Exposure
Buttercup had been the victim of an early wakeup call by Blossom, who felt they should get an early start to maximize their chances of seeing Bubbles when she showed. Buttercup kept her grumbling to herself, accepting yet another price paid for her actions.
There were a lot of other students gathered outside already. Some of the school buses carried more than one load of kids, so every day there were students left milling around until the doors were opened.
After a quick sweep failed to turn up their sister, they met up on the roof.
"I guess we'll just keep watch for her," Blossom said. "We've still got another five minutes until opening bell. Fifteen until class starts."
Buttercup nodded with a mix of sullenness and her usual tiredness. They parted to man different corners of the roof.
While she scanned the skies and the parking lot entrances, Buttercup was soon distracted by a cry from below.
"Hey, Buttercup! Get your moldy green butt down here!"
It was Princess Morbucks. Buttercup was reluctant to leave her post, but if Princess actually wanted to talk to her, something was up. She flew near her, hovering a foot off the ground so she could glare down at her. Most of the nearby students spared little more than a glance at the scene.
"What do you want? I'm busy," Buttercup opened, glancing at a folder Princess carried under her arm.
Princess smiled. "Well, I'm thinking of doing some photography for the school paper. I thought I'd ask your opinion on my first attempt."
Buttercup deepened her scowl. "What the hell are you trying to pull, Princess?"
Princess smiled and pulled out the folder. Buttercup felt a cold flush through her body when she opened it. Tucked into one of the pockets was a large, glossy print of Buttercup and Bubbles kissing yesterday. It was from an angle, showing more of Bubbles and her shocked expression.
Buttercup landed and snatched the folder from Princess's grasp, bending it in the process. She closed it and held it tightly against her, looking around to see if anyone had noticed the opened folder.
"It's good, huh?" Princess asked. "Front page material, don't you think? You know, I think I might skip straight to the Times instead."
Buttercup glared at her, then tossed the folder on the ground and burned it with her heat vision. She stepped over the small flames and grabbed a fistful of Princess's blouse, lifting her off the ground with one hand.
"Where do you get off pulling a stunt like that!"
"Well, I guess we all know where you get off, huh?" Princess was still smirking, although she was using both hands on Buttercup's arm to hold herself up a little more comfortably. People around them were eying the situation and backing off. Princess continued quietly, her voice a little strained. "And they thought I was sick. Not just another girl, but your own sister?"
Buttercup snarled. "If you do anything to hurt my sister, I'll make you pay. If you want to destroy my reputation, fine. Just be ready to find out what I'm capable of when I have no public image to maintain." Buttercup had a few thoughts then, one of which was that Princess might be bugged. Choosing her words carefully, she concluded, "Besides, they'll figure out that thing's faked. Who would believe you over us?"
Buttercup heard the combined commotion of the principal and Blossom as they approached her. She also heard a helicopter overhead but didn't pay much attention. She was used to news choppers showing up when she or her sisters did even the stupidest little things. Usually not this quick, but it was still early and her mind was on other matters. She dropped Princess, who fell to her knees before standing back up.
"Don't you dare, Princess," Buttercup warned one last time.
"Too late," she said, grinning.
Buttercup heard the volume of the crowd behind her pick up. They'd gone almost silent at the confrontation, but now there were gasps, dozens of conversations, a few woos, and more than a little laughter. These were accompanied by the sounds of flapping papers.
Buttercup turned around and her jaw dropped. The chopper was dropping tens of thousands of papers with that picture on it.
"No!" Buttercup screamed, taking off. At high speed, she tried to sweep them up in a great whirlwind and burn them. This was mostly successful, though it spread a lot of ash and did little for the ones that had already fallen into student hands or onto the ground.
"Buttercup!" Blossom called. She appeared in front of her sister and grabbed her arms to stop her. In one of her hands was one of those pictures. "What is going on here?"
Buttercup looked around to figure out exactly that. It seemed that half the grounds was filled with students looking at her in some mix of shock and disbelief or outright disgust. Others mocked her, more than a few kissing the picture or some invisible party. She saw some enterprising souls had gathered excess papers from the ground and had accepted the task of running copies to the areas that had been denied their falling pictures.
Buttercup freed herself from Blossom's grip, flying away in a haze of tears. Blossom tried to follow, but lost her sister as she darted through the streets and around the skyscrapers of the inner city.
Deciding it was best to let her be, and worrying more about Bubbles again, she returned to the school. High above the commotion below, she saw Mike's convertible a few blocks away, heading towards the school. Bubbles was in it, still wearing yesterday's clothes. Blossom flew over to them, putting her hand on Mike's door and floating horizontally alongside the car.
"Pull over, Mike."
"Woah, chill out!" Mike said, "She just wanted--"
"No, Mike, I mean it. The school yard is a madhouse right now."
"What's that?" Bubbles asked, noticing the paper in her sister's fist. Blossom ignored her for the moment.
Mike pulled into a gas station and parked off to the side. Blossom let go of the car as he turned and landed beside the passenger door when it stopped. Bubbles got out immediately. "What's wrong? And where's Buttercup?"
Blossom stretched the paper smooth against her stomach and turned it around. Bubbles gasped and reached for it. Blossom let her have it. Bubbles held it with one hand, her other over her mouth. Mike walked around to stand behind her, putting her arm around her shoulder.
She looked up and removed her hand from her mouth, "Blossom, where did you get this?"
"Princess dropped a load of them from a helicopter. Buttercup made a huge mess burning up most of them, but they're all over the school grounds anyway. Bubbles, just what is going on here?"
She ignored her sister's question. She became very serious. "Blossom, where is Buttercup? Is she okay?"
Blossom frowned a little. "She took off. I don't know where to."
"We've got to find her," Bubbles said, turning to show Mike her concern as well.
"Let me worry about that," he said. "I've got a hunch. Blossom, could you just keep Bubbles away from the other kids?"
She narrowed her eyes slightly. Her opinion of Mike had never been that high, but she wasn't about to argue with him. If Buttercup didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be. It was that simple. If Mike's hunch was good, so much the better. She'd just track him down later--after she had a talk with Bubbles.
Blossom nodded.
"Great. Thanks, Bloss." Mike ran around and hopped into his car, starting it up again.
Bubbles called out as he backed up. "Mike! If you find her, send her to your place for me, okay!"
He didn't show it, but there was no doubt he heard her.
"Oh no you--" Blossom started.
"It's okay," Bubbles said soothingly, squeezing her sister's arm tightly just below the shoulder. "Everything's going to be just fine."
Blossom pulled the paper from her sister's hand and held it up again. "Bubbles," she started.
Again she was interrupted. "Don't worry about that right now," Bubbles said, pushing her sister's arm down. "When Buttercup comes back, I want to be the first one to talk to her. If she goes home first, will you please send her over to me right away?"
Blossom paused for a moment, then smiled weakly and nodded. She hugged her sister and kissed the hair on her temple. "All right, Bubbles. We'll do this your way. You head on to Mike's, then. I'm heading home to talk to dad."