Episode 14: We Are Utoniums Part 1

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup flew home from school on one Friday afternoon. While they were entering the house, the Professor was making dinner in the kitchen. Without saying "hello," the Powerpuff Girls silently went upstairs to their room. The Professor was stirring around the ingredients in a pot, and he began to reach for one of his spices. A sharp pain pulsed through his shoulders, which he brushed off. The pain wasn't as bad as it was the week before, when it was so intense he didn't even want to move his entire body.

The doctors had wrapped up the deep scratches with a thick bandage, making the Professor's shoulders and arms a bit stiff; of course, there was nothing they could do about the claw marks; if Utonium was a younger man when it happened, maybe the scars would fade somewhat over time, of course, if he were a younger man, it wouldn't have happened at all.

Ever since Bunny ran away from the family, the Powerpuff Girls didn't speak much with their father, and when not in school they would spend the majority of their time in their room, actually anticipating fighting a monster of the week or a super-villain... It just happened to be a slow week. Blossom sat at her desk, completing her homework, Bubbles was drawing in her coloring book, and Buttercup lay across their bed like the week's wash.

At first, the sisters didn't pay attention to the Professor's phone ringing downstairs; however, they all froze and stopped what they were doing when the Professor answered,

"Hello? Eugene! Well, this is a surprise!" As soon as they heard their elusive uncle's name being spoken, the Powerpuff Girls just had to listen in on the other side of the phone,

"Yeah, um, Tony, I hope I haven't called you at a bad time, because I didn't call you to catch up on what's happening with you..." Eugene's voice sounded like he'd gotten over some illness, even sounding tired. Bubbles said to her sisters in a hushed voice,

"We shouldn't be eavesdropping!" she was ignored by her sisters, and so, Bubbles had to continue to listen in on her father and uncle's conversation.

"Eugene?" Utonium said to his brother hesitantly, "What's wrong?" There was a long pause, and then, Eugene finally answered in a barely audible voice,

"Dad had a stroke a few hours ago, he's in the hospital right now. The doctors say he's doing fine and he'll be able to go home in a couple of weeks, but, we all agreed that you and the girls should come visit him... he's never seen your girls before in person, right?"

"I-I see what you mean..." the Professor sounded choked up, "You're right, he never has. We'll come over and see you and Dad tomorrow morning, uh, is Mom with you?"

"Yes. It's the hospital that's close to our neighborhood, not the one in Townsville."

"I figured, we'll get up real early in the morning and drive over there."

"Alright, I'll see you later, brother," Eugene finished,

"Goodbye..." and the Professor hung up. The sisters could hear the Professor go back to the kitchen to finish dinner; they looked at each other too taken aback to say anything, they felt as if they were being exposed to a nightmare conjured up by HIM. When Utonium finally called his girls to come downstairs, his voice sounded weak, the girls cautiously floated downstairs, bracing themselves to hear deafening cries from their father.

They observed the Professor as he set out the plates of food on the table, his eyes were glistening and red, and he was breathing in and out deeply. Other than that, it was clear the Professor was holding himself back for the sake of his daughters. While the family were eating, the Professor poked at his food with his fork, and the Powerpuff Girls were hurriedly shoving the food into their mouths so they could go back to their room.

Eventually, the Professor took tiny, slow bites of his meal, wincing a bit as he bent his arm to put the food into his mouth, "I imagine you listened in on my call with Eugene..." the girls nodded, and the Professor warned them sternly, "I don't want any of you to mention my injuries, this isn't about me, it's about your grandfather." his daughters nodded silently again, and he informed them, "They live in the suburbs outside of Townsville as well, except on the other side, since it'll be at least a two hour drive, we'll get up and leave at six-thiry in the morning; so, go to bed a bit earlier and bring something to do for the ride."

Wanting to say something, but, unable to think of what to say, the Powerpuff Girls simply nodded again. As soon as the sisters put away their plates, the sisters rushed back upstairs. The same as the past several days, the sisters remained in their room all the way to nightfall. Even though the family hadn't spoken to each other much lately, the Professor still went upstairs to tuck his daughters into bed; tonight, he went straight to his room.

Too upset and nervous, the Powerpuff Girls stared into the darkness of their room at first,

"Remember our first Thanksgiving?" Blossom asked her sisters. Bubbles and Buttercup mumbled in response, and all three girls thought back to the first Thanksgiving they ever celebrated, a few months after they were created. The family was sitting around their usual table, digging into the turkey and mashed potatoes in front of them. Since they didn't quite understand the meaning of Thