Inner Turmoil-Chapter 9
Should I go through with this?
Yes.
But- Blossom said-
Screw Blossom.
So.
These were the very same type of arguments that went on between Buttercup's good sense, and her desire to do what she wanted to spite her sister. Blossom had told her it would be wrong, but Buttercup hadn't listened, she didn't want to listen. Besides, it felt good to watch her sister squirm, and it felt good to do just what she hadn't wanted.
Buttercup stood alone outside a giant office building, the word Medicom posted in huge steel letters just above the building's glass entrance. Buttercup stood before the doors for a few moments, watching important looking business people walk in and out, while she fingered the slip of paper in her right hand. She looked at it once more, as if checking to make sure the address was correct, but of course it was. Buttercup surprisingly enough, could read the giant letters that confirmed she was where she wanted to be.
The night before, Buttercup had stayed in her room. Blossom probably thought she had been sleeping, and had probably told the others not to wake her. That didn't matter either, because the professor was doing a good job staying out of her way. That was no loss to Buttercup; it suited her just fine. Every time she saw him she wanted to tear him to pieces.
A smirk spread across her lips. Stupid man. What did he know about her really? She was nothing more than a lab rat to him. The only reason he'd even been raising them the past twelve years was so he could see how his creations fared in the real world.
I guess we were smarter than you think, she thought bitterly to herself. Ever since Buttercup had found out the truth, ever since she realized that what he'd been telling them all their lives was false, she wanted nothing to do with him. She knew better.
Buttercup knew that they were only a burden to him, and the only reason he kept them alive was because he was obligated by his employment. It didn't matter how lovingly he acted or how much he went out of his way for them, because he was leading them on, and Buttercup would have none of that. They weren't human beings, but someone's property.
Buttercup stuffed the ragged piece of paper back into the pocket of her plaid skirt and adjusted the shoulder strap of her side bag. With an air of confidence she walked through the double glass doors into the cool air- conditioned lobby, making a path straight for the elevators.
She had exactly ten minutes before the man she wanted to see was supposed to leave on his lunch break. He was the director, or head honcho if you will, and also the only guy with the information that Buttercup wanted. If anybody had questions, he was the one to ask, because he knew everything that went on in the company.
Buttercup had wanted to make an appointment, but she had chickened out at that part. She was just going to walk in and hope he wasn't busy, armed with a false story about summer school reports in order to fool the secretary into letting her in. A part of her told her she wasn't going to get anywhere. After all, he was a busy man, and probably didn't have the time to see teenage girls.
Buttercup had been on the elevator for what seemed like an eternity, before it finally stopped on the tenth floor. She had suspected she was getting odd looks from the people around her, but she didn't care. This was far too important to care about people staring.
She stepped out into the new lobby, which was shinny and overly polished. Buttercup watched her own reflection curiously as it slid along the floor, walking towards what appeared to be a secretary at her desk. Business people were moving back and forth among the polished stone pillars, carrying papers and various documents, and Buttercup had to swerve twice just to avoid a collision. She walked up to the secretary's high-countered desk and stood quietly, expecting the snobbish woman to look up.
After about ten seconds, the woman made no motion to signal that she knew Buttercup was there, so Buttercup cleared her throat loudly. The woman let out a mousy squeak and her pen went flying out of her hands, only to clatter onto the floor about three feet to Buttercup's left.
"Err- sorry about that," Buttercup said awkwardly, and she moved to pick the pen up from the ground. As she stood, she caught sight of a very important looking man who was peering out the glass walls of his large office, looking directly at her. Breaking his gaze she looked back to the secretary, who looked just a bit ruffled by the scare.
"Yes, yes, what do you need?" she snapped quickly, taking the pen quickly out of Buttercup's hand. Buttercup was slightly taken aback at this rudeness, but decided she should hold her tongue.
"I'm looking for a man," Buttercup began swiftly, but she paused, realizing she didn't quite know what the man's name was.
"My dear, I think you're in the wrong place then. Perhaps a teen rave would suit your needs-"
"No, no! That isn't what I meant!" Buttercup said hotly. "I'm looking for the lab director."
"And why on earth do you think he has the time to see you? He's a very busy man." The secretary said in a falsely sweet voice that made Buttercup cringe. She really wanted to punch this woman in the face.
