Sorry so long. There's school and so many other things. I barely got this chapter up but don't worry ^.~. We'll be going places vbery quickly soon. Enough suspense...more action! Sorry...next chapter...or after that. o.o

Chapter 10

Blossom looked herself over in the mirror carefully. Her beautifully pressed, navy blue, school uniform was placed gently on the bed. Her red hair had been let down, cascading over where her shoulders would've been. She was admiring the new clothes she was dressed in. Blossom was now wearing a light pink top with a pair of blue jeans. Faded blue jeans. The clothes were far from expensive and more like something she'd assume only farmers would wear…but they felt comfortable. She smiled at her reflection. Wouldn't Mother be furious.

"You look beautiful." Buttercup commented sarcastically leaning on her bedroom's doorframe. Her appearance made Blossom jump. She blushed, embarrassed.

"Why thank you. I do believe these are the most comfortable clothes I have ever adorned." Blossom commented. Buttercup shrugged.

"You like 'em so much, you can have 'em." She responded from leaning in her doorway. Blossom turned her head sharply towards Buttercup, her orange hair whipping around her face.

"Real…really? Do you mean it?" Blossom asked, excitedly. The green-eyed girl shrugged.

"Sure, I hate pink." Buttercup was about to leave when Blossom threw her arms around her in an embrace.

"Oh thank you thank you THANK YOU!" The pink-eyed child squeezed her friend till Buttercup thought she'd break in two.

"You're…welcome…"

"Come on girls!" Ms. Robins cried from the living room. Bubbles ran in to get them. She wore a light blue T-shirt with the Superman symbol on it and also had on a pair of ripped blue jeans. Her pigtails were almost obscured by one of Buttercup's many baseball caps.

"Come on, you guys!" Bubbles bounced. "Red says we're gonna go now." Blossom released Buttercup from her kung-fu grip and Buttercup was aloud to breathe again.

"Terribly sorry, don't know what came over me. I must repay you somehow." Blossom said. The brunette just breathed, enjoying the life-giving air.

"Let's just…get to…the car." Buttercup panted out. She wasn't sure why Blossom's grip hurt so much. She'd never been squeezed so hard in her life. That rich-chick had power! She wondered how good she'd be at bat.

* * * *

Red Robins had never had a car so full of children. Her tiny four door Sedan could barely hold the three kindergartners (who DEMANDED to sit with one another). Red looked through the rear view mirror at her darling daughter and new found friends.

"…and then he says 'got your nose-y'! And I cried an' cried but he never gave it back." Bubbles finished her horror story. Blossom and Buttercup gasped. Bubbles nodded. "It's all true." Blossom put her hands over where her nose should have been.

"I never knew one's nose could be removed by using the pointer and middle fingers." Blossom looked at her mitts. "Good heavens, Bubbles! Do you think they removed are fingers to prevent us from getting vengeance?" The other two looked at their hands.

"Maybe they did…" Bubbles looked frightened. Red began to laugh.

"It's a joke." Red snickered. The three looked up at her.

"That's a pretty mean joke! Stealin' someone's nose!" Buttercup replied.

"No, no! They don't really steal your…oh never mind." Red chuckled and the three just shrugged. Suddenly Buttercup remembered something.

"I'm mad at you, Mommy!" She yelled. Red bit her lower lip and sighed, okay what did I do this time.

"What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you ever tell me I had sisters?" Buttercup asked, a pouty tone to her voice. Red turned the wheel sharply and the kids in the back nearly fell to one side.

"What?!" Red asked.

"Why didn't you say I had sisters?"

"Honey," Red calmed down placing both hands firmly on the wheel. "You don't have any sisters. Why would you think something…so…silly." Red glanced at the rearview mirror to see the three practically identical girls in the back. She smiled smugly figuring out why. "Ah, I see."

"Mrs. Red-ma'am." Bubbles spoke up from her nestled seat in the back. "You see, me an' Blossom were both adopted by nice people when we were found on their doorsteps. We thought that since we all look alike and the two of us were adopted an' Buttercup wasn't…well we thought maybe her mommy was our mommy too." Bubbles completed innocently. Red jerked the wheel again, swerving a bit.

Uh-oh. Red thought to herself biting her lower lip. She knew this day would come. She knew one day she'd have to tell her little baby Buttercup that she was really adopted. Found on a doorstep like a rag-a-muffin. But not here! Not in front of her friends. Red was silent for a while.

"Oh, Bubbles, sweetheart. I'm afraid that you aren't sisters." Red said calmly, avoiding the subject as best she could. "Here we are!" Red chimed perfectly. The three peered out of the window passing by Senecal Garden Park. The beautiful green leaves whipped by, the sun making the three squint as the looked onto the sun-bleached grass. There were a few kids and teenagers enjoying the fresh weather and stunning atmosphere. The children squirmed impatiently waiting to be released from the car. Red gave a little smile and parked carefully.

"I can't wait to show you my fast ball!" Buttercup gloated, unbuckling her safety belt. "It's so fast you can hardly see it!" Buttercup pushed open the door and leapt to the ground.

