Heightened Tensions- Chapter 21

After about the third brush with death, Bubbles was starting to think the suburbs didn't look quite so pretty anymore.

She took a hard right, dodging a whirling ball of electricity as it skidded past her, leaving a sooty trail of blackened concrete in its wake. Bubbles ran through grass, the soft texture a temporary relief from the hard cement she'd been against for hours. She wasn't paying very close attention to where she was going, but from brief aware glimpses she thought that she possibly recognized the neighborhood.

Yet she couldn't remember how far she'd run or how long it had been since she'd escaped from her window. X had somehow crawled out from beneath its ruined bus of a grave, and had tracked her, finally, all the way back to her home… where her sisters… and the professor were. She knew her only option had been to run, and hearing the thudding steps just above her only solidified the notion that there just wasn't any time left.

So she'd started running as soon as she'd slapped against the driveway, just avoiding the hood of the professor's car by inches. She'd turned and started down the street, blindly passing houses and cars in her flee for survival. Bubbles had been too busy running to really pay attention to where she was going, and soon realized that when she nearly ran straight into the beast itself.

That had been the first near-death experience. As soon as she'd turned a corner it had been on top of her, clearly anticipating her arrival from around the dense shrubbery. Bubbles barely had time to arch her body backwards to avoid its solid swipe, as it reached for her throat, but just as she avoided the first blow, the second one came, hard.

It was an iron fist against her face, shattering the silence in her brain with the ringing inside her ears, and the terrified scream that lurched from her throat. Bubbles flew back, her throat closing in with the panic that came with the taste of her own blood, with the warmth of it sliding down her cheek and from her nose. She fell back against the road, the blood splashing around her as her body slammed down hard. It was in her mouth, dripping down past her tongue, and she could feel it coating the inside of her belly with a slick, oily mass that nearly made her throw-up right then and there. She coughed and gagged, trying to free the thickness that pressed against her esophagus, but between her rapidly beating heart and spinning vision, it was difficult. The only thing that brought her to her senses was the shadow that grew closer, blanketing her in darkness.

Then she knew she had to flee, that she still had a chance. Her head hurt, her cheek was split open, but she knew she could still run. And that she did, barely missing X's fist as it drove a futile grasp into the ground to claim its grounded prey. But Bubbles was just too crafty for the metallic beast, and knew she had to survive.

Bubbles was nearly killed again, detouring through a dark yard and getting caught in a thicket of dense rose bushes that were practically invisible to her eye. She escaped, but not without causing a huge ruckus that resulted in many neighborhood lights coming ablaze at the disturbance.

Despite that, she'd been trying to stick to yards ever since, cutting corners when she could and trying to put as many obstacles between her and X as possible. It had worked to some degree, slowing X down just slightly as it struggled to keep its focus on her small, quick form. Eventually it would always regain its target on her and charge at full speed, crashing and crunching through things in its way.

So here Bubbles was now, just emerging back out onto a separate road, trying to run back into the housing blocks that would grant her some measure of safety. That was when X had taken out its weapon, and was now firing highly charged blast of silent energy her way. Silent, making it almost impossible for her to judge where they were coming from behind her.

The third one came fast, and Bubbles nearly ran right into it as she veered straight back into a yard and past a garage. She would run around to the back of the house and circle around, in hopes that she could throw X off of the trail, at least long enough to give her a chance to breath.

She turned, and risked a glance behind her, nothing, X was nowhere so she returned her attention to her path. Bubbles made a grave error right there-

"No!" she gasped, skidding to a halt at the edge of what was one of the largest personal pools she'd ever seen. She looked to the edges, frantic, knowing that she would have to run around it, cursing herself for not paying more attention to where she'd been going. If she'd fallen into the pool, X would have gotten her for sure. If she ran around it, that would only slow her down, and X would also be able to gain distance on her. If she stood there, well then, that was pretty self-explanatory.

The sides were too far, and she moaned in disbelief at her incredibly bad luck. She had to make a decision, quickly, so she decided she would make a run for it.

