Chapter 3
Temper-a-mental
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In the streets of Townsville, Buttercup was sitting against a wall to rest. She was breathing heavily, sweating profusely and her heart was pounding against her ribcage. She had just narrowly escaped death in the Morbucks' mansion where she had turned herself into a rat and unexpectedly got stuck like that!
(Flashback)
It was a Survival of the Fittest: Buttercup the rat vs. the Mighty Morbucks Power Rangers! And unfortunately for Buttercup, she didn't have her arsenal of superpowers. All she could do was run like heck!
'There's still at least 10 minutes left! I better change back when my time runs out or I'm dead!'
After dodging brooms and vacuums in Princess' bedroom and the hallways, meat cleavers in the kitchen and lawn mowers in the courtyard, a puff of smoke finally changed her back to normal and she zoomed out of there in the blink of an eye, thankfully before anyone could recognize her.
(End of Flashback)
Buttercup bought a soft drink from a vending machine and drank it down in just two gulps. As she crushed the can with her bare hands, Professor Bratt came from down the street and greeted her.
"Well, how did it go? Did you have fun?" Professor Bratt asked.
"If by 'have fun,' you mean 'receive the wrath of Sod's Law,' then yeah. I had a blast," said Buttercup. "Shape shifting is cool, but not so cool if I can get stuck as an animal! Why the heck didn't you tell me that!"
"Why didn't you figure it out? If you have to say a word in order to change, you have to be able to talk," Professor Bratt sighed. "Oh well. It was a good thing it was only temporary. See, this is exactly why I give out free samples. Anyway, want to try something else?"
"I'm thinking about something that wouldn't render me powerless. Something like…the ability to move things with my mind? That was my second choice."
"Telekinesis, eh? Good choice!" Professor Bratt pulled another test tube out of her lab coat.
There was another splash of chemicals on Buttercup. Again, she tingled a bit as she felt her skin absorb the liquid.
"Now with this ability, you can't lose control. But again, you'll only have 20 minutes to use this power," said Professor Bratt.
"All right then," said Buttercup.
Buttercup spotted a garbage can next to Professor Bratt and concentrated on it. The can imploded and sent garbage spewing out of the top and splattering all over Professor Bratt. Buttercup couldn't help laughing at the look on Prof. Bratt's face. But suddenly…
"HEY!" Prof. Bratt roared. Her teeth seemed to have suddenly grown fangs and her hair appeared to be moving like Sedusa's snakelike locks. Her eyes now had an eerie glow and a vein was visible on her forehead. Buttercup also could have sworn she saw her grow several feet taller!
"TEST YOUR STINKIN' SAMPLE SOMEWHERE ELSE, OKAY! HIT THE ROAD, JACK!Oh, I'm sorry," she said, suddenly calmed down and back to normal. "I usually try to stay calm and friendly all the time, but I occasionally act up like this."
"R-really?" Buttercup stammered, still getting over the shock.
"Yeah. Most people say it's because I try to suppress all my anger and frustration for so long, that even the littlest thing can cause me to explode! Hmph. Others say I just have a split personality. But hey, doesn't everyone have a second side to their personality? DON'T THEY!"
"Yeeaahhh…" said Buttercup. "I know some other people who are like that."
CoughBubblesCough!
"Hey! What's that up in the sky?" asked Prof. Bratt. Buttercup looked up and saw two streaks of light. One was pink and the other was baby blue. It was her sisters, and they were heading in the direction of Townsville's Bank, where the distant sound of the alarm bell was faintly ringing.
"Oh, that's just Blossom and Bubbles."
'So the day needs saving, eh?' Buttercup thought. 'Perfect."
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At the Townsville Bank, four robbers in ski masks were holding up the place. Two had their guns pointed and made sure everyone had their hands up, one was holding a large sack open and the last one was stuffing money into it. Just then…
CRASH!
"Not so fast!" exclaimed the Powerpuff Girls' leader, Blossom. Right next to her was Bubbles, who was ready for action. "Why can't you criminals ever take a hint?"
"Oh look, it's the Powerpuff Girls here to stop us and save the day again. Well girls, how's THIS for a hint!" one of the robbers smirked, grabbing a small boy and pressing his gun against the frightened child's temple. His finger was on the trigger, already starting to slowly squeeze it.
Bubbles gasped. "Let him go!" she cried.
"Oh great," Blossom said under her breath.
The two girls dared not move, for they knew if they took a single step forward, the robber would fire his gun.
Buttercup arrived at the bank, and was about to enter through the hole her sisters had blasted with their earlier entrance. But in the nick of time, she noticed the hostage situation and hid behind the wall. Slowly she turned her head and peeked inside. This was the perfect opportunity to use her telekinesis. She focused on the gun against the boy's head and thought hard.
Crack crick…BANG!
To the robber's, and everyone else's surprise, the gun burst apart in his hand, and the pieces clattered harmlessly onto the floor. Blossom and Bubbles saw their chance and dashed forward. Wasting no time, they used their lasers to disarm the other robbers and then subdued them in no time flat.
"Mommy! Mommy!" the boys wailed as he ran into his relieved mother's arms.
"Oh thank the universe you're safe!" the mother cried.
'What do you know?' Buttercup thought. 'Maybe this is the superpower for me.'
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While Blossom and Bubbles were dealing with the media yet again, Buttercup decided to head on home. She wanted to try out her new superpower some more before her less-than-twenty minutes ran out.