"Ha!" Bubbles laughed also releasing herself. "You ain't seen nothing till you seen me hit. POW! CRACK! And there's noting but a ball of string!" Bubbles smiled proudly, gloating in her own right.

"I, myself, cannot wait to learn of this sport. It certainly isn't the type of sport Father is involved with. I assume it must be a little understandable though." Blossom followed the girls while Red pulled a bat, a ball, and a baseball glove from the trunk. She shut the trunk with a loud thunk and made sure the car was locked up tight.

"Okay girls, let's head out to the diamond and you can show me your stuff." Red smiled pleasantly. She gained an evil grin. "LAST ONE THERE'S A ROTTEN EGG!" She cried and broke out into a run, surprising the three 5-year-olds.

"Oh no ya don't, Mommy!" Buttercup ran after, her tiny shoes smacking against pavement as she raced after her mother.

"Oooo! No head starts!" Bubbles called after. She broke out into a run as well, thinking how funny Red was.

"H…hey! Wait for me!" Blossom cried. She had hardly run before. That wasn't lady-like. But then again…she never wore jeans before either. Blossom smiled devilishly and followed suit, trying to catch up. It was so odd for an adult to act like a child, but it was sure nice too.

* * * *

"I wanna be pitcher!"

"I do!"

"Well I'M gonna be the pitcher!" Buttercup growled, head to head with Bubbles. The two had started quarreling the minute Red had asked who wanted to pitch (and for anyone who was wondering…Red was the rotten egg). Red sighed.

"Listen Buttercup, Bubbles is out guest, therefore she can be pitcher first. And we'll ALL have a chance to be pitcher anyway. Let's remember our manners." Red said adjusting Buttercup's baseball cap. Buttercup sighed trying to release her anger.

"Oh…all right."

"Good." Red turned to Blossom. "Now Blossom, you've never played this game before, right?"

"No ma'am." Blossom stated adjusting her posture and looking up toward Red. "I have yet to participate in this sport." Blossom stated articulately. Red gave a warming grin.

"All right, we'll show you how to bat first and then we'll let you try." Red picked up a bat in her slender hands and told Blossom to follow her. Blossom was obedient and followed. Red began explaining the equipment used for the game. Buttercup sighed and walked to the outfield, where she expected nothing would happen considering Blossom had never played ball before.

Bubbles practiced a few positions for pitching. She tried her best to look like those baseball guys on TV. She lifted up her leg and pretended to throw a wild pitch. Bubbles stuck her tongue out and pretended to throw again. The action reminded her of the way her and Daddy used to play ball in the park sometimes. With all the other people around. Bubbles paused, her tap shoes pressed against the soft dirt of the pitcher's mound. Daddy. She hadn't seen him since she ran out. And he'd be mad. He'd be really mad. But…but Ms. Green would take care of it. But it wasn't really Daddy's fault…the thoughts raced about in Bubbles's head as a stiff wind blew her pigtails back.

"…and then you would swing the bat like this." Red demonstrated swinging the wooden bat in front of her and following through. "You see? Now, you try." Red handed Blossom the bat, the wind blowing her hair in front of her face. Red smiled and brushed some of Blossom's hair out of her face affectionately. Blossom smiled.

"I comprehend. Like this." Blossom swung the bat wildly and it flew over the dirt and onto the grass, creating a brown cloud of dust as it rolled from the path to the green grass. Blossom bit her lower lip, but Red smiled.

"It's something like that. All you really need to do is grip it tighter. Here." Red picked up the bat and walked back to Blossom. She put the bat in Blossom's mitts and helped position her hands. "Like this." Blossom griped the white-taped end of the bat tightly; Red's fingers help holding them there warmly. Red's presence was somehow a comfort to Blossom. "Now you swing like this." Red moved the bat with Blossom's hands still grasped onto it along with her own. She motioned with Blossom the movement of the bat swinging through the air. She then let Blossom try. Red smiled gently. "You've got it! My you're a fast learner." She commented.

"That is one of my best traits, or so I have been informed." Blossom grinned.

"All right Bubbles, think you can throw us a pitch?" Red waited making sure that Blossom gripped the bat correctly. "Bubbles?" Red gazed over to the tiny blonde staring off pensively into the wind. "Honey, are you all right?"

"Huh?" Bubbles snapped from her thoughts. Her Daddy would be so angry…if only she could stay with that nice Ms. Robins and her new friends. Just a little longer. She put on that camera-friendly smile and winded up a pitch. "Okay!"

"Underhand! Throw it underhand!" Red called as she took out her worn mitt, playing umpire.

"Oh…okay." Bubbles stopped winding up and bent over. She gave a slow underhanded pitch that waved softly in the air. It seemed so slow that the wind might've blown it to the ground. Blossom closed her eyes and swung.

She put a mitt to shield the sun as she looked for where she'd hit it. Red coughed from behind her. The pink-eyed girl saw the baseball resting comfortably in Red's baseball glove. She heard guffawing from the outfield.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Buttercup laughed pointing a mitt and holding her stomach as if the laughter was causing her pain. "My GRANDMOTHER could hit better than that!" She giggled, laughing to the blue sky. Blossom pouted.