"I was just- er- wondering if he had a minute. I'd like to talk to him about."
"Yes?"
"Well. I. it's this project for school and. um, we're required to have a. professional mentor in the field our projects on. so. I uh." Buttercup stammered. The story sounded ridiculous, but that was the best she'd been able to come up with, and in her nervousness it sounded far dumber.
"Well sweetheart. I'm afraid he can't see you now, and I suggest you choose a different field of study. The exit is just right over there-"
"You BITCH!" Buttercup lost her temper.
"Excuse me?" the woman squealed, putting one hand on her chest as she looked at Buttercup very disapprovingly, false eyelashes quivering.
"YOU HAVEN'T EVEN TRIED!" Buttercup hollered. People were beginning to come out of their offices to stare, including that man that had been looking at her before.
"My dear, you force me to call security!" the woman screeched, picking up the phone with freshly manicured hands, and moving to dial some odd number.
"No, don't bother. I'll throw myself out!" Buttercup yelled. She spun around to leave, feeling like she was very close to hitting something, when she ran right into a dark gray business suit.
"Catherine, there will be no need for that. I was expecting this young lady. Didn't you receive my memo?" he said, his voice was very smooth, like honey. Buttercup looked up at him warily, because he was tall, and did look imposing for a normal person.
"Oh I'm sorry Dr. Levigne! It's just that his girl- she was so rude!"
"Well, I dare say you would be quite irritated if your own appointment had been disregarded wouldn't you?" he said coolly, straightening the sleeve of his very expensive looking shirt.
"I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again," the secretary said blankly, and shot one more acid glance at Buttercup, who could do nothing but grin stupidly in approval. The man put a heavy hand onto Buttercup's shoulder and began to push her into the direction of his office. It was very clear now, that he had been the one watching her from his glass room, and had quite possibly saved her from loads of embarrassment.
"Um, thanks," Buttercup said lightly as she was directed to a seat that was in front of his large, polished wooden desk. She sat in the squishy purple chair and felt herself sink a few inches into the gauzy material.
"Oh it was nothing. She is very difficult to work with, Catherine," the man said casually, as he took a seat at his own desk. After folding his hands in front of him on the table he set himself to staring at Buttercup with strange interest. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable, because she felt very small with the large man looking down on her.
"Please forgive me. I'm the director here. Doctor Alexander Levigne," he said, extending a hand across the table for Buttercup to shake. Now it was panic time.
"Oh um, I'm- ah- Buttercup," she said quickly, taking his hand. There was a light pause as he waited for her to disclose her last name, but she didn't give it. It probably wasn't the smartest idea the throw the professor's name around in this place. He looked at her suspiciously.
"I overheard that you wanted to see me?" he asked for verification. Buttercup nodded swiftly and blinked a few times, before realizing that she should probably say something.
"Well, you see sir, I-I-I-I was w-wondering if I could ask you a f-few questions?" she finally managed to stutter. That was one habit she hated about herself. She tended to stutter when she felt uncomfortable.
"Yes?" he said warmly, but then held his finger up as if to silence her. "Anything to drink? Let's see I have water, some soda, oh and those coffee drinks you young ones seem to like so much."
"Errr- no, that's okay-" Buttercup cleared her throat very loudly. "I'm good."
He almost looked disappointed that he couldn't get her a drink, but shrugged it off anyway. "So, what was it you wanted to ask me? Is it some sort of project?"
"Yes sir. I- uh- was wondering if you could tell me a-a- bit about the company." she said, feeling just a little bit of tension spill away.
"What is it you want to know?" he asked calmly, drumming his hands on the desk before standing up to walk over to the back window. He looked out it dreamily and was watching the street below. "That industrial district.filthy. you never know what sort of dodgy things are around there eh? Deadly chemical plants." he said, turning to look at Buttercup with a strangely mad twinkle in his eye as if he was trying to tell her something. "Secret laboratories," Then the oddest of things happened; he winked. Buttercup almost thought she imagined it- but no- she had seen it, plain as day.
"Well, I- ummm." Buttercup wondered how exactly she should word her question. It was going to sound very odd, and she was almost afraid to see his reaction.
"How about I, say, randomly shoot off a word or phrase, and you tell me what comes to mind?" Buttercup said stupidly. He looked at her questioningly for a moment, not sure as to where this was headed, but he decided to humor her.
