Chapter 6
It was another beautiful, peaceful, boring day for Blossom Utonium, Private Investigator. It had been weeks since her last case 'Maybe, I'm getting too good at this.' She thought as she got ready for bed. It was an easy career choice for the ex-super hero. The events leading to Buttercup's death had opened her eyes to darker side of humanity. Ever since that day, Blossom had dedicated herself to exposing that dark side for the world to see. Thanks to her keen intellect and inquisitive nature, she had gotten exceptionally good at it. From exposing cheaters and liars as a child to revealing closet criminals, insurance frauds and adulterers in the present, Blossom was known as the best. But even the best P.I. in the tri-state area had her slow periods, this had simply been one of those times. Blossom loathed these slow periods. She constantly needed to hunt down those who did wrong, a need fueled by her desire for revenge and penance. She blamed herself, as well as the people of Townsville, for Buttercup's death. 'If I'd only kept my big mouth shut, Buttercup wouldn't have ran off and she'd still be alive.'
Blossom tucked herself in and went to sleep. A few minutes later, the Professor woke her up. "Blossom, are you awake?"
"Huh..? What is it Professor?" Blossom mumbled, not too happy about being woken up so quickly.
"Your sister is on the phone." He told her. Blossom groaned and picked up her phone. The conversation seemed pointless, Bubbles just got a little over excited about meeting Bethany Luceid, the heiress to the Luceid business empire. Tired and cranky, Blossom asked Bubbles to get to the point, vowing if meeting Miss Luceid was the only reason for waking her up, she was going to Citiesville personally and beat the crap out of her sister.
"Blossom, if I didn't know any better, I could've sworn she was really Buttercup."
That woke Blossom up, "W-What? Bubbles, what are you talking about?"
"I know it sounds crazy, but, for some reason.. She just.. I don't know.."
"Alright, calm down Bubbles. I know you still miss Buttercup, I mean I do too, but we've been through this before. We all feel guilty about what happened, but remember what our therapist said?"
"I remember, but it's different this time. She was just like Buttercup."
Blossom yawned and shook her head, "Look, Bubbles, it's late and I'm tired. I promise I'll talk to you about this tomorrow, but we both need to get some sleep."
Bubbles sighed, "Okay, good night."
"Good night, Bubbles." Blossom hung up and lied back down in her bed. But sleep didn't come as easy as it should have. 'What if she's right? No, that's crazy. But, on the other hand, they never did find Buttercup's body. The police said an animal must have dragged it away, but then again, Townsville didn't exactly have the world's most professional police department. Of course, the Professor said that judging the amount of blood on her dress.. Maybe if I saw a picture of her.. I might as well take a look.' Blossom got up and turned on her computer. After the usual boot up sequence, Blossom got on-line and did a search for 'Bethany Luceid.' The first hit was the official Luceid Corporation Biography of Bethany C. Luceid. 'I guess this one will do.' Blossom clicked the link. A photo of the young woman as well as her background and a list of statistics and accomplishments appeared on the screen. 'Well, I guess I can see why Bubbles thought she was Buttercup. They do have the same color of eyes and hair, but.. Wait a second.' Blossom noticed something unusual. 'Date of Adoption..? That was the day Buttercup ran away. Hmm, could it be a coincidence?' Blossom yawned as fatigue began to hit her. 'I'll look into this tomorrow. I need to sleep.' Blossom shut down the computer and went to bed. Sleep wouldn't come easy though. Blossom didn't like coincidences.
The next morning, Blossom shuffled to the kitchen, tired from the restless night she had. The smell of coffee, eggs, bacon and pancakes had wafted in the air. The Professor was happily preparing breakfast for himself and his daughter.
"Good morning, Blossom."
"Mornin' Professor." Blossom mumbled pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"You look tired. Didn't you sleep well last night?"
"Just had some things on my mind. Nothing big."
"I see. By the way, what did Bubbles want last night."
"Oh, that? Well, she just called to tell me that Bethany Luceid visited her store yesterday."
"Oh really? The Bethany Luceid?"
"Uh-huh." Blossom responded, pouring syrup on the pancakes the Professor prepared for her.
"How exciting. Did she say why?"
"I think to talk to her about Townsville."
"Townsville?"
"Well, I've heard that the government was taking bids for reconstruction. Maybe Miss Luceid wanted to get Bubbles's point of view."
"Hmm, did she say what Miss Luceid was going to do?"
"No. Knowing Bubbles, though, I doubt the Luceid Corporation is going be making any bids on that project." Blossom knew that Bubbles hated Townsville with a passion. They all did. "Anyways, according to Robin, everyone is moving out. Even Mitch is getting transferred to another city. I doubt anyone is going to fix it up."
"You're probably right. Any plans for today?" the Professor added before taking a drink out of his coffee mug.
