By: Mark J. Hadley

Blossom crashed into the side of a building where she had been thrown. Pulling herself free from the brick, she gritted her teeth in determination. This thing means business! she thought, flying back towards the creature that stood on the center of the street. It was large and lizard-like, with three massive arms, a long, slender head, and rows of sharp, pointy teeth. It was covered with tough scales and a row of spikes along its back, and so far, their efforts to hurt this thing had been in vain.

Bubbles was just pounding it in the face a few times, when it swatted her off its shoulder. She flew towards the same building that Blossom had crashed into, but Blossom caught her before she impacted. Bubbles rubbed her head and said, "Thanks!"

"Anytime," Blossom said. "Brute force isn’t working on this thing…we need to find some other way to bring him down."

Buttercup, in the meantime, circled around one of the monster’s legs and started throwing punches at its ankle. The creature howled, and slammed one of its fists down on the ground at her, but she skillfully dodged, darting over and kicking him strongly in his other ankle. It howled in pain again.

"Hey, I think Buttercup found a weak spot!" Blossom said. "Go for the ankles!" She and Bubbles flew towards the monster’s feet, each opening fire with their eyebeams on one of its ankles. It hopped around for a moment, then started to totter backwards.

"Yeah!" Buttercup shouted. "You’re goin’ down!" She was about to fly to a safer distance, when she noticed that the part of the street the monster was starting to fall towards included a car, with an old lady at the wheel. The lady looked up at the monster falling towards her, and screamed.

"Oh no!" Blossom exclaimed, noticing this, too. Bubbles covered her eyes, not wanting to look. Since she was the closest, Buttercup shot off immediately towards the car, but she knew there would be no way for her to carry it out of there in time. Thinking fast, she gave the car a punch when she reached it, knocking it quickly across the street and out of the path of the monster…barely an instant later, the thing slammed into the street on top of Buttercup.

The fall had done its job. The monster was definitely out of commission, but the girls gasped, flying over so they could try to lift it up and free Buttercup. "Do you think she’s all right?" Bubbles asked.

"Of course she is," Blossom said, grabbing hold of the monster’s side. "She’s had a lot worse than that. We all have. Ok…I’ll lift it up, and you get Buttercup out from underneath, okay?"

"Right," Bubbles said, nodding. Blossom exerted her strength and managed to start rolling it over to one side. Bubbles waited as the monster’s back was lifted from the street…and then let out a piercing scream. Blossom tensed up, "What? What is it?"

They were correct before that being smashed like this wasn’t the worst thing Buttercup had ever experienced, but that wasn’t all that had happened to her. One of the spikes that ran along the monster’s back was pierced directly through her chest, sticking out the back. As it was being lifted from the street, it didn’t pull free from Buttercup, but instead, she was carried up with it. Her teeth and eyes were clenched, trying to hold it in, but she couldn’t any longer, and started crying out in pain.

"Buttercup!" Bubbles shouted. By this time, Blossom had rolled the monster over onto its side and flew around to see what was happening. She covered her mouth with her hands at the sight of it. Buttercup thrashed a few times, and continued to shriek.

Bubbles flew over and was about to pull her free, when Blossom shouted, "No, wait! Don’t pull it out…that’ll make it worse!" Blossom flew over and started using her eyebeams to cut the spike free from the monster’s back. Buttercup grabbed hold of Bubbles’ hand tightly, her breath coming it short gasps.

"I-it’s okay, Buttercup," Bubbles said, with as much conviction as she could muster. "We’ll get you outta there!"

Blossom finished cutting through the spike, and both she and Bubbles took hold of Buttercup, carrying her away from it. We have to get her to the professor, fast, Blossom thought. He’ll know what to do…just please, hang on! All three of them started flying away from the street as fast as they could, back in the direction of home.

* * *

The girls paced in front of the door…well, pacing wasn’t a good word; they were doing the equivalent with flying. When they had brought Buttercup home, Professor Utonium was horrified by what had happened, and he immediately took Buttercup down into his lab to treat her.

That was a few hours ago, though. What’s taking so long? Blossom thought. They should have been out a long time ago! I hope she’s all right…

At that moment, they both heard footsteps coming up the stairs from the lab. They froze and watched, as the door swung open. Bubbles was relieved to see the expression on the Professor’s face…it wasn’t troubled at all, but rather, he was smiling. The professor said, "Come down, girls. She’s waking up again."

They nodded, and followed him back down into the lab. They saw Buttercup lying on her back on a table, with instruments and medical equipment of all kids sitting on the table next to her. Her dress was back into normal condition, and there didn’t seem to be any sign of the spike’s entry at all. She turned her head slightly, and smiled as she saw the girls, "Hey…"

"Buttercup, you’re okay!" Blossom said. "Thank goodness…I thought you were a goner…"

"Nah, I’m tougher than that," Buttercup said. She started pushing herself up to a sitting position, but then looked down at her hands strangely, lying on her back again. "Professor, I think my arms are asleep…" she remarked.