"Okay. shoot."
"Genetics."
"Vast potential for human improvement."
"Umm. okay." Buttercup squirmed a bit uncomfortably in her seat, hoping afterwards that he hadn't noticed.
"White Hazard?" she said cautiously, at the same time waiting for half a dozen mercenary soldiers to burst into the room armed with machine guns. None ever came, but a drowsy silence fell over the two of them as the man turned around, beaming.
"I see you've done some research. very good!" He said merrily. Buttercup had been thinking he'd become quiet or angry when she asked him, but instead he seemed positively delighted, as if he'd been waiting for it the whole time. "But as I'm sure you already know, that portion of the company has been gone for quite some time."
"What did they do?" Buttercup asked hesitantly. She hadn't really been expecting to get this far.
"Oh, they worked with genetics mostly. Human genetics if you please, and they were in the middle of working on a solution to aid physically challenged humans when-"
"You mean, make them stronger?" Buttercup interrupted.
"Oh yes. The idea was to help people get back on their feet who really couldn't anymore, whether it be age. or illness. or-"
"How much stronger are we talking about?"
"Strong enough." He said simply, but the smile that was plastered over his face told Buttercup otherwise. There was something more devious in the story that he wasn't going to say. "But, funding ran out and the division was disbanded."
"So. was it successful?"
"Perhaps." he trailed off very slowly. At that moment he began to stare at Buttercup in a way that made her feel most uncomfortable. He looked as if he was studying her, reading her very carefully as if he knew something about her that she hadn't addressed. Slowly, he licked his lips, as if Buttercup had suddenly turned into a very tasty pastry that was waiting to be eaten.
She suddenly wanted nothing more than to leave as soon as possible.
"Well. perhaps it could have been. but I suppose we will never know. will we?" he said hastily as if trying to correct a very grave error. Perhaps, without meaning too, he'd let something slip. what was he going to do now? Buttercup suddenly wished that she wasn't alone; in fact, she suddenly wished that she'd listened to Blossom and hadn't come in the first place.
She quickly looked at her watch.
"Oh wow, I-I-I don't mean to keep you or anything." Buttercup said very quickly, jumping up from the seat to run out of the room. "Plus I need to get home and uh, clean my room and stuff." Buttercup backed away towards the door. Nothing looked out of the ordinary.
"I hope I answered everything you liked?" the man said cheerfully, and there was another mischievous twinkle in his eye that reminded Buttercup too much of someone she knew. someone she really didn't want to see right now-
"Well-er- bye then, and thank you," Buttercup said, and then she turned to leave, walking as quickly as she could. With a frenzied pace she left the building, wanting to put as much distance between herself and that man Levign.
She was probably about three blocks away when she managed to start thinking again through her fury. She walked briskly, dimly noticing that while she'd been there the sun had gone down, and the only the light was cast from the glowing orange streetlamps that lined the street. She continued walking, not even bothering to look around her, not even noticing that she was alone on a deserted street.
How dare the professor work for such lunatics! He must be no better.
Buttercup kept walking, but then stopped very suddenly as if something had just caught her attention. Something was coming and she could feel it-
-Something large and massive came to a squealing halt in front of Buttercup. The air around her exploded with the sounds of many shouting voices.
A large, white van had careened out of the alleyway that had been just ahead of her, headlights blazing and tires smoking. From the double back doors men with guns began to pour out of the back, shouting and yelling at her with their guns pointed.
Buttercup turned to try and run, confused, but there were more men behind her, moving forwards slowly with their guns trembling. They were clearly scared of her, treating her as if she was a bomb that was about to go off. Slowly they kept coming towards her as if trying to herd her towards something, the van, they were trying to get her into the van.
That BASTARD!
You have to do something quick!
The guns made her wary. Buttercup had never been shot before, and certainly didn't want to make this the first time.
