirt with a tie and khaki chinos. "Blossom, you look incredible," he said, breathless.
"Thank you."
"He is right, you look immaculate, honey," Blossom's father said with a proud smile. "And just where are you taking my daughter tonight, Jared?"
Jared's hand rubbed the back of his neck. "Uhhhh..."
"Jared, surely you have something planned for my lovely daughter." Blossom's mom said, advocating against male laziness.
"Well, I have reservations at Brannigan's and I thought we could see a movie."
Brannigan's was more of a family restaurant than a couple spot. It wasn't like Blossom expected to dine at the Moonlight Room, but Brannigan's was a little uncultured.
She swallowed the thought down, determined to have a good time. She had had a difficult week and deserved to enjoy herself.
After saying goodbye to her mom and dad, they retreated to Jared's car, an old silver sedan. Jared was a perfect gentleman and opened her car door for her. The short drive was pleasant enough, though they didn't say much to each other. Brannigan's was in a shopping center only five minutes away.
They got to the restaurant and took their table. Jared ordered the chicken parmesan, while Blossom ordered a walnut chicken salad. The waiter took their menus and left them alone again. Blossom felt overdressed among the tacky memorabilia on the walls.
"So..." Jared smiled with unease. His fingers drummed on the table while he looked for something to say. "How has your week been?"
"A living Hell," Blossom said.
Jared looked at her sympathetically. "Is he really-"
"You know what, Jared, I don't want to talk about it."
Jared straightened his tie and cleared his throat. "Of course not."
Blossom sighed silently. Jared pursed his lips and fidgeted with the silverware.
Blossom decided to break the silence. "What movie did you want to see?"
"Oh, I think there's a romantic comedy in theaters."
"The Promposal. We saw it last week."
A look of recognition ran over Jared's face. "Right," he pursed his lips in disappointment. "Right..."
If Blossom was honest, she preferred something with more action. She was a secret fan of the Rapid and the Raging movies. She, Bubbles, and Buttercup made it a point to see all of them together. Each one was more ridiculous than the last, but somehow, also more relatable. Even a serious drama would have been a good choice. Anything but another bland story about a girl falling in love with a guy.
"Um," Jared said, getting her attention. "How has crime-fighting been lately?"
"Lighter than usual. A jewelry store robbery, only two random muggings, and I've been tracking what I think may be some white-collar crime." She couldn't say any more about her investigation, though she doubted anyone involved would willingly dine at Brannigan's.
"Wow, Blossom, that's amazing. You're so talented. I admire your dedication to the city."
"Thank you." She gave him a smile and tried to make it as genuine as possible. Jared's unique brand of praise always made her uncomfortable for some reason. He said all the right things, and he said them in the right way. It really did make Blossom feel seen and validated. Why did it feel wrong?
The waiter served the food with a garish "bone-appeteet" that grated on Blossom's nerves.
Blossom poked her fork through the food on her plate. The salad tasted fine. The lettuce wasn't as crisp as it could have been and the dressing left something to be desired.
"What have you been up to this week?" Blossom asked, looking up at him.
She caught him mid-fork-in-mouth. He looked around, chewing slowly, finally swallowing. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Not nearly as exciting as protecting Townsville."
"I think I could use a little boring in my life. How is your robotics club?"
"It's great. Mandark has been leading a series of lectures on his custom AI scripting language."
"AI, interesting. Tell me more about that."
Jared started describing what he had learned and Blossom stopped listening after the first few sentences. She felt distanced from him for some reason. He talked between bites while she finished her meal. The waiter asked if they wanted anything else. Jared looked like he was considering something for dessert.
Blossom squeezed his hand over the table to catch his attention. "I have an idea. Let's skip the movie and go to a bookstore."
Jared gave her a genuine smile and squeezed back. He paid and they made their way to a bookstore in the same shopping center.
