Chapter 139: Restitution
The City of Townsville. Downtown. USDO Headquarters.
23 MAR (Thursday) 1989. 0926.
"Are you ready, Buttercup?" General Blackwater asked the Powerpuff Girl, who sat on a bench, lethargic. She was wearing a little prisoner uniform, a nondescript grey jumpsuit. Where and when the general had procured it, Buttercup did not know. What Buttercup did not know as well was the fact that the jumpsuit was made months ago, in anticipation of this very scenario, in which a punishment regime had to be meted out. It was just one of a few, and Blossom and Bubbles had their own stored secretly in the bowels of the USDO HQ.
They were in the ever-expanding basement of the USDO Headquarters, in a locker room originally meant for USDO personnel. Next door was a briefing room that had been temporarily transformed into her punishment room.
"Yes, Mister Blackwater…" Buttercup said, more demure than usual.
"General Blackwater. Get that right," the general said. The guards on either side of him swarmed Buttercup. One of them pulled her to her feet. They began marching her to the door before pushing her through it. Forced into the punishment chamber, she was met with flashes of light from cameras, and when those faded, the saddened and worried look of her visiting family, or what's left of it: Professor Utonium, Blossom, and Bubbles. Alice was there, too, along with other USDO personnel. Mister Blake was absent, still fighting to recover in his ICU ward. The friends and family of those Buttercup had killed were present as well. The Indian shopowner and his eldest son, as well as the mother of the street punk she had killed.
Video cameras were pointed at her from the back rows. The punishment session was being televised by the various news networks in the city, including TNN.
Buttercup was led towards a wooden chair, which had wires running through it. There were Duranium manacles linked across the chair by a Duranium skeleton. It was fastened into the floor to make an escape by flight impossible. It was clearly built for the express purpose of punishing any member of the Powerpuff Girls. What the machine does, however, was made abundantly clear by the metal headgear linked to the rest of the thing by thick wires.
It was an electric chair, the kind used by prisons to execute criminals, now modified to hurt enhanced children. The chair was linked to the power grid via some of the thickest cables there were, which intimidated Buttercup even though she didn't quite know how electricity worked.
One of the four guards escorting Buttercup carried her up to the chair without warning and sat her down. Two others shackled her wrists to the machine as soon as she was in, her legs were restrained by similar Duranium manacles.
General Blackwater came up beside her, arms behind his back, frowning down at her.
"Any last words before the punishment begins?" he asked. "What do you wish to say to anyone in front of you?"
"I'm sorry about what I did…" Buttercup said while looking at the Indian shopkeeper and widower. While Buttercup was tearful when she apologized, her audience was neither receptive nor sympathetic. Not that it mattered. She was just here to blow off the heat on her so that she could enact her revenge in peace. "I deserve to be punished…"
"Does the bereaved have anything to say?" General Blackwater asked the widower and the punk's mother. The Indian man simply shook his head as he glared at Buttercup fiercely, waiting patiently for the punishment to begin. Blossom had been looking at him from the corner of her eyes; the look he was giving Buttercup could kill. Had it not been for her enhancements, she would have been sent running away to hide.
The punk's mother, a fifty-something old woman, was in the middle of wiping her tears with a handkerchief, surprisingly calm about the whole thing.
"Very well," General Blackwater remarked at the bereaved's silence before turning to Professor Utonium, Blossom, and Bubbles. "Do the three of you have anything to say to Buttercup? I'm going to be kind enough to let you since Buttercup could very well die from this with all the unknowns we're dealing with."
"Buttercup…" the professor started without replying to the general, well aware that there was always uncertainty in everything. It could really be the last time he would be seeing Buttercup. "No matter what happens, no matter what you've become, Daddy loves you. Always."
The Indian shopkeeper turned to look at the professor, unable to hide the stunned look on his face. It wasn't common knowledge that Buttercup had a father. That fact was considered top secret, until now, when the utmost surface of that fact had been declassified. The full details wouldn't be until more than a couple of decades later.