"It’s just a side effect from the chemicals, sweetie," the professor told her. "It’ll wear off eventually."

Bubbles smiled, "How did you do it, professor? She was in pretty bad shape when we brought her in…"

"I admit, things didn’t look good for a while," he said. "The damage looked almost too extensive to repair…and then, it hit me. With a sufficiently high dosage of Chemical X, her system might be able to renew itself. I prepared a formula up as fast as I could, creating a sort of ‘Chemical X booster’, if you will. I administered this to her, and watched it do its work."

"Wow…you mean, you managed to fix her up with just a chemical?" Blossom asked.

Nodding, the professor answered, "That’s right. The concentration I came up with was designed to sustain her power and keep her alive while it slowly regenerated her system. I had to carefully monitor her progress for the past couple of hours to make sure nothing went wrong." He smiled, "But it worked flawlessly. Her wounds healed, and she’s back to normal."

Buttercup finally sat up, and said, "My arms feel numb, though…" She brushed her hand through her hair in the back, and looked confused again. "I can barely feel anything…what’s going on?"

"Like I said," he explained, "the Chemical X booster I gave you will be in your system for a while. In the meantime, you’re going to notice some changes."

All three of the girls asked, "What kind of changes?"

Chuckling a little, the professor said, "Nothing serious. It’s a huge surge of energy that’s built up right now. You’re going to find yourself a little stronger and more resilient than normal, Buttercup. It’s also given you extra energy to spare. I’d wager that you won’t even need to eat anything until it wears off, since you’re drawing all your power from this Chemical X source."

"Really?" Buttercup said.

He helped her up and said, "Right now, the chemical is taking care of everything your body needs. Eating, and possibly sleeping as well, will become unnecessary until it wears off. That numbness is just a side effect. Your cells are so full of energy right now that it’s confusing your nervous system. It’ll act as a buffer for pain, but unfortunately also as a buffer for normal feeling. All of your senses might be affected by it. Like I said, though, it will wear off with the chemical."

"That’s amazing," Blossom said. She leaned over and experimentally punched Buttercup in the arm. There was a *crack* sound, and she pulled her hand away, shaking it, "Oww…!"

"Careful, pumpkin," the professor warned her. "She’s can withstand more damage right now than usual."

Buttercup glanced down at her arm and said, "I couldn’t even feel that…it was like someone hittin’ me with a cotton ball or somethin’."

"All right, but just take it easy, okay?" the professor told her. "I’m not sure how long before it wears off. And don’t be alarmed…most of your senses might be dulled or even made temporarily nonexistent by the chemical."

"Ok, got it," Buttercup nodded. She slowly lifted off from the table, hovering into the air a bit unsteadily, "Wh-whoa…hey, feels a little different. I’ll get used to it, though. How long before this stuff wears off?"

"I’m not sure how long, actually," he admitted. "It might be today, it might be in a week or two. Worst-case scenario is that it’s permanent, but the odds of that are extremely slim, about the same as an anesthetic being permanent."

"All right," Buttercup said. She flew towards the stairway, and the other girls followed, "I’m goin’ up to watch TV…thanks for the boost, professor!" The professor smiled back to her as they disappeared upstairs.

As soon as they were gone, the professor’s smile faded, and he rubbed the side of his head. I’m not sure I made the right decision here…no, I did, I had to have. This was the only way to save her life. I only hope she can cope with it long enough until everything can be normal again…

* * *

"I don’t know, Puppet Pal Mitch, what kind of bed do you sleep in?"

"A *BONK* bed!"

The girls laughed, as they lounged out on the couch watching the television. They were interrupted by the professor’s call from the kitchen, "Girls! Dinner’s ready!" All three of them flew out from the couch into the kitchen in a hurry, taking their places at the table.

"Dinner already?" Buttercup said, taking her seat. "I don’t even feel hungry yet…"

The professor started walking over, carrying a large plate of his tuna/macaroni casserole and setting it on the table, "Don’t forget, Buttercup…as long as that chemical is still active, you’re not going to need to eat."

Bubbles smiled, "It smells good, professor!" Blossom nodded in agreement.

Buttercup took a whiff of the air, and said, "Uhh…something’s wrong, professor, I don’t smell anything…"

"Dulled senses," he explained quickly, anticipating her remark. "It’s just something you’ll have to bear with right now."

The other girls started scooping out casserole onto their plates. Buttercup just sat and stared at it with a sigh. I don’t feel hungry, and I can’t even smell. But I gotta eat something, ‘cause I can’t just go on without food for too long… She hesitantly reached out and put a small scoop of the casserole onto her plate.

