Chapter Seven
Later on, Mojo and Fuzzy were sleeping in the van while waiting for certain murderers that the pink creature mentioned to come out. Then, the evil monkey woke up by a faint sound of the back door closed. He sees that Bubbles had just came out of the house and began use her eye laser to cut a tree down.
Mojo shook Fuzzy to wake him up, telling him, "Hey. Fuzzy, wake up."
"Huh?" Fuzzy said sleepily.
"Take a look at this," Mojo said, pointing at Bubbles. Fuzzy sees her finishing up cutting the tree down.
Mojo grinned evilly. "I think we've been tricked by little Bubbles." He chuckled evilly along with Fuzzy.
Bubbles carried the tree in the house and placed it in the living room. She stand it up perfectly on the tree-bottom holder. And for a long while now, she had been decorating it with ornaments.
As soon as she was placing a blue ornament up, she silently gasped. She had noticed in her reflection that Mojo was stalking her through the window. She trembled a bit. She had thought that her gangster movie had scared them off for good, but it didn't work. She did not want the villains to know that she's all alone while her family's away, so she tried something else.
"Blossom! Could you come here and help me please?" she called out.
Mojo smirked at her wickedly. He knows that she is alone. He turned to Fuzzy and gave him a pat on the arm to get his attention.
"You seeing this, Fuzzy?" the evil monkey asked, "That explains why that Bubbles is not in London after all."
"But aren't her sisters with her as well?" the pink creature asked.
"No, my pink friend," Mojo answered, "She's home alone."
Fuzzy smirked with him as well. Mojo led him away from the window.
Bubbles noticed that they walked away and decided to take a better view of them by her bedroom window.
Mojo and Fuzzy walked around the front of the house.
"So, you saying yer wanted to come back here tonight? Even with Bubbles here?" the pink creature asked.
"Yes," Mojo said.
"I don't know, Mojo," Fuzzy said, "Sounds like a bad idea."
The evil monkey turned to him and explained, "Listen. That house with the Utonium family gone is the only reason why I seek revenge. For all of the humiliation they have caused us for years. Ever since then, I wanted it. So, let's make a plan here. We'll unload the van. Then, we'll get some supper, and we'll come back here at nine o'clock. That way, it's dark enough to sneak in and capture our sweet little Bubbles and use her as bait to remind her and her sisters about meddling with our plans."
Fuzzy chuckled wickedly, "Oh, yeah... Bubbles is afraid of the dark."
"Exactly," Mojo said, "Now, come. Let us not waste time. Our moment of revenge and destruction shall soon arrive."
They both laughed evilly as they walked toward the van.
Bubbles, who had been eavesdropping on them all this time from the bedroom window, had feared the worse.
"Nine o'clock..." she whimpered. She knows that she is really in trouble now. She closed the window and wrapped herself with her arms in terror.
"Professor... where are you?"
Meanwhile, back in London, it was night time. Everyone had gone straight to bed, though most of them were still restless ever since they came there. Except for Buttercup and Grandpa Richard who were snoring away.
In the living room, Utonium was restlessly writing letters away. He hadn't gotten much sleep ever since he had realized that Bubbles wasn't with them. He had no idea how much longer he couldn't tolerate her being at home all by herself.
Then, Blossom quietly flew in and watched him writing away with concern.
"Professor?" she asked.
Utonium heard her and noticed her.
"Blossom, what are you doing up?" he asked.
"I couldn't sleep," Blossom said, "Have you heard from Bubbles?"
"No," Utonium said in disappointment, "Come and sit with me."
Blossom obeyed and sat with the Professor.
"Professor.." Blossom said sadly, "I'm really sorry for not telling you that Bubbles was missing. I could've known that she wasn't with us."
"Well..." Utonium said, "It's just a misunderstanding. Don't blame yourself, Blossom. I'm the one who should be responsiable."
"Professor, I don't want celebrate Christmas without Bubbles," Blossom said.
"Then, we may have to postpone Christmas for another day," Utonium said.
