AN: I hope you enjoyed the first challenge, now onto the second!
Chapter 2: Challenge 2
Buttercup's POV
The night before I had to put my phone on do not disturb from all the notifications I got between text messages and social media. I really didn't want to check anything, but I knew I had to. I had 137 text messages asking if I was ok and if I needed help and was tagged in 837 different news reports and witness accounts wondering if I was suicidal. I decided to ignore everything because it would just take too long! It was only the second day and my life was already getting harder.
I looked over to my dresser to see a new challenge sitting on my dresser. "How early does that motherfucker wake up?!" I groaned as I dragged myself out of my warm bed and shuffled to my dresser. I was still half asleep when I read the note, but when I saw what it said, I woke up real fast. "Jump out of a car going 50+ miles per hour. I've done the tests, it's not impossible! I wanted it to be 60 but the Professor somehow convinced me to bump it down a bit." I couldn't really say I was surprised that he would give me such a dangerous dare, but it did make me wonder what he could possibly be planning for future challenges. I mentally thanked the professor for looking out for me and went downstairs to make breakfast.
I decided on making chicken and waffles and got to work. I whipped up waffle mix and breaded the chicken that I cut into chicken fingers. It didn't take too much effort since it was pretty basic stuff, but I enjoyed making my food look like it came off a cooking show. After the chicken finished frying, I took it out of the fryer and put it on a plate with a paper towel on it to absorb the grease, it'd be gross if I didn't. Within the next ten minutes, I had the table set with three plates, each having a stack of two waffles and three pieces of chicken.
This morning, however, the doorbell rang before my sisters got downstairs. I groaned loudly, hating answering the door, but knew the Professor hated it when nobody answered the door. The person at the door knocked again and I went to the door in my normal pajamas since they couldn't be patient enough for me to get pants on. I flung the door open, an angry look on my face as I recognized the press with news cameras, news photographers, and reporters. "What?! You couldn't have even waited for me to get pants on?"
I only got angrier as a few flashes went off, temporarily blinding me. "Buttercup! Are you really suicidal? Have you gone crazy?" I felt a vein in my temple start to throb violently as my frustration built.
"No I'm not fucking suicidal! If I was, I wouldn't have fucking moved! AND I'M NOT FUCKING CRAZY!" The press took a cautious step back, probably not expecting my use of language since I didn't usually curse at reporters, but it was 7:30 in the morning, I just got another dangerous challenge, I had no powers, and they were holding me up from eating!
"Are you sure? How can we believe you?" I growled audibly, my food was getting cold.
"What's the point of even asking me if you aren't going to fucking BELIEVE ME?! Now. I have a breakfast that's getting cold and I don't have time for all this shit." With that, I slammed the door in their faces and saw Bubbles and Blossom sitting at the table, staring at me in shock, waiting for me to sit down and eat with them.
"Buttercup, you really need to watch your language… that's going to make your situation worse, not even mentioning you went out there half naked!" I knew that Blossom was right, but right now I was just grumpy and extremely hungry.
"Yeah, whatever. They just need to leave me the fuck alone." I knew Blossom was going to have something to say about my language again, but right now I really didn't care.
"Buttercup. Language."
"Yeah, yeah." I rolled my eyes and went back to finishing my meal. We are in silence until Bubbles broke it.
"Hey, wanna go to the mall today?" I heavily considered just flat out rejecting the idea, but I realized this was my chance to complete the challenge, so I had to accept.
"Bubbles maybe we shouldn't-"
"Sure let's go!" Blossom glared at me as I both cut her off and went against her standing. Bubbles looked pleasantly surprised and rightfully so, I hadn't been to the mall in over a year.
"Yay! We can go in three hours, I need to get ready!" I put my plate in the sink and headed up to my room to get ready.
I hopped in the shower, straightened my bangs and curled my hair once it was completely dry. I brushed my teeth and picked out my outfit for the day: a pair of black ripped jeans, a maroon top that showed a little sliver of skin with side cutouts, a leather jacket with a gray cloth hood coming from the back, completed with black combat boots. It was only supposed to be 65 degrees today, and with the normal weather being in the high 90s, it may as well had been freezing. I completed the look with my typical eyeliner and mascara, then hustled down the stairs to realize that Bubbles was still getting ready.
Needing a way to pass the time, I turned on the TV and was agitated to find my 'interview' from this morning on the news channel. "Tough Powerpuff Girl, Buttercup Utonium, stepped out of her house only half dressed to greet the press. Not only did she step out in such revealing and inappropriate attire, but also voiced her displeasure by means of cursing loudly at the reporters." I wanted to scream in frustration as they were already twisting around everything like only the media could. They continued to play the whole video, only recording after the second knock. I watched myself flung open the door, a grumpy look appearing on my face as I caught sight of who it was, standing only in my green football jersey and black panties that the whole world knew I wore now. My hair in a low ponytail, my bangs covering most of my left eye. I groaned at how this probably looked to the public who had no background information.
"Yesterday's stunt and today's interview brings up the question: Is Buttercup Utonium a beginning of another child star gone bad?" I angrily clicked off the television and threw the remote on the couch.
"BUBBLES HURRY UP, YOU'RE DRIVING!" I heard her drop a few things in her struggle and within the next three minutes, she was out the door.
"Sorry about that, Buttercup." I smiled at her, she was always so sweet.
"It's no problem Bubbles, I'm just a tad impatient at times." Bubbles giggled at my understatement and started driving, smiling the whole time and I started to feel bad that I had to do this to her, she would probably cry and I would feel awful. It took about ten minutes to get to a road where she could go 50 miles per hour and I realized it was now or never. Without any warning, I unbuckled my seatbelt.
"Buttercup? You need to put your seatbelt back on, that's dangerous." I cringed at the worry in her voice.