"Yeah, Buttercup, we're sisters, always," Bubbles added, with Blossom joining her in the middle of it. "We'll always love you no matter what!"
Even now, Buttercup could smirk at how smitten with her they were, but all she let on was a bitter smile on her face, a completely convincing one; it wasn't hard to do considering that what would come next looked painful on account of all the thick electric cables running up to the uncomfortable wooden chair she was sitting on.
"If there's nothing else, let's get this over with," General Blackwater cut them off, a hint of discomfort in his voice. He turned around, facing Buttercup in the electric chair. "Bravo-Four-Eight, otherwise known as Private Buttercup Utonium, you have been sentenced to electrocution by the council of the USDO for two counts of murder, six counts of aggravated battery, two counts of robbery, illegal deployment as a partial military unit, misappropriation of military hardware and acts resulting in the waste of federal and local law enforcement resources. You will be electrocuted at five-minute intervals twelve times, or up to the point of fatal or severe trauma, whichever comes first. Do you have anything else to say before we begin?"
"I don't understand all the words you're using…" Buttercup said.
"Then let me simplify it for you: bad girls get what they deserve," the general replied, before gesturing for the group of executioners in charge of carrying out Buttercup's punishment to get on with it. One of them stuffed a wet sponge into Buttercup's mouth while another blindfolded her. The last executioner marched over to the lever, and after a pause, pulled it down. Blossom and Bubbles both screamed as they anticipated everything their imagination could conjure...
Buttercup did not reply; she couldn't. She immediately felt a surge of burning energy flowing through her like never before. It was as if a molten-hot copper wire was threading through her body, dozens of them piercing through her, torching her from the inside out. She couldn't help but clench her fists and jaws, her nails digging into her palm. Her screams were muted.
Every second was an eternity of pain, and no amount of struggling could take it away. Buttercup had never felt more compelled to beg for mercy than she did during her electrocution.
Both Blossom and Bubbles had pressed their faces against the professor's labcoat, unable to watch. Professor Utonium could barely hold himself together as he watched; he didn't want to, but he knew it was his duty to watch over Buttercup even during difficult times such as this. Should something go wrong, he'd bolt to Buttercup in a heartbeat.
It took forever, but after the seconds ticked by slowly, the first five minutes interval was over. There were eleven more to go.
Buttercup gasped for air through the wet sponge in her mouth as she unfurled her fingers for the first time, allowing her palms to bleed freely. Sweat and tears were rising as lines of mists above her as she recovered from the first ordeal of many. She could feel the heat inside and out, but no wounds thus far. Her enhanced constitution had prevented even injury from the electrocution, but the sensation was excruciating all the same. She had been able to hold it in, but no longer, as she knew that it was only the beginning of her punishment. She let herself go, filling the depression underneath her seat with pee and poop.
A doctor from the USDO medical wing came to check up on her. He did a quick check of her pulse, putting a finger on her neck, before doing a test on her eyes to check her responsiveness and finally getting her to reply to simple questions, all of which Buttercup was able to give answers to.
Then it began again after that. The professor had gotten Blossom and Bubbles to leave with Alice, though he wasn't sure if he would be doing more damage that way.
By the third period of electrocution, Buttercup had fallen unconscious, and the professor had to check on her alongside the junior doctor put in this position. It didn't take long for the punishment regime to continue; the doctor had woken Buttercup up with ammonia inhalants.
Buttercup was then electrocuted for the fourth time, then the fifth, then the sixth. Each time, she had to be revived with ammonia inhalants. It was like a nightmare she could not escape. She had run out of the strength to even scream, to even cry in these next three rounds of electricity.
"Stop!" the Indian shopkeeper cried on the sixth round of electricity. The audience had been thinning out even though justice was in the process of being meted out, "That's enough, let this child go!" So agitated was he that he'd gotten off his bench and started towards Buttercup.
Four guards formed a barrier before the victim of Buttercup, weapons at the ready. General Blackwater stood beside them. The Indian man stopped, intimidated by the soldiers. Buttercup was still screaming. The professor, at his seat, looked like he was ready to pass out.