"Not really." 'I'm just gonna look into this Luceid company some more. Doubt I'll find anything, but it couldn't hurt.' Blossom finished her breakfast and got up from the table, "If you need me, I'll be in my room." Blossom kissed the Professor on the cheek and went back into her room. She turned on her computer and resumed her research on Bethany Luceid. 'Let's see. Accomplishments: Biology Club, 2nd place in a High School Creative Writing competition, Girls Basketball MVP, very nice, although a bit unusual for someone going into the business field. That's interesting, they adopted her on her sixth birthday. Nothing else really interesting.' Blossom decided to look at some other profiles of the Luceid family. 'Maxwell Luceid, hmm, he was adopted too. On his birthday too. Very strange. I wonder..' Blossom viewed the profiles of the previous CEO's, they were all Luceids, all adopted on their birthday. Blossom was intrigued, 'Hmm, this can't be a coincidence. Think I'll look into this a little bit more.' Blossom ran a specialized search program designed to search state records and newspaper articles. She entered the dates of adoption and searched for deaths of children who had been the age each Luceid was upon their adoption, with no body recovered. Hits came up, at least one for each date. Blossom checked each link. 8-year-old Mob Informant vanishes; Mafia Suspected, Town Saddened by 9-year-old's Suicide, Girl Who Discovered Nazi Spy Ring Vanishes each article corresponding to the date of adoption for each Luceid. Blossom noticed that the photos of the missing children look eerily similar to the photos of the Luceids. 'They were all.. Oh my God.' Blossom looked up more information on the Luceid Company. Blood Replicating Unit: Introduced in 2008 by the Luceid Medical Division. Patented 2003 'Buttercup's dress, that was back in.. No, they couldn't have.' Blossom searched more and found an academic paper on Nathaniel Luceid, the founder of the Luceid Company.
"It is a common belief amongst my distinguished peers that quality and virtue are inherited genetically. 'Proper breeding produces the proper child.' Understandable but foolish. I believe that there are children out there with an intrinsic and instinctive comprehension of honor, virtue, nobility and good sense and the ability to make good decisions, regardless of their background. It is the duty of all great men to seek out these children and raise them to be the leaders of the next generation. –Nathaniel Luceid, 1838 'That theory, if the Luceid family had been putting into practice. Oh God.' Blossom got up from her desk and ran out into the living room. She found the Professor sitting in his recliner happily reading the newspaper.
"Professor, I need to look through Buttercup's things." Blossom told him trying to keep cool.
"W-what? Blossom why on earth do you need to look through your sister's things." Professor Utonium regarded his late daughter's items as sacred relics. He was very reluctant to let Blossom to go rooting around in them.
"Please, it's very important." Blossom's eyes danced with a desperation the Professor had never seen before.
"Alright." The Professor sighed in defeat. He reluctantly led Blossom downstairs into his lab. Blossom followed her father through the lab to a door marked storage. The Professor unlocked the door and pulled out several boxes marked Buttercup. Blossom opened the first box and carefully went through the things inside. After removing some of Buttercup's old toys, Blossom had found what she was searching for, a lime green notebook covered with death threats to all who would dare open it. Blossom pulled out the notebook and began to read what was inside.
"Blossom, wait! You can't read that! That's Buttercup's journal."
"Professor, I need to. There may be some clues about what really happened to Buttercup."
"What!? Blossom, what earth are you talking about. You know what happened to Buttercup."
"Just be quiet." Blossom hissed at him. She hated disobeying her father, but this was too important. The Professor gave in and let Blossom read the journal. Blossom skimmed through the pages until she found an entry of interest
'3-18 Saved some woman from the Gangrene Gang. Said her name was Miss Kay and she was Sunday School teacher. Man, who wants to go to school on a Sunday? Anyways, she said if I ever need to talk to anyone about anything she'd be happy to listen. That's pretty cool, usually I just get a thank you and they walk off. It would be nice to have someone to talk to, other than Queen Red and the Whiner that is.'
'Queen Red?' Blossom continued to read.
'3-21 Talked to Miss Kay today. She's real smart, but she doesn't treat me like an idiot like Queen Red does. She's real nice too. She does ask a lot questions, though. Mostly about Townsville and the people here. I guess she must be new here.'
'3-25 Mojo again. Another giant robot this time. Miss Kay said she was surprised that they keep letting him out of jail. She said if he did that from where she was from, he'd either be dead or in prison for the rest of his life. Hmmm.'
'4-10 Pretty cool day today. I just busted up some phony Fuzzy Friends ring. All by myself, too. Queen Red pretended she was proud of me, but I could tell she was jealous. HA HA. The Whiner got mad, telling me to shut up. She and Queen Red were too busy fighting over the stupid things and now she mad because I wasn't too distracted to figure out their collections were fake. HA HA HA The company that makes them gave me a bag of Fuzzy Friends as a reward, they even made one a special one for me. How come the people of Townsville never give us anything for saving the day?'
'4-10 Checked Blossom's Fuzzy Friend guide. Man these things are valuable, think I'll hold on to them.'
'4-13 Got a 'B' on my test today. Miss Kay's been helping me study, so my grades have been getting better. Queen Red went ballistic, said I was cheating. Typical, dumb ol' Buttercup isn't allowed to get anything higher than D. Stupid obscured by ink blot crude drawing of Blossom with a crown shouting 'BLAH BLAH BLAH..
'So that's why her grades had improved. Oh Buttercup, I'm sorry.'
'4-15 Strange, I had the feeling we were being watched today when we were fighting that monster. Queen Red said it was just my imagination. Maybe she's right, but still. Oh forget it.'
'4-23 Poor Bubbles, that dumb octopus of her got torched by that monster. Man was she ticked. Did things that even I haven't thought of. I feel bad for her though. She's been in bed crying for hours. Think, I'll give her the Fuzzy Friends.
'4-23 Boy, was Bubbles happy when I gave her those stupid Fuzzy Friends. She really liked the special one. Nearly broke my ribs when she hugged me. That's ok though. I'm just glad I could cheer her up. Heh, she named the dragon 'little Buttercup'. Figures she'd do that.'
Blossom smiled at the memory of Buttercup's generosity.
'4-27 Mojo again, God I'm getting sick of that guy. Had that feeling we were being watched again when we were fighting him. Weird.'
'5-1 MOJO AGAIN? We just put him in jail. Why do they keep letting him out. Thank God, I have Miss Kay to talk to. I'm tired of people making excuses for these idiots. I feel like I'm protecting a city of two-year- olds.'
'5-7 Fuzzy, this time. Robbed a convenience store again. Freaked out when he saw me. Guess he still remembers what I did to him the last time we met. At least I won't have any doctors calling me a bad guy again. Lousy ingrates.'
'5-8 I've been get that feeling again. This time at school. Maybe, I should tell Miss Kay about it. She's the only one in town who doesn't think I'm a moron or is one (heh-heh).'
'5-9 Mojo, it had to be Mojo. Damn monkey or chimp or whatever. He's been getting pretty desperate lately. Also been having that feeling more often. Miss Kay told me not to worry about it, but still.'
'5-13 I killed him. I didn't mean to. But I killed him. I knew shooting that laser was dangerous but if I hadn't he would have killed all those people. Miss Kay told me I did the right thing but still. Oh man, everyone is gonna hate me. Professor was cool about it but Blossom and Bubbles. I can see it in their eyes. Oh God what have I done.' Some discolored spots on the page; most likely teardrops
'5-15 Bunch of jerks, I save their lives and they treat me like crap. First they turn against us when that Fluffy Bunch Gang or whatever comes to town and now this. Well I've had it with these creeps. Screw them and screw Townsville. From now on, I'm just looking out my sisters, my real friends and the Professor. The rest of them can go to Hell. I'm gonna go talk to Miss Kay.'
'5-15 Man, Miss Kay is so cool. She told me I was doing the right thing by giving up this "super hero saving the day" crap. She also invited me to have a picnic in the woods tomorrow and gave me this cool necklace. It's a wolf's head, check it out.' A rubbing of a wolf's head; it bears a resemblance to the Luceid corporate logo as it was in the 2000's 'I can hear some electrical buzzing from it. I wonder what that is.'
'5-16 I just finished my speech. Man, I can't wait to see their faces when I tell them. Ha Ha. Stupid jerks. Let's see how you like it when Buttercup isn't there to save your butts next time. HA HA HA HA HA!!!'
'5-16 Got blamed for breaking the Professor's latest nerd device. Big shock there. I know it was Bubbles. She'll crack sooner or later, I know her too well. Stupid Blossom. I can't believe she thinks I killed Mojo on purpose. Lousy, snotty, bossy.. Oh well, Queen Red will get hers later. I guess I'll go and meet Miss Kay in the woods. No one will miss me, they usually stay away from me when I get in trouble, and I won't be too long. They probably won't even know I was gone.' Final Entry
"Oh my god." Blossom dropped the notebook in shock.
"Blossom, what is it?"
"Professor, are you the only person with access to Chemical X?"
"Well it is a highly restricted agent but I do believe other scientist are licensed to us it. Why do you ask?"
"Do you know if any scientists working for the Luceid Corporation were allowed to use it?"
"I believe so. In fact, I did collaborate with some scientists who went to work for the Luceid Corporation during the initial development of Chemical X. But what is this all about?"
"Luceid's Child Theory."
"What?"
