Chapter Text
Townsville, California– April 28, [DATA CORRUPTED]
“…in other news, Apex Microchips CEO Armando Gutierrez has stepped down from his position over allegations of wrongfully firing an employee who supposedly discovered a critical design flaw in the company’s new Pinnacle Chip, which the same source says may have been directly responsible for the accident at S.T.A.R Labs’ Washington, D.C. facility that hospitalized area teenager and volunteer test subject Dexter Douglas. As of press time, Apex has yet to announce Gutierrez’s suc–”
There was a brief squawk from the car’s radio as a girl’s hand shot forward and began fiddling with the dials, eventually landing on the local college station.
“Buttercup!” a pre-teen girl with long red hair exclaimed from the passenger seat as the opening notes of “Holy Diver” suddenly filled the air at full blast. “I was listening to that! Besides, haven’t you heard of headphones?”
A black-haired girl about the same age as the redhead let out a growl as she briefly stopped her headbanging. “They’re busted, remember?”
“Well, that doesn’t mean that you can just–”
Buttercup let out a snort. “Read the shirt, Blossom.”
“Kind of hard to do when I can’t see it to begin with.”
Buttercup growled again before unzipping her leather jacket to reveal a t-shirt emblazoned with the words “If it’s too loud, you’re too old!” in block capitals.
“Seriously?” Blossom groaned. “You really thought that was appropriate to wear for Bring Your Child to Work Day?”
“So what? It’s not like I’m trying to get a job there!”
“That’s still no excuse!”
“Then how come Bubbles gets to dress like she’s still in kindergarten, Mary Janes and all?!”
“Because all my other clothes were in the washing machine?” a girl with blonde pigtails in the seat next to Buttercup obliviously answered.
“It’s a rhetorical question, Bubblehead!” came the retort. “I swear, if I didn’t know better, then I’d have you pegged for a short bus kid or something!”
“That’s enough, Buttercup,” a square-jawed man sternly replied from the driver’s seat, directing a disapproving look at the girl in question.
“But Dad–”
“No ‘buts’ about it, young lady.”
Buttercup scowled as she slumped back into her seat, muttering a string of profanities under her breath as Professor Utonium turned off the radio.
Advanced Chemicals Research Center, S.T.A.R Labs Townsville Campus– later that day
Occupying the space along the far wall of Professor Utonium’s lab was a large steel vat with multiple hoses and cables snaking out of its sides and base like tentacles– some connected to sensors, others to power conduits and pumps, and others still to massive 55 gallon steel drums adorned with hazard symbols and vaguely foreboding names. To those familiar with it, it was an object of dread, the prospect of an accident and the potential consequences thereof hanging overhead like the sword of Damocles– consequences that were soon to be spectacularly realized…
“This stinks!” Buttercup exclaimed as she and her sisters walked through the lab. “Where’re all the cool mad science gizmos, huh?”
Blossom rolled her eyes. “Did you really expect this place to look like something out of an old sci-fi or horror movie?” she retorted.
“Is it my fault if the pictures from S.T.A.R Labs’ other places did? Besides, it’d be a nice change from all these ancient computer consoles and stuff…” her voice trailed off as she noticed a steel drum with a partially visible label reading “TRIOX” on the side. Nearby, she could see her other sister standing near a chimpanzee perched atop another drum right next to one of the consoles, and an evil grin began to form on her face. “Hey, Bubbles?”
“Yeah?”
“See that barrel over there? The red one with the ‘TRIOX’ on it?”
“What about it?”
“Well,” Buttercup continued as she walked towards her sibling, “I’ll let you in a little secret. See, that label’s short for ‘trioxin’.”
“W-W-What’s that?”
“Oh, nothing much,” the middle Utonium girl said, thinking back to a movie she’d seen a few nights before. “Just reanimates dead things is all.”
“You mean–” Bubbles half-whimpered as she backed away from her sister.
“Yep, it makes zombies. But not just any zombies– it makes super-zombies!”