It was very clear what this was. That funny man had arranged this. They wanted her back-
There was an explosion of movement as the men all lunged for her simultaneously. Buttercup was much too quick for them; her smaller size, and super powers giving her an unfair advantage-
-With graceful agility she leap high into the air, sailing over the men's heads as she landed cat-like onto the roof of the van with a loud crunch. There was definite confusion as the armed men couldn't quite comprehend what had happened-
-Buttercup paid no attention to them. She acted like a threatened predator, and did the only thing that came to her mind. On the top of the van she stalked over to the space of the roof that was above the drivers seat, clenching her right fist-
-With a loud squeal of rendering metal, Buttercup punched her fist into the roof, sliding it through as if it were nothing more than Jell-O. Fishing around, she felt what she wanted and yanked hard-
-The armed crowd below had suddenly realized where she'd gone and started shouting again, pointing their guns upward, and stopping dead-
-There was a loud shriek from inside the van as Buttercup latched onto the thick, greasy hair of the driver, pulling with all her might. His head came tearing through the thick top of the car, screaming wildly. Buttercup tightened her grip and pulled him out cleanly, ignoring the fact that the man was now partially dead. He'd been completely torn apart-
-The men below had all frozen, watching her with horror plastered onto their faces. Buttercup was laughing cruelly, not caring about how brutal she was being. She was so angry that they'd even dare try and take her. she was feeling murderous, deadly-
-With a mighty yelp Buttercup flung the dead man at the crowd below, feeling her powerful muscles contract in her arms with efficient skill. About a dozen of the armed men were sent sprawling, blood splashing all over-
-With so much grace and agility Buttercup flipped over backwards, landing on the opposite side of the van. Feeling the beautiful strength surge through every cell in her body, she laughed at the pure ecstasy of using her bottled-up powers once more-
-With a mighty kick and a hearty guffaw of triumph, the entire van rolled forwards with the force of a large semi, plowing over all the men like so many bowling pins. The sound was so wonderful: exploding glass, bending metal-
-Then there were sirens. The police-
Shit!
Buttercup disappeared down the alleyway the van had come from, feeling as though she'd never felt more alive in her life. Smiling the entire way, she darted amongst the shadows, her element, and made her way home.
Oh, Blossom would be soooo angry!
The police could never figure out what had been strong enough to send and entire van rolling down the street like an oversized skipping stone, only to smash to a halt into a florist about five blocks away. Nothing remotely normal could do that, and then vanish without a trace. The only evidence left was a mighty dent on the van's side and a huge peeling hole above the driver's seat, which the police couldn't make any sense of.
The bodies were marked as robbers fleeing from a scene. How far from the truth that was, nobody would ever know.
Should I go through with this?
Yes.
But- Blossom said-
Screw Blossom.
So.
These were the very same type of arguments that went on between Buttercup's good sense, and her desire to do what she wanted to spite her sister. Blossom had told her it would be wrong, but Buttercup hadn't listened, she didn't want to listen. Besides, it felt good to watch her sister squirm, and it felt good to do just what she hadn't wanted.
Buttercup stood alone outside a giant office building, the word Medicom posted in huge steel letters just above the building's glass entrance. Buttercup stood before the doors for a few moments, watching important looking business people walk in and out, while she fingered the slip of paper in her right hand. She looked at it once more, as if checking to make sure the address was correct, but of course it was. Buttercup surprisingly enough, could read the giant letters that confirmed she was where she wanted to be.
The night before, Buttercup had stayed in her room. Blossom probably thought she had been sleeping, and had probably told the others not to wake her. That didn't matter either, because the professor was doing a good job staying out of her way. That was no loss to Buttercup; it suited her just fine. Every time she saw him she wanted to tear him to pieces.
A smirk spread across her lips. Stupid man. What did he know about her really? She was nothing more than a lab rat to him. The only reason he'd even been raising them the past twelve years was so he could see how his creations fared in the real world.
I guess we were smarter than you think, she thought bitterly to herself. Ever since Buttercup had found out the truth, ever since she realized that what he'd been telling them all their lives was false, she wanted nothing to do with him. She knew better.
Buttercup knew that they were only a burden to him, and the only reason he kept them alive was because he was obligated by his employment. It didn't matter how lovingly he acted or how much he went out of his way for them, because he was leading them on, and Buttercup would have none of that. They weren't human beings, but someone's property.
Buttercup stuffed the ragged piece of paper back into the pocket of her plaid skirt and adjusted the shoulder strap of her side bag. With an air of confidence she walked through the double glass doors into the cool air- conditioned lobby, making a path straight for the elevators.
She had exactly ten minutes before the man she wanted to see was supposed to leave on his lunch break. He was the director, or head honcho if you will, and also the only guy with the information that Buttercup wanted. If anybody had questions, he was the one to ask, because he knew everything that went on in the company.
