Buttercup was worried. Very worried. Now it's relatively normal for a five-year-old girl to be anxious about something. But these troubles were normally silly. Like wondering if you're hair looked nice. Or how your parents would throw a fit if they saw that the brand new Barbie's head had fallen off.

Buttercup's fears were worse than that. The green puff was very worried about her sister, Bubbles.

That is a bit odd. See, Bubbles is always happy and cheerful. Why would you have to worry about her? If something was wrong with her, wouldn't Blossom or the Professor pick it up?

Unfortunately that is wrong. Completely wrong. Bubbles was hiding her emotions exceptionally well for a five-year-old. She still smiled and giggled and seemed completely fine.

Buttercup saw right through that thin disguise. You wouldn't think a tough, obnoxious little girl like Buttercup would ever be able to pick things up. But she did. Oh she did. Blossom was such a smart girl but it was astounding the things she didn't notice.

The raven-haired girl first noticed it when she was baking cookies with Bubbles one day. The blue puff wasn't as chatty as she usually was. When the cookies were done, they found out immediately that they had added salt instead of sugar. Normally Bubbles would of found this hilarious. She did laugh a bit, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

Buttercup noticed more things than just that. At night, Blossom sleeping peacefully beside her, Buttercup listened hard for the sounds of Bubbles snoring quietly. But there was nothing. The green puff was sure the blond girl was wide awake.

Bubbles tended to take a lot longer then usual in the bath than she usually did. When she came out, her skin looked scrubbed raw.

In the Ms Keane's kindergarten, she didn't play with the other kids as much as she used to. Bubbles started to sit in the corner drawing furiously, taking up nearly all the paper, and working her crayons to a stub.

Buttercup tried talking to her sister once.

"Hey, Bubbles?"

"Yes?" Came the overly-cheery reply.

"Are you feeling okay? You've been seeming a bit different lately."

Bubbles had looked up, and for a few seconds, Buttercup saw it. The blond girl's eyes were filled with fear, sadness and shame. A girl who used to be so happy all the time had changed so suddenly, Buttercup hadn't noticed or cared. The spark in the girl's eyes had disappeared, the dimples in her cheeks had faded, the innocence of childhood had abruptly gone missing.

Who ever had done this to Bubbles would pay. Pay dearly.

When Bubbles flew off, taking her crayons and pictures after her, Buttercup sat there in shock.

When it was evening and Buttercup was taking the garbage out, a piece of crumpled paper flew out. Curious, the black haired girl snatched it up.

It was a crayon drawing. A big, dark shape was leering over a small little girl with blond hair. The girl seemed not to notice the shape which was near enough to stroke her hair.

In a sudden panic, Buttercup opened up the garbage bag. A whole bunch of screwed up papers sat at the top of the bag.

They all depicted the same thing. A dark, sinister shape getting closer and closer to a blond little girl. The last one showed a hideously detailed drawing of the girl's face. Her mouth was wide open and screaming, her eyes frantic with terror. A dark shadow was cast over her face.

And claws. Two lobster like claws were gripping the girl's shoulders. Claws that looked dreadfully familiar.

A cold sweat broke on Buttercup's brow. She remembered the huge Octi doll blasting its way through the town, the eyes of their loved ones glaring up at them with hate, the wrecked empty wasteland that used to be Townsville, the awful chalk monsters tearing through the playground.

Should she tell the Professor? Should she tell Blossom? Buttercup thought she understood how things worked but really she knew nothing.

All she knew was how to fight. Flying over Townsville, she knew that he was going to die. Die a slow and painful death.

And when she saw his narrow, yellow eyes she knew this was the only way to bring her sister back.