A/N A bit more of arguing goodness er, badness.  I hope you're all enjoying this and I hope this isn't boring anyone.  But the plot will pick up soon.  I swear!  

Chapter Three: The First Sign

There was obvious tension at the dinner table that evening.  The Professor sighed, wishing he knew how to help the squabbling sisters.  The tension he was sensing wasn't new, but it was a lot stronger.

Bubbles was deep in thought mindlessly eating her veggie-burger patty.  Cutting it up slowly into little bites, and slowly putting her fork to her mouth, chewing her food taking forever to actually swallow.  She sighed once, glancing over at her family just once, and then looked down at her plate, not looking up again.  She was so lost in thought, she almost didn't seem aware of her surroundings.

Blossom's eyes were puffy, obviously the eyes of a girl who had been crying,  Her cheeks were red and she was cutting her chicken like it was tough, overcooked steak even though it was a tender chicken breast that could easily be cut with the side of a fork.  She did everything with harsh, jerky, ungraceful and very un-Blossomlike movements.  She was fighting back more tears and avoiding everyone's gaze.

And Buttercup just sat in her seat, stabbing her chicken with her fork, picking at it.  She took a forkful of mashed potatoes and slopped it back on her plate, then started mixing her vegetables with the potatoes, and repeated the process.  Her cheeks were hot with repressed anger and looked like she was about ready to explode if someone would even try and acknowledge her.  The Professor didn't recall seeing a single bite come to her mouth.

The silence was deafening.

"Well," he said, trying to break the tense silence and maybe brighten the mood, "I had a good day today.  The board of directors has asked me to join their permanent staff.  I said I'd think about it, not wanting to sound too eager, but I'm really excited about it!  I'm so glad I took that job.  I just love it, working, inspiring eager young minds."  He was referring to his job at Townsville University.  He took a temporary position covering for a professor who was on maternity leave.  The Professor found that teaching science was his true calling.  It was obvious that either none of the girls were listening, or were too upset to care.  To test it out he added, "Oh, and we managed to crossbreed an elephant with a mouse today, and I robbed three banks, but then I got hit by a random plane and eaten alive by rabid butterflies, but that was before I saved the President from an army of rabbits."  He looked around the table and tried to make eye contact with them, hoping to see a smile, or some form of recognition.

"Mmm, that's nice," Bubbles sighed.

Blossom wiped away an escaped tear, "Nice try Professor, but it didn't work."

Buttercup rose to her feet and took her plate with her, setting it on the counter.

"Where are you going?" the Professor asked.

"To my room.  I'm full, see you later," Buttercup replied.

"You haven't eaten a thing, come back here," he said.  She rolled her eyes and brought her plate back to the table and set it down, folding her arms. "Sit." In a huff she sat down growling indignantly.  "Girls we need to talk."  He sounded stern, and was going to go straight to the problem of their constant feud, but noticed that Blossom started to cry again, quietly to herself.

"Blossom, honey, what's wrong?" he asked gently.

She sniffed, "Nothing."

"Oh please!  What is it now?" Buttercup asked harshly, wanting to get their talk over with so she could leave.

Blossom gave her a sharp look, "For your information, Greg broke up with me."

"What?" Bubbles gasped, snapping out of her trance.

The Professor put his hand on her shoulder, "Oh honey…"

"Why would he do a thing like that anyway?" Buttercup hissed.  She was mad at Blossom, but she and Greg were in her eyes the perfect couple.  The two of them were madly in love and the thought of them ever breaking up seemed impossible.  That fact made her even madder.  It did explain why Blossom seemed more hurt than angry.  But when Buttercup asked that question, the anger seemed to rise.

"Because of you!" she hissed accusingly, pointing a finger.

"Me!  What did I do?" Buttercup raised her hands in protest.

"He is sick of us fighting.  He says it affected our relationship," Blossom replied, her voice rising.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" Buttercup snapped.  "It takes two to fight."

"But one to start it…"

"Are you saying I started this?" Buttercup gasped, "You can't be serious!" she raised her voice angrily, not liking the accusations.

"Oh I don't know, and I don't care anymore!" Blossom sobbed, defeated. Their fight had gone on way too long, and she lost the one she loved because of it.  In her anger, she was sure that Greg was breaking up with her, not taking a break for her sake.   Bubbles was starting to cry too, and even the Professor was having a hard time keeping his cool.  After a moment Blossom said softly, "You hurt me deeply."

"Yeah, well you said some pretty mean things too," Buttercup snapped, the only one not practically in tears.  "You hurt me too!  You all have!" she yelled.

"What did I do?" Bubbles protested.

"Are you saying that I hurt you too?" the Professor asked, shocked.

"Oh just forget it," Buttercup frowned.

Blossom threw her fork down, "I am so sick of you!" she hissed, "You and your attitude.  Just mad at the world, aren't you Buttercup?  It's all about you!  You and your cold, tough, impenetrable heart!  Well, what about me?  You don't care about anyone but yourself!"

"Neither do you!  It's about time the Prince and Princess of Perfect broke up.  He deserves so much better that you!  No wonder he dumped you! You're the most bossy, selfish and… and… argh!" Not able to think up another insult, Buttercup threw her plate on the floor.  She didn't truly believe that, feeling that Greg and Blossom were truly meant for each other, but knew that it would hurt Blossom's feelings.

Blossom screamed and lunged at Buttercup, who was sitting right next to her.

"Girls now that's enough!" the Professor stood up and slammed his fist on the table, "Stop it!"  Startled by the Professor's reaction, which was not typical for him, they stopped before their fight turned physical.  Buttercup's chair had tipped but rocked back in place.  Blossom buried her face in her hands.  "Look at yourselves.  Look at what you three have become!  Buttercup, clean up the mess you've made."

Buttercup frowned and began picking up the pieces of shattered plate with her bare hands, not worried about cutting herself, since penetrating their skin was impossible now that their powers had matured so much.  Or so she thought.  As she threw the fragments of porcelain in the garbage harshly, demonstrating how down right pissed off she was, she felt a little sting.  She looked at her hand.  Was that a scratch?  Sure enough, while it wasn't deep enough to draw blood, she had managed to peel a small patch of the top layer of skin.  She picked the excess skin off, thinking nothing of it and began cleaning the slivers of broken porcelain and untouched food.

As the disgruntled Buttercup cleaned her mess, the Professor continued, "You girls are acting like preschoolers!  You're graduating in a few months and… I hate to see your future, the way things are going."

Buttercup snorted.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she replied.  With that she stormed out of the kitchen, and out of the house, not returning until well after curfew.  She ignored the Professors defeated looks when she came home and went to her room.

A/N Yep, Bubbles is a vegetarian (I think if I could talk to animals, I'd be one too)

        The first sign of the anti-X has started, subtle though, right?

        Thanks for the reviews!  Hey!  Keep 'em comin', they make me so happy!

Hairy Gregory: Gotta love pop-psychology.  You're on the right track too with the guesses.  As for Robyn's name…Actually I don't know how it's written in the show, I think the credits say "Robin" as for her last name, I saw it spelled "Snyder" on some website. (don't remember which one though)  But then again I don't think it's that important (unless she was a real person^_^).  Right?

Raskolin Phoenix: Hey congrats on winning… stuff.  I never win anything.  Oh well.  LOL!