"Professor, each CEO of the Luceid Corporation was not only a single child but they were adopted. The date of their adoption corresponds with the death or disappearance of a similar child. Each one of those children had been in someway considered a hero and held to ideals that are associated with the Luceid Corporation. In 1982, a boy who had been a mob informant was killed under suspicious circumstances but his body was never recovered. In 1960, another boy who had had exposed his brother as a cheater and stopped his admission into a prestigious college, supposedly committed suicide but his body wasn't found either. It goes on like this."
"I don't understand."
"In 2008, the Luceid Corporation introduced a device capable of synthesizing blood, but it was patented five years earlier. If they had that device and some chemical X, they could have easily created enough of Buttercup's blood to make it look like she was murdered."
"Blossom this is ridiculous, you can't possibly believe that a major corporation would.."
"Look at Buttercup's journal." Blossom interrupted picking up the notebook and opening it to the pages where Buttercup's final entries were written. "She had been speaking with some woman she called 'Miss Kay.' Buttercup knew there was a risk in trying take out Mojo Jojo's laser, we all did that's why me and Bubbles didn't, but Buttercup took that risk. She also knew if that she had caused the death of Mojo Jojo, accidentally or not, the people would turn against her. Self-sacrifice for the good of people, a highly touted Luceid ideal. Also, Buttercup was planning on quitting because she felt unappreciated. Help those who are willing to repay, help those who appreciate it, more Luceid corporate philosophy. And look at this. Buttercup made a pencil rubbing of a pendant given to her by this 'Miss Kay' person. It's clearly the Luceid Corporate Logo from when she disappeared. She also wrote that she heard an electrical noise coming from the pendant, I think there might have been a tracking device in it. Also, if you look at her last entry, it's clear that Buttercup had snuck out to meet with 'Miss Kay.' She didn't run away as we had originally thought."
"Oh dear God." The Professor had turned pale at Blossom's revelation.
"I think this 'Miss Kay' lured Buttercup out into woods and somehow kidnapped her and faked her death."
"But why would anyone do that?"
"Luceid's Child Theory, a sort of spiritual social Darwinism. Nathaniel Luceid believed that there were children who instinctively possessed ideal personality traits and that these children should be sought out and raised in a proper setting so they can rise to leadership positions. Buttercup seemed to display traits that would have caught the eye of the Luceid Corporation. This 'Miss Kay' was obviously one of their lackeys sent in to find the next Luceid child."
"My baby.. Those bastards stole my baby." The Professor's face grew red in rage.
"Calm down, Professor. We need to get together with Bubbles and plan our next move. You book us flight to Citiesville. I'll call Bubbles and tell her we're coming." Blossom was spending every ounce of energy trying to keep a level head. She took out her cell phone and called Bubbles's comic book store.
"Dragonfly Comics, this is Ed."
'Oh great, I got her trained ape' "Ed, I need to speak to Bubbles right away."
"Who is there?"
"Ed, it's Blossom. May I please speak with Bubbles." Blossom spoke through clenched teeth, her patience wearing dangerously thin.
"Bubbles cannot talk as she is expecting a call from her sister."
'Okay, that's it!' "Ed if you don't let me talk to Bubbles right this second, I'm going to tell Sarah." Blossom promised Bubbles she wouldn't threaten Ed like that but he had forced her into taking that drastic action.
"Oh no! Don't tell Sarah! Sarah bad for Ed!" Ed's loud voice faded away into jibbering as he, or Blossom had assumed, went to go get Bubbles.
"Dammit Blossom, I've told you not scare Ed like that! Ed, get out of the crawl space! Geeze, It'll take me forever to get him out of there!" Bubbles answered angrily.
"Look, I'm sorry but this is really important."
"WHAT! What's important!"
"You were right. Bethany Luceid is Buttercup. I looked up her biography page and noticed that the date of her adoption was the same day Buttercup vanished. So I looked into it further and I found out more things that look wierdandthenIstartedinvestigating.."
"Blossom, slow down."
"..intoitmoreandInoticedmoreandmoreweirdthingsandthenIreadherjournal.."
"Blossom, I can't understand what your saying."
"..andfoundcluesthatindicatedsomereallystrangestuffwasgoindonandIfiguredthat .."
"BLOSSOM YOU'RE TALKING TOO FAST!!!!"
"Oh sorry, got a little excited." Blossom was thankful that picture phones weren't involved or else Bubbles would have been treated to a very red face.
"Look, Blossom I'm really busy and I.. Did you just say that what I think you said."
"Yes, Bubbles. Look me and the Professor are flying to Citiesville. We'll call you when we arrive, okay. We need to get together think about our next move."
"Okay. I'll see you when you get here." Bubbles hung up want to coax Ed out of the crawl space. Blossom hung up her phone and went back upstairs. The professor was currently booking a flight to Citiesville. Blossom sat down in a chair and thought about what she had discovered.
'Buttercup. She's still alive. All these years, I thought..' Blossom's face twisted with rage, "They took her. Twenty years of thinking I drove her to her death and all along they had her. The Luceid Corporation is going to pay for this."