"No, Professor," Blossom said, "That wouldn't be fair. Because families shouldn't be apart on Christmas. Because Christmas is all about family getting together, no matter how much they fight or hate each other. I mean.. we're here and Bubbles' at home. I just feel that there is no Christmas without her. Christmas is not about London or anywhere in this world.. It's about.. love and family."
The Professor was touched by her speech. He smiled at her and pulled her into a hug. Blossom hugged back.
"That's my girl.." he whispered.
Back in Townsville, it was also nighttime here. Bubbles had decided to take a little stroll in the neighborhood. She approached a small house that looked like Santa's little workshop. She sees a young woman who is dressed like one of his elves. She was locking the door as the blonde Powerpuff approached her.
"Um, excuse me, miss?" Bubbles said.
The girl turned to her and wondered, "Yes?"
Bubbles looked at her beautiful red gown and commented, "Um, I like your dress. You look pretty in it."
The girl chuckled at her comment, "Thanks." She was about to walk away, but Bubbles asked her, "Is he still here? I need to talk to him. It's really important."
The girl pointed her finger in a distance.
"He's just getting in his car," she told her, "If you hurry, you can catch up to him."
Bubbles nodded at her as thanks and flew off.
Across the street, a Santa actor angrily ripped a parking ticket off of the window.
"Darn!" he complained, "How stupid can you be? Giving Saint Nick a parking ticket on Christmas Eve? What's next? Rabies shots for the Easter Bunny?"
When he was about to get in the car, Bubbles flew behind him and replied, "Santa, wait!"
The Santa actor noticed her approaching him and quickly put out his cigarette.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" Bubbles asked.
"Yes, but make it quick," the actor said, "Santa's got a little get-together thing he's late for."
"Ok," Bubbles said, "I do know that you're not the real Santa Claus."
"What makes you say that?" the actor asked, noticing that he forgot to put his beard on. He quickly put it on, saying nervously, "Just curious."
"I may be young, but I know how it works," Bubbles said.
"Ok," the actor said.
"And I also know that you're one of the elves who worked for him."
"Well... yeah.." the actor said.
"I would love for you to give him a message," Bubbles said.
"Go ahead," the actor said.
"This is Bubbles Utonium speaking," the blonde Powerpuff said, "He knows where I live, but do you need the phone number?"
"No, it's ok," the actor answered.
Bubbles began to explain, "Ok. It's extremely important. Would you please tell him that in addition to my Christmas list, I want my family back? I don't care about the toys and all, but what I really wanted were Profressor Utonium, Blossom and Buttercup. And my uncle, my aunt, my cousins and their friends. And if he has time, Grandpa Richard. Got all that?"
The actor nodded and answered, "Ok. I'll see what I can do."
Bubbles bowed her head and said, "Thank you."
When she was about to leave, the actor stopped her. "Wait. Hold on a second." He began ruffling his hand in his pocket. "My elf took the last of the candy canes home to her boyfriend."
"It's ok," Bubbles said.
"Oh, no, no, no, no," the actor said, "Don't be silly. Everyone who sees Santa has got to get.. something." He took out one peppermint candy out of his pocket.
"Here, hold out your little hand there."
Bubbles took her hand out and the actor placed a peppermint on it.
"There you go," he said, "Don't spoil your dinner now."
"I won't," Bubbles said, smiling, "Thank you."
And with that, she flew off.
The actor got in the car and started the engine. When he was about to drive, the engine suddenly stalls.
"Oh, come on!" he replied, pounding on the wheel.
Bubbles flew around the neighborhood slowly with Octi whom she had taken with her for company. It cheered her up a bit when she talked with Santa Clause, but she suddenly felt a little worse when she noticed something exciting in one house.
A whole family was having a Christmas party. And they all seemed to be having fun and are enjoying themselves. Some were playing games. Some of them eat food and watches Christmas specials. She could hear them laughing and chattering out loud. It made her feel envious and left out. She embraced Octi in her arms for comfort. He was the only friend she ever had left since her family disappeared. She had really wish she hadn't made a stupid wish of them go away. She felt tears pouring from her eyes and wiped them. As she shed tears, she began to fly off to someplace else.