"Buttercup! Be nice." Red warned and then turned to Blossom with a pleasant smile, "Okay honey, this time, keep your eye on the ball. Hold the bat like this. Good. Okay Bubbles." Red threw the dusty-white ball back to the blonde. She caught it and wound up again. She threw a soft underhanded pitch. Blossom swung.

She looked to see the ball practically glide into Red's open glove.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Buttercup laughed even harder. "Oh come on! Am I gonna wait out here forever!"

Blossom frowned and stomped her shoes in a hissy-fit. She shook her head and decided this time; it was going out of the park! Or right down that Buttercup's throat! Blossom reared her bat back, squatted lower and glared into the pitcher. Bubbles smiled.

"Don't worry Blossom, you'll get it this time!" Bubbles winded up.

"If anyone doesn't mind, I'm going to sleep." Buttercup commented. Red shot her a glare but now Blossom was determined.

Bubbles wound up carefully and let the ball roll off of her mitt towards home base with impeccable aim. The ball hovered towards the base like a feather on the wind. Blossom brought her bat back, kept her eye on the ball, she swung foreword putting her whole body into it and following through. The bat made a satisfying crack as it slammed into the ball sending it burning, literally, into the outfield.

Buttercup did a double take at the ball flaming through the air at an alarming speed. Reacting on instinct, she leapt up so high, it seems as though the child was…flying. Buttercup was surprised as she found herself practically (if not actually) flying off of the green grassy ground. Whoa…how'm I…Buttercup didn't finish her thought before looking up to see a flaming baseball headed straight for her.

POW!

* * * *

There was a darkness. A memory suddenly surfaced in her mind. There was her and her two new friends in these odd dresses…something like the yellow and white dress she wore to school. But hers was green, and Blossom had a pink one on to match her eyes, and Bubbles was wearing and light blue one. They were flying; the three of them into a sparkling cluster of stars burning into the black void of space…space.

She barely got a chance to search through the airless bleak abyss. Bubbles and Blossom arch back for re-entry, Buttercup seems to follow. The three join together as flames encircle them, burning all around. The flames encased them all around till they turned into a large fiery…feline.

They plummeted toward the Earth. A mass of land changing to America, to the coast, to Townsville sky line, to the large section of the city with a pea soup green blob mushing over everything. The girls charging towards it, the flames building, the adrenaline pumping.

Buttercup opened one eye meekly. The sun was blinding her behind three shadowy heads and a disoriented voice. She felt her head pound and a burning in her eyes. The burning reminded her of something else. Something with black ooze dripping all over her. Was that another dream? Buttercup tried to get up. She heard her mother's soft voice.

"Buttercup, baby…are you all right?" Red asked concerned. Her little child opened one beautiful green eye at her. She had watched her child leap into the air, flying almost. The ball zooming toward her like a mini-comet. Blossom screaming "Oh my Goodness, oh my goodness I did it." Then the ball slammed straight into Buttercup flinging her threw the air and crashing her into the grass below. It didn't stop there. The ball dug into Buttercup dragging her across the ground deeper into the ground, the dirt building up around her on both sides with a rumble. Red had watched in awe and horror as Buttercup slowed to a stop. The ground steaming with the heat of her passage. The ball sizzling. The child rubbed her other eye slowly, the ball still in it.

"I'm okay…owwww. BLOSSOM YOU MORON!" Buttercup got up quickly throwing the ball to the grass. Bubbles gasped.

"Buttercup your eye!" Bubbles pointed to her eye.

"What! What's wrong?!" Buttercup covered her eye with her mitt protectively.

"It's…ewwwwww." Bubbles shielded herself from Buttercup's eye. It was black and blue and swollen. Buttercup could feel the lines where the stitches of the ball had hit against her eye. Red shook herself out of her shock. A hit like that…she thought her child would go to the emergency room. Her heart was beating a mile-a-minute. But…she seemed only to have black eye. Blossom rushed over apologizing quickly.

"I am so terribly, dreadfully sorry. I am so amazingly sorry my dear, dear friend. Allow me to assist you." She helped Buttercup up. "Oh dear Lord I apologize! I did not realize the massive power in my arm. I am a good ball-player though…" Blossom thought aloud. Buttercup growled but kept her temper down.

"It's okay, I'm okay." Buttercup muttered holding her eye while standing on wobbly legs.

"Everyone in the car!" Red cried. The three girls leapt at the woman's frantic cry. They seemed confused while Red collected their things.

What just happened here? Red wondered picking up the bat, a hand to the side of her face. She had witnessed a five-year-old girl, who had NEVER played baseball in her life, smash a ball so hard it could've had it's own orbit! She saw her own child hit with that ball and come out with a BLACK EYE. Things weren't adding up. The logic was all wrong.

The troupe loaded into the car in silence, Buttercup holding her injured eye, Blossom and Bubbles with their heads bowed. Red threw the things into the trunk and sat in the front gripping the steering wheel. She looked out the windshield for a minute. She tried to calm herself, but all the while something in the back of her mind was nagging that this all, somehow, was just like it should be.