Blossom looked through the new releases at the front, mostly current events and inspirationals, nothing that caught her eye. Jared hovered behind her while she looked them over. She could feel his unease at not knowing whether to stay with her or go off on his own.
"Jared, you can go to the Fantasy section. I'm sure something will catch your eye. I'll meet you in the reading section in 20 minutes."
He gave her a weary smile "Okay." And he was off.
Blossom made her way to the history section, wanting to find something to round out her study of Ancient Greece. The section was separated by time period, she found the Classical Antiquities around the corner, near the board games. She scanned the authors, running up the alphabet, when she bumped into someone.
"Sorry, my fault," Boomer said.
Some people had parked their cars in the empty lot and had their stereos blaring, each trying to outdo the others, creating a cacophony of noise. A whole group of people were throwing empties, watching them shatter on the concrete. A steel drum had a fire going. A bunch of people had gathered around throwing things in, seeing what they could burn. Clouds lingered over clumps of people smoking weed.
Mitch pulled Buttercup closer to himself. His arm felt oddly protective on her waist. It was annoying considering if anything happened, she would be the one carrying him out.
They got inside and Mitch started looking around for his new boyfriend. It took literal seconds for them to find each other.
"Dude!" Butch said with his arms outstretched, and a beer in each hand. Harry and Pablo flanked him on either side.
Mitch bumped his fist and took the beer that was offered to him. Buttercup was livid.
"We got beer pong set up over here." Butch waved for the to follow.
Mitch tried to follow, pulling her with his arm still around his waist.
Buttercup wouldn't budge. "I'm not hanging out with him."
"Then why are we here?"
"To drink and have fun."
Mitch threw up his arms. "Come on, babe. He's not a bad guy."
"Yes," Buttercup said flatly. "He is."
"Mitch, what's the hold-up?" Butch came back and walked right up to her. "B-Cup's being a bitch?"
Buttercup clenched her jaw. "Fuck you."
Butch smiled. "Sure. You want it on the couch?"
Buttercup growled. "How about we have that fight instead?" She stepped up to him, getting in his face. "I've been itching to make someone my bitch."
Butch rolled his eyes. "Catch me tomorrow." He turned back toward the beer pong table. "You coming, Mitch?"
Mitch gave her a strange look. "Do you mind, babe?"
Buttercup crossed her arms over her chest. "Whatever."
"Cool. Go grab a drink. I'll come find you after the first game." Mitch practically ran to catch up to Butch, Harry, and Pablo. That fucking asshole was trying to steal her friends. Even worse, he was succeeding.
Buttercup had one mission: get shit-faced. There were a few beer cases scattered around and there was a keg. But Buttercup wanted to get drunk and she wanted to get drunk fast. All the hard stuff was in the kitchen, and the "kitchen", if a moldy break room could be called a kitchen, was too crowded with people looking for drinks.
She wandered through the crowd for the next few minutes and seriously contemplated leaving when a shotglass full of brown alcohol dropped into her vision, Brick was holding it.
"Thanks," Buttercup said before taking it to her lips. She slammed the glass onto a makeshift table, wincing at the burn in her mouth.
He leaned on the wall across from her with a beer in his hand, surveying the party. There was a bottle of Jim Daniels on the table in front of him.
"So, are you ever going to call me in?" she asked.
"Maybe." Brick took a drink. "Nothing to call you in for yet. Took out the last monster by myself."
"How many is that now?"
"Counting the squid, three." Brick poured two shots and placed one in front of Buttercup.
"That's a heavy week and a half."
Brick snorted. "Yeah."
They took their shots together. The whiskey tasted like piss, but it would eventually get her drunk, that was all she cared about.
"This party sucks," Buttercup said.
Brick snorted. "What more do you want? There's free booze, a dance floor down the hall, and Butch set up beer pong."
"Your asshole brother can suck a dick."
Brick smirked at her and poured another two shots. "I knew I liked you for a reason." He handed her one and they drank.
Buttercup hissed. The liquid in her mouth made her dry heave. She pushed it down and didn't spit it out.