It was another beautiful, peaceful, boring day for Blossom Utonium, Private Investigator. It had been weeks since her last case 'Maybe, I'm getting too good at this.' She thought as she got ready for bed. It was an easy career choice for the ex-super hero. The events leading to Buttercup's death had opened her eyes to darker side of humanity. Ever since that day, Blossom had dedicated herself to exposing that dark side for the world to see. Thanks to her keen intellect and inquisitive nature, she had gotten exceptionally good at it. From exposing cheaters and liars as a child to revealing closet criminals, insurance frauds and adulterers in the present, Blossom was known as the best. But even the best P.I. in the tri-state area had her slow periods, this had simply been one of those times. Blossom loathed these slow periods. She constantly needed to hunt down those who did wrong, a need fueled by her desire for revenge and penance. She blamed herself, as well as the people of Townsville, for Buttercup's death. 'If I'd only kept my big mouth shut, Buttercup wouldn't have ran off and she'd still be alive.'
Blossom tucked herself in and went to sleep. A few minutes later, the Professor woke her up. "Blossom, are you awake?"
"Huh..? What is it Professor?" Blossom mumbled, not too happy about being woken up so quickly.
"Your sister is on the phone." He told her. Blossom groaned and picked up her phone. The conversation seemed pointless, Bubbles just got a little over excited about meeting Bethany Luceid, the heiress to the Luceid business empire. Tired and cranky, Blossom asked Bubbles to get to the point, vowing if meeting Miss Luceid was the only reason for waking her up, she was going to Citiesville personally and beat the crap out of her sister.
"Blossom, if I didn't know any better, I could've sworn she was really Buttercup."
That woke Blossom up, "W-What? Bubbles, what are you talking about?"
"I know it sounds crazy, but, for some reason.. She just.. I don't know.."
"Alright, calm down Bubbles. I know you still miss Buttercup, I mean I do too, but we've been through this before. We all feel guilty about what happened, but remember what our therapist said?"
"I remember, but it's different this time. She was just like Buttercup."
Blossom yawned and shook her head, "Look, Bubbles, it's late and I'm tired. I promise I'll talk to you about this tomorrow, but we both need to get some sleep."
Bubbles sighed, "Okay, good night."
"Good night, Bubbles." Blossom hung up and lied back down in her bed. But sleep didn't come as easy as it should have. 'What if she's right? No, that's crazy. But, on the other hand, they never did find Buttercup's body. The police said an animal must have dragged it away, but then again, Townsville didn't exactly have the world's most professional police department. Of course, the Professor said that judging the amount of blood on her dress.. Maybe if I saw a picture of her.. I might as well take a look.' Blossom got up and turned on her computer. After the usual boot up sequence, Blossom got on-line and did a search for 'Bethany Luceid.' The first hit was the official Luceid Corporation Biography of Bethany C. Luceid. 'I guess this one will do.' Blossom clicked the link. A photo of the young woman as well as her background and a list of statistics and accomplishments appeared on the screen. 'Well, I guess I can see why Bubbles thought she was Buttercup. They do have the same color of eyes and hair, but.. Wait a second.' Blossom noticed something unusual. 'Date of Adoption..? That was the day Buttercup ran away. Hmm, could it be a coincidence?' Blossom yawned as fatigue began to hit her. 'I'll look into this tomorrow. I need to sleep.' Blossom shut down the computer and went to bed. Sleep wouldn't come easy though. Blossom didn't like coincidences.
The next morning, Blossom shuffled to the kitchen, tired from the restless night she had. The smell of coffee, eggs, bacon and pancakes had wafted in the air. The Professor was happily preparing breakfast for himself and his daughter.
"Good morning, Blossom."
"Mornin' Professor." Blossom mumbled pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"You look tired. Didn't you sleep well last night?"
"Just had some things on my mind. Nothing big."
"I see. By the way, what did Bubbles want last night."
"Oh, that? Well, she just called to tell me that Bethany Luceid visited her store yesterday."
"Oh really? The Bethany Luceid?"
"Uh-huh." Blossom responded, pouring syrup on the pancakes the Professor prepared for her.
"How exciting. Did she say why?"
"I think to talk to her about Townsville."
"Townsville?"
"Well, I've heard that the government was taking bids for reconstruction. Maybe Miss Luceid wanted to get Bubbles's point of view."
"Hmm, did she say what Miss Luceid was going to do?"
"No. Knowing Bubbles, though, I doubt the Luceid Corporation is going be making any bids on that project." Blossom knew that Bubbles hated Townsville with a passion. They all did. "Anyways, according to Robin, everyone is moving out. Even Mitch is getting transferred to another city. I doubt anyone is going to fix it up."
"You're probably right. Any plans for today?" the Professor added before taking a drink out of his coffee mug.
