Author

Author's Note: You don't have to be amazing to be original. Buttercups and marigolds.

Maybe I'm Twisted
by Rey

Chapter 2 - In Resurrection
"Tonight's the night I will change my destiny."

Tonight echoed in Buttercup's mind like a curse. Back in their room, Blossom was reading a book on conversational Dutch, Bubbles was cheerfully drawing what they'd done that day, and Buttercup, "in one of her moods" as Blossom would have put it, stared out the window at the setting sun. Reds and oranges streaked out across the evening sky as she watched, the tops of the clouds blue fading into purple, and the bottoms pink, with flashes of white. Beautiful, she thought, but she said nothing. She had to act normal, and to be Buttercup was to be ... be Buttercup.

She had to waste time, more or less. But not waste it, perhaps work out a plan. And the recipe, if you will. Why Brick? was her first thought. I mean, they tried to kill us. They almost succeeded! But... but that was because... they were evil. It was Mojo-Jojo. He... well, whatever he used. Maybe I'm losing my mind.

Maybe I am. Maybe I'm insane. Where did this crush come from? And anyway, shouldn't Blossom be the one in love with Brick? We didn't even know them, all we did was fight them and be taunted and... Buttercup shuddered. Be beaten.

But maybe that's why, she mused mentally. Maybe I... I need someone... stronger... I don't like where this is going. Start over, Buttercup.

But, Bee-Cee? That's so cute... Another voice echoed.

Start over. Alright. What are little boys made of? Actually, maybe I'd better go ask the Professor that. He'd know. He made us. If he wanted little boys he'd have known how to make them. But... but would it seem strange? Buttercup paused to glance at her sisters. Blossom? No, she's too responsible. Bubbles? I can't manipulate her like that, she's my sister. Now, if she wasn't my sister... Buttercup grinned inwardly. I'll.. just go ask the Professor... Innocently. Innocence, that's the key right now.

And I'm not in love with Brick, she told herself. No. Stupid crush. He's ugly, she reprimanded herself, trying to lie herself into believing it. But.. I have to... find out, anyway...

Buttercup hovered up from her seat by the window and slowly floated from the room. Neither of her sisters paid much attention to her departure.

Maybe I'm tired of always being tough. Maybe I want someone to lean on once in a while.

"Professor?" Buttercup's face appeared over the top of the Professor's newspaper. He smiled, folding the paper up and setting it in his lap.

"Yes, Buttercup?"

"Um... I was wondering..." And here she innocently put her hands behind her back, digging a toe into the 'ground' while hovering in midair. "What are little boys made of?"

The Professor blinked. Was she asking where children came from? "Oh... Well, Buttercup, you know that you and your sisters are made out of sugar, spice, and -"

"Everything nice? Uh-huh..." She smiled disarmingly.

The Professor smiled back, and nodded. "So logically, little boys are made out of snips, snails, and puppy dog tails!"

Puppy dog tails?! "Oh, thank you, Professor. I was just curious." Buttercup giggled, and hovered back up the stairs.

The Professor picked up his newspaper. "You're welcome, dear." It's good that she's taking an interest in science...

That's not bad, is it? I just need... someone.

After dinner, Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup were downstairs watching TV. Bubbles, who was having her turn at the remote, elected to watch Puppet Pals. Blossom obligingly watched with her, while Buttercup hovered back and forth, occasionally sending glances at the television.

"Buttercup?" Blossom said, a hint of irritation in her voice. Buttercup stopped "pacing" and turned her gaze downwards. "Yeah?"

"Would you mind sitting down? It is hard to concentrate on the TV when there is a green girl's feet blocking the screen," Blossom said curtly. Buttercup snorted, but slowly descended to sit on the couch. She wouldn't be sitting for long, though, as the Professor soon entered the TV room.

"Now, girls, it's time for bed. Go get ready and I'll come tuck you in later," he nodded at them. Bubbles switched off the TV and streaked up the stairs, giggling. Blossom and Buttercup both elected to hover upstairs slowly. By the time they'd reached their room, Bubbles was already climbing up on the bed with Octi.

Blossom entered their bathroom, and Buttercup, about to follow, appeared to change her mind. "Bubbles?"

The blonde girl looked up, smiling. "Yes, Buttercup?"

"I was wondering... remember, when we... beat the, um, Rowdyruff boys?"

Bubbles giggled happily. "Yeah! I kinda liked kissin' them..."

"Uh-huh." Buttercup coughed; she hadn't exactly enjoyed it. "Well... I wanted to ask you something," She intoned, with a glance over her shoulder towards the bathroom. "If they were normal boys, not all... all evil like they were, which one would you like best?"

Bubbles thought for a moment, scrunching up her face. "Umm... I think I woulda liked the one I was kissin'. Or maybe the one you were kissin', Buttercup." She giggled again. "But maybe you like him, so..."

Oh, you don't know how wrong you are, Bubbles. But... but I don't love him. It's a crush.