Buttercup had wanted to make an appointment, but she had chickened out at that part. She was just going to walk in and hope he wasn't busy, armed with a false story about summer school reports in order to fool the secretary into letting her in. A part of her told her she wasn't going to get anywhere. After all, he was a busy man, and probably didn't have the time to see teenage girls.
Buttercup had been on the elevator for what seemed like an eternity, before it finally stopped on the tenth floor. She had suspected she was getting odd looks from the people around her, but she didn't care. This was far too important to care about people staring.
She stepped out into the new lobby, which was shinny and overly polished. Buttercup watched her own reflection curiously as it slid along the floor, walking towards what appeared to be a secretary at her desk. Business people were moving back and forth among the polished stone pillars, carrying papers and various documents, and Buttercup had to swerve twice just to avoid a collision. She walked up to the secretary's high-countered desk and stood quietly, expecting the snobbish woman to look up.
After about ten seconds, the woman made no motion to signal that she knew Buttercup was there, so Buttercup cleared her throat loudly. The woman let out a mousy squeak and her pen went flying out of her hands, only to clatter onto the floor about three feet to Buttercup's left.
"Err- sorry about that," Buttercup said awkwardly, and she moved to pick the pen up from the ground. As she stood, she caught sight of a very important looking man who was peering out the glass walls of his large office, looking directly at her. Breaking his gaze she looked back to the secretary, who looked just a bit ruffled by the scare.
"Yes, yes, what do you need?" she snapped quickly, taking the pen quickly out of Buttercup's hand. Buttercup was slightly taken aback at this rudeness, but decided she should hold her tongue.
"I'm looking for a man," Buttercup began swiftly, but she paused, realizing she didn't quite know what the man's name was.
"My dear, I think you're in the wrong place then. Perhaps a teen rave would suit your needs-"
"No, no! That isn't what I meant!" Buttercup said hotly. "I'm looking for the lab director."
"And why on earth do you think he has the time to see you? He's a very busy man." The secretary said in a falsely sweet voice that made Buttercup cringe. She really wanted to punch this woman in the face.
"I was just- er- wondering if he had a minute. I'd like to talk to him about."
"Yes?"
"Well. I. it's this project for school and. um, we're required to have a. professional mentor in the field our projects on. so. I uh." Buttercup stammered. The story sounded ridiculous, but that was the best she'd been able to come up with, and in her nervousness it sounded far dumber.
"Well sweetheart. I'm afraid he can't see you now, and I suggest you choose a different field of study. The exit is just right over there-"
"You BITCH!" Buttercup lost her temper.
"Excuse me?" the woman squealed, putting one hand on her chest as she looked at Buttercup very disapprovingly, false eyelashes quivering.
"YOU HAVEN'T EVEN TRIED!" Buttercup hollered. People were beginning to come out of their offices to stare, including that man that had been looking at her before.
"My dear, you force me to call security!" the woman screeched, picking up the phone with freshly manicured hands, and moving to dial some odd number.
"No, don't bother. I'll throw myself out!" Buttercup yelled. She spun around to leave, feeling like she was very close to hitting something, when she ran right into a dark gray business suit.
"Catherine, there will be no need for that. I was expecting this young lady. Didn't you receive my memo?" he said, his voice was very smooth, like honey. Buttercup looked up at him warily, because he was tall, and did look imposing for a normal person.
"Oh I'm sorry Dr. Levigne! It's just that his girl- she was so rude!"
"Well, I dare say you would be quite irritated if your own appointment had been disregarded wouldn't you?" he said coolly, straightening the sleeve of his very expensive looking shirt.
"I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again," the secretary said blankly, and shot one more acid glance at Buttercup, who could do nothing but grin stupidly in approval. The man put a heavy hand onto Buttercup's shoulder and began to push her into the direction of his office. It was very clear now, that he had been the one watching her from his glass room, and had quite possibly saved her from loads of embarrassment.
"Um, thanks," Buttercup said lightly as she was directed to a seat that was in front of his large, polished wooden desk. She sat in the squishy purple chair and felt herself sink a few inches into the gauzy material.
"Oh it was nothing. She is very difficult to work with, Catherine," the man said casually, as he took a seat at his own desk. After folding his hands in front of him on the table he set himself to staring at Buttercup with strange interest. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable, because she felt very small with the large man looking down on her.