Turning ,she screamed, seeing the huge form of X bearing down on her at top speed. Bubbles stumbled back, losing her balance, flailing her arms for support but there was nothing there to stabilize her. For a brief instant she saw a window explode with light to her right, before she tumbled over and fell into the biting, icy water.

Everything was muted, every sound that Bubbles heard a murky jumble of nothingness. She couldn't comprehend what she heard, a consistent explosion of electrical impulses that came from somewhere… from some kind of weapon. There was light… lots of it… bright flashes of light that illuminated the form of X for just brief seconds. It was moving away… it was leaving… why… she'd forgotten she needed to breath… the chlorine was stinging her cheek, the pain making her want to sleep… Bubbles was so tired… she couldn't find the strength to pull herself up-

-A solid grip on the collar of her shirt… dragging-

-she kicked and flailed in the water, trying to free herself from X's grasp… strangely softer.

It only pulled harder, desperately… eagerly trying to drag her from the pool. In the water her strength was dampened, and she couldn't fight back. She only continued the pathetic struggle, her fists hitting nothing but water and stone.

Suddenly it jerked its grasp upward, forcing her out of the pool with careless force, smashing her face into the sanded stone that lined the edges. She hit her cheek where it was split, shaving it open with blinding, bleeding pain. Inky spurts of crimson clouds slithered through the water about her face, rising to the surface of the water just as her head broke the water line.

The grip was still there, but her eyes were so hazed over with pain and fatigue she couldn't see straight. She gasped for air, filling her lungs as she clawed weakly at the hand just by her neck. One foggy thought entered her brain just as she felt her entire body pulled from the water, by arms that seemed… just too small to be X…and the grip was much too soft… but all she wanted to do was sleep so that the pain would go away, so that she couldn't feel the pain when X killed her…

Her exertion finally hit her like a speeding train. Pain and sluggishness hitting her all at once, making her vision grow darker as she slowly slid into unconsciousness. She tried focusing, tried to scope out the position of X, but couldn't see through the water in her eyes. She moaned, and there was a hand on her cheek, and a form looking down on her that looked much to small to be X. In fact, just before Bubbles passed out, she thought she heard her someone saying her name.

Blossom was sleeping, her head tucked up close to where Buttercup's legs were wrapped in the warm bedding, her arms curled up close to her face to retain her own body heat in the morning chill. It wasn't known what time she had finally managed to fall asleep, unable to fight off the charge of her own emotional and physical weariness any longer. She dozed now, the late-night hush of the sleeping city now replaced by the blaring trumpets of the reawakened metropolis, the early commuters taking no time in making sure not to disturb those lucky few who were still slumbering. But she had been disturbed, knocked from her deep-dreaming state of swords and words she'd never heard before, brought back closer to the waking reality in which she really belonged. Back to the world where one of her sisters was missing, one of them had attempted suicide, and a demon was after her life. Sub- consciously, her brain kept her sleeping, if not to sustain that temporary bliss that kept her mind away from all the insanity, then to replenish her body to its full spirits once again.

It was cold now, the first thing Blossom noticed as she blinked her eyes open, her vision dampened by the fact that she was now staring through rumpled, blue sheets. She lay there for a scant few seconds, taking in the cold air, letting her body respond to the temperature drop one moment at a time. She was tired, her eyes heavy and gummy at her impeccable lack of sleep, and for a second she almost closed her eyes again. But that's when she realized that something was touching her head.

She jumped up, startled, her heart beating rapidly as she suddenly became very wide-awake. Looking around, Blossom expected the professor to be standing over her, but what she saw was completely not what she'd expected.

Blossom was staring into the face of her sister, sitting fully upright in her bed, her face doing a horrible job at masking the fact that she was amused. For a second Blossom couldn't comprehend that she was staring at Buttercup, and it took her a second to even recognize her sister, now so bright and full of more life than she had been in months. Her face was softer now, looking much less gaunt and sickly than before, and her eyes had regained that mischievous sparkle that had been with her forever. Yes, this was the true Buttercup staring back at her, grinning as if she'd just pulled off an amazing prank.