Bubbles flew by the church sometime later. She suddenly hear heavenly voices coming from there. She knew that it was a choir singing during Christmas Eve. She looked up and thought for a moment she could go in there and listen to the music to calm her down. And so, she floated toward in the church and landed on the ground. Since this church was supposed to be well respected, she stopped flying and walked down the aisle, watching the choir singing 'O Holy Night.' Most of the choir were children between seven and eighteen, and they were led by an elderly lone composer.
There were hardly audience in the church since there were about five or six people present, so Bubbles had plenty of seats to take. She took one seat in one row and began to unwrap her scarf and took her hat off.
She began looking her head around to see more audience members, but then, she suddenly came across with Old Man Clayton who was actually seated in a distance away from her. She gasped when he sees her.
He looked at her blankly and sat up. He walked toward her as she stared at him in terror. Since she's in a respected church, she couldn't allow herself to scream. She wanted to run, but she didn't want to. She just sat in her spot, helplessly frozen, holding Octi to her.
Clayton stopped and stared at her blankly. He suddenly smiled at her. "Merry Christmas."
"What?" Bubbles wondered with confusion. To her, he doesn't appeared to be threatened or act like one.
"May I sit down?" Clayton asked.
Bubbles answered yes with a nod. Clayton sat next to her and said to her, "That's my granddaughter up there. That little brown hair girl with black glasses on."
He pointed at one choir member in a red cloak. She wore two long brown braids and black glasses.
"She's a few years older than you," Clayton told Bubbles, "You know her?"
"No, sir," Bubbles answered.
"You live near me, don't you?" Clayton asked.
"Yes," Bubbles answered.
"You can say hello when you see me," he told her, "You don't have to be afraid."
Perhaps Buttercup was wrong about Clayton being a murderer. He really sounded like a nice guy.
"There's a lot of rumors going around about me, but none of it is true. I just wanted to let you know that. Don't believe anything about what anyone said about me. Ok?"
"Yes, sir," Bubbles said. She began to conquer her fear with him since she had been listening to his side of the story. Maybe Buttercup and Mitch were making fun of him the other night just because of his appearance and how he worked at night shoveling snow off of the sidewalk. How could they be so cruel to him? That was just wrong. So, Bubbles decided to believe him.
"Have you been a good girl this year?" Clayton asked.
"I think so," Bubbles uneasily answered.
"You sure?" Clayton wondered.
Bubbles sighed with guilt, "Actually, no... I've been kind of bad lately.. I had fight with my sister and said some things I shouldn't have said to her. And also.. I've said something awful about wanting my family disappear because none of them listened to me... I have been upset about it, because I really love my family. Even sometimes I say I don't. I just.. felt so bad for myself.."
"Well.." Clayton said, "This church is the place to go to when you feel bad about yourself. How you feel about your family is very complicated. But no matter how much you could forget to love them, deep down you always love them."
Bubbles nodded with an agreement.
"You want to know the real reason why I'm here tonight?" Clayton asked.
"Why?" Bubbles wondered.
"I'm here to hear my granddaughter sing," Clayton answered, "But.. I can't come near her though."
"Do you have plans?" Bubbles asked.
"No... I'm not welcome.." Clayton answered.
"At church?" Bubbles wondered with concern.
"Well... you're always welcome at church," Clayton said, "I'm just not welcome with my daughter. Years back, before your father moved on the block, I had a fight with my daughter."
"How old is she?" Bubbles asked.
"Oh, she's a mother now to my granddaughter," Clayton answered.
"Oh.. so what happened?" Bubbles wondered.
"Well... we lost our tempers," Clayton explained, "And we said some things that we didn't mean to say.. I told her that I didn't care to see her anymore. And she said the same. We haven't spoken to each other since... I regret of ever getting into a fight with her. I really love my daughter.."
Bubbles stared at him with sympathy. She could tell why he was lonely all these years.
"Oh.. I'm sorry," she said, "But if you miss her, then why don't you call her?"
"I wanted to," Clayton sighed, "but I'm afraid that if I call her, then.. she either won't talk to me, or she might yell at me."
"How would you know?" Bubbles wondered.
"I don't know," Clayton answered, "I just had this feeling."
