Inner Turmoil-Chapter 11
In an instant, Blossom leapt off the bed and ran to the professor's side, who was still cradling his injured face in his hands.
"P-p-professor. I-I-I" Blossom stuttered uselessly, dropping to her knees at his side, her stomach queasy from guilt.
What's happening to me? What's happening to us?!
There was a soft, muffled sniffle from behind the professor's hands, but he didn't speak. He was still swaying just lightly, pitiful moans floating out from underneath his palms.
Blossom was trembling herself, scared and angry at her own loss of self control, but these things had started happening recently, and Blossom was becoming very afraid for all of them.
"I'm s-s-sorry! I'M SORRY! I-I-I-I didn't m-mean it!" Blossom cried, her voice barely above a whisper as her eyes began to burn from oncoming tears. Very carefully she touched the professor's hands and tried to pull them away from his face, terrified at what she'd find. Had she forced all her strength upon her father?
He flinched just lightly as Blossom pulled his hands away, a very odd expression on his face, somewhere between anger and tears. Blossom was afraid he was going to start screaming at her any second.
Thankfully the damage was light. There was a fresh cut near the professor's cheekbone, slowly oozing red blood that was lightly smeared down his face from his hands. It didn't look too terrible, except for the fact that that entire side of his face was turning red and inflamed. That was going to be a nasty bruise later.
"Blossom." he mumbled, taking a ragged breath of pain as Blossom accidentally jarred his fresh wound in her panic.
"Hold on! I-" but before she even finished what she was going to say she leapt up and darted to the bathroom. In her worried haste she threw open the bathroom cabinet and began throwing stuff around, ignoring the shattering of glass as she dropped at least two of the professor's bottles of cologne onto the floor. Her mind was too busy panicking to really worry what her hands were doing as she looked for sterilizer and bandages.
What's wrong with me? I feel like I'm losing my mind!
We all are. We're going insane.
Blossom couldn't understand how she had allowed herself to lose control like that, to go so far as to attack the professor. She had obviously been dreaming that Him had been attacking her. but in the real world it had only been the professor, leaning over her as she'd been sleeping. probably concerned.
There was no question that she had problems, her sisters too. Everything in their family had started to fall apart in the last month.
First, Bubbles nearly killed off an entire crowd of innocent bystanders with her sonic scream. That had purely been unintentional; Bubbles had lost her grip on her repressed abilities. And Buttercup- who knows what was happening to her, because she kept herself so secret all the time. but she was definitely acting moodier than usual, especially towards the professor.
And as for herself. she'd just attacked the professor in her sleep, nearly bashing his head in as he'd been sitting over her. She could of swore that she'd been awake, defending herself against the evilest of evil. at least that's what her mind had been telling her. or even worse. her feelings.
No. That's not it at all.
But was it? Was there something deep inside of her that was screaming to be heard? What was even worse to think about, was that she sat there and told herself that had been an accident. that she hadn't meant to hit the professor. but was it possible that deep inside she really resented something, and was starting to lose control over those repressed feelings?
No. I have faith in him. I still trust him. he's my father.
But did her sub consciousness have a score to settle?
No. It had been an accident, a silly accident that had only been a result of her confusion. Her mind was certainly not playing tricks on her in order to fulfill the desire of her sub consciousness. The fact that he was keeping a huge secret from them had no connection to the accident at all. She was just scaring herself.
Or did it?
STOP!
But she had never lost control like that, ever. Was there any other explanation?
Whatever the case, things were getting dangerous. Her and her sisters were clearly losing their grip on their sanity and their powers. If things weren't put under control, if things weren't settled soon, then they'd only become a danger to the professor and themselves. The three of them were living, breathing weapons, the product of a selfish corporation's desire to play God; weapons with repressed anger over their past hidden inside them, ready to burst at any moment.