The professor raised an eyebrow, "Uh, sweetie, you really don’t need to eat, you know…"

"I know, I just want to," Buttercup said. "Chemical or no chemical, I gotta keep my strength up, you know…" She lifted a forkful of it and took a bite. After a few seconds of chewing, another look of confusion crossed her face. She spit it out into her napkin, and said, "Eech…professor, I can’t even taste it! This ‘dulled senses’ thing stinks!"

"I’m telling you, it would be best to skip dinner for now," the professor suggested. Buttercup reluctantly got up from the table, and hovered back into the other room, sitting in front of the television again with her head in her hands. The other girls continued eating, but they cast a few concerned glances into the other room at her on the couch.

"Professor, will she be all right?" Bubbles asked.

"She’ll be fine," the professor replied. "It’s just a big adjustment to make, that’s all. And at least it’s only temporary."

"That’s good," Blossom said. "We really need to have her at her best for when we fight crime…"

No sooner had Blossom said this, than the Powerpuff Hotline started buzzing. Blossom dropped her fork onto her plate and shot over to the phone in an instant, picking it up, "Hello, Mayor?" She listened for a few seconds, "It is? We’ll be right there!"

Buttercup and Bubbles flew over by her, and Bubbles asked, "What’s the problem?"

Blossom hung up the phone, "That monster we fought earlier…I guess it wasn’t defeated after all, because it just woke up and started rampaging again!"

Just for a moment, Buttercup felt a moment of fear about facing that thing again, but then she shook it off. Just don’t go behind it anymore, and you’ll be fine, she reasoned. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!" All three of them immediately left out the front door, heading for Townsville.

* * *

The monster was clawing at the side of one building with all three of its arms when the girls arrived. It turned and glared at them angrily, and Blossom immediately ordered, "The ankles, go for the ankles again!" They descended into an attack pattern…

However, something was there that wasn’t before. The monster had grown scales over that part of his legs. Blossom and Bubbles fired their eyebeams at them like they did before, but they rebounded harmlessly off the scales. Bubbles exclaimed, "It’s not working! What now?"

"Now, we find another weak spot," Buttercup said, flying in towards the creature’s face. She started to pull back her fist for a punch, but the creature batted her aside with one of its arms. She was driven into the side of a building in an explosion of brick and concrete. The other girls avoided the other two arms as they began swinging towards them.

Buttercup blinked a few times from her position in the wall. Did I just get hit? she thought. Strangely, she didn’t feel it if she did…and she still didn’t feel anything, even embedded halfway through the building like she was. She pulled herself from the rubble and dusted herself off, grinning. Maybe it’s not so bad that I can’t feel too much. Hey, I wonder if this boost really made me stronger like the prof said it did? Only one way to find out…

In a streak of green light, she flew out from the building, taking the monster by surprise, slamming a fist into his chest. There was a tremendous shockwave from the intensity of the blow, and several of its scales cracked and broke free from him. The other girls watched in amazement as she followed it up by two more punches, causing a brief shower of large scales to fall away, and with a third punch, she struck unprotected flesh…the whole creature exploded in a shower of greenish goo.

Blossom shielded herself from the rain of goo, and whispered, "Whoa…" Bubbles looked equally impressed.

Buttercup was floating there where the creature used to be, and she was staring at her arms, a grin crossing her face. She laughed and threw back her head, stretching her arms out and shouting, "This booster rocks!" Blossom smiled at that, and thought, Wow, what an advantage we have with this Chemical X booster! Maybe the professor can keep some of it around to give it to all of us in case we need to go up against something really powerful…

* * *

The sun had finally set, so they returned home for bed. It was a hectic day, and Buttercup was glad it was coming to a close. Preparing for bed, though, she felt a little weird about this whole thing. Despite everything that happened during the day, she didn’t feel sleepy at all. Still, she thought she needed to, anyway, so she climbed into bed as usual.

As the other girls fell asleep, though, Buttercup lay awake, staring up at the ceiling. Oh well, the professor said I might not need to sleep, either, she thought. I don’t really feel tired at all. Maybe I should go outside for some fresh air. She glanced over at the other girls and carefully got out of bed, then changed and flew outside.

It was a little strange flying around at night. She didn’t get the chance to do it that often, only during those late-night emergencies. Still, there really wasn’t much of anything to do, and she found herself quickly becoming bored. Sitting down on one of the skyscrapers in the town, she started counting all the buildings, seeing if that would make her tired. Hours later, after counting them all a dozen more times, she decided to try something else.

As she experimented with testing the limits of the booster, she made another shocking discovery. She held her breath, and five minutes later, she began to wonder if she even needed air anymore. She decided to keep holding it until she couldn’t any longer, to see just how long she could go without air. Almost two hours later, she got bored of waiting and just gave up.

This is impossible, she thought. I know this chemical is supposed to give me energy and stuff, but I don’t need food…I don’t need air…I don’t need sleep…how can one chemical do all of that? I don’t know…I have the strange feeling that the professor’s not telling me something…

She noticed the sun was rising. Again, she felt perfectly fine, not tired at all. The other girls would be waking up soon, so she decided to head back home…but the night had given her a lot to think about, and a lot of questions to ask the professor when she got the chance.

