" The last chapter breaks from this, cutting the chapter name short: Chapter 20 is simply called "in which kevin learns." Each chapter follows the formula "in which kevin learns. In Which a Trope Is Described: The way the chapters are titled.Sometimes there's comfort, but it's usually the loss of said comfort that triggers the hurt. Hurt/Comfort Fic: The list of characters who feel some kind of loss goes on and on.Honor Before Reason: Everyone, constantly.This story examines not just the existence of the loss, but what happens when people have to move on from it so quickly. Deconstruction Fic: While it's established in the game that characters die, they're given little time to grieve.Death by Childbirth: Buttercup, by way of fusion poisoning.Blood from the Mouth: How Kevin knows that Ben's not doing well after the fight with Fusion Buttercup.
Her nature embodies “spice,” but she chooses to stay in a band rather than fight in the war? Ace, her boyfriend, and the rest of the Gangreen Gang have supposedly known the whole time, but are letting her remain oblivious just so that the former doesn’t lose a good thing–to the point of keeping her from her family, who could possibly help her get her memories back just by being around them, all while everyone kinda needs her on the battlefield? And just when does she get her memories back if Ace is telling anyone who recognizes her not to “mess with the program?” There’s just a lot that’s weird, and even if it can be pinned to plot holes, I’d like to try to fill those in.
Normally, I try to keep pretty close to what’s already available story-wise from the game, but there’s so much that doesn’t quiet fit with the Belladonna/Buttercup plotline–memory loss or no–that I’d like to take my own crack at what might’ve happened. She still enjoys playing the bass and listening to hard metal/rock.She’s quick to pass the task of collecting/delivering toppings onto the player–even though we have to fight monsters to get them–and states that she’s “not in the mood for a dumb ol’ pizza delivery.” Since she describes Numbuh Two as “a good tipper,” it doesn’t seem to be the first time he’s asked her to run these kinds of errands either. Based on the mission “Robbing the Toppings,” Buttercup can get annoyed by tasks she views as beneath her role as a superhero since she’s already so busy thanks to it.
A lot of her cards and such for it are mostly just kept in a box somewhere in the closet, and she’d still watch the TV Show sometimes if she just happened to catch it on.
Not only did this allow Buttercup to enjoy sports on a much more even playing field, it also taught her how to face off against a variety of combatants with all kinds of abilities–improving her strategy. Competing through video games instead has been one option for her, but also, thankfully, the professor eventually found a solution by getting her involved with other super-kids. It didn’t help either that her sisters were able to share their intellectual and artistic interests with others while she couldn’t share her own as easily because of this. Her sisters tried to console her by reminding her of the skill she put into her fights against crime/evil, but it still wasn’t the same. For the first point, whether or not she held herself back, any victory on her part would be pinned on her powers–and even if it wasn’t, it made it hard for her to feel proud of what she’d achieved since she didn’t struggle for it. The biggest issue was her status as a superhero, her powers giving her an extreme advantage over most others and her time that would usually go to practice instead devoted to fighting crime.