It hurt Blossom to think that, while unintentionally, as she'd lost control over her actions, she'd ended up hurting the professor. If those kinds of hurtful feelings were inside her. then it was most certainly in all of them, along with the ability to potentially kill the professor if things got out of control.
Blossom still believed in him, and certainly didn't want to hurt him. but Buttercup.
She was by nature more violent and angry than her and Bubbles. Blossom didn't doubt that if she'd just accidentally almost killed the professor, that Buttercup could do it willingly in her current demeanor. She resented him, hated him even-
Blossom hadn't realized that she'd been on her knees sobbing for the past five minutes, and she jumped up instantly, clutching her first-aid supplies in her hand as she rushed back to the professor's bedroom. He was standing now, walking slowly from one side of the room to the other with a bloodied towel in his hand.
Blossom entered the room, drenched in tears, and rushed over to where he was standing. He looked at her very lightly, his face awash with some kind of sadness. Blossom grabbed him and moved him over to the bed where he sat. She began tending to his face.
"Blossom. you were convulsing. so I-"
"There's no excuse for what I did." She said very sternly, gently dabbing a gauzful of alcohol onto the professor's cheek. He gritted his teeth tightly,
"No. these things happen. sometimes we lose control-"
"I KNOW! THAT'S WHAT SCARES ME THE MOST!" Blossom cried, nearly knocking the bottle of sterilizer onto the carpet.
"Shhh. it's okay. I'm not angry. You were dreaming weren't you? Erm-here, let me," he said, as he grabbed the bandage that Blossom had been clumsily trying to free from its package.
"Professor, I could have killed you." Blossom said meekly, staring into his calm brown eyes.
"Well, you didn't, and that's what's important. I suppose I learned my lesson too: not to stand over you while you're having a nightmare," he said lightly, a touch of humor in his voice. How could he be so lighthearted after Blossom had just punched him into the wall?
"But. I'm losing it Professor. We all are. I think-"
"Nonsense. You're just stressed that's all."
"I think it's deeper than that," Blossom said softly, but she was unwilling to go any further with her revelations.
"Well, at least you were holding back." he said jovially, and then he got up off of the bed, a new, stark white bandage on his face. "Oh, the girls are up. Perhaps we should go down for breakfast," he said to Blossom, lightly cuffing her on the shoulder. She looked up at him wearily.
"Try not to let this bother you. It was an accident, nothing more."
Blossom nodded, yet she couldn't bring herself to believe it.
There was only one thing left to do now. Blossom wanted to get rid of some of these feelings; she wanted to know the truth-
She'd told Buttercup not to, but things were getting serious. Drastic times called for drastic measures. If the question of their origins wasn't settled soon, if their anger was allowed to stew inside them any longer, things could get ugly.
Blossom would go to Medicom herself. Then she would confront the professor.
*** "Good morning girls!" The professor said merrily, waltzing into the room to plant a kiss on Bubble's cheek. He glided over to Blossom, who was staring into her glass of water as if it was her entire reality. He leaned over close to her ear and squeezed her shoulder, whispering something about no worries, but Blossom wasn't paying attention. She was a bit preoccupied.
Buttercup was next to her, once again flipping through the channels like there was no tomorrow. The professor hesitated next to Buttercup, who paid no attention to him whatsoever, and settled on ruffling her hair lovingly. She clucked her tongue in disgust and tried to put her hair back into place as she settled, once again, on the channel four news.
"Good morning Professor!" Bubbles chimed happily, and for a minute it seemed like she wouldn't notice. Then- "Oh my gosh, what happened to your face?!" she shrieked so loud and suddenly that Buttercup accidentally dropped her spoon into her cereal bowl.
"Lower the decibels, okay!" Buttercup said angrily as she proceeded to finger her spoon out of the bowl of milk.
The professor stole a glance over at Blossom, who was watching him anxiously, waiting to see what he'd say.
