"Buttercup? Buttercup, what's going on? I heard a scream and-" the Professor rushed down the stairs and skidded to a stop as he absorbed the sight in front of him. "B-Buttercup…what…did you do?" the Professor gaped at what was in front of him. It was…well, a Powerpuff boy. He wore a yellow sweatshirt (because they're all inexplicably born with clothes included) with a black stripe around each sleeve. His collar was black, matching a black hood in the back, a black stripe around the base of the sweatshirt, and a black snow hat on his head. Sprouting out from the hat were spiky strands of bright, auburn hair that flittered into his curious golden eyes. He was on the edge of the table, not saying a word, his legs, covered in blue jeans, swayed back and forth, revealing his white tennis shoes.
"Um…" Buttercup looked at the new boy in amazement. "I…I…can explain…?" she stuttered.
The other two girls were soon by the Professor's side. "Professor, what happened…here…?" the other two's eyes widened as they saw the boy before them. Perhaps five minutes of utter silence passed until Bubbles broke it.
"…Who's he?" she asked, pulling at the Professor's coat.
The Professor walked slowly to the edge of the table and took a closer look at the boy. He recoiled, seemingly frightened. "Hello there…" he greeted.
The boy didn't say anything, simply staring at the Professor. Professor Utonium turned to Buttercup. "Buttercup, what did you do?" he repeated.
"Uh, well…" she started, looking away. "I…was just…you know, seeing if I could make a…a brother?"
"You what?" his eyes widened as well as he looked at his daughter incredulously. "You just…?"
"I guess…it worked." Blossom said quietly.
Another long silence passed. "Buttercup," the Professor started sharply. "I've told you three to stay out of the lab, you know that. Now look what you've done."
"What are we gonna do with him, Professor?" asked Bubbles, hiding behind her father figure.
"We ain't gonna do nothin'!" Buttercup stated, flying up to the boy's side. He looked at her in awe, then returned to staring at his shoes. "Come on, can't we keep him?"
The Professor's mouth opened and he shrugged. "Let's…go upstairs. We can talk about it there."
"Does he have a name?" Bubbles asked.
Blossom furrowed her brow for a second. "Well, I guess we'll have to name him."
"Oh, let's name him Brad!" Bubbles chirped excitedly.
"Or Brandon." Blossom chimed.
"Hey, he's my creation!" Buttercup snapped. "I should get to name him."
They all looked at Buttercup expectantly.
"Um…" she continued, rubbing her chin as she looked at the boy. "He looks pretty strong. I'm gonna call him…Boxer." She said.
"Like a cute little puppy boxer?" Bubbles asked happily.
"No!" Buttercup answered immediately, sticking out her tongue. "Like a big, ferocious, snarling, tough boxer!"
"Alright, let's go upstairs." The Professor ordered, walking back up the steps in a daze. The other two girls gave Buttercup the 'you really did it this time' glance before they followed.
Buttercup looked at her new brother. "Come on, Boxer." She said. He merely sat there, staring at her. "Hey, I said come on!" she waited. "Suit yourself." She grabbed his folded hood and flew after her family, dragging the child behind her.
The Professor was pacing around, Bubbles sat in a chair with Blossom, Buttercup stood on the floor with a guilty look, and Boxer was seated on the couch, still saying nothing with a wide-eyed stare. "But Professor, wouldn't it be great to have a son?" Buttercup insisted.
"That's not the point, Buttercup." He said. "You can't just go creating life whenever you want to."
"Why not? That's what you did!" she defended, flying up to his face.
The Professor seemed to be taken back for a moment, but quickly recovered. "Buttercup, I knew what I was doing when I created the three of you."
"Yeah, and I knew what I was doing when I made Boxer!" she flung her hand towards her 'brother', causing him to jump.
"Creating life is dangerous and irreversible, how could you possibly know without the proper experience? You can't." He argued.
"Can't we just put him back where he came from?" Bubbles asked, hugging her octopus, which had one leg crudely bandaged back onto it.
Boxer whimpered. They all stopped rigidly and looked at him. It was the first sound he had ever made, and they were nervous as to what he was thinking. He made no further attempts to say anything, so the other four continued.
"If a monkey could do it, so can I!" Buttercup said.
"But that's different!" Blossom said, standing up. "The Rowdyruff boys were evil! They were unstable, because Mojo didn't know what he was doing! Who knows how dangerous Boxer is!" she explained.
Boxer tried to shake his head, but no one was paying attention to him. "He doesn't look very dangerous." Said Bubbles. "And besides, the Rowdyruff boys couldn't've been as bad as all that."
"Boxer is not a Rowdyruff boy!" Buttercup growled. "We can't just kick him out on the streets, Professor!" she pleaded, holding up her hands with a concerned look. "He's one of us now."
The Professor shrugged, dumbfounded. "I guess…he'll have to stay here with us until I can figure out what to do with him…I'll be in the lab…cleaning up." He looked at Boxer and shook his head before returning to his laboratory.
All three Powerpuff girls sat on the couch next to the Powerpuff boy and looked at him. There was an awkward silence as his golden eyes scanned the three girls. "Uh, h-hi, Boxer." Buttercup waved to his face. "I'm Buttercup. This is Blossom and Bubbles."
Boxer put his hand to his mouth and stared at them, and then did the most awful thing he could've done, and the last thing any of the girls wanted…he burst into tears. His sobs echoed through the house and sent the girls into a panic.
"Ah! What's wrong with him!?" Buttercup covered her ears and backed away from him quickly.
"I don't know! Did you hurt him?" Blossom yelled.
"Boxer, what's wrong?!" Buttercup screamed over his wailing.
And then he uttered his first and panicked words. "I'm hungry!!"