"You were moving so I thought I'd wake you up," Buttercup said calmly, her voice pure and strong, just the way it should be. Blossom blinked heavily, her tiredness returning with the double the force. Taking a deep breath, she searched around for some sort of clock, but there wasn't one to be found.

"What time is it?" Blossom croaked, sitting fully upright and falling back against the chair. Her eyes popped as her bare shoulders hit the chilled upholstery, and she jerked back forward, suddenly feeling very wide awake again.

"Ha. It's 7:30. I woke up thirty-minutes ago and the professor was here. Poor guy, I don't think he slept at all…" Buttercup said quietly, frowning.

"Gee thanks for waking me up… what were you doing awake at 7 anyway? You're never up that early unless you have to be," Blossom said smartly, leaning back against the warmth of the sheets she'd been sleeping on, trying to take back in some of the heat.

Buttercup pointed to the professor's jacket sitting on another chair in the corner, and Blossom grabbed it quickly, wrapping it around her body tightly to ward off the cold. Buttercup tilted her head to the side lazily and shut her eyes, the dark rings below them now gone.

"I think I've slept enough… besides… your fat head was touching my legs and it was getting on my nerves," Buttercup said, grinning evilly, but her tone was sweet as chocolate. Blossom pursed her lips in annoyance, taking no offense what so ever to Buttercup's rude little joke.

"Ha, ha, very funny…" she said, but couldn't help smiling, knowing that her sister was finally back. Blossom looked around, noting her father's absence, and suddenly she was very confused. "Where is he anyway?"

Buttercup readjusted the sheets on the bed and pulled them up closer to her body for comfort. She snuggled back in tighter against the high pillow and closed her eyes with relaxing intent.

"He said he had to take care of a few things, and then he was going to bring you something to eat," Buttercup said casually, unknowing as to what the professor had really been talking about. Blossom didn't respond, because she knew that those few things involved cleaning up the bathroom and the hallway where Buttercup had fallen just the night before. Blossom suddenly felt very sick with pity, knowing how traumatizing it must be for him to clean up his own daughter's blood, after she'd tried to take her own life. Especially if he was by himself, and Blossom suddenly felt the need to go and help him, but knew that she couldn't leave Buttercup alone. She kept it to herself, and tried hard not to let those nagging emotions become outwardly visible to Buttercup, because knowing her, she'd pick up on it instantly.

"Feel fortunate, because this is all I get…" Buttercup said with disdain, motioning to the tray of rather un-appetizing food that was sitting on a raised table next to her. She stuck out her tongue in disgust and shook her head, turning her body away from the food as if it was an obscene vision. "I hope he brings Bubbles back with him… I want to talk to her…"

Bubbles!

Oh no…

Why… why is it ALWAYS me?!

Blossom felt her heart fall, and her good spirits at seeing her sister so alert fail her. She had to tell Buttercup, she had to, because sooner or letter she was going to find out, and would only be even angrier if nobody said anything… but Blossom hated the idea of making her upset… but she had to swallow her cowardice and do it.

"Um… there's something I should probably tell you… and I hate throwing this at you so abruptly… especially after…"

Buttercup was suddenly very alert, her body upright and rigid as she stared urgently into Blossom's wavering gaze. Buttercup knew something was wrong, she had to, but Blossom, stupid her, hesitated.

"What is it?!" Buttercup cried, raising her voice, and Blossom was startled to the point of nearly leaping from her chair.

"It's just that… she disappeared last night… and we haven't heard from her since… We don't know where she is… and I was planning on this morning going and… well… asking around if-" Blossom couldn't even finish her sentence, because right then and there Buttercup exploded.

"YOU DIDN'T FOLLOW HER?!?! HOW COULD YOU BE SO IRRESPONSIBLE-"

"Buttercup! Stop yelling! I didn't even know she was gone until it was too late!" Blossom said back in defense, trying to keep her own voice and temper down.

"YOU SHOULD BE OUT THERE LOOKING FOR HER RIGHT NOW OR ELSE IT WILL BE TOO LATE AND THAT THING-"

"Buttercup! What are you talking about?!"