"Oh, okay, then. Don't tell Blossom about it, I think she'd get upset we were talking about them like this..." Buttercup attempted to giggle. Bubbles beamed. "Yeah..."

Buttercup nodded, and hovered off to the bathroom to get washed up, as Blossom exited, already in her nightie.

Buttercup stared at her reflection in the mirror. The outline of herself seemed watery, indistinct, and it slowly formed the image of Brick in her mind. She smiled slightly, tilting her head, watching the image do the same. They said she had no imagination...

"Bee-Cee." The nickname echoed in her head. That night, she'd start her own timeline. She'd find out. Changing into her nightie, Buttercup left the bathroom.

The Professor tucked the covers over his three little girls, smiling. He leaned over Bubbles, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Goodnight, Bubbles."

"Goodnight, Blossom." And a kiss to her forehead, as well.

"And goodnight, Buttercup." With a kiss for her, the Professor made sure they were tucked in nice and tight, before switching off the lights and leaving the room.

The wall clock, illuminated by the dim light which flowed through the window, read 3:28 AM. Buttercup opened her eyes, slowly focusing on the wall clock. She breathed in deeply, and slowly glanced to her side. Bubbles and Blossom were both deeply asleep. Listening hard, she focused for any noises downstairs.

No, the Professor was sleeping in his room. It was time.

Slowly, very, very carefully, she crawled out of the covers. Putting her pillow under where she had lay, to make it seem as if she was still there to the half-blind observer, she hovered up. Now she had to get out of the house. Snips, snails, and puppy dog tails? Where was she going to find those?

Buttercup hovered down the stairs slowly, into the kitchen. Taking a pair of scissors and a paper bag, she disappeared out the door. She had to find those ingredients, and quickly...

By some sort of pure luck, a stray cat outside on the Utonium driveway was circling a snail! Buttercup could hardly believe her luck. Silently she hovered up behind the cat, and quickly snipped and bagged a few hairs from its tail. The cat 'mrrowed' angrily, turning to spit at Buttercup - but when it saw her, floating in mid-air, it turned and ran, with another loud 'rrrow'. Buttercup blinked and shrugged at the retreating cat, before picking up the snail and dropping it into the bag as well.

"Great," Buttercup mumbled. Now all she needed was a puppy dog's tail. But, jeez... A puppy dog tail? But, just then, the sounds of a scuffle behind their trash can could be heard, and she zipped over to investigate.

It turned out to be the cat she'd seen before, and... a dog. A dog! Absolutely impossible luck. At least, that's what she would have thought if she hadn't been excited. Once the cat saw her, it immediately turned to leave, and the dog's reaction was the same, but Buttercup nabbed it before it escaped. It looked at her, tilting its head. Buttercup sighed, frowning.

"I don't want to hurt you, doggy... I hope you'll forgive me." The dog ruffed, with a confused dog expression.

Snip.

The dog whined a little, as Buttercup set it down, but otherwise made no noise. It hurried off into the bushes, obviously frightened, the stub of its tail inbetween its legs.

"Oh!" As she glanced inside the paper bag to check on the ingredients, an idea struck her. I have to add some nice stuff. I don't... don't want them to turn out evil... Again, she shuddered. Or was that because it was cold? Buttercup quickly hovered up and through their room window. Both her sisters were still fast asleep, she saw with relief.

As quietly as she could, she streaked to their closet and leaned it, to pull out a football, a book on science and technology which she had read and enjoyed greatly, and a baseball. Quietly she hovered back out, without a backwards glance.

Entering the house once more through the front door, Buttercup, clutching her ingredients tightly, made her way to the lab, and down the stairs into it. It was dark, but she could see.

She piled her ingredients in one corner, being careful to keep the paper bag closed, and streaked around the lab, quickly gathering the last parts of the recipe. A cauldron, a cauldron-stirrer (just to be traditional), and a flask of Chemical X, which the Professor had in small quantities.

Her hands trembling, eyes bright with excitement, Buttercup lifted the paper bag and overturned it.

Snips.

Snail.

Tail.

Grabbing the cauldron stirrer, she mixed it up a bit, before adding the football and the baseball... And finally the book.

While stirring with one hand, Buttercup held the flask of Chemical X in the other.

"Oh, dear..." Buttercup bit her lip, as she lifted the flask above the cauldron... and dropped it in.

There was no explosion. Buttercup stirred a little more, and noticed a concoction bubbling in the cauldron. Quickly she removed the stirrer, and hovered backwards. Had... had she done something wrong? Was this supposed to happen?

The cauldron shook, and Buttercup did also, fearfully. What had she done?

As she watched, the cauldron slowly overturned...

And a red cap rolled out.

Slowly, as if coming from a tunnel into the light, Brick groped his way out of the cauldron. It seemed almost surreal as, after Brick, Boomer rolled out, and Butch clambered out as well. They blinked slowly, adjusting to the dim light in the lab.

"Dude. Where are we?"