"I mean no offense, Mr. Clayton," Bubbles said, "But aren't you a bit too old to be afraid?"
Clayton chuckled at her question and answered, "You can still be a little old for a lot of things. You'll understand that when you're grown up, you're never too old to be afraid."
Bubbles sighed admittedly, "Well, that is true. I've always been afraid of our basement. I never like the furnace down there. I've always though there was a ghost in there. It bothered me for years. But then, I made myself go down there to do some laundry. I just realized that it was just my imagination. And it's not too bad down there once you turn on the lights. I still have a long way to go before I conquer my fears of the dark, though."
"So, what are you trying to say?" Clayton asked.
"I'm trying to say is you should call your daughter," Bubbles answered.
"But what if she doesn't want to talk to me?" Clayton asked worriedly.
"At least you'll know. Then, you can stop worrying about it," Bubbles said, "And you don't have to be afraid anymore. After all, family fights won't last long, especially around the holidays."
Clayton lowered his head down a bit and muttered, "I don't know..."
"Just give it a try," Bubbles said, "For your granddaughter anyways. I'm sure she misses you. And the presents you always gave her."
Clayton chuckled, "I send her a check every year."
"Lucky that she gets a check every year," Bubbles said, "I always get toys and clothes every year. But if a check sounds good, then I might want that too, but I don't want to get too greedy."
"It's understandable," Clayton said.
Bubbles looked at her watch and said, "Well, I better be going now. It's getting late."
"All right then," Clayton said, "Now, you think about what I said, ok?"
"Ok," Bubbles said.
The old man smiled at her. "It was nice talking to you."
"Nice talking to you too," Bubbles said.
They exchange hands and shook.
The blonde Powerpuff flew out of her seat and puts her hat on.
"What about you?" she asked, "And your daughter?"
Clayton stared at her and answered, "We'll see what happens. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," Bubbles said with a smile, wrapping a scarf around her neck. She walked away from him as Clayton turned back to see his granddaughter sing. He thought about what Bubbles had told him and trembled a little bit at first, but he thought to himself why not?
Bubbles was about to walk out of the church, but then, she looked at Octi and thought of an advice of what Clayton had told her. She also thought about Mojo and Fuzzy coming back to her house to capture her and use her as bait to lure her sisters to them. It made her shaking up a bit, but then, she had realized what she has to do. She made a determined look at Octi and then looked up to the exit. She flew out of church and raced back to her home. As she flies in the sky, she looked at her watch and it was almost seven-thirty. She doesn't have much time left if she was going to be a sitting duck.
She arrived at her home and locked the door behind her. She turned to Octi with a continiuous determined look on her face.
"Octi, this is our home," she told him boldly, "I must defend it for the Professor and the Girls."
Sometime later, Bubbles shoved some of the toys off of the desk and unrolled a map-like paper that entitled 'Battle Plan.' She had drawn booby traps within each rooms she was planning in the house.
She had found her old marbles that she once used during her girl scout days and placed one at a time by the staircase. She used a hose to spray water on the little sidewalk to the front door, so later on the water could freeze and become very icy. She did the same thing to the basement stairs in the backyard. She used her eye laser to heaten the doorknob on the front door. She painted the basement stairs with tar and added a nail that was taped to the black paper in the middle step.
Bubbles talked with a couple of squirrels (in squirrel language), asking them to assist her. She pulled out a bucket of acorns and showed them to the squirrels.
The squirrels nodded with agreement and gave her a couple of thumbs up.
She instructed them to line a long rope from the attic to the treehouse and tells them she'll give a signal when the time is right. They added with agreement and hid in the treehouse.
In the kitchen, she placed glue on the plastic and placed it by the door in the dining room. She position a cart that held a fan and a bunch of feathers by it in front of the door.
In the living room by the Christmas tree, she placed the sharpest and breakable ornaments in case one of the villains come in through the window.
Upstairs in the hall, she assembled two painting cans and tied the rope to the handles. Then, she tied them to the stair rail and placed them on the floor.
Mitch's snake who had been slithering randomly lately was watching her. But then, he slithered away when he wasn't interested.