"Not really." 'I'm just gonna look into this Luceid company some more. Doubt I'll find anything, but it couldn't hurt.' Blossom finished her breakfast and got up from the table, "If you need me, I'll be in my room." Blossom kissed the Professor on the cheek and went back into her room. She turned on her computer and resumed her research on Bethany Luceid. 'Let's see. Accomplishments: Biology Club, 2nd place in a High School Creative Writing competition, Girls Basketball MVP, very nice, although a bit unusual for someone going into the business field. That's interesting, they adopted her on her sixth birthday. Nothing else really interesting.' Blossom decided to look at some other profiles of the Luceid family. 'Maxwell Luceid, hmm, he was adopted too. On his birthday too. Very strange. I wonder..' Blossom viewed the profiles of the previous CEO's, they were all Luceids, all adopted on their birthday. Blossom was intrigued, 'Hmm, this can't be a coincidence. Think I'll look into this a little bit more.' Blossom ran a specialized search program designed to search state records and newspaper articles. She entered the dates of adoption and searched for deaths of children who had been the age each Luceid was upon their adoption, with no body recovered. Hits came up, at least one for each date. Blossom checked each link. 8-year-old Mob Informant vanishes; Mafia Suspected, Town Saddened by 9-year-old's Suicide, Girl Who Discovered Nazi Spy Ring Vanishes each article corresponding to the date of adoption for each Luceid. Blossom noticed that the photos of the missing children look eerily similar to the photos of the Luceids. 'They were all.. Oh my God.' Blossom looked up more information on the Luceid Company. Blood Replicating Unit: Introduced in 2008 by the Luceid Medical Division. Patented 2003 'Buttercup's dress, that was back in.. No, they couldn't have.' Blossom searched more and found an academic paper on Nathaniel Luceid, the founder of the Luceid Company.
"It is a common belief amongst my distinguished peers that quality and virtue are inherited genetically. 'Proper breeding produces the proper child.' Understandable but foolish. I believe that there are children out there with an intrinsic and instinctive comprehension of honor, virtue, nobility and good sense and the ability to make good decisions, regardless of their background. It is the duty of all great men to seek out these children and raise them to be the leaders of the next generation. –Nathaniel Luceid, 1838 'That theory, if the Luceid family had been putting into practice. Oh God.' Blossom got up from her desk and ran out into the living room. She found the Professor sitting in his recliner happily reading the newspaper.
"Professor, I need to look through Buttercup's things." Blossom told him trying to keep cool.
"W-what? Blossom why on earth do you need to look through your sister's things." Professor Utonium regarded his late daughter's items as sacred relics. He was very reluctant to let Blossom to go rooting around in them.
"Please, it's very important." Blossom's eyes danced with a desperation the Professor had never seen before.
"Alright." The Professor sighed in defeat. He reluctantly led Blossom downstairs into his lab. Blossom followed her father through the lab to a door marked storage. The Professor unlocked the door and pulled out several boxes marked Buttercup. Blossom opened the first box and carefully went through the things inside. After removing some of Buttercup's old toys, Blossom had found what she was searching for, a lime green notebook covered with death threats to all who would dare open it. Blossom pulled out the notebook and began to read what was inside.
"Blossom, wait! You can't read that! That's Buttercup's journal."
"Professor, I need to. There may be some clues about what really happened to Buttercup."
"What!? Blossom, what earth are you talking about. You know what happened to Buttercup."
"Just be quiet." Blossom hissed at him. She hated disobeying her father, but this was too important. The Professor gave in and let Blossom read the journal. Blossom skimmed through the pages until she found an entry of interest
'3-18 Saved some woman from the Gangrene Gang. Said her name was Miss Kay and she was Sunday School teacher. Man, who wants to go to school on a Sunday? Anyways, she said if I ever need to talk to anyone about anything she'd be happy to listen. That's pretty cool, usually I just get a thank you and they walk off. It would be nice to have someone to talk to, other than Queen Red and the Whiner that is.'
'Queen Red?' Blossom continued to read.
'3-21 Talked to Miss Kay today. She's real smart, but she doesn't treat me like an idiot like Queen Red does. She's real nice too. She does ask a lot questions, though. Mostly about Townsville and the people here. I guess she must be new here.'
'3-25 Mojo again. Another giant robot this time. Miss Kay said she was surprised that they keep letting him out of jail. She said if he did that from where she was from, he'd either be dead or in prison for the rest of his life. Hmmm.'
'4-10 Pretty cool day today. I just busted up some phony Fuzzy Friends ring. All by myself, too. Queen Red pretended she was proud of me, but I could tell she was jealous. HA HA. The Whiner got mad, telling me to shut up. She and Queen Red were too busy fighting over the stupid things and now she mad because I wasn't too distracted to figure out their collections were fake. HA HA HA The company that makes them gave me a bag of Fuzzy Friends as a reward, they even made one a special one for me. How come the people of Townsville never give us anything for saving the day?'