"Please forgive me. I'm the director here. Doctor Alexander Levigne," he said, extending a hand across the table for Buttercup to shake. Now it was panic time.
"Oh um, I'm- ah- Buttercup," she said quickly, taking his hand. There was a light pause as he waited for her to disclose her last name, but she didn't give it. It probably wasn't the smartest idea the throw the professor's name around in this place. He looked at her suspiciously.
"I overheard that you wanted to see me?" he asked for verification. Buttercup nodded swiftly and blinked a few times, before realizing that she should probably say something.
"Well, you see sir, I-I-I-I was w-wondering if I could ask you a f-few questions?" she finally managed to stutter. That was one habit she hated about herself. She tended to stutter when she felt uncomfortable.
"Yes?" he said warmly, but then held his finger up as if to silence her. "Anything to drink? Let's see I have water, some soda, oh and those coffee drinks you young ones seem to like so much."
"Errr- no, that's okay-" Buttercup cleared her throat very loudly. "I'm good."
He almost looked disappointed that he couldn't get her a drink, but shrugged it off anyway. "So, what was it you wanted to ask me? Is it some sort of project?"
"Yes sir. I- uh- was wondering if you could tell me a-a- bit about the company." she said, feeling just a little bit of tension spill away.
"What is it you want to know?" he asked calmly, drumming his hands on the desk before standing up to walk over to the back window. He looked out it dreamily and was watching the street below. "That industrial district.filthy. you never know what sort of dodgy things are around there eh? Deadly chemical plants." he said, turning to look at Buttercup with a strangely mad twinkle in his eye as if he was trying to tell her something. "Secret laboratories," Then the oddest of things happened; he winked. Buttercup almost thought she imagined it- but no- she had seen it, plain as day.
"Well, I- ummm." Buttercup wondered how exactly she should word her question. It was going to sound very odd, and she was almost afraid to see his reaction.
"How about I, say, randomly shoot off a word or phrase, and you tell me what comes to mind?" Buttercup said stupidly. He looked at her questioningly for a moment, not sure as to where this was headed, but he decided to humor her.
"Okay. shoot."
"Genetics."
"Vast potential for human improvement."
"Umm. okay." Buttercup squirmed a bit uncomfortably in her seat, hoping afterwards that he hadn't noticed.
"White Hazard?" she said cautiously, at the same time waiting for half a dozen mercenary soldiers to burst into the room armed with machine guns. None ever came, but a drowsy silence fell over the two of them as the man turned around, beaming.
"I see you've done some research. very good!" He said merrily. Buttercup had been thinking he'd become quiet or angry when she asked him, but instead he seemed positively delighted, as if he'd been waiting for it the whole time. "But as I'm sure you already know, that portion of the company has been gone for quite some time."
"What did they do?" Buttercup asked hesitantly. She hadn't really been expecting to get this far.
"Oh, they worked with genetics mostly. Human genetics if you please, and they were in the middle of working on a solution to aid physically challenged humans when-"
"You mean, make them stronger?" Buttercup interrupted.
"Oh yes. The idea was to help people get back on their feet who really couldn't anymore, whether it be age. or illness. or-"
"How much stronger are we talking about?"
"Strong enough." He said simply, but the smile that was plastered over his face told Buttercup otherwise. There was something more devious in the story that he wasn't going to say. "But, funding ran out and the division was disbanded."
"So. was it successful?"
"Perhaps." he trailed off very slowly. At that moment he began to stare at Buttercup in a way that made her feel most uncomfortable. He looked as if he was studying her, reading her very carefully as if he knew something about her that she hadn't addressed. Slowly, he licked his lips, as if Buttercup had suddenly turned into a very tasty pastry that was waiting to be eaten.
She suddenly wanted nothing more than to leave as soon as possible.
"Well. perhaps it could have been. but I suppose we will never know. will we?" he said hastily as if trying to correct a very grave error. Perhaps, without meaning too, he'd let something slip. what was he going to do now? Buttercup suddenly wished that she wasn't alone; in fact, she suddenly wished that she'd listened to Blossom and hadn't come in the first place.
She quickly looked at her watch.
"Oh wow, I-I-I don't mean to keep you or anything." Buttercup said very quickly, jumping up from the seat to run out of the room. "Plus I need to get home and uh, clean my room and stuff." Buttercup backed away towards the door. Nothing looked out of the ordinary.