If he noticed, Brick didn't say anything about it.
It was weird. She didn't hate him for some reason, but they were still far from friends. They had fought each other, one on one. And even though he won, he didn't act superior to her or anything. Butch would have been gloating. Hell, Buttercup would have been in the middle of reminding him of how much he sucked at fighting if she had won.
The alcohol hit her like a freight train just then. The floor tilted and Buttercup felt lighter. She needed to brace herself on the table to keep from falling over.
Brick chuckled. "This your first time?"
"No. I just did three shots real quick." Buttercup couldn't explain it any better than that.
"You'll get used to it."
"Brick!" Butch waved over the crowd at him.
"Looks like it's my turn to kick Butch's ass at beer pong." He started walking toward where the tables were set up.
He was quickly stopped by an older guy whose shirt didn't completely cover his bulging belly. His beard went all the way down his neck and merged with his chest hair. Buttercup could smell him from where she stood, he smelled like he hadn't showered in a week.
"Uh, hi. I'm Leo." He held his hand out for Brick to shake.
Brick looked at him like he was offering him garbage.
He dropped his hand when he realized Brick wasn't going to take it. "Look, I just wanted to say, you are the coolest guy."
Apparently Brick had a stalker. Buttercup couldn't help but laugh.
Brick glared up at him. "Fuck off before I kick your ass."
"Oh please," he said breathing heavily. "It would be an honor."
Brick set his jaw and ignited his fist in a dim red flame. "Do you have a death wish?"
The creepy stalker licked his lips. "Yes."
Brick's eye twitched. He was really thinking about killing him. Buttercup tensed at the thought that she might need to stop him. The guy was creepy, but that didn't mean he needed to get sent to the ER. The booze was making her head fuzzy. While she felt lighter, her fists felt like they had steamrollers attached to them.
The guy took a step forward, reaching his fat fingers out.
Before he could do anything, a white cloth wrapped itself over his face. The stalker struggled, screaming into it. His stubby arms flailed uselessly for a few seconds before falling limp.
He fell to the ground revealing Soyun Chen standing behind him. She held the cloth in one hand. There was a purple stain at the center. The stalker writhed on the ground at her feet.
Soyun crouched down over the shaking boy. "Hey little piggy. Why don't you run around and 'oink' for me."
The stalker got to his hands and knees and started snorting like a pig.
"What the fuck!?" Buttercup backed up a couple of steps, not being able to fathom what she was seeing.
The stalker crawled around, sniffing the ground and snorting. He wandered into the crowd with everyone laughing.
"How the fuck did you do that?" Buttercup didn't like that someone could have that effect on a person's mind.
"My own formula." Soyun held up a vial of purple liquid. "It makes whoever breathes it open to suggestion. I like to use it on creeps."
"Do you guys know each other?" Brick asked.
Soyun Chen. Buttercup eyed her, remembering the series of riots she had instigated. It took Blossom a week to figure out who it was and how they were doing it. Soyun was never actually arrested because spreading misinformation through the internet was apparently not a crime. "Yeah, we've met."
Soyun raised the whiskey bottle at her, then took a swig from it.
Buttercup tapped her shotglass onto the table before sliding it at Soyun. "That effect wear off?"
Soyun chuckled, pouring a shot. "He'll wake up with a wicked hangover and a lot of embarrassing videos." She slid the filled shotglass back to Buttercup. "But he will be fine."
Brick squinted into the crowd. "What the fuck was with that guy?"
"I know, right." Buttercup took the shot. "He didn't even try to grab your boobs."
"Aren't your brothers throwing a party right now?" Blossom asked.
"Yeah, so?"
Blossom remained passive, like she expected him to continue. Eventually, he would. It was the best way to get someone to elaborate. Most people subconsciously found silence uncomfortable.
"Just because they do something, that doesn't mean I have to too."
"Fair point. Then why are you here?"