'4-10 Checked Blossom's Fuzzy Friend guide. Man these things are valuable, think I'll hold on to them.'
'4-13 Got a 'B' on my test today. Miss Kay's been helping me study, so my grades have been getting better. Queen Red went ballistic, said I was cheating. Typical, dumb ol' Buttercup isn't allowed to get anything higher than D. Stupid obscured by ink blot crude drawing of Blossom with a crown shouting 'BLAH BLAH BLAH..
'So that's why her grades had improved. Oh Buttercup, I'm sorry.'
'4-15 Strange, I had the feeling we were being watched today when we were fighting that monster. Queen Red said it was just my imagination. Maybe she's right, but still. Oh forget it.'
'4-23 Poor Bubbles, that dumb octopus of her got torched by that monster. Man was she ticked. Did things that even I haven't thought of. I feel bad for her though. She's been in bed crying for hours. Think, I'll give her the Fuzzy Friends.
'4-23 Boy, was Bubbles happy when I gave her those stupid Fuzzy Friends. She really liked the special one. Nearly broke my ribs when she hugged me. That's ok though. I'm just glad I could cheer her up. Heh, she named the dragon 'little Buttercup'. Figures she'd do that.'
Blossom smiled at the memory of Buttercup's generosity.
'4-27 Mojo again, God I'm getting sick of that guy. Had that feeling we were being watched again when we were fighting him. Weird.'
'5-1 MOJO AGAIN? We just put him in jail. Why do they keep letting him out. Thank God, I have Miss Kay to talk to. I'm tired of people making excuses for these idiots. I feel like I'm protecting a city of two-year- olds.'
'5-7 Fuzzy, this time. Robbed a convenience store again. Freaked out when he saw me. Guess he still remembers what I did to him the last time we met. At least I won't have any doctors calling me a bad guy again. Lousy ingrates.'
'5-8 I've been get that feeling again. This time at school. Maybe, I should tell Miss Kay about it. She's the only one in town who doesn't think I'm a moron or is one (heh-heh).'
'5-9 Mojo, it had to be Mojo. Damn monkey or chimp or whatever. He's been getting pretty desperate lately. Also been having that feeling more often. Miss Kay told me not to worry about it, but still.'
'5-13 I killed him. I didn't mean to. But I killed him. I knew shooting that laser was dangerous but if I hadn't he would have killed all those people. Miss Kay told me I did the right thing but still. Oh man, everyone is gonna hate me. Professor was cool about it but Blossom and Bubbles. I can see it in their eyes. Oh God what have I done.' Some discolored spots on the page; most likely teardrops
'5-15 Bunch of jerks, I save their lives and they treat me like crap. First they turn against us when that Fluffy Bunch Gang or whatever comes to town and now this. Well I've had it with these creeps. Screw them and screw Townsville. From now on, I'm just looking out my sisters, my real friends and the Professor. The rest of them can go to Hell. I'm gonna go talk to Miss Kay.'
'5-15 Man, Miss Kay is so cool. She told me I was doing the right thing by giving up this "super hero saving the day" crap. She also invited me to have a picnic in the woods tomorrow and gave me this cool necklace. It's a wolf's head, check it out.' A rubbing of a wolf's head; it bears a resemblance to the Luceid corporate logo as it was in the 2000's 'I can hear some electrical buzzing from it. I wonder what that is.'
'5-16 I just finished my speech. Man, I can't wait to see their faces when I tell them. Ha Ha. Stupid jerks. Let's see how you like it when Buttercup isn't there to save your butts next time. HA HA HA HA HA!!!'
'5-16 Got blamed for breaking the Professor's latest nerd device. Big shock there. I know it was Bubbles. She'll crack sooner or later, I know her too well. Stupid Blossom. I can't believe she thinks I killed Mojo on purpose. Lousy, snotty, bossy.. Oh well, Queen Red will get hers later. I guess I'll go and meet Miss Kay in the woods. No one will miss me, they usually stay away from me when I get in trouble, and I won't be too long. They probably won't even know I was gone.' Final Entry
"Oh my god." Blossom dropped the notebook in shock.
"Blossom, what is it?"
"Professor, are you the only person with access to Chemical X?"
"Well it is a highly restricted agent but I do believe other scientist are licensed to us it. Why do you ask?"
"Do you know if any scientists working for the Luceid Corporation were allowed to use it?"
"I believe so. In fact, I did collaborate with some scientists who went to work for the Luceid Corporation during the initial development of Chemical X. But what is this all about?"
"Luceid's Child Theory."
"What?"
"Professor, each CEO of the Luceid Corporation was not only a single child but they were adopted. The date of their adoption corresponds with the death or disappearance of a similar child. Each one of those children had been in someway considered a hero and held to ideals that are associated with the Luceid Corporation. In 1982, a boy who had been a mob informant was killed under suspicious circumstances but his body was never recovered. In 1960, another boy who had had exposed his brother as a cheater and stopped his admission into a prestigious college, supposedly committed suicide but his body wasn't found either. It goes on like this."
