I felt like writing about what Butch was up to while Boomer was busy fretting over Bubbles, so read on, folks!
There she was, playing handball with the other students. Maybe he should think this through. Nah. Butch was never one to think things through. He wanted a Valentine's Day card, but he sure wasn't just gonna sit around and wait. He was gonna do this the Butch way. He looked at the rubber ball in his hands and wished himself luck. He aimed his ball right at the one the kids were using just as Buttercup was about to hit it.
The ball bounced off course, and Buttercup slammed into the ground. "Hey!" she yelled, furious. "Who did that, huh? Who's the one looking for a death sentence?" The other kids were slowly backing up, hiding behind trees, backpacks, other kids, anything they could find.
"Up here, you sissy," Butch called, drawing her attention up.
"Who you callin' sissy?" she glared at him. "I'll show you what this sissy can do!" Before Butch could react, Buttercup was right in front of him, and she gave him a punch that sent him flying. Butch got up, and flew upward at her, punching her high up into the sky. She recovered, diving back down, and delivered an axe kick that sent him pummeling toward the ground. He was about to eyebeam her, when he realized they were fighting. Today was the one day Butch didn't want to risk a time out.
"Wait!" he called.
"What? You give up already?" she asked smugly.
"No, I wants ta challenge you," he declared.
"A challenge, eh?"
"Yeah, dodgeball match. Lunch."
"You're on, knucklehead! And you're going down!"
"How's about we make it more fun?" He grinned.
"Oh yeah? State your terms."
"The loser writes the winner a Valentine's card." She wasn't going to back down. He'd make sure of it.
"Wait, what? Ewww no! Cards are for sissies!"
"And losers are sissies too! Or are you too sissy?" he taunted.
"I am not! Lunch it is, buster!"
Just then, the bell rang, and Ms. Keane called everyone in. "All right, children. Settle down, settle down," she said as everyone took their seats. "Let's take out our Valentine's bags that we made last week. Now, anyone who brought cards may pass them around. And I brought heart-shaped lollipops for everyone!" Butch looked around. A lot of the kids got up to pass out candy, but Buttercup stayed right in her seat. She might as well start making her card right now– there was no way Butch was gonna lose.
"Hey Boomer, you didn't bring any cards?" a kid sitting across from Butch's brother asked. Ha! Butch wasn't gonna be giving out cards today, and neither were his brothers. So Butch saved Boomer the trouble and answered for him.
"Of course he didn't! Boomer's not some card-giving sissy, are ya, Boomer? Or does wittle Boomer has somebody special?" Butch loved to tease his brother.
"I don't!" Boomer yelled back, as Butch burst out laughing. After Boomer had turned away, Butch focused in on his Valentine's bag. It completely lacked hearts of any color– there was no way Butch would be caught dead with hearts on anything that belonged to him. Instead, it was covered with green skulls. Ms. Keane had objected, but what did he care? The most important thing, however, was that this bag was filled with candy, and Butch just couldn't wait any longer to eat them. Before everyone had finished passing out their cards, Butch was already going through his haul. He tore the candies and chocolates off the cards, tossing those back into the bag. Butch stuffed the sweets into his mouth, munching on Hershey's, SweeTarts, and Sweet Hearts all at once.
Soon Butch had finished with his bag, and eyeing Brick's jealously, asked, "Hey can I have some o' yours?" Brick seemed kind of distracted and muttered a vague 'mmhmm' but that was good enough for Butch. He munched through Brick's candy all the way till lunch. The sweet taste of candy was going to be topped off with the sweet taste of victory.
The bell rang. It was time. Time to battle. Time to defeat. Time to taste victory. Sweet, sweet victory. And it was gonna be his.
Butch made his way to the court. There were a few balls ready for them, but three wasn't gonna be enough. Butch walked through the crowd that was already gathering in anticipation for the match, as the sea of people parted to let the challenger through. He made his way to the storage shack and took the whole cart of rubber balls– it still wasn't enough, but it would just have to do. When he arrived back at the court, Buttercup was waiting. "You ready to lose, sucker?" she taunted.
