Princess Royalty Morbucks was waiting in line for school pictures with all the other seniors one week before the school year started. The first of the last of an era of her school days. Princess relished in finally leaving this wretched school. Her time at Pokey Oaks High could not come to a close fast enough.
Princess was the heiress of a dynasty. A very dangerous dynasty. As much as she hated the Powerpuffs, her father could not deny the safety that came with the three girls who swore to serve and protect at the age of five. At one point Princess wanted nothing more than to be like them. Powerful and unafraid, but no matter her attempts her innovations were always thwarted. Her father said it was for the best. If she were to become like them, she'd be on the other side of the law.
Her family ran the crime of Townsville. Not all of it, someone has to leave the supernaturals some fun, but the human crime hierarchy was crafted by her father and uncle long before her time.
Basilio Anton Morbucks, born Basilio Anton Martinez came to Baton Rouge, Louisiana when he was seven years old and was lucky to stay with his distant Cuban aunt to adjust to American life. He quickly learned that the life of an immigrant was far from comfortable. Baton Rouge was a lively city, but a deathly one. It was good to have friends in the city, and through his aunt's neighbor, Basilio had met his best friend Vincent Marcel Richard. The two grew up together running the streets, hustling, and getting by with the skin of their teeth. Together they were Vinny and Bas, The Morbucks Boys. A name they chose with a play on their surnames. Mar, from Martinez, and Bucks, from Rich. Bas loved Vinny like a brother, and his large family like his own. He spent his childhood consuming their gumbo, being blessed and healed by their grandmama's home remedies, and partaking in every festivity they hosted. The Morbucks Boys had it good, and by the time they had their high school graduation, they were running a perfect and well-protected enterprise. Or so they thought.
It was at this graduation party that he conceived Princess with the love of his life. Vincent's younger sister Angelique Desiree Richard. Angelique was exactly as her name described. She had an impish grin with caramel skin and high cheekbones. Her gentle curves and wild hair left her with an exotic look. Vincent was working hard at the business to put her into modeling school after she graduated. When he found out about the pregnancy, he and Bas knew she had to be protected. So Bas with his Aunt and Angelique moved to the city of Townsville where Angelique graduated from Pokey Oaks High with Princess on her hip, then moved to New York to fulfill her modeling dreams.
While she was away, Princess's great-aunt cared for her while her father conducted business. Back home, the feds were cracking down on the Morbucks Boys. They were building a case against her uncle and were closing in on something substantial fast. Slowly and sparingly the family members that weren't reluctant to leave Baton Rouge followed Bas to Townsville. Business in Townsville was beginning to make headway, and Basilio Morbucks was becoming a prominent name in the city. Bas was in dire need of muscle, and Vincent needed to keep his loved ones out of the line of fire. With the feds on their tail, Princess had lost a lot of family due to the power grab war in Baton Rouge. Uncles and cousins she'd never meet in the name of ransoms and wagers. Eventually, the violence became too much, and as Vincent's final act, he made sure to discreetly flow all of his Baton Rouge contacts to Bas and keep his name clear of all illegal activities. When Vincent turned himself in, Basilio Anton Martinez, was nonexistent and thought fled and gone years before the case began. He could not write or call to them directly, now that Bas Morbucks was one of the most wealthy and prominent persons in Townsville, but the messages Princess did receive were full of love and admiration. She hated the life she was forced to live due to his and her father's actions.
When her aunt passed the beginning of freshman year, Princess begged for her father to send her to boarding school. She was always alone in Morbucks manor. Occasionally her father and his associates would conduct meetings but that was all the life they could spare in the ghostly halls. Anyone looking too close for comfort around the skeletons in the Morbucks closet would find themselves in the closet with them. Bas said it was too risky, as many of his associates had children in boarding school. She'd be in danger anywhere she went. Instead, Bas did would any good father would do. He invested in Princess' education by funding Pokey Oaks High into the most prestigious High School in Townsville. Students now had to test in to attend, and no studious, rich child of the wealthy would pass up the chance to get their education along the Powerpuff Girls. Yes, the last few years living in notoriety and comparison were hell for Princess Royalty Morbucks.