"-THAT THING IS GOING TO FIND HER AND KILL HER!!"

"W-What?! What's going to find her and kill her?! What are you talking about?!" All of this shouting, all of this yelling about things that were going to kill Bubbles, it was making Blossom very confused. She had no idea what Buttercup carrying on about.

But then visions came back to her, all those nights were Bubbles came home late, bleeding, her sudden timid behavior, her habit to scream whenever anyone touched her or snuck up behind her, her attacking personality… it all made sense… it all fit… but in what model? Blossom started to panic.

"Buttercup! What's trying to kill Bubbles!?"

Buttercup was turning back and forth in the bed, as if looking for some way to escape, but was being held back by the tubes still stuck in her skin. She looked frantic now, her eyes popping and spilling over with tears, her skin white with fear.

"You don't understand! We have to go now! We have to leave!"

"Buttercup you have to stop shouting and tell me what's going on! What happened to you two last night!?" Blossom cried, glancing nervously at the doorway, knowing that sooner or later someone would come storming in to see what all the commotion was about.

"Blossom! IT'S THAT ROBOT-" Buttercup screamed, her voice raising but she stopped dead when-

Buttercup turned her body suddenly towards Blossom, and she lunged, grabbing the sides of Blossom's head with her clenched hands in her own confused panic. In an instant she stopped screaming, her eyes suddenly glazing over, her body freezing as every bit of life and color drained from her like dumping water. In that same instant, just as Buttercup reacted, Blossom gasped, her body turning to ice as she felt her muscles freeze over, her limbs go slack as she fell forward against the bed. Buttercup's grip inadvertently tightened on her head, and that was when Blossom started screaming.

It was like a vice, a tightening claw squeezing her brain, trying to crush it under its grasp. Every nerve in her body was on fire, with pain, and every bit of warmth and feeling violently flew from her body as if escaping, running from this force that was killing her. She felt it smash against her mind, against all her emotions, all of her memories, against everything she kept hidden away from the outside world. It broke through, attacking every piece of information her brain kept away, sorting through it, seeing it, learning it all, a violation like none other. And at the same time Blossom saw it all, every horrible memory, every fear, every terror she had ever experienced all the way up to her last traumatizing experience with Him; the kiss.

But it only grew worse, the pain in her head, in her very thoughts like that of driving a blunt knife through her skull, her vision blurring over with shooting, flashing stars, the edges melting into dark red and black. There was screaming inside her head, mixed with the chilling shriek like that of nails on a chalk board, and a voice, a screaming voice that sounded so much like Buttercup, crying and screaming.

But then just like that it was all over, a sudden release of energy, as if a plug had just been pulled from the socket of her brain; a violent release that threw her back against the chair, so hard, that the chair went flying backwards, and Blossom found herself on the floor. There were other voices in the room, other people, and some of them were standing over her, some of them were hovering over Buttercup, but they all sounded frightened. But Blossom couldn't hear them, she couldn't feel her body, and she couldn't think. All she could feel was a painful shock that ran through her body time and again, like the intervals of an electrical pulse… like she'd just stuck her finger in an electrical socket as a child. It was as if someone had torn her head open for all the world to see, for all the world to learn of her secrets everything spilling onto the floor like a dumped out pail.

Blossom realized she was shaking when she felt someone grab her. It was the professor, she could tell by the tone of the voice, the only thing that could pass the dull thumping in her ears. Her face was slack, her eyes sagging to the point of being closed, her dried mouth hung open like a corpse. She felt dead, un responsive, and somehow knew that she was bad off, but couldn't find the strength in her to cry out for help. The exhaustion took over, and she felt the professor scoop her up from the floor, wrapping a tight grip around her body to bring heat back to her spasming form. Minutes later she was sleeping, her dreams blurred with images of electrical storms, chasing her. To her horror, she found herself screaming all her deepest secrets at the top of her lungs, but the only one who seemed to be listening was Buttercup. There was an expression on her face like that of sudden revelation.

Confused? Good. You should be.