Third Child

Bubbles lives alone in the basement of the Utonium's house. Her life is hidden in darkness away from the outside world, afraid and alone until she meets a boy named Boomer. BubblesXBoomer

Disclaimer: Only the storyline is mine. The idea is based off of the book Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix. And the characters are all Craig McCracken's or Bleedman's.

Bubbles Utonium sat in the closet of the Professor's science laboratory. The only thing she could do was sit under her blanket with her stuffed Octi and watch the television flicker with the black and white images of her sisters Blossom and Buttercup. She read the caption on the screen, since sound was dangerous.

Narrator: Once again the day is saved thanks to the Powerpuff girls! Oh girls! What would we ever do without you?! The town would have been doomed if you hadn't defeated that 17 foot Cyclops! Girls, do you have anything to say?

Blossom: We are just happy to help sir. Our town needs us!

Buttercup: We just wanted to kick some monster butt!

Now a message from our president John Brisbaine.

Faithful townspeople and countrymen. The Government needs you to help weed out illegal third children. They are a danger to our world and—

Bubbles stopped reading. She didn't bother reading what John Brisbaine said. The Professor said to never listen to a man with authority, and he was one of the only people she trusted. She turned off the television, tired of the bright screen.

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The door creaked open, shedding harsh light down the basement. Hollow footsteps were all that could be heard.

"Bubbles?" a voice called out softly. "I brought dinner," a figure slowly walked down the stairs.

"Thank you," Bubbles said frailly when the tray was set down before her. Professor Utonium looked sadly at his third child, never to see the world beyond the television.

"Good night dear," he hugged her lightly, as if she would break if touched roughly.

Professor Utonium headed back upstairs to the other two girls. Blossom was doing homework while Buttercup was hitting a punching bag.

"Hi girls," Professor Utonium said cheerfully, masking his sadness.

"Good evening Professor! Did you say good night to Bubbles?" Blossom said. The Professor nodded, his sadness surfacing.

"Aw, Professor, she's ok. You are just overprotective," Buttercup said simply. The Professor only nodded again.

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Bubbles stared at the images on the screen. But unlike before, the television had a different story to tell.

Narrator: The Powerpuff girls are doomed! How could the girls do this? Our brave heroes have slipped the fact that they are hiding a forbidden third child. Authorities are all ready on their way to discover where the child is hidden. Now let's speak to the Powerpuff girls on what they think on this.

Buttercup: We're sorry third child! We never meant to…

Blossom: I'm sorry as well. I wish I could turn back the clock to prevent this from happening.

Both sisters had tears streaming down their faces; they were in Antidote X handcuffs and were badly beaten. The only thing that Bubbles could react to know was what she read; Authorities are all ready on their way to discover where the child is hidden… Where the child is hidden…hidden… They were going to look for her and they were going to find her. But where was the Professor? Was he with her sisters, or was he in jail…or worse. No! Bubbles mustn't think that. However, the Government knew where the Powerpuff girls lived; they would search here first. But would she be able to hide? Would she be safer outside? Bubbles had no choice; the basement wouldn't be safe anymore. Bubbles crept away from her hideaway. If they found her belongings, it wouldn't matter anymore. They knew the Utonium's were hiding her. She had never been upstairs before, it was kind of like an adventure, yeah, an adventure, she told herself. I get to do exciting things like my sisters. I get to be like them. Bubbles slowly went up the basement steps, careful of making any noise. She opened the door, curious but scared to see what was on the other side. It was all the things that she could see on T.V.; light blue carpeted rugs, separate rooms eat holding different appliances. Bubbles wanted to investigate all these wonders that were only images on a screen before. But she must leave here, to hide away from here, and maybe rescue her sisters and the Professor. She looked for another door; on T.V. the people always went through another door to get outside. However, there were many doors, some holding clothes, some holding toys, and some even held food. Bubbles ignored all of them, and eventually she found the door to the outside world. She braced herself, imagining clear blue skies with birds chirping, and flowers and grass and all the colors of the rainbow. But all that she was foggy grey skies and a bland world ahead. Bubbles hadn't expected this! She had to move on though, she was still wondering where the authorities were; it shouldn't take them too long. Bubbles slowly walked out, waiting for someone to spring out at her yelling 'Aha! There's the third child! Get her!' but Bubbles moved ever onward. She found herself enclosed by fences too high for her to step over. Then Bubbles remembered that she was a Powerpuff girl; the superheroes of Townsville! Surely she should be able fly over the fence! Bubbles tried to think of what would make her fly. She tried jumping in the air softly, and Bubbles started to hover slightly. Bubbles tried jumping harder and harder, flying higher and higher with each attempt. Finally she made it over the fence to see what was on the other side.

Bubbles was surrounded by trees, green and gorgeous like she had imagined them. She flew below the branches, dancing and twirling with utter delight and freedom. She almost yelled her joy to the world but ceased to for then she was sure someone would hear. Bubbles landed softly on the ground and laid back to look at the sky. It was still dark with clouds but that didn't worry her. Then, she saw it. A figure in a tree, a boy sleeping soundly. Bubbles wondered silent questions. What was he doing in a tree? Did he work for the Government? Should she trust him? She decided to play it safe and hid in another tree out of his sight and waited for him to wake.

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She watched the boy slowly arise and stare off into space. He looked alright; blond hair, big navy blue eyes, wearing an oversized sweatshirt, baggy jeans, and tennis shoes. (A/N: I didn't want them to be wearing their PPG and RRB uniforms cuz they're not supposed to be part of the group and stuffs. And just so u know, Bubbles is wearing her pigtails, flats, a short sleeve light blue shirt, and tie-dyed blue Capri's.) He stopped staring at the sky and looked directly at Bubbles.

"I know you're there, stop hiding. I need to see your I.D.," he said. Bubbles' eyes widened, wondering how he knew she was there. And she didn't have an I.D. to prove herself. "C'mon, don't got all day to wait for you."

"Hi, I guess," Bubbles whispered. "I-I don't know what an I.D. is, I'm sorry," she said. The boy looked at her skeptically.

"What're you doing out here when you should be at home with your mommy and daddy? They ought to be worried sick," he scoffed. Bubbles felt hot tears come down her cheeks and her vision become blurry.

"Because I don't have a mommy, and I don't know where the rest of my family is," she wept.

"Listen kid, do you know what liber is?" he asked.

"No, should I? I'm sorry," Bubbles apologized.

"Sheesh, do you have to say you're sorry for everything? I'm not going to turn you in. Are you the third child of some family?" he asked. Bubbles froze, what if she said yes? Then he would take her to the authorities, but if she said no, he might suspect her of something. "By the way you tightened, I'll take that as a yes. But don't worry, I ain't gonna turn you in. That'd be backstabbing, and my brothers told me to never backstab a fellow third," the boy held his hand up. "I swear on it."

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