Hi again. Unfortunately, I have discovered a mistake in 'can you keep a secret.' Chapter six has been replaced now, but annoyingly, chapter six was the only one really important to this story. So I am going to cover the important points form that chapter in this one. Okay?

8. The Unlikely Help

"Umm, are you here with Buttercup Jojo?" the nurse asked. Eddy looked up.

"Err…" he considered lying, "yes. Why?"

"She is able to receive visitors now."

"Oh. Thanks." Eddy stood up. He looked at his watch. He only needed to hold on for ten minutes, and even he could manage ten minutes with Buttercup with out making things worse. Then the Professor could take over, and everything would be fine.

Nervously, he pushed open the door. Buttercup was sitting up in bed. She had tubes stuck into a few areas, and looked pail and thin. She must already know about the baby, Eddy thought, as her stomach was now flat.

The green puff looked up. She couldn't keep the disappointment from covering her face when she saw Eddy. He supposed he expected that.

"Where's the others?" she asked weakly.

"They… err, Sonic made them go. They'll be back soon."

"All of them? Even Butch" she seemed to lack her normal spirit.

"Umm…" Eddy just stood there. He could have lied, but he knew that would make it worse. "He went for a walk."

Buttercup nodded slowly. Eddy moved into the room a bit more.

"I'm sorry," he tried. Buttercup was looking straight ahead.

"Thanks," she said with no feeling. "When will the others be back?"

"The Professor will be about ten minutes."

"Okay. I would like to be alone till then."

Eddy nodded and went to leave quietly. Then he stopped. He'd remembered something. The last time he'd seen a puff like this, was when he'd first meet Blossom. On that day, he'd hung around, and stopped her from doing something terrible.As a result, as much as he disliked Buttercup, his dammed conscious was demanding that he stayed.

So he stopped. "Are you sure you don't want to talk to me about it?"

"Yes."

"Is that you don't want to talk about it, or you don't want to talk to me about it?"

Buttercup said nothing. So Eddy guessed the answer. He thought for a moment and then tried another tack.

"Do you want to talk about something else?"

"Like how much I dislike you?" in Buttercups weak and cracking voice, there was still a note of danger.

Eddy thought about what she'd just said, but having jumped into the pool of sharks, he decided to try and swim in it: "Yes, why not," he said enthusiastically.

"Okay," Buttercup was beginning to speak with feeling for the first time since Eddy had entered. "On my list of most disliked people, you come a head of Mojo, but just behind Sonic."

"Good, that gives me a feel for it."

"In fact, you make a good pair with Sonic, because I hate you for the same reasons."

"Yes, go on."

"I hate you because you've somehow tricked Blossom into destroying her own life for you. You only care about money, that stupid business of yours means that you never have much of that money you care so much about, you look completely stupid, you fat, ugly and objectionable, and… and…"

"Yes, go on," prompted Eddy, but Buttercup was stuttering.

"And… and y..you've given her children! I'll never have that!"

Eddy realised that Buttercup must be feeling physically better, because she had the energy to collapse in tears. Mentally however, she was very ill.

"It's okay," he sat on the bed, "you can have another child."

"HARDLY" she sobbed, "I'm almost completely infertile! And so is Bu… Butch."

"What? I mean, oh."

"The doctor told us we had a one in one thousand chance in conceiving together, and we managed and now… and…and," she broke down again.

Eddy paused. "It's okay, you beat those odds every day at work." It didn't help. So he racked his brains, and with a deep breath, he had one last go.

"An average person will be willing to attempt something. But if they fail, they will give up, and either move on to something else, or give up entierly, and settle with his or herlot. A great person will try something and whenthey fails,they will try, try and try again. But an exceptional person, when they fail, will try and try again, then they will give up, stand back, and think. And with time, they will find a different way to achieve their goal. Now I'm a very average person. Do you want to be down there with me, or flying high in the sky, where you belong?"

Buttercup had looked up. She sniffed, and paused.

"Did you think of that?" she asked, impressed.