* * *

The girls were flying on their way to school, and Blossom remarked, "No way…the whole night?"

"That’s right," Buttercup said. "And look at me…I’m not even a little bit sleepy."

"Nothing wrong with sleep," Bubbles pointed out. "I had one of those flying dreams last night…"

Buttercup frowned, "Bubbles, you fly every day…"

"So? It was still fun," Bubbles insisted.

Just as they were about to descend towards the school, Blossom noticed a plume of smoke coming from Townsville in the distance. "What the…girls, trouble!"

"But we’ll be late for school!" Bubbles said.

Blossom shook her head, "It’s okay, as long as we’re saving Townsville…now, c’mon!" She flew off towards the city…Bubbles and Buttercup followed close behind her.

When they reached Townsville, they found several buildings on fire, and a large robot tromping its way down the center of the streets. They could see Mojo Jojo clearly through the glass bubble dome on the top. He spotted the girls approaching from the distance, and broadcasted, "Good morning, girls!"

"Getting an early start, Mojo?" Blossom said, angrily.

"Of course, I have a very tight schedule to keep today," he said. "I decided to move my attack to the morning to make room later on for…"

"Prison?" Buttercup interrupted. "’Cause that’s where you’re goin’!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it, and I assure you that I have several things to say about it, one of which I will tell you know, like this…" The claws of his robot stretched outwards, and waves of energy out towards the city around him. Not destructive energy, but instead, it was drawing it things from the surroundings—cars, lampposts, manhole covers, stoplights—and collecting it into a huge ball onto that claw.

In the next instant, he flung the entire ball at the girls. Buttercup and Bubbles managed to avoid it, but it slammed into Blossom, carrying her off over the nearest buildings until it finally slammed into the ground behind them. Mojo laughed, and activated the claw again, drawing more of the same items together.

Buttercup flew towards the robot, shouting, "Why, I outta…" As she crossed the energy waves, though, it grabbed hold of her, and she was pulled out of the air. Surprised, she tumbled around as she was pulled into the claw, and all of the other objects that were being pulled in as well surrounded her like a cocoon. Mojo rose an eyebrow at this fortunate turn of events, and grinned, electing to slam this ball into the ground immediately instead of merely throwing it.

Bubbles backed up as Mojo’s robot started heading for her, each step shaking the buildings nearby. Down at the ball of objects Mojo had dropped into the ground, it suddenly burst open, as Buttercup flew out from it. She watched as Mojo started building up a third ball…but was surprised when Bubbles was not drawn into it as she had been.

Before he could throw it, though, Buttercup flew forward and slammed into the robot feet-first. She smashed clear through the robot, ripping the entire thing in half. Mojo gaped, as the top half, the part he was in, plummeted down towards the street. Bubbles flew over before it hit and smashed through the glass dome, yanking Mojo out and dropping him onto the ground.

Blossom had come back from the distance by this time, and all three of the surrounded Mojo, who said, "I was certain my mega-electromagnetic-claw device would surely have defeated you. Curses! This will wreak havoc with today’s schedule!"

"Give it up, Mojo," Blossom said. "It’s prison for you…again."

"I’ll have my day!" Mojo growled. "Mark my words!"

Blossom and Bubbles lifted him up into the air, starting to fly in the direction of the police station. Bubbles called down to Buttercup, "You coming?"

"I’ll be along," Buttercup said. They nodded, and continued on without her. Buttercup looked back at the wreckage of the robot. Man, that was incredible. One kick! I never used to be able to do that before…

She flew over and landed next to one of the claws, and studied it, thinking, Something’s weird about this…why was I pulled in, but Bubbles wasn’t? Maybe she just didn’t get all the way in front of it or something…it doesn’t really make any sense, though, it looked like the beam crossed her…

She rubbed her chin thoughtfully for a moment, then her eyes caught something she didn’t see before. The skin on he right arm had a few gashes in it. Whoa, she thought. When did that happen? Probably back when I was caught in the center of that ball. I didn’t feel anything, though. She glanced around herself to make sure there weren’t any other injuries she didn’t know about. Other than a few small minor tears in her dress, though, everything seemed to be okay.

Turning her attention back to the gashes, she picked at it with her other hand. Still no pain…no blood, either. This is really weird, she thought. It’s almost like this isn’t my arm… All of a sudden, there was a brief flash of light that came from the gash. It startled her, and in the next moment it was gone. Curiously, she moved her arm back a little, and saw the flash of light again. She rotated it back and forth, and the flash came each time. What the…

She glanced up and saw she was facing in the direction of the rising sun. Moving her arm a little more, it became clear that it was a reflection of the sunlight. She picked at the gash a little more, making it a little wider, and froze. There, underneath it, she caught a glimpse of something…not muscle, or bone, or other tissue, but metal. In shock, she pried at it some more, loosening the skin up and prying it back. She couldn’t believe what she saw.

