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?"