"Only thing I'm ready for 's ta get a card and some candy," he retorted, throwing half the balls to her side. "We're gonna play dodgeball. Catchin' don't count– only hits. 'N first one hit loses. Head's okay." He cracked his knuckles. She spit to the side.
Buttercup had just uttered, "Let's do this," before she chucked the nearest ball straight at his head. Butch tilted his head slightly, easily dodging the speeding ball.
"That the best ya got?" he laughed. Butch raced around his side of the court, picking up ball after ball, volleying them all at Buttercup. But with amazing reflexes and hand-eye coordination, Buttercup used a single ball to deflect every one Butch had thrown. He had no ammo left.
Buttercup grinned, "This game is mine." There was a mess of cheers and boos that blended into faint buzzing. Butch knew he'd really have to be on full alert to make a comeback. At a speed that could not be followed by the human eye, Buttercup grabbed the balls from her side, catapulting them relentlessly at Butch, trying to wear him down. Butch dodged left and right, up and down, barely missing one before another came his way. Suddenly the torrent of pink rubber balls stopped, and Butch did a tiger roll toward a ball and stood up, about to chuck it at Buttercup. Until he realized she had one too.
They faced each other, evenly matched, gripping their weapons. Butch took a quick glance around him. Many of the balls had popped, and the nearest usable one was too far away– he couldn't reach them without risking being open to attack. The crowd had stopped cheering– tension and anxiety hovered above them. Butch turned back to Buttercup. They stared at each other, trying to analyze the other's movements.
But Butch was getting impatient– someone would have to make a move, and he wasn't just going to sit and wait. Butch faked a throw to the left, and just as she dodged right, he threw the ball. It tore across the court, headed straight for her head. Butch was about to claim victory, when he suddenly saw out of the corner of his eye that she had caught the ball and had winded up her arms to throw both balls at him. WHAM! Two pink rubber balls smacked him square in the face, sending him flying into the crowd. Butch hit the ground with a thud, and the next thing he knew, Buttercup was hovering above him, a smug grin decorating her face. Butch got up, ignoring his body's complaints, and wiped the blood from his face; thanks to his Chemical X, he was already recovering.
"How's it feel?" Buttercup asked. "Loser?" Butch, unable to think of a retort, could only glare at her. "Well, I'll be waiting for my card. And don't forget the candy," she reminded him as she flew off laughing.
"What're you looking at?" Butch growled at the remaining students staring at him. They scattered as he picked up a ball, threatening to attack them. Butch angrily flew into the classroom, jerking out the drawers as he searched for crayons and paper. "Don't forget the candy, she says," Butch mocked in a high pitched voice. "I was gonna win that. Dummy Buttercup," he glared at the blank paper and crayons on his desk. After fuming for a while, Butch finally picked up a crayon and began to write.
After fifteen minutes of painful brainstorming, Butch finally managed to crank out,
"Roses are red,
Vilets are blue.
You one this mach,
But I will beat yoo."
He read over his poem, and grumpily added a "Hapy Valentin's Day, Butch" beneath the poem. He added a nice green skull on the front, before reaching into his neighbor's Valentine's bag, pulling out a piece of candy, and taping it to the card. Quite satisfied, Butch slipped the card into his backpack.
School had ended, and the students were filing out of the classroom. Butch waited awkwardly for Buttercup outside, and she walked out laughing with her friends. "Here," he muttered as he shoved it in her face. She was taken aback for a moment, but quickly recovered and smugly accepted the card.
"I actually have one for you too," she said reaching inside her backpack and pulling out a card. Now it was Butch's turn to be taken aback. He took the card, and she left (with a slight blush) without another word. Butch slowly opened the card, which said, "I knew I'd win, but that was still a good game. We shud play again. Happy Valentine's Day, Buttercup." It had been a good game. Because Butch was good. Yeah, he was a real challenge, better than any of these losers, and he was gonna win the next match. Suddenly, Butch couldn't wait to play with her again tomorrow.
"Butch!" an angry voice yelled behind him. Butch turned around to see his brother hurtling toward him. "Ya ate all my candy! C'mere and lemme beat you up!"
"Uh oh," Butch said to himself, and he sped off with a furious Brick hot on his trail.
And that's Butch's story!
I love Butch and Buttercup's toughness, and their fights are fun to write.