Boomer put his hands in his pockets and lowered his head. "I don't know. We have money now, so I went to get some food at Four-Guys and I saw the bookstore. And Brick's always telling me to read more books, so I came in to look at some guitar books. I wanted to learn Free Bird, but all I could find was books on birds, you know, the ones that fly, and I was like 'maybe Bubbles would like an animal book.' But they were all for kids or something. Plus, it sounded weird. So I was looking at the games."
"Candid." Blossom was quite taken aback.
Boomer looked confused for a moment. "What do you think of this game?" He picked up a dice game box. It was titled 'Elements'. "I thought it might be fun."
Blossom focused on his face. "Why does it interest you?"
"I don't know. It looks cool, easy to play." He studied the back of the box. "Do you want to play it with me?"
After he made his purchase, Boomer sat at a table in the attached coffee shop and familiarized himself with the rules while Blossom ordered a decaf iced coffee. He gave her on overview when she arrived at the table. The object of the game was that you had a certain number of dice and you risked them by rolling against the other player. It used symbols of the four classical elements in addition to lightning and ice instead of the dimples regular dice had. Certain 'elements' overcame others. The outcome meant you either had to forfeit your dice or received them back. The first player to run out of dice lost the game. It was highly simplistic for Blossom's taste, but Boomer seemed to enjoy it.
"Do you play board games often?" Blossom asked, rolling her first move.
Boomer rolled after she did. "Not really. Butch and Brick only like poker." He studied the results of the roll and took two of Blossom's dice out and handed them to her. The rules stated that he would roll next. He considered how many dice he should gamble. "Well, there is one game Brick does like to play." He rolled two dice.
"Oh," Blossom played conservative and only rolled one. "What is it?"
"Chess." He took one of his dice out of the box. "Never play it with him."
Blossom took a sip of her drink. "Noted."
"He told me how the pieces move." Boomer rolled again, then looked at her. "So the knight can move all weird, but the queen is supposed to be stronger?"
"Yes, knights can be tricky, but the queen is useful in more situations." Blossom rolled.
"I don't know. I figure the best way to kill a queen is with a knight, and if the rook and bishop are just weaker versions of the queen..." He didn't finish his thought, but he may have been on to something. Blossom would need to look up a comprehensive analysis when she got home.
"That's very perceptive." Blossom rolled one of her dice. It came up with the snowflake symbol.
Boomer took his dice and moved Blossom's out of the way.
"I got an ice. That beats your fire."
"Uhhhh..." Boomer brought his fingers to his lips. "Okay, so, its like a 'Rock Paper Scissors' thing. Fire melts ice. Ice freezes water. Water extinguishes fire."
Blossom studied her remaining dice with their little colored symbols. It made a certain kind of sense. Most things were couched in diametric opposites, up and down, heat and cold, thesis and antithesis. However, all of these were abstractions, intangible concepts. Boomer's game illustrated something significant, something Blossom hadn't considered. Real things were filled with these simple abstractions and formed something much more complex. Fire was hot but it needed to breathe.
She was considering the relationship between the lightning, air, and earth symbols, when Boomer asked a question. "Did Bubbles say anything about me?"
"She told me you went on a date. Why?"
Boomer closed his eyes. "I thought it was great. But I don't understand why she doesn't want to..." He didn't finish the thought, but Blossom understood nonetheless.
Blossom put her hand over his. He fixed his eyes on her.
"Bubbles..." Blossom didn't know what to say. She wanted to comfort him, but there was no true thing that could make him feel better. Boomer was one of hundreds of guys, none of which had changed her sister's mind about how she went about dating. Blossom truly felt sorry for him, strange considering he was a supervillain.
"Um, Blossom?" Jared came up to their table.
"Hey," Blossom took her hand back. "Did you find anything interesting?"
"Um... No." He looked at each of them. "What is happening here?"
"Absolutely nothing. This is Boomer. He purchased a game and wanted to play it with me."