She reflected on what her mother would say to her this year. Angelique took Bas' given name soon after Princess was born to hide the legacy of her brother, but could not risk her thriving career attached as a Morbucks. She traveled endlessly rarely stopping in the small city of Townsville to not draw attention. She could see her mother everywhere, magazine covers, cameos, commercials, and campaigns but never in her own home. To think that an enterprise built on protecting family at all cost would cost her the family she deserved. Two loving parents under one roof, and the ability to be seen all together without being watched, photographed, or interrogated. It was no secret at this point what the Morbucks dabbled in, there just wasn't any proof.
All the rich kids at the school knew it. Princess stuck out among the sea of students no matter how much she attempted to pass as old money. She was Creole and Cuban, and they'd accepted the Powerpuff Girls far before they would even give her a legitimate thought. The girls (mainly Blossom) had fed the rumors and half-truths around the school. Princess Royalty Morbucks was the daughter of the notorious Morbucks Mafia and heir to the throne. Scum underneath their feet, and feared nonetheless.
No matter how much they feared her, it did not stop them from taunting her. She was visibly not like the others. She did not have porcelain skin and bone-straight hair to the small of her back. Her nose was peaked and neither long nor thin. Her figure was curvy like her father's, and her accent was still distinguished in a fit of rage. She was treated like her kind, and with them, she was able to find refuge.
"Princess Royalty Morbucks," The photographer called her name.
"Ready to practice your mugshot?" One of Blossom's cheerleading minions sneered with a flip of her blonde hair. The rest of the squad began to snicker sans Bubbles. How Blossom became captain over Bub's unmatched talent she did not know, but it probably had something to do with the lack of cruelty she possessed.
"Say's your dad's money laundering case, Heather?" Kamari quipped back.
Kamari Alana Martin was of no money. Born and raised on the Southside of Townsville, she was all street smarts and brains. When she came to Pokey Oaks junior year she quickly drew attention with her deep mocha skin, long braids, herbal scent, and gaudy gold jewelry and crystals. She reminded Princess of her aunt, and what she was able to see of her mother's past life through pictures. Kamari exuded confidence and it wasn't her first rodeo being a minority in a student body like Pokey Oaks. She took the negativity in stride. She never held her tongue and got by without having to throw hands. She knew the best way to get back at little rich kids was public scrutiny. Everyone here knows better than to embarrass their parents. So when Connor called her the "Hard R," she did not hesitate to pull out her phone and post the ordeal all over her socials. She is a demographic icon.
Princess rolled her eyes and sat in front of the camera. In the back of her mind, she tried not to let Heather's words stick, but she was a Morbucks, and the shackles were in the name. With a perfectly practiced drop shoulder and head tilt, she let a small smile grace her face before the camera flashed in front of her. She hopped off the stool returning to Kamari leaning against the lockers.
"Mitch didn't come for school pictures?" Princess asked her best friend.
"You know he's not stepping foot into this building before he has to." she joked lifting her body from the lockers to leave the school. "He'll do the make-up when school starts."
Mitch Michael Michelson was the third to her and Kamari's trio. How he managed to test into Pokey Oaks she had no idea but you don't need a standardized test to be a good friend. Mitch was as he called himself, "gay trailer trash," and even joked that he was a part of a required quota for the school's standing. Mitch said that even though he shared a skin tone with most of them he was decidedly nothing alike. Like Princess and Kamari he was mocked and made the butt of a bad homophobic joke. Never mind the fact that he'd been with over half the football team… with proof. Princess loved her oddball trio and wouldn't trade them for Heather or Connor any day.
"Okay so with school starting so soon we should probably talk scheduling for the squad," Kamari said sliding into the back of the Morbucks' armored black suburban.
Princess had been rejected from the cheerleading squad freshman and sophomore years and wasn't going to try her junior when Kamari came. Princess was walking past the gym just as Kamari ended her try-out and she was so good they had almost let her join. Until they spotted Princess.
"Ready to be rejected your third year in a row?" Heather's older sister and then captain, Marie asked.
The whole squad filled the gym with laughter, again sans Bubbles, and Kamari quickly recanted her application.
"On second thought, fuck this," and raced out the door to introduce herself to Princess.