"I hope I answered everything you liked?" the man said cheerfully, and there was another mischievous twinkle in his eye that reminded Buttercup too much of someone she knew. someone she really didn't want to see right now-
"Well-er- bye then, and thank you," Buttercup said, and then she turned to leave, walking as quickly as she could. With a frenzied pace she left the building, wanting to put as much distance between herself and that man Levign.
She was probably about three blocks away when she managed to start thinking again through her fury. She walked briskly, dimly noticing that while she'd been there the sun had gone down, and the only the light was cast from the glowing orange streetlamps that lined the street. She continued walking, not even bothering to look around her, not even noticing that she was alone on a deserted street.
How dare the professor work for such lunatics! He must be no better.
Buttercup kept walking, but then stopped very suddenly as if something had just caught her attention. Something was coming and she could feel it-
-Something large and massive came to a squealing halt in front of Buttercup. The air around her exploded with the sounds of many shouting voices.
A large, white van had careened out of the alleyway that had been just ahead of her, headlights blazing and tires smoking. From the double back doors men with guns began to pour out of the back, shouting and yelling at her with their guns pointed.
Buttercup turned to try and run, confused, but there were more men behind her, moving forwards slowly with their guns trembling. They were clearly scared of her, treating her as if she was a bomb that was about to go off. Slowly they kept coming towards her as if trying to herd her towards something, the van, they were trying to get her into the van.
That BASTARD!
You have to do something quick!
The guns made her wary. Buttercup had never been shot before, and certainly didn't want to make this the first time.
It was very clear what this was. That funny man had arranged this. They wanted her back-
There was an explosion of movement as the men all lunged for her simultaneously. Buttercup was much too quick for them; her smaller size, and super powers giving her an unfair advantage-
-With graceful agility she leap high into the air, sailing over the men's heads as she landed cat-like onto the roof of the van with a loud crunch. There was definite confusion as the armed men couldn't quite comprehend what had happened-
-Buttercup paid no attention to them. She acted like a threatened predator, and did the only thing that came to her mind. On the top of the van she stalked over to the space of the roof that was above the drivers seat, clenching her right fist-
-With a loud squeal of rendering metal, Buttercup punched her fist into the roof, sliding it through as if it were nothing more than Jell-O. Fishing around, she felt what she wanted and yanked hard-
-The armed crowd below had suddenly realized where she'd gone and started shouting again, pointing their guns upward, and stopping dead-
-There was a loud shriek from inside the van as Buttercup latched onto the thick, greasy hair of the driver, pulling with all her might. His head came tearing through the thick top of the car, screaming wildly. Buttercup tightened her grip and pulled him out cleanly, ignoring the fact that the man was now partially dead. He'd been completely torn apart-
-The men below had all frozen, watching her with horror plastered onto their faces. Buttercup was laughing cruelly, not caring about how brutal she was being. She was so angry that they'd even dare try and take her. she was feeling murderous, deadly-
-With a mighty yelp Buttercup flung the dead man at the crowd below, feeling her powerful muscles contract in her arms with efficient skill. About a dozen of the armed men were sent sprawling, blood splashing all over-
-With so much grace and agility Buttercup flipped over backwards, landing on the opposite side of the van. Feeling the beautiful strength surge through every cell in her body, she laughed at the pure ecstasy of using her bottled-up powers once more-
-With a mighty kick and a hearty guffaw of triumph, the entire van rolled forwards with the force of a large semi, plowing over all the men like so many bowling pins. The sound was so wonderful: exploding glass, bending metal-
-Then there were sirens. The police-
Shit!
Buttercup disappeared down the alleyway the van had come from, feeling as though she'd never felt more alive in her life. Smiling the entire way, she darted amongst the shadows, her element, and made her way home.
Oh, Blossom would be soooo angry!
The police could never figure out what had been strong enough to send and entire van rolling down the street like an oversized skipping stone, only to smash to a halt into a florist about five blocks away. Nothing remotely normal could do that, and then vanish without a trace. The only evidence left was a mighty dent on the van's side and a huge peeling hole above the driver's seat, which the police couldn't make any sense of.
The bodies were marked as robbers fleeing from a scene. How far from the truth that was, nobody would ever know.