Boomer got up and stuck his hand out for Jared to shake. "Hey man, I'm Boomer."
"Hi..." Jared shook Boomer's hand. "Blossom, I thought we were on a date."
"We are."
"Well, then, I don't understand because you came here with me, but you're sitting here with him."
Blossom stood and took his arm. "Nothing is happening, Jared." Sometimes he had low self esteem and needed to be reassured. "Thank you for the game Boomer. I had a surprisingly nice time." She turned back to her boyfriend and squeezed his arm. "Jared, please accompany me to the history section."
Dee Dee had been talking to some guy for an hour with Beau in her peripheral vision. She was trying to make him jealous and doing a very bad job of it.
Between everyone yelling constantly and the music blaring from the dance floor room Bubbles found the noise unbearable. She walked outside for a minute and rubbed her temples. She resisted the urge to scream. If they wanted loud, she would make their ears bleed.
When she came back, Dee Dee, the boy she was talking to, and Beau were all gone.
She spent the next hour looking for Dee Dee but had to stop every few seconds when someone wanted to talk to her. Lee Lee and Mee Mee roped her into a drunken conversation about cheerleading routines. Robin pulled her onto an old couch with a bunch of other girls for awhile. She stopped to say 'hi' to Buttercup who was talking to Brick of all people. But she couldn't find Dee Dee anywhere.
"Bubbles!" Mitch said, coming up behind her. Her skin crawled up her back at the sound of his voice. "How's it going?"
"Hey, Bubs." Butch handed her a red cup filled with nothing Bubbles was willing to ingest. "Drink."
"Thanks." Bubbles locked eyes with him and poured it on the floor, well away from her shoes. "You guys are the best," she said in her sweetest tone, crushing the cup and throwing it away.
"Woah, why so hostile?" Butch asked. "We're just trying to be friendly."
"Yeah." Mitch tried to give her puppy-dog eyes. "You're my girlfriend's sister. We're just looking out for you."
Bubbles narrowed her eyes at Mitch. "Where is my sister again?" She looked over his shoulder into the crowd. "Oh, talking to that guy."
Mitch's head shot around. "What guy?" He wandered into the crowd. "What fucking guy?"
Butch chuckled. "Seriously though, it was clean."
Bubbles rolled her eyes and thought about flying home. It was out of the question. She couldn't leave her best friend in this horrible place.
"You don't look like you're having fun."
"Hard to have fun at a drinking party when you don't drink."
"That's not true." Butch nodded toward the beer pong table. "Come on, I need a partner since you chased mine away."
Bubbles didn't know why but she found herself following him. "What are the rules?"
"Throw the balls into the other side's cups. If we make it in theirs, they have to drink it. If they make it in ours, we have to drink."
"I'm not drinking."
"Don't worry, Baby Blue," Butch said, arranging their cups. "I'll do all the consuming of the dreaded alcohol." He poured a little bit of beer into each of their cups. The other team, two people Bubbles didn't recognize, did the same on the other side.
"I'm subbing this chick in for Mitch." Butch dunked the ping pong balls into a cup of water, like that was going to get them clean. Luckily, that wasn't her problem. He held one out to her. "You any good?"
Bubbles took the ball and tossed it right into the center cup.
Butch cheered, hopping up and down. "Aw man, I'm gonna go thirsty for a while."
He tossed his ball. It bounced on the rim of one of the back cups and the other team caught it. They 'cleaned' the balls.
The other team took a shot. It went right into the front cup. "Guess not," Butch said downing the beer in one drink.
The second guy shot short. The ball bounced on the table and Butch slapped it out of the air.
"Nice try, genius." He turned to Bubbles. "Oh yeah, when they throw, if it bounces off the table, we can block it. Otherwise, we lose two cups."
Bubbles nodded.
Butch cleaned the balls and handed one to her. Bubbles tossed her ball right into the back left cup. Butch's ball bounced off of the front cup and over the side.