"No, I read it ten minutes ago in a magazine."

"Oh." She managed a laugh, but there wasn't much feeling in it. Eddy's mobile beeped, a text message informed him that the Professor was here.

"Feeling better?" asked Eddy. She nodded slightly. "Great," said Eddy, "I'll go get the Professor."

"Took him long enough," yep, the old Buttercup had got a grip on the shell shocked frame again.

"Well, he had to pick up our kids from school."

"Oh." She paused. "That's good,I'd like to see Edward and MJ."

"You would?" that was the last thing he expected her to say.

"Yes, it would give me something to aim for, some motivation."

"Okay, fine." He turned to leave.

"Wait Eddy," Buttercup called, "do you think Butch will come back?"

Eddy stopped again. "What does your heart tell you?" he asked.

"Oh come off it Eddy, the emotional speech thing doesn't suit you!"

"Fine, he's probably just got hammered and is singing rude songs on a doorstep somewhere. Tell you what; I'll go find him for you."

"Thanks," said Buttercup, and Eddy nodded, before walking out.Then he realised that he'd just agreed to go deal with a drunk ruff, which wasn't the smartest thing he'd ever done.

Butch stared. His Brother, his late brother, was dress in a long black robe, with a huge scythe and was sitting on a dazzling white horse.

"Gee, I've wondered into Gandalf!" Butch said. Brick laughed and jumped off the horse.

"I would of though that after seventeen years, you would have thought of something better to say when you met your brother again," but he was all smiles. Butch shot over and gave him a hug, "oh I'm so pleased to see you!" he said.

"Hey, steady on now bro," said Brick, "no one greats Death like this." Butch jumped off.

"What… you mean… I…"

"Well what the hell did you think the scythe and the Black robe meant!" Brick snorted. "Now come on, time to go."

Butch staggered slightly, how could this happen to Buttercup! How could he do this to her? And how come Brick was laughing?"

"What's funny about my death?" he demanded.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist it, you're not dead."

"Why you… haven't changed a bit," Butch was still a bit shaken.

"Sorry, sorry."

"Then why are you here?"

"Oh, I've been sent to show you your possible futures. On orders from the man upstairs."

"Really," Butch was amazed. "What is he like?" Brick paused.

"I can't tell you about anything like that."

"Why?"

"Dead people only. If you knew which, if any of the religions was right, then it religion would rather lose its point, wouldn't it, because you wouldn't need faith."

"You can't tell me anything?"

"I'm about to show you your future, isn't that enough?" Butch shook his head. Brick sighed. "Okay, take this promotional pamphlet, So you're Dead. It tells you pretty much every non-religious thing you need to know about dying and the imediate aftermarth."

"Oh, thanks," Butch pocketed it.

"Okay, let's get going," said Brick, as he climbed on to his horse. Butch hadn't really noticed it before.

"He's a fine steed," he said.

"She's," corrected Brick. Now hop on. Butch flew into the air and landed gently on the horse behind his brother.

"Why don't you mount by flying," he asked.

"Cause I lost my powers somewhere," Brick explained.

"What? When you die, you lose you powers?"

"Only if you're careless," Brick sighed, "and I wasn't in a good frame of mind when I died."

"Oh. Say, what's the horse's name?"

"Katharine," Brick tried to sound matter-of-factly about it.

"Hey," his brother was far too quick on the up take, "isn't that Blos…"

"Yes it is," Brick cut him off abruptly before mouthing to him that Kat disapproved of him going on about Blossom. Butch started to mouth back that it wasn't a cat, but a horse, so Brick hit him, before pulling on the reigns, and getting Kat totrot forward gently.

"Hey," said Butch, having recovered from the whack, "who'd have thought that of all us puffs and ruffs, you'd be the first with a hor…"

The rest of his sentence was carried away in the whistling wind, as Brick gave the reigns a sharp crack, and the world degenerated to a blur, as the Katharine accelerated.

Okay, please review. Thanks.