"I don't understand."
"In 2008, the Luceid Corporation introduced a device capable of synthesizing blood, but it was patented five years earlier. If they had that device and some chemical X, they could have easily created enough of Buttercup's blood to make it look like she was murdered."
"Blossom this is ridiculous, you can't possibly believe that a major corporation would.."
"Look at Buttercup's journal." Blossom interrupted picking up the notebook and opening it to the pages where Buttercup's final entries were written. "She had been speaking with some woman she called 'Miss Kay.' Buttercup knew there was a risk in trying take out Mojo Jojo's laser, we all did that's why me and Bubbles didn't, but Buttercup took that risk. She also knew if that she had caused the death of Mojo Jojo, accidentally or not, the people would turn against her. Self-sacrifice for the good of people, a highly touted Luceid ideal. Also, Buttercup was planning on quitting because she felt unappreciated. Help those who are willing to repay, help those who appreciate it, more Luceid corporate philosophy. And look at this. Buttercup made a pencil rubbing of a pendant given to her by this 'Miss Kay' person. It's clearly the Luceid Corporate Logo from when she disappeared. She also wrote that she heard an electrical noise coming from the pendant, I think there might have been a tracking device in it. Also, if you look at her last entry, it's clear that Buttercup had snuck out to meet with 'Miss Kay.' She didn't run away as we had originally thought."
"Oh dear God." The Professor had turned pale at Blossom's revelation.
"I think this 'Miss Kay' lured Buttercup out into woods and somehow kidnapped her and faked her death."
"But why would anyone do that?"
"Luceid's Child Theory, a sort of spiritual social Darwinism. Nathaniel Luceid believed that there were children who instinctively possessed ideal personality traits and that these children should be sought out and raised in a proper setting so they can rise to leadership positions. Buttercup seemed to display traits that would have caught the eye of the Luceid Corporation. This 'Miss Kay' was obviously one of their lackeys sent in to find the next Luceid child."
"My baby.. Those bastards stole my baby." The Professor's face grew red in rage.
"Calm down, Professor. We need to get together with Bubbles and plan our next move. You book us flight to Citiesville. I'll call Bubbles and tell her we're coming." Blossom was spending every ounce of energy trying to keep a level head. She took out her cell phone and called Bubbles's comic book store.
"Dragonfly Comics, this is Ed."
'Oh great, I got her trained ape' "Ed, I need to speak to Bubbles right away."
"Who is there?"
"Ed, it's Blossom. May I please speak with Bubbles." Blossom spoke through clenched teeth, her patience wearing dangerously thin.
"Bubbles cannot talk as she is expecting a call from her sister."
'Okay, that's it!' "Ed if you don't let me talk to Bubbles right this second, I'm going to tell Sarah." Blossom promised Bubbles she wouldn't threaten Ed like that but he had forced her into taking that drastic action.
"Oh no! Don't tell Sarah! Sarah bad for Ed!" Ed's loud voice faded away into jibbering as he, or Blossom had assumed, went to go get Bubbles.
"Dammit Blossom, I've told you not scare Ed like that! Ed, get out of the crawl space! Geeze, It'll take me forever to get him out of there!" Bubbles answered angrily.
"Look, I'm sorry but this is really important."
"WHAT! What's important!"
"You were right. Bethany Luceid is Buttercup. I looked up her biography page and noticed that the date of her adoption was the same day Buttercup vanished. So I looked into it further and I found out more things that look wierdandthenIstartedinvestigating.."
"Blossom, slow down."
"..intoitmoreandInoticedmoreandmoreweirdthingsandthenIreadherjournal.."
"Blossom, I can't understand what your saying."
"..andfoundcluesthatindicatedsomereallystrangestuffwasgoindonandIfiguredthat .."
"BLOSSOM YOU'RE TALKING TOO FAST!!!!"
"Oh sorry, got a little excited." Blossom was thankful that picture phones weren't involved or else Bubbles would have been treated to a very red face.
"Look, Blossom I'm really busy and I.. Did you just say that what I think you said."
"Yes, Bubbles. Look me and the Professor are flying to Citiesville. We'll call you when we arrive, okay. We need to get together think about our next move."
"Okay. I'll see you when you get here." Bubbles hung up want to coax Ed out of the crawl space. Blossom hung up her phone and went back upstairs. The professor was currently booking a flight to Citiesville. Blossom sat down in a chair and thought about what she had discovered.
'Buttercup. She's still alive. All these years, I thought..' Blossom's face twisted with rage, "They took her. Twenty years of thinking I drove her to her death and all along they had her. The Luceid Corporation is going to pay for this."