"You missed two in a row?" Bubbles shook her head, letting a slight chuckle get through her mouth. "I thought you'd at least be good at this."
"Trash talk from Baby Blue! If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were having fun."
Bubbles shook her head. "Maybe a little."
The other team took their shots and they went back and forth a few times. Bubbles missed a few and Butch drank the cups the other team made.
Finally, Bubbles and Butch were down to three, the other side had only two left. Unfortunately, it was the other team's turn. The first shot went way over the table.
Butch caught it. "Look, if you don't drink, I respect that, but you gotta-"
Out of the corner of her eye, Bubbles saw the guy try to go for the bounce shot again. She swiped it right out of the air.
"Hey, no powers!" A guy on the other side said. For some reason, they didn't think it was 'powers' when Butch did it.
Bubbles felt her power energize her muscles in rage. "When I use my powers, you'll know it." She flicked the ping pong ball into the concrete wall behind them. It broke a hole straight through to the other side. "Go get it."
The two of them ran away, which was just as well. They had ruined the game anyway.
Butch chuckled, wobbling from the alcohol. "Yeah. They have no idea how much we actually hold ourselves back."
"No they don't." Bubbles sighed. "Any of them."
"Can I be honest with you Bubbs?" Butch asked while combining all of the leftover beer into one cup. "When my powers are off, I don't feel like myself." He started drinking the contents of his cup, looking at her profoundly the entire time. "You know what I mean?"
"I guess I never thought about it." Bubbles flexed her fist, feeling the power weave between her fingers. There had only been a few times when she had lost her powers, through Antidote X or whatever other means. She hated when she couldn't just summon it. It made her feel like that weak little girl everyone had always assumed she was. "Yeah. I do know what you mean."
Butch wiped his mouth. "It's like... philosophy and shit." It wasn't, but Bubbles wasn't about to argue with a drunk person.
Bubbles took a breath. "Hey, I'm looking for my friend and you seem a little more helpful than usual. Will you help me find her?"
Butch grabbed another beer, pried the cap off the bottle with his thumb, and led Bubbles through the crowd. "There's one place chicks always end up." He opened an old wooden door that had splintered in several places. There was a bathroom on the left. A blonde-haired girl was throwing up in one of the toilets.
"Dee Dee!" Bubbles went to help her. She brushed her hair back and held it in a clump.
"Bubbles, I didn't know you had a sister." Butch said, obviously noticing the similar hair and eye colors between the two girls.
Bubbles eyed him through holding Dee Dee's hair back while she retched.
Butch swayed back and forth with a dumb smile on his face, expecting her to say something. "...wait..." He laughed through the sounds of Dee Dee spitting the last bits of gunk out of her mouth.
When Dee Dee was done, Bubbles helped her to her feet. "I need to get her home."
They pulled her out of the building to the empty lot where all the cars were parked. Dee Dee's car was totally blocked in. "Ugh, what are we going to do?"
"It's just a car, Bubbs. I can lift it."
"You're drunk."
"And I have a lot of experience being drunk." He opened, then emptied a fresh beer in a few gulps. "Just gotta be fast and know where to hold it." Butch slipped his hand under the car. In one swift motion he lifted it off the ground quickly enough that that gravity couldn't pull it down. He re-positioned his hands under it to get better balance. He was still wobbling though. It made Bubbles nervous. "Let's go."
Bubbles rolled her eyes, taking off anyway. Butch followed close behind.
When they touched down in the suburbs, Bubbles looked toward Dee Dee's house, thinking of a way to get in without her parents knowing.
A 'Boom' reverberated through the neighborhood. Bubbles looked behind her to find Butch had placed the car back onto the street. He smiled at her as several bedroom lights in nearby houses flicked on.
Bubbles hid behind a nearby bush so they couldn't be seen. Butch followed, clumsily jumping behind the branches. "How're we gonna get in there?"
"Tree," Dee Dee croaked. "The- the tree."