"That 'child' killed your loving wife!" General Blackwater rebutted the Indian shopkeeper. "Made you a widower and your children motherless. She traumatized your children! I'm giving you something rare in these parts: pure, unadulterated justice, and now you want me to stop?"
"I said that's enough! She's a child! She made a serious mistake! I see it now!" the Indian man retorted stubbornly, fists up as if ready to punch his way through four soldiers and their senior officer. All General Blackwater did was to cross his arms. "Killing Buttercup isn't going to bring my dear Samaira back!"
"Yeah, let that kid go, old boy!" the punk's mother had joined the Indian shopkeeper. "She might have killed, but I would be stupid to think my own boy's worth this hassle! At least Buttercup's done some good - my boy didn't, hadn't, and he can't hurt anyone else ever again!"
The general studied the old woman, then the man. A corner of his lips rose a little as if he was suppressing a smile.
"Stop the electrocution!" the general finally ordered. One of the executioners deactivated the electric chair, but it had been minutes into Buttercup's sixth period of electrocution. As if reinvigorated by this turn of events, Professor Utonium lurched forward, bounding towards Buttercup. General Blackwater's soldiers got out of the way, revealing a Buttercup who was slumped on her chair, still smoking, unresponsive. Her grey jumpsuit had actually caught on fire, which the professor swiftly extinguished with his lab coat.
Without another word, the Indian shopkeeper had left the room with a disgusted look on his face.
"I'm so sorry I was ever a part of this," the punk's mother said to the professor before she took her to leave as well.
"What are you waiting for? Help the man untie B-48!" the general ordered the group of masked executioners, but the professor hardly needed the help. Soon, he had Buttercup in his arms, and he was racing out of the room and towards the medical wing the next moment. All the while, cameras were still flashing sociopathically, and voyeuristic videocams were still rolling.
The City of Townsville. Downtown. USDO Headquarters.
23 MAR (Thursday) 1989. 1147.
Two hours since Buttercup's shocking punishment regime, Professor Utonium was still sitting beside an unconscious Buttercup.
"I objected to the punishment regime, but who would listen to an old man these days?" Doctor Simmons said out of the blue, appearing out of nowhere. By the time the professor looked up, he was already parked beside him.
"They seem to have no problem listening to General Blackwater," the professor replied, and the doctor shook his head.
"No matter the benefits, this is wrong on all levels," the doctor went on. The professor frowned. Something about what he said did not sit well with him.
"And just what are the benefits, Simmons?" the professor asked rhetorically. He did not expect a reply, but he was going to get one regardless.
"At least they respected me enough to tell me about that when they sought my opinion on the matter," Doctor Simmons said. "It restored Townsville-USDO relations, painted the USDO as responsible seekers of justice, as a 'surprisingly' apologetic federal entity that is willing to right its own wrongs. Words without any biological merits, if you ask me. But that's just the way the world works ever since the dawn of civilization. If it didn't change with Hitler's downfall, it certainly won't change now."
"Thanks for sticking up for Buttercup, doctor," the professor said, his voice muted and tired. "I know it's hard for anyone to do that, with her… track records."
"Nonsense, professor. I've seen the medical charts and scans you've produced," Doctor Simmons said. "There's hope for Buttercup, and even if she's just a normal child... I'm told by Psychiatrist Alice that there's a way to normalcy yet for her."
" I love Buttercup, doc, but I'm not blind to what she's done, or what she's capable of, not anymore. She's changing, doc and things will get better. I just know it," the professor hoped.
"They took a big risk, electrocuting Buttercup like this. Immunity from normal lacerations, punctures, and burning doesn't necessarily mean immunity from electrical shocks," the doctor lamented. He put a hand on the professor's shoulder, squeezing it. "Cup half full, we're lucky that Buttercup's still with us. We're doubly lucky that this whole diplomatic charade hadn't hurt Buttercup… much. They ran enough electricity through her to power the entire building complex."
"What's her prognosis?" the professor asked, feeling his throat drying up and squeezing shut.