And the fact that if she joined her sisters the newspapers would probably put her down for "not being there yet still seeking glory," had NOTHING to do with it.
In the house, Buttercup was using her awesome new telekinesis ability to move furniture around the house. She started out with lifting a chair and letting it fly in circles around the kitchen. Then she tried to lift the sofa in the living room. But her mind was having a hard time lifting the heavy couch. She tried again and again, but it kept dropping to the ground.
'Oh come on! How am I supposed to get a city bus out of a ditch with my mind if I can't lift a simple couch!' Buttercup thought in frustration.
With a loud creaking noise, a tall lamp nearby bent into a '7' shape! Buttercup was surprised, since the lamp was supposed to be one solid piece.
'Did I do that?' she thought.
No way. It couldn't be from Buttercup's telekinesis! Prof. Bratt clearly said she couldn't lose control!
'Wait. Did Professor Bratt say I can't lose control, as in I don't have to worry about losing control? Or as in…I SHOULDN'T get mad and lose control! I get it now! Day-yam!'
SNAP! The lamp snapped in two and whacked Buttercup on the head.
"Ow!"
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Buttercup sat on the couch, looking at the clock. She had decided to sit still, not getting angry until her time ran out. But Father Time was taking a coffee break.
'Day-yam. Why is it that time NEVER goes as fast or slow as you want it to?'
Just then, Blossom and Bubbles arrived at home.
"Hi Buttercup!" Blossom said. "You just missed a bank robbery." Ha!
"We don't have much homework tonight, so do you want to play Queen of Fighters 3?" Bubbles asked.
Yeah! Watching the clock never passes the time. But playing video games always does!
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Buttercup was a master of these two-dimensional fighting games. That was until today, when Bubbles came up with a simple yet effective stratagem: Trap your opponent at the very edge of the stage or against a wall and continuously pelt her! Buttercup kept trying to jump away, but Bubbles kept knocking her character down and hitting her again before she could do anything. She knocked her down again and again and again, continuing until Buttercup lost the round.
"Hey, no fair!" Buttercup exclaimed. "I couldn't move!" "Oh boohoo," Bubbles said. "Want a rematch?"
"Fine."
So they played again. Bubbles won again with the same technique, frustrating Buttercup even more. Bubbles insisted on a 3 out of 5, saying this time she won't trap Buttercup. But she still beat her the same way.
"Hey! You said you wouldn't do that again!" "I had my fingers crossed," giggled Bubbles.
"Bubbles, you don't have fingers," Buttercup muttered.
"Girls, will you stop arguing already?" Blossom interrupted. "I can't concentrate on my Chinese."
"Why Don't you join us, Blossom?" Bubbles asked. "We can have a three-way match!"
"Yeah," Buttercup agreed. If Blossom were to join in, then Bubbles wouldn't be able to trap Buttercup because she would also have to deal with Blossom.
"Okay, just one game," said Blossom. She picked up a third controller and started the game.
Fate was against Buttercup that time. The martial arts video game became more like a volleyball game, and Buttercup was the ball. Blossom and Bubbles had Buttercup trapped between them and would hit her to each other, passing her back and forth.
Buttercup's attempts to escape were futile, no matter how quickly she pushed the buttons. Eventually, she just placed the controller down in front of her and watched her sisters thrash her.
It wasn't long before Buttercup lost. Buttercup got up and took her books out of her backpack.
"What's wrong, Buttercup?" said Bubbles. "Don't you want to play one last game?"
"Nah," Buttercup replied. "I'll just do my homework."
"You'd rather do homework than play again?" Blossom said incredulously. "I never thought you were the sore loser, Buttercup."
The words 'Sore Loser' pierced through Buttercup! She was starting to make the sound of a boiling teakettle.
"Who's the baby now?" Bubbles teased.
That was the coup de grace! All the anger Buttercup had tried to keep in burst out as she yelled at the top of her lungs:
"ZIP IT!"
There were some loud snapping noises and a rumbling. The power went out and suddenly, the whole house plummeted ten feet straight down! The girls shrieked and held onto each other. Then there was silence for a few moments.
"What the heck happened? Oh no! My lab!" the girls heard Professor Utonium exclaim from out of their room. They flew out their door and down the hallway to see that the house was still intact, but the entire first floor was underground! They could see nothing through the windows but dirt. They found the Professor in front of the door to his basement laboratory.
"What happened, Professor?" Blossom asked.
"The basement collapsed, including my lab! In fact, the whole house just sunk down a floor!"
"How could this have happened?"
"I don't know. Termites?"
Buttercup put on her best 'I-know-nothing' face. Luckily, the Professor and her sisters DIDN'T see it.
She sighed in disappointment. 'And here I thought this would be the superpower for me. Day-yam.'
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A/N: I don't think this will be my last fanfic. I'm keeping a lot of my ideas for myself, but you're right, Barry I. Grauman; fanfic writing is good for practicing.
Even if this is a self-insertion fic, I'm not the star. Buttercup is! And about what I said about Prof. Bratt being very different from the real me…well, maybe not that different. The only differences are that my last name isn't Bratt, I'm still in school, and if I were ever going to become a scientist and create superpowers, I'd use them myself instead of selling them! Oh yeah, and the hair thing when Prof. Bratt gets angry is an exaggeration.
"Beginning is easy. Continuing is hard." -Japanese Proverb