Bubbles braced her as she guided them to the tree. Dee Dee reached inside of a hole and the three of them dropped through the ground.
They slid down a slide with Butch yelling "Whee!" the entire time. He didn't seem to notice that he was facing backwards.
They came to a stop in a huge open space. Bubbles looked around. There were machines whirring and robots flew around above them. This must have been Dexter's lab. Dee Dee had told her about it looked a lot like the professor's, but much, much bigger.
"Where are we?" Butch asked.
"My brother's lab." Dee Dee pulled herself out of Bubbles' grip and dragged herself across the floor.
Dexter came around a corner to see what all the noise was. "Dee Dee! What are you-"
"Fuck off, Dexter."
He studied her. "Wait a moment. Are you inebriated?"
"Yes." Dee Dee pushed a button on a nearby panel and a gateway opened to a boy's bedroom. "If you tell mom and dad, I'll tell them why the family computer always has so many viruses."
Dexter's eyes widened and his mouth gaped open. "I- I- I certainly never-"
Dee Dee turned around, her body completely through the portal. "Hey, Butch. Call me." She put her hand to the side of her head in the shape of a phone and the gateway closed behind her.
Dexter sighed turning to her. "Greetings Bubbles, and..." He readjusted his glasses. "Bubbles' friend. Please see yourselves out." He pushed a button and, in a flash of silver, they were teleported back outside.
Bubbles took a breath, letting the night air bring her back to center, even if it was only a little. "Thanks for your help tonight, Butch."
Butch swayed back and forth, smiling drunkenly. "No prob, Baby Blue."
There was a bird feeder nearby with a lawn gnome perched on it. It had a floppy red hat. Butch put his arm around the gnome. "Dexter, right? Dude, don't download that shit. Just stream it on Porntube. I'll give you my login."
Nausea built in Bubbles' stomach. "Butch-"
Butch's smile turned sinister. "What kind of shit you into?"
"Fuck you, Busscup. I could kick Thanos' ass," Brick slurred.
"How you-" Buttercup burped. "How you gonna kill him, huh?" She took another drink of her beer, stretching out on the couch. Time had lost all meaning. Everyone else had either left the party or was passed out on the floor. "Punch him real hard?"
Brick had sunk into the recliner like he was heavier than he should have been."Eyebeams. Mine could crack a planet in half."
"Fuck you, No way. Never gunna happen."
"Yup."
"Prove it!" Buttercup thrust her finger at him to emphasize her point. "Prove it!"
"Nah."
"'Cuz you can't."
"'Cuz I don't want to die of starvation on some burnt out rock in space with your sister scholding me for destroying the world."
"Ugh, that sunds like a nightmare."
"Yeah, and you'll probably still be alive too."
"You fuckin' know it!" Buttercup pumped her fist in euphoria.
"Heh, yeah, me, you, and my dumbass brothers."
"Ugh, gotta put up witsh Needle Dick and my sister yellin' at you."
Buttercup heard Brick get up from his chair, then fall back into it. He must have been pretty drunk. She couldn't see him and realized that her eyes had been closed since before she could remember.
"This is weird, right?" Buttercup asked. "You and me hanging out together."
"S'not weird."
"Good guys and bad guys don't really hang out."
"Ha! We're the good guys too now."
Buttercup started laughing. "Bullshit! and you know it. 'Shou guys are still bad. Dumb people'll believe anything."
Brick laughed with her. "Yeah, people are stupid."
Buttercup laughed so hard she fell off the couch. Luckily, she hadn't spilled any of her beer. The ground was all hard and covered with sleeping people, so she got back on the couch.
"And tha' fake-ass speech you told tha' one reporter." Buttercup curled her toes. "'We din't know where our next meal was gon'ta come from'," she said quoting his interview from the news.
Brick stopped laughing. "Fuck you."
Buttercup opened her eyes. There were two Bricks and both had straightened up in his chair and scowled at her. One spun up into the ceiling and the other went to the right. She should not have opened her eyes. "Wha?"