"There are minor first-degree burns, but they're healing up rapidly even as we speak. She was suffering from dehydration, but that's no longer the case ever since I've ordered a saline IV. That's about it. I'm more worried about her mental condition…" the doctor reported.
Buttercup opened her eyes. She could hear mumbling before she ever saw anything. It had never been harder than before to just open her eyes and see something. Her vision was still swimming, her body, ravaged by electricity, still aching.
"Buttercup! You're awake!" she heard the professor say. He was coming up next to her the moment he saw that she was awake. Sitting down beside her, he held her hand in both of his gently, as if afraid that she might fall into dust if he had been too rough.
"It still hurts…" Buttercup blurted, clenching her teeth. Moving had intensified the aches in her body.
"Just lie still, Butterfly," Professor Utonium said lovingly, just glad that he still had three adopted daughters and not two. "You're still recovering from your injuries. It'll be gone quickly, I promise."
"It was horrible…" she wept, but not utterly. The professor wiped away the stray tears with his fingers. She didn't have to act at all. It was a horrible experience, something that would stay with her for a long, long time.
"I'll leave you two to it," Doctor Simmons said, excusing himself. He left the ward quickly to give them their privacy.
"I know, but it's over," the professor tried to comfort her. "You're with me now. You know, that man you've hurt? He's forgiven you."
"Really?" Buttercup said in disbelief. She didn't think that anyone would forgive her for some of her most severe crimes. Killing people, she was told, was one of the worst crimes out there.
"Yeah. I think they're all coming around. You're a good girl, and I think they know that," the professor added.
"That's… great," Buttercup said as she was smiling. She couldn't help it, and she was supposed to act the part of a depressed and vulnerable little girl.
"Why are you smiling?" the professor asked, wondering if it was the product of mental trauma or if it was due to some dredged up piece of happy memory recalled in the worst of times.
"Nothing, I'm just…" Buttercup struggled to think of a reason. "I- I was punished and- urm-"
"I understand what you mean," the professor said with a laugh. Somehow, Buttercup had defused the situation and avoid getting found out without really trying.
"You do?" Buttercup asked, genuinely confused.
"You're glad you were punished. You wanted to get it over with, right?" the professor filled in the blanks for her, unwittingly helping her to delude him. "You wanted to be punished because you feel you deserve it, remember? Well, you're supposed to be happy when you got what you wanted. You've paid your restitution, no matter how much I object to it."
"Yeah… I guess…" Buttercup said. There's nothing like leveraging on a mind smarter than hers. It filled her with a kind of satisfaction she had never tasted before.
"Aren't you the mature one," the professor praised Buttercup as he stroked her head proudly. He then took Buttercup by the arms as he looked down at her. "But don't you let people take advantage of you ever again. You deserved something for what you did, sure, but electrocution was way over the line! I- I'm sorry I let it happen…"
"Don't blame yourself, Professor Utonium," Buttercup said, at the same time glancing at the windows to the ward to make sure no one was listening in on them. The professor's name was like a top-secret code at this point. "I shouldn't have killed in the first place."
All the while, Buttercup was kicking herself in the proverbial backside in the mind - she hated saying the right things all the time. It was so completely not her - she wasn't Blossom or Bubbles. By right, she couldn't stomach being the 'good little girl'. It was only the promise of great rewards in vengeance that gave her the strength to act the part.
The professor looked away from Buttercup, put off by her use of his (code)name and title. He thought it was something he could get used to, but the actual physical sensations he felt, that kind of knee-jerk disgust, told him otherwise.
"Is something wrong, professor?" Buttercup asked.
"N-nothing…" he said, trying his best to disguise his uneasiness with his new arrangement with Buttercup with a smile, but he knew the enhanced girl had seen through his paper-thin veil.
"I just miss being 'Dad', you know," the professor owned up to it. Sensing an opportunity, Buttercup struggled into a sitting position before leaning on him, putting her head on his chest.
"You're still my dad, daddy," Buttercup buttered up the professor even further.
"Thanks, Buttercup," the professor said, embracing her, falling for her every move.