"Oh, I got a little clumsy shaving this morning. Nothing to worry about," he said whole-heartedly. Then he settled into his usual spot in front of the morning paper, his workbag nestled between his feet on the floor. He lost focus on the table and began to read.
"This is boring!" Bubbles whined, slamming her glass of orange juice onto the table. Buttercup gave her a steely glare that could most certainly freeze anyone on the spot.
"Tough."
Blossom shifted nervously in her seat, guilt still swimming inside her from earlier. Apparently, her sisters hadn't heard anything. She turned to Buttercup and leaned close to her.
"I'm going," she whispered.
"Huh?" Buttercup said stupidly, she was watching the news eagerly, as if waiting for some big announcement.
"To Medicom."
"Oh, that won't be necessary," Buttercup said casually, lifting her hands to her face as if she was trying to cover something. Blossom was taken aback.
"How come? Yesterday you were all eager to bust in-"
"Trust me-" she said forcefully, barely hiding the grin behind her hands. Before Blossom could think it through any further, something on the news caught her attention. They were talking about Medicom.
"The cause of the failed robbery attempt near the Medicom building is unknown at this time, but police are-"
It definitely caught the professor's attention too, because he looked up from his newspaper to watch the report.
"All the men were found dead on the scene, the driver in particular was mauled almost beyond recognition-"
Blossom looked at Buttercup suspiciously. Bubbles was still happily chewing away on her jelly toast.
"The getaway vehicle itself was found blocks away lodged into the window of a florist, one side badly dented and a torn hole above the driver's seat. Nothing was apparently taken, but eyewitnesses say they saw a teenage girl leaving the scene-"
Blossom nearly choked on her water as she heard the report, turning to stare at Buttercup so angrily she could have burned a whole into her stupid, proud face. Bubbles had stopped eating, and was staring wide-eyed at Buttercup, her toast dangling from her partly open mouth. The professor had completely frozen and was staring into the newspaper stupidly, his eyes so wide it looked as if they were about to pop.
"You didn't."
And all Buttercup did was smile.
In an instant, Blossom leapt off the bed and ran to the professor's side, who was still cradling his injured face in his hands.
"P-p-professor. I-I-I" Blossom stuttered uselessly, dropping to her knees at his side, her stomach queasy from guilt.
What's happening to me? What's happening to us?!
There was a soft, muffled sniffle from behind the professor's hands, but he didn't speak. He was still swaying just lightly, pitiful moans floating out from underneath his palms.
Blossom was trembling herself, scared and angry at her own loss of self control, but these things had started happening recently, and Blossom was becoming very afraid for all of them.
"I'm s-s-sorry! I'M SORRY! I-I-I-I didn't m-mean it!" Blossom cried, her voice barely above a whisper as her eyes began to burn from oncoming tears. Very carefully she touched the professor's hands and tried to pull them away from his face, terrified at what she'd find. Had she forced all her strength upon her father?
He flinched just lightly as Blossom pulled his hands away, a very odd expression on his face, somewhere between anger and tears. Blossom was afraid he was going to start screaming at her any second.
Thankfully the damage was light. There was a fresh cut near the professor's cheekbone, slowly oozing red blood that was lightly smeared down his face from his hands. It didn't look too terrible, except for the fact that that entire side of his face was turning red and inflamed. That was going to be a nasty bruise later.
"Blossom." he mumbled, taking a ragged breath of pain as Blossom accidentally jarred his fresh wound in her panic.
"Hold on! I-" but before she even finished what she was going to say she leapt up and darted to the bathroom. In her worried haste she threw open the bathroom cabinet and began throwing stuff around, ignoring the shattering of glass as she dropped at least two of the professor's bottles of cologne onto the floor. Her mind was too busy panicking to really worry what her hands were doing as she looked for sterilizer and bandages.
What's wrong with me? I feel like I'm losing my mind!
We all are. We're going insane.