"We were fuckin' kids and we gotta eat." Brick shook his head. "What were we supposed to do?"
Buttercup groaned. "There's like soup kitchens and stuff."
"How's a five-year-old kid supposed to know that? Plus, they wouldn't'a served us anyway. Not after what we did." He reclined in his chair. "Fucking monkey. People hated us back then."
"People hate villains, it's not science."
"We were little kids all on our own. Didn't get to grow up in that nice warm house of yours."
Buttercup snorted. "I'd rather be all on my own."
"That's stupid. Why?"
"I always gotta do things I don' wanna do." Buttercup's head started to hurt. She didn't want to think about shit. "Christmas, Thanksgiving, God! Fucking Easter Sunday! 'Wear this frilly dress, Buttercup.' 'Mind your manners during dinner, Buttercup.'" she said, imitating her father.
Brick pulled his hat off and smoothed his hair. "Oh yeah, a good home-cooked meal? What's that like?"
Brick couldn't understand. He didn't have a family with all the shit she had to live up to, and her sisters always being better than her. "My dad always making me wear frilly dresses and ugly stuff my gramma bought me for Christmas or my birthday or whatever."
"Fine, you hate frilly dresses." Brick rolled his eyes in the exact same way Blossom always did. "Cry me a river."
For some reason that set Buttercup off. "You know what? Fuck you! I'll kick your ass!" No one got to dismiss her like that. "I want my fucking rematch!" She stood up, but fell right back into the couch. Her legs wouldn't support her and her head was so heavy.
Brick laughed. "We're not gonna fight, you can't even get off the couch."
"No, it's 'cuz you're a scardey bitch." It came out as barely a murmur, she didn't have the energy.
Brick said a bunch of things Buttercup didn't catch. Everything started to go dark.
She slapped herself in the face to get herself to wake up. It only worked for a moment.
"Wish I had a gramma." That was the last thing she heard before blacking out.
Blossom woke to a quiet knock on her window. She scrambled to her feet and put her fists up. A pair of glowing red orbs hung behind the glass, Brick. Her power spread through her muscles in preparation for a fight.
He knocked again, slightly more insistent.
Blossom opened the window to him holding her unconscious sister by the ankle like a fish he had caught. Buttercup hung upside down, vomit clinging to her lips.
Brick re-positioned Buttercup to a bridal style carry and extended his arms to give her to Blossom.
Blossom took her sister, her eyes never leaving his. When she had accepted Buttercup's weight, Brick let his arms drop. Neither said anything.
Silently, very out of character for Brick, he floated back and away, taking off in a red streak when he was far enough not to make a sound.
Blossom set Buttercup on her bed and wiped her mouth with a tissue. She went to the hall bathroom retrieving her sister a glass of water and a dose of ibuprofen, knowing she'd want it the second she woke up, and placed it on the nightstand.
She had probably told their parents she was staying at a female friend's house, Buttercup didn't have many of those. Their parents weren't stupid, they knew something was up. But since Buttercup was virtually indestructible, they let it slide unless they had proof.
Blossom sat on the other side of the bed. She loved her sister, but didn't always agree with every decision she made. She felt torn between telling their parents and helping her keep it a secret. On one hand, her parents could help Buttercup with her more self-destructive activities, on the other, she didn't want Buttercup to get in trouble. While she knew Buttercup could do better, Blossom wasn't a narc when it came to her sisters.
She got under the covers and tucked them both in. She'd know what to do in the morning, it all depended on how bad a hangover Buttercup was about to have. And she had better not vomit on Blossom's clean sheets.
AN: Looking at the word count, this one could have been three separate chapters, but I like the idea of it being more about the night than any one character. The next chapter is mostly done, so look forward to it in the next few weeks. The one after that is also close to done, we'll see what happens.
Lastly, I could use a good beta reader. If anyone is interested or can suggest a good one, PM me.