The entire inside of her arm, under the skin, was made of metal, like a robot arm. A little frantically, she pulled more of the skin on her arm back, and finally ripped it off completely, like a tattered glove. She flexed the arm in front of her…it was completely mechanical. She was moving it around as fluidly as she would move her own arm. It was even flexible in all the right spots.

She felt cold, somehow, even though she actually didn’t feel anything. It was almost like panic, but she felt her steady heartbeat, which she realized hadn’t quickened at all, not even during the fight. It was measured, methodical. She looked down at herself, at one of the rips in her dress, and tore the rip open wider. Clawing at her skin underneath with her robotic arm, she managed to pull some of the skin up like she had on the arm. It still didn’t seem to register, even though she saw the metal underneath, just the same as her arm was.

Very slowly, she reached up to the side of her face, clawing into her cheek similarly. She pulled back some of the skin, again with no feeling. Though she couldn’t see it, she poked her hand into the spot she just uncovered, and as she almost had expected, she heard the soft clang of metal against metal. Finally, she stopped, and just stared at her arm again, as it began to completely sink in on her…

Her ‘breathing’ quickened in reaction to her shock…but it was just purely automatic. She held her breath again, as she realized it wasn’t necessary. As she stood there, all she could think was, How? Why am I like this? What happened?

She knew the professor had the answers. He had to have done this to her. She needed to be at school, but she didn’t care right now…all she cared about was finding out the answers. She flew up from the ground and took off in the direction of home.

* * *

Entering the house, Buttercup called out, "Professor!" There was no response. Where could he be? she wondered. As she drifted through the house, she heard a sound coming from the lab…he was working. He had made it a rule for them normally not to barge in while he’s working, but she didn’t care right now. She flung the door open and flew downstairs.

The professor was working at a table, with his back to her, and looked back in surprise as she entered. Before he could say anything, she shouted, "What did you do to me?!" Startled, the professor stepped back from the table, and she froze as she saw what was on it…it was her, Buttercup, still in bad condition and still with the monster’s spike sticking out from the chest. She could barely form any words when she saw this, "Wh…wh…"

"Now, sweetie," the professor said, holding up a hand. "Just calm down…"

Buttercup shrieked, "…aaaAAUGH!!" and backed up quickly, pressing her back up against the wall, in panic. She stared at herself, lying there silently on the table…there was small devices attached to each side of her head, and various other tools and equipment, both mechanical and surgical, lying around on other parts of the table. Her head was lolled back and eyes glazed over, almost like she was dead. But I’m not dead, she thought…I’m right here! But that’s me on the table…so who am I?

The professor tried to be reassuring, and said, "Please, Buttercup, just listen…I can explain everything…"

"What am I?!" Buttercup cried out.

"It’s like this," the professor explained. "When Blossom and Bubbles brought you in to me, I wasn’t sure if there was anything I could do…you were pretty badly hurt. I knew it could take days to fix you up, if it was even possible to do so. I didn’t want the other girls to worry, so I built that robot body for you, so you could return to them while I continued working on your real body."

"So…the Chemical X booster…" Buttercup began.

"…doesn’t exist, no," he told her. "I needed some way of explaining why you couldn’t feel very much of anything apart from basic feedback, and why you didn’t need to eat, sleep, or anything. You’d just think it was the chemical. Then, once your body was repaired, I could switch it off and put you back it its place, and you’d wake up thinking that the chemical had worn off."

Hesitating for a moment, Buttercup asked, "Why didn’t you just tell me?"

The professor replied, "I didn’t want you or the girls to worry anymore. Besides, I was afraid how you would react…and I never thought you’d find out…"

"Well, I did," Buttercup said, frowning. "So now what? What if you can’t save my real body? Am I stuck in this robot, then?"

The professor looked a little disturbed, "Uhh…no…it’s not that simple…you see…"

Buttercup glanced back at her body, and looked again at the devices that were fixed on the side of her head. Realization hit her suddenly, and she knew what the professor was going to say. "I-I’m really still there, a-aren’t I?"

"Yes," he said. "Right now, you’re just controlling the robot remotely. It taps into your subconscious, so even if you’re unconscious like this, you can control it as though you were awake…"

But if I’m controlling it remotely, She thought, that means if my real body dies… She flew over to the professor in panic, grabbing him by the shirt to look him in the face, "Please tell me you can save me! I don’t wanna die!!"

"I’m doing everything I can," the professor said hastily. "I’m making progress, but it’s still too early to tell…"

Buttercup let go of him, and sank weakly down into a chair. She stared at the floor silently for a few moments, trying to sort all this out. He’s right, she thought, I almost wish I hadn’t found out about this… "So what happens now?" she finally asked.