Blossom couldn't understand how she had allowed herself to lose control like that, to go so far as to attack the professor. She had obviously been dreaming that Him had been attacking her. but in the real world it had only been the professor, leaning over her as she'd been sleeping. probably concerned.
There was no question that she had problems, her sisters too. Everything in their family had started to fall apart in the last month.
First, Bubbles nearly killed off an entire crowd of innocent bystanders with her sonic scream. That had purely been unintentional; Bubbles had lost her grip on her repressed abilities. And Buttercup- who knows what was happening to her, because she kept herself so secret all the time. but she was definitely acting moodier than usual, especially towards the professor.
And as for herself. she'd just attacked the professor in her sleep, nearly bashing his head in as he'd been sitting over her. She could of swore that she'd been awake, defending herself against the evilest of evil. at least that's what her mind had been telling her. or even worse. her feelings.
No. That's not it at all.
But was it? Was there something deep inside of her that was screaming to be heard? What was even worse to think about, was that she sat there and told herself that had been an accident. that she hadn't meant to hit the professor. but was it possible that deep inside she really resented something, and was starting to lose control over those repressed feelings?
No. I have faith in him. I still trust him. he's my father.
But did her sub consciousness have a score to settle?
No. It had been an accident, a silly accident that had only been a result of her confusion. Her mind was certainly not playing tricks on her in order to fulfill the desire of her sub consciousness. The fact that he was keeping a huge secret from them had no connection to the accident at all. She was just scaring herself.
Or did it?
STOP!
But she had never lost control like that, ever. Was there any other explanation?
Whatever the case, things were getting dangerous. Her and her sisters were clearly losing their grip on their sanity and their powers. If things weren't put under control, if things weren't settled soon, then they'd only become a danger to the professor and themselves. The three of them were living, breathing weapons, the product of a selfish corporation's desire to play God; weapons with repressed anger over their past hidden inside them, ready to burst at any moment.
It hurt Blossom to think that, while unintentionally, as she'd lost control over her actions, she'd ended up hurting the professor. If those kinds of hurtful feelings were inside her. then it was most certainly in all of them, along with the ability to potentially kill the professor if things got out of control.
Blossom still believed in him, and certainly didn't want to hurt him. but Buttercup.
She was by nature more violent and angry than her and Bubbles. Blossom didn't doubt that if she'd just accidentally almost killed the professor, that Buttercup could do it willingly in her current demeanor. She resented him, hated him even-
Blossom hadn't realized that she'd been on her knees sobbing for the past five minutes, and she jumped up instantly, clutching her first-aid supplies in her hand as she rushed back to the professor's bedroom. He was standing now, walking slowly from one side of the room to the other with a bloodied towel in his hand.
Blossom entered the room, drenched in tears, and rushed over to where he was standing. He looked at her very lightly, his face awash with some kind of sadness. Blossom grabbed him and moved him over to the bed where he sat. She began tending to his face.
"Blossom. you were convulsing. so I-"
"There's no excuse for what I did." She said very sternly, gently dabbing a gauzful of alcohol onto the professor's cheek. He gritted his teeth tightly,
"No. these things happen. sometimes we lose control-"
"I KNOW! THAT'S WHAT SCARES ME THE MOST!" Blossom cried, nearly knocking the bottle of sterilizer onto the carpet.
"Shhh. it's okay. I'm not angry. You were dreaming weren't you? Erm-here, let me," he said, as he grabbed the bandage that Blossom had been clumsily trying to free from its package.
"Professor, I could have killed you." Blossom said meekly, staring into his calm brown eyes.
"Well, you didn't, and that's what's important. I suppose I learned my lesson too: not to stand over you while you're having a nightmare," he said lightly, a touch of humor in his voice. How could he be so lighthearted after Blossom had just punched him into the wall?
"But. I'm losing it Professor. We all are. I think-"
"Nonsense. You're just stressed that's all."
"I think it's deeper than that," Blossom said softly, but she was unwilling to go any further with her revelations.