"Fuck… I'm so sorry, Bubbles…" She must've misinterpreted my statement to mean that I was putting my seatbelt back on, because she screamed in panic when I unlocked the door, pushed it open and jumped out of the moving vehicle, covering my head as I rolled on the hard pavement. Let me tell you how much it ducking HURT without my powers to cushion the blow. I felt at least two ribs crack and I clutched my side in pain. Luckily, since I was wearing a leather jacket, I didn't have to worry about roadburn except for on my hands and my right cheek.
"Fuck." I moved to stand up, but Bubbles pulled over her light blue punch buggy and kept me down.
"Buttercup! Why did you do that? Why are you hurt? Your powers should've protected you!" I felt horribly guilty as I looked up to see tears streaming down her made up face.
"I wanted to, and I could, so I did it. And I lost my powers until the professor comes back. They'll be back after that. The professor took them because he didn't trust me to use them responsibly while he is gone." Bubbles gaped at me and brought me into a gentle hug which I returned.
"Let's get you to a hospital, I think you broke a few ribs and you should really get that roadburn bandaged." She helped me up and walked me over to her car. "Just don't jump out this time, please." I found myself laughing at what I couldn't tell if it was a joke or if she was serious.
"I won't, pinky promise." She smiled at me and drove off as soon as I put my seatbelt on.
"Buttercup, you're really scaring me with the things you've been doing in the last two days… Especially with you not having powers, it's really dangerous and I don't want to lose you! Everyone thinks you're going crazy and are suicidal, but I know they're wrong! Just tell me what's going on!" I wanted so bad to tell her all about the Professor being kidnapped and HIM's challenge, but I stopped myself, knowing that if I did, HIM would kill the professor without a second thought.
"I can't tell you Bubbles… I really want to, but I can't." She didn't respond to me after that and I could tell she was disappointed with my answer. The remaining fifteen minutes of our ride was silent and she didn't even say a word as she helped me out of the car and into the hospital. "Bubbles, I'm sorry…" She looked at me with a look of betrayal that made me realize that HIM wasn't only trying to see if he could kill me, he was trying to make my life a complete mess. She only nodded at me and continued walking until we got to a desk.
"Excuse me, she jumped out of a car going 55 miles per hour and I think she broke a few ribs and has some pretty nasty roadburn." The secretary glanced at us and recoiled in shock that we showed up to the hospital since we usually healed quick enough to not need medical attention.
"Oh my, right this way." She led us back to an empty room and informed us that a doctor would be here in a moment.
Bubbles avoided any eye contact with me and I sighed sadly, scared that HIM had already turned one of my sisters against me, the only one I could usually talk about anything to.
"Bubbles please don't be like this! It's not like I'm trying to hide anything from you, I actually can't tell you! Please don't shut me out like this!" She only stared at me, her eyes reflecting a cold aura that didn't fit her. "Fine. You should've just let me fucking suffer and went to the mall by yourself." Her cold look dissolved and turned back into the sweet look she normally had, but looked away from me, not responding.
The wait felt like forever until the doctor came in and wrapped my roadburn and my four broken ribs. I sat next to Bubbles in her car and clicked on the seat belt. "Do you still want to go to the mall?" I didn't want to go at all, but I hoped that she would stop giving me the cold shoulder if I made the offer, even if it did mean navigating an overcrowded mall and trying on clothes I would never wear in a million years.
Luck seemed to finally be on my side as she couldn't hold back the sweet smile on her face. "You still wanna go? Of course I wanna go!" She took the next turn and we ended up at the mall, and even though I detested the very sight of this building, I felt a small victory that she wasn't shunning me anymore.
Bubbles dragged me into at least twenty different stores and forced me to try on tons of different clothes, and surprisingly, I actually bought a few of the outfits she picked out. I wasn't having an awful time overall until the press surrounded us, demanding answers to why I had jumped out of the car. I tried to ignore them, but my irritation was at the breaking point as they wouldn't leave us alone. "FUCK OFF. I DID IT BECAUSE I COULD AND I FUCKING WANTED TO! THAT'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE YOUR ANSWER, SO STOP FUCKING ASKING! Let's go Bubs." I used their shock to my advantage and pulled her away from the offending reporters, running out of the mall.
The second we got home, I got more than an earful from Blossom. Something about watching my language and to stop pulling crazy publicity stunts. That pissed me off. These were anything but publicity stunts and I couldn't even justify it! "Whatever Blossom, you couldn't possibly understand!" With that, I stood up from the dinner table and stormed up to my room and got ready for bed.
Professor's POV
As I watched the video of my middle daughter jump from Bubbles' car, I could barely keep myself from crying. The video's audio picked up the sound of her snapping her ribs and I could hear at least three distinct snaps. As she sat up, gripping her sides, I could see the road burn on her face and her hands. I felt terrible knowing this was indirectly all my fault. After watching her complete her challenge, HIM showed me all the publicity she had been getting lately.
I saw the news story from this morning and I cringed when she stepped out only half dressed and when she cussed out the reporters. I understood everything though when he showed me the footage from another camera when they knocked more than once before she could get dressed and the part that was cut out when she demanded to know why they couldn't wait for her to get changed.
He followed up with the next report where she once again cussed at the press to escape with Bubbles. When I got back, I would definitely need to work on her filter with the reporters, as well as her language problem. The grin that plastered onto HIM's face, however, told me that he planned this all, and that was when I realized it: These challenges weren't designed to kill her, they were meant to ruin her life and her reputation! I felt a sense of helplessness wash over me as I watched as my daughter slowly destroyed herself to save my life.
AN: oh my, what could HIM possibly do next? Could these daredevil challenges transform into something more eventually? Stay tuned to see what happens with Buttercup! Please please review!