“What’re those?”
“They’re the smartest, toughest, fastest corpses to ever crawl out of a grave– not even a shot to the brain can put ‘em down! And speaking of brains…” Buttercup paused dramatically. “That’s what they like to eat the most! And they do it like this!” To illustrate her point, she opened her mouth and lunged forward at Bubbles, earning a terrified scream from the blonde as she picked up the pace. In her haste to get away from her sister, however, she’d a) failed to notice that one of her shoelaces had come undone, b) wasn’t watching her footing all that well, and c) had gotten within arm’s reach of one of the consoles.
A massive smirk was plastered across Buttercup’s face as she watched what happened next– Bubbles stepping on her shoelace, flailing her arms to regain her balance as she teetered above a console, and then losing that particular battle as she fell onto said console, hitting a number of buttons in the process.
“Have a nice trip, see you next fall!” the brunette whooped.
“You do realize just how dangerous that was, right?” Blossom curtly asked, shooting a dirty look at her sister.
“Oh, puh-leaze! It’s not like she bumped into a chemistry set! I mean, what’s the worst that could–”
“Reaction chamber online.” a computerized voice announced. “Reagents: 367-Trioxin, dialum, and Chemical X.”
“…happen?”
Just then, an ear-piercing cry filled the air as the chimpanzee scampered across the lab in a mad dash for one of the other consoles, whereupon it began to desperately fiddle with the controls. Almost immediately thereafter, another ear-piercing noise filled the air as klaxons began to wail, nearly drowning out the words “Warning: reaction chamber containment system operating at 50% capacity” from the intercom.
“…sorry?” Buttercup sheepishly said as Blossom glared at her.
“That’s all you have to say for yourself?!” the redheaded girl screamed. “We’re all going to die because of your little stunt, and all you can say is ‘sorry’?!”
“Um, girls?” Bubbles began.
“How was I supposed to know this would happen?”
“Girls?”
“Besides, if you really want someone to blame for this, then how about you blame Dad for bringing us here in the first place?!”
“GIRLS!” Bubbles screamed.
“WHAT?!” the other two girls replied in unison.
“Um, see that little window in that big metal thing?”
Blossom squinted as she proceeded to look said window over. “What about it?”
“How likely is it that it’ll break?”
“Knowing our l–”
Right on cue, the sound of cracking glass echoed through the lab, and all three girls felt a pit form in their stomachs.
“Warning– containment breach imminent! All personnel evacuate immediately!” the intercom blared. “All personnel evacuate imm–”
The message was promptly cut off by a sound like thunder as the reaction chamber exploded, the ensuing shockwave sending the girls and the chimpanzee flying across the room. The former three were slammed hard against one of the walls, with Bubbles hitting it with such force as to leave an impression on impact. Next to her, a dazed Buttercup squinted as she looked at the damaged chamber– viewing window shattered, body dented and cracked, and an iridescent column of…something erupting through the top like a Roman candle. As she looked on, she suddenly noticed a pink streamer of light separate from the column, followed in turn by a blue one and a green one, with all of them heading towards her and her sisters.
What…how…why? she thought as she stared on at the scene, oblivious to the streamer hitting her center-of-mass. What even is this?
Just then, she heard a rattling noise coming from outside the door. Shakily getting up, she staggered a couple yards forward before tumbling ass over teakettle onto the floor. Rising to her feet once more, she tried to ignore the feeling of her stamina seemingly draining away with each step while fighting to keep her increasingly heavy eyelids open with every passing moment. Foot by foot, yard by yard, she made her way to the door, her struggle to remain conscious growing ever harder in spite of her sheer stubbornness. By the time she made it within arm’s reach of the door, she’d resorted to crawling on her hands and knees after falling to the floor.
Just a little farther…
With one final burst of strength, she lunged forward and grabbed the knob, pulling it down to reveal a stunned Professor Utonium.
"Accident…my fault…" she rasped before finally collapsing.