They decided if you couldn't beat them, then beat them, and created the Pokey Oaks dance team. The Hot Pokers. (Not their best but they only had 30 minutes to apply for a club/organization for the school year). No one was willing to deny Princess's wishes, aka Daddy's wishes The Hot Pokers dance squad was created. The team consisted of the trio and five other outcasts/students who dared to associate with her. One of which was none other than Rowdyruff leader, Brick Jojo. The two weren't close outside of dance much to her father's dismay. He suggested that the two would be a good match. Good for business and protection, but she wasn't interested in Brick Jojo. No matter how much she wished she was. Besides he and Blossom were something, and she dealt with enough from the red-haired villain. Well, villains.
"You know Brick isn't going to go for any AM practices or Saturdays," Princess responded pulling up her class schedule to better assess the best time. "Did you swipe Mitch's schedule?"
"You know I did," she said holding up two papers. "Fucker plans on slacking all year. Most of these classes are electives and how did he end up with three study halls?"
The two locked eyes and gave a small sigh, "Gregory," they said with knowing and let out little fits of laughter.
Mitch and their counselor had this thing. Neither had too many details on it for obvious reasons, but the trio knew that it was a tight-lipped thing.
"Tight everything," Mitch had breathed biting his bottom lip after she and Kamari caught him leaving the office in a state of disarray.
"Okay so, it looks like we three lucked out with study hall last period. Maybe we can see what the rest of the squad has and see if anyone is willing to move their classes for practice?" Kamari asked.
"Doesn't hurt to throw it in the group chat. Think they'll let us use the gym last bell?" Princess hit her with a counterquestion.
"If not the school has enough abandoned classrooms for us to work in. Better us than random students using it to hook up." She shrugged.
The two chatted along on the way to Kamari's duplex. Since befriending Kamari last year, she spent as much time as possible there as she could. Unlike her cold, drafty, empty manor, the duplex was full of love and her younger siblings at any given time. The Martin's home was always a revolving door of family. Cousins dropping by, aunts and uncles coming for a drink and story, and friends all around of all ages. In the beginning, it made Princess nervous to see so many unfamiliar faces but as time went by she was accepted as one of them. She remembered the first time she came over and Kamari's mother, now deemed to be called "Ma" scrutinized her up and down.
"Ouu, Mari what lil high yella girl you don brought up in here?" She asked wafting Palo Santo over a blushing Princess at the door. "Take ya shoes off girl, and tell me why you got a rats nest for hair?"
Princess spent that night letting Ma wrangle her unruly hair into submission, giving her all different types of oils and butters to maintain it. Her advice was full of wisdom and she had a warm presence, but Ma was stern about her curfews, "riff-raff" as she called it, and boys.
She and Kamari had met Basilio Morbucks once last year at a school event that required his attendance. Ma marched right up to him without any warning or introduction and informed him of their friendship, adding a stern "Your girl is safe with me." Kamari was the oldest of all boys and Princess had no siblings. The two were as sisterly as sisters could be, all that was missing was a proper sleepover. After that interaction Bas allowed Princess to come and go from her best friend's house as she pleased. It wasn't her California king four-poster bed, but it was more comfortable than sleeping in that mausoleum of a manor. Why he allowed it Princess did not know. Maybe it was the nostalgic familiarity of Ma that he favored, or maybe it was the likelihood that no one would be looking for the heiress in a shanty duplex on the Southside of Townsville. Whatever the reason, it was the kindest thing her father had ever allowed of her.
The two chatted and giggled, and went over the dance they'd perform in the cafeteria on the first day of senior year.
"We can't let the Hot Pokers die with us when we graduate," Kamari began, "it's our legacy."
"Yeah, we need more recruits of all classes not just ours, and if we only perform at senior lunch we'll be missing our target audience." Princess stretched and wiped the sweat that accumulated on her brow from dancing.
"Hmmm," Kamari put her hand to her chin and scrunched her brow. "Are the cheerleaders still performing at the first-day assembly?"
"Yes, as they always do," Princess rolled her eyes. Another boring routine only made interesting by flying bimbos. "Why?"
Her eye held a mischievous glint and the corner of her mouth tilted up. "Wouldn't it be such a shame if someone stole the show?"
Princess arched her brow and let a sinister smile creep to her face. "Such a shame indeed," she agreed before reaching for her phone and sending a text to the group chat.
Hot Pokers: change of plans, bitches ;)
Okay, chapter one is done!
This is a Buttercup x Princess story and a mini prequel to my story Falling Deeply.
I had this story idea before starting FD and I just couldn't sit on it any longer.
Lot's of backstory but necessary, given the character.
Thanks for reading!