"Well, at least you were holding back." he said jovially, and then he got up off of the bed, a new, stark white bandage on his face. "Oh, the girls are up. Perhaps we should go down for breakfast," he said to Blossom, lightly cuffing her on the shoulder. She looked up at him wearily.
"Try not to let this bother you. It was an accident, nothing more."
Blossom nodded, yet she couldn't bring herself to believe it.
There was only one thing left to do now. Blossom wanted to get rid of some of these feelings; she wanted to know the truth-
She'd told Buttercup not to, but things were getting serious. Drastic times called for drastic measures. If the question of their origins wasn't settled soon, if their anger was allowed to stew inside them any longer, things could get ugly.
Blossom would go to Medicom herself. Then she would confront the professor.
*** "Good morning girls!" The professor said merrily, waltzing into the room to plant a kiss on Bubble's cheek. He glided over to Blossom, who was staring into her glass of water as if it was her entire reality. He leaned over close to her ear and squeezed her shoulder, whispering something about no worries, but Blossom wasn't paying attention. She was a bit preoccupied.
Buttercup was next to her, once again flipping through the channels like there was no tomorrow. The professor hesitated next to Buttercup, who paid no attention to him whatsoever, and settled on ruffling her hair lovingly. She clucked her tongue in disgust and tried to put her hair back into place as she settled, once again, on the channel four news.
"Good morning Professor!" Bubbles chimed happily, and for a minute it seemed like she wouldn't notice. Then- "Oh my gosh, what happened to your face?!" she shrieked so loud and suddenly that Buttercup accidentally dropped her spoon into her cereal bowl.
"Lower the decibels, okay!" Buttercup said angrily as she proceeded to finger her spoon out of the bowl of milk.
The professor stole a glance over at Blossom, who was watching him anxiously, waiting to see what he'd say.
"Oh, I got a little clumsy shaving this morning. Nothing to worry about," he said whole-heartedly. Then he settled into his usual spot in front of the morning paper, his workbag nestled between his feet on the floor. He lost focus on the table and began to read.
"This is boring!" Bubbles whined, slamming her glass of orange juice onto the table. Buttercup gave her a steely glare that could most certainly freeze anyone on the spot.
"Tough."
Blossom shifted nervously in her seat, guilt still swimming inside her from earlier. Apparently, her sisters hadn't heard anything. She turned to Buttercup and leaned close to her.
"I'm going," she whispered.
"Huh?" Buttercup said stupidly, she was watching the news eagerly, as if waiting for some big announcement.
"To Medicom."
"Oh, that won't be necessary," Buttercup said casually, lifting her hands to her face as if she was trying to cover something. Blossom was taken aback.
"How come? Yesterday you were all eager to bust in-"
"Trust me-" she said forcefully, barely hiding the grin behind her hands. Before Blossom could think it through any further, something on the news caught her attention. They were talking about Medicom.
"The cause of the failed robbery attempt near the Medicom building is unknown at this time, but police are-"
It definitely caught the professor's attention too, because he looked up from his newspaper to watch the report.
"All the men were found dead on the scene, the driver in particular was mauled almost beyond recognition-"
Blossom looked at Buttercup suspiciously. Bubbles was still happily chewing away on her jelly toast.
"The getaway vehicle itself was found blocks away lodged into the window of a florist, one side badly dented and a torn hole above the driver's seat. Nothing was apparently taken, but eyewitnesses say they saw a teenage girl leaving the scene-"
Blossom nearly choked on her water as she heard the report, turning to stare at Buttercup so angrily she could have burned a whole into her stupid, proud face. Bubbles had stopped eating, and was staring wide-eyed at Buttercup, her toast dangling from her partly open mouth. The professor had completely frozen and was staring into the newspaper stupidly, his eyes so wide it looked as if they were about to pop.
"You didn't."
And all Buttercup did was smile.