"Now, I get back to work," he said. "I suppose the other girls should know, too. Unless you want to keep it secret like I originally intended…"

Looking down at her exposed mechanical arm, she said, "I don’t think there’s much chance of that." Another thought struck her, and she said, "We should be at school right now! But…how can I go like this?" She indicated both the exposed sections of metal on her body and face with her completely exposed arm.

"Yes, that does make it tricky," the professor agreed. "I could graft some new artificial skin on you, if you’d like. It’ll only take a few seconds, with the machine I set up for it."

Buttercup sighed, "Okay…but listen, I’m going to tell them right after school, all right? I don’t think they should be left out of this."

The professor nodded, "Understood," and walked over, preparing the device to restore her appearance back to normal. Buttercup thought, I can’t believe this…here, I thought everything was going great, but now, I’m not sure if I’m going to live or not. The professor knows what he’s doing, though…I guess if anyone can figure out what to do, it’s him.

* * *

Buttercup flew into Pokey Oaks Kindergarten through the door. Miss Keane glanced up as she did, and furrowed her brow, "Buttercup…why are you so late?"

"I’m sorry, Miss Keane, I…didn’t feel well." Buttercup replied, slowly heading over to where the other girls were seated. Both of them looked at her with surprise as she took her seat. Miss Keane was going to protest, but then decided not to, and resumed the lesson she was teaching.

"Are you okay?" Blossom whispered to Buttercup.

"Yeah, I’m fine," she whispered back. "But…listen, after school, I have something we need to talk about."

"Like what?" Blossom asked.

Buttercup shook her head, "I’ll explain later." Blossom decided not to press the issue any further, and turned her attention back to the lesson. Bubbles looked concerned, but said nothing.

In the meantime, Buttercup was trying to listen, but her thoughts kept going elsewhere. The professor’s probably working on me right his instant, she thought. I hope nothing goes wrong. Another thought came to her: What if something does go wrong? What’ll happen to me, I wonder? Will I feel it, or will this robot body just suddenly turn off? Oh, I really wish I knew how things were going…

As she sat patiently and listened, all of a sudden, everything flashed and became a brilliant bright white in front of her. She was confused by this, and even more confused when she felt herself lying on her back, staring up at a bright light hanging from the ceiling above her. That wasn’t all she felt, though…she gradually felt pain, coming from her chest, and she managed to pull her head up to get a better look at herself.

The monster’s spike was sticking out of her chest. She saw the professor nearby, who gave a shocked look back, and quickly started prepping a needle. She realized where she was, and started to scream as the pain from her injury slowly returned to her. The professor gently pushed her back down to lie flat, and plunged the needle into her arm. As she started to black out, she could see him reach up to the sides of her head…she heard a click, and everything flashed white once again.

When the flash faded, she was back in Pokey Oaks again, jolted back to her senses. Bubbles was shaking her shoulder like she was trying to wake her up, and Blossom was also looking over her. She realized she was lying on the ground, on her back, looking up at them. A couple of the other kids were looking over her, and Miss Keane was as well. Bubbles said, "Buttercup! Are you all right?"

Buttercup sat back up again, slowly, and asked, "What happened?"

"You passed out," Blossom told her. "You got all stiff all of a sudden and fell back out of your chair…"

"I’m…I’m fine, I think…" Buttercup said. As she did, she noticed something in her field of view…a few dim green numbers rolling across the lower part of her vision, and finally replaced by ‘TEST OK – SYSTEM ACTIVE’. This was only momentary, lasting less than a second, and it finally vanished.

"Are you sure you’re all right?" Miss Keane asked, worried.

"I’m fine," Buttercup insisted, getting back up and returning to her seat. She looked around and noticed everyone was still staring at her, and she said louder, "I said, I’m fine!" They all reluctantly nodded, and returned to their seats. Miss Keane went back in front of the class to start the lesson again, while Buttercup rested her head on the table in front of her.

Bubbles whispered to her, "You don’t look fine to me…what’s wrong?"

"I’ll tell you after school, honestly…" Buttercup said. Bubbles nodded, and although Blossom looked like she was lost in thought, she agreed also. Buttercup sighed…and hoped that nothing like that would happen again. It’s kind of disturbing, to think that I’m not actually "here", but I’m still at home…and that I’m not actually feeling fine, but I’m seriously injured. I’ll be glad when this is all over with…I just hope, please, PLEASE, that it’ll be because the professor healed me…

* * *

School let out, and the girls started flying back home. Blossom and Bubbles stopped Buttercup though, and said, "All right, now spit it out…what’s going on?"

Buttercup slowed, and said, "Okay…I found out why all these weird things are happening to me…"

"The Chemical X thing, we know," Bubbles said.

"No, that’s not it…" Buttercup said. She took a deep ‘breath’, and slowly explained the situation to them. About her discovery, about what the professor was doing, everything. They listened in awe as she told them, and looked frightened for her, especially Bubbles, who didn’t know what to think about all of this.

"You’re…a robot?" Bubbles said. "I can’t even tell…"

Blossom said, "Me either…are you sure?"

"Am I sure?" Buttercup exclaimed. "I saw it with my own eyes! But if you want proof, try using your x-ray vision."

Blossom nodded, and looked closely. Her eyes widened, and she said, "Wow…you’re right…"

"Of course I’m…" Buttercup began, but trailed off. Something had appeared in her field of vision. It was a flashing set of words that read ‘BUTTERCUP, GET BACK HOME QUICKLY – PROF’. She gasped, and said, "We gotta get back home, now!" Before the other girls could say anything, she flew off in the direction of home, as fast as she could go. They wordlessly followed her…

* * *

In the lab, Professor Utonium looked up as the girls came in. Buttercup immediately said, "I’m here! What’s going on?"

"Good, you got my message," the professor said. He was still working on Buttercup’s body on the table. The sight of this caused both Blossom and Bubbles to cringe, as they realized that Buttercup’s story was completely true. There was an occasional beep from a heart monitor nearby, hooked up to the body. "I take it you told them," he continued. "Good, that’ll save us some time. I need you to get me a few things…"

Blossom asked, "What do we need to get?"

"Two of you need to fly down to the hospital," he said. "One of you needs to obtain a chemical called demeclocycline. It’s an antibiotic that I don’t have here in the lab. The other needs to get their hands on a defibrillator. We must have both of these, fast!"

"Right!" Blossom said, and, committing it to memory, flew off out of the lab to head for the hospital. Bubbles was right behind her.

Buttercup looked on, worried, "What’s going on? What’s the matter?"

The professor looked back down at Buttercup’s body, and said, "This isn’t looking too good…I’m afraid I’m losing you…"

"No!" Buttercup cried out. She flew over next to her body and looked down at it, "No, no…you gotta do something!"

"I’m doing everything I can," the professor said. "Just try to hold on…" He picked up a few of the tools and resumed working at the edge of the wound, trying to find a safe way to remove the spike.

Buttercup was shaken, as she watched herself on the table, out cold…she felt on the verge of tears, yet her robot body was preventing her from crying. However, a moment later, she saw a few tears forming at the edges of her body’s eyes below. That really is me, she thought…and I’m really dying…I…

She reached down and picked up her hand from the table, holding it firmly, and whispered, "Hold on…" She wasn’t sure why she was doing this…she was only trying to reassure herself, and she already knew that things looked bleak. But she continued anyway, "Please…please hold on…"

As the professor tried to lift part of the spike out, Buttercup’s body took a shallow breath, and the heart monitor beeped a few times quickly. Suddenly, it went flat…she was going into cardiac arrest. Buttercup’s eyes widened, and her hands tightened around her body’s hand as she cried out, "No! Don’t do this! Please!"

The professor suddenly grabbed her and pulled her away from the table. She struggled for a moment, but he said, "We don’t have much time! Come with me, quickly!"

She didn’t know what the professor was up to, but she did what he said anyway, shaking. She followed him over to a computer on another table, and he quickly started attaching some components to it, working feverishly to hook it up in time. What’s he trying to do? she thought…Why isn’t he trying to save my life?! She looked back at herself over at the table…and as she did, she noticed her field of vision starting to flicker a little, like the connection was starting to break up. Oh god…this is it, I’m gonna die! Professor, what are you doing? Do something!! PLEASE!!

The professor reached over and pulled a section of her artificial skin up from the side of her head. She was surprised by this, but let him continue anyway…he seemed to have something in mind. Her vision continued to flicker, and she was starting to feel dizzy, too. Whatever you’re doing, hurry! she thought. He quickly plugged a pair of cables into the port he had just opened up in the side of her head, and punched a few buttons on the computer.

One of the last things she saw was a clock on the wall…it read, ‘2:16 PM’. All at once, everything went dark, like a television shutting off. I’m dead, she thought…It’s all over…it has to be…

* * *

It seemed like forever that the world around her remained dark. She wasn’t really aware of it, but she couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe…she was frozen in place. She thought it was funny in a way…this wasn’t how she pictured death at all…

But maybe it wasn’t death…because she felt something was wrong. She may have been motionless, maybe unable to think straight, but there was still a feeling that she was there, that she existed. A tiny thread that connected her back to the living world…

She slowly became aware of dim, flickering lights around her, far off in the distance. They circled around like fireflies, darting quickly across the void. They had to be miles away, yet they moved with incredible speed. She wondered what they were…and as she did, they were slowly becoming brighter again…

Abruptly, the void around her flared up in a brilliant greenish-white color. Billions of the moving lights she saw streaked around her, almost like it was forming a path for her. But rather than waiting for her to take it, she found herself thrust forward, picking up speed, heading for a bright, glowing portal at the far end…

* * *

In a flash, everything came back together again. She blinked her eyes a few times, disoriented. As she regained her bearings, she noticed she was still in the lab. Glancing around, she saw the professor still standing at the computer terminal, and her body over by the table, still in the same position. The clock on the wall changed to ‘2:17 PM’. So…all that, and almost no time actually passed? she thought. "Professor…what…" she said, bewildered.

"It worked," he said, smiling. "Everything’s going to be all right now."

"What? But…but I’m still dying over there…" she said, pointing at the body on the table. As she did, she was suddenly frozen in terror as she saw the body glowing softly. The glow got brighter and brighter, until it was almost blinding…and when it faded out, the body was gone. The spike that was lodged in her chest fell over, clattering to its side on the table, which now only contained a pile of sugar, spice, and everything nice.

I’m dead, she thought…but…but I’m still here…what’s going on? "P-Professor?" she stammered.

"Don’t worry, you’re all right," the professor said. He walked over to the table, picking up a bowl and carefully scooping the components off the table, making sure everything got into the bowl. As Buttercup watched, he set the bowl down and picked up a long-handled spoon, mixing it…after mixing, he picked up a vial of Chemical X, and put a few drops in. He quickly retreated to a safer distance after this was done.

Buttercup shielded her face as the mixture exploded. Peering back over as the light faded, she gasped…there, hovering over the bowl, was Buttercup…or rather, her body again…completely intact once more. The face was expressionless, though, and the eyes closed. After only a few seconds of hovering, it collapsed back down into the bowl, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

"Professor, what…" Buttercup started to say, but the professor rushed over, picking up the devices from the table that were formerly attached to Buttercup’s body. He pressed a few buttons on them, and then returned to the computer console.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t have time to explain," he said. "I promise, just wait a few seconds, and it will all come together…" With that, he hit a button on the computer, and Buttercup’s vision went dark once again.

She was confused, disoriented, as she was before, floating in the void, but this time, there was a feeling of warmth around her. She somehow knew that everything was going to be okay. She barely even noticed as the lights dragged her through the glowing portal as they did before, and in the next instant, she was awake once again.

She sat up, but now she was on the opposite side of the room, sitting in the bowl the professor was mixing from. She saw the professor at the computer, and another Buttercup, wires attached to the side of her head, floating next to it…but only for a moment, because in the next, it fell like a stone, hitting the ground with a loud *thump*.

I’m…I’m back in my body! she thought. She looked down at her hands, and reached out, feeling the edges of the bowl. She could feel again! Flying up out of the bowl, she rushed across the room, and into the professor’s arms, hugging him, "You did it! But, how…"

"Actually, it was quite simple," the professor said. "I suddenly realized that there wasn’t anything I could do to save your life, short of some massive regeneration, which was beyond your capability to perform. Then, I realized…you don’t need to! I could wait until you broke back down into your base elements, and then just mix them back together again! There was still the problem of keeping your mind intact, though, but I solved that easily enough…"

Buttercup knew the answer to that, "You put my mind into the robot, didn’t you?"

The professor nodded, "That’s right…the connection was designed for massive transmission of data in two directions. I had just enough time for a complete data transfer there, to move your consciousness from your old body entirely into the robot’s memory banks. Of course, then when I mixed the components back together and brought you back to life, it was missing all of your memories, your mind, since it wasn’t there when you broke down. A simple reverse transfer fixed that."

Buttercup hugged him tighter, holding back tears, "Thank you, oh thank you…I really thought I was gonna die there…"

"Me too," he admitted. "I came up with that solution at the last minute…and even then, I wasn’t positive that it would work…but I’m glad I took that chance. I didn’t want to risk leaving your mind in place, because there’s no way of knowing how it might be affected…and at the very least, if it didn’t work, you could have still been ‘alive’ inside the robot…"

Blossom and Bubbles returned to the lab at that moment, interrupting them. Blossom came in carrying a bottle of demeclocycline, and Bubbles was carrying the defibrillator he had asked for. They both looked shocked as they saw the robotic Buttercup lying on the ground, and the real Buttercup alive and awake. Blossom said, "You’re…you’re okay!"

"That she is," the professor said. "It looks like we won’t be needing those items after all, girls. Thank you for your help, though."

They set the items down carefully, and flew over to hug Buttercup from both sides. Bubbles exclaimed, "I’m so glad you’re all right!"

"Me too, Bubbles," Buttercup said.

Examining the robot, the professor said, "Well, it’s a good thing the transfer worked…it was such an overload that it fried all the control circuits in this thing. It will probably never run again…"

"That’s okay," Buttercup told him. "We’re not going to be needing it anymore, anyway." She smiled, and thought, I’m going to miss all those ‘enhancements’ I thought I was getting from a Chemical X booster…but that’s okay. If it was between being a powerful robot or being just plain old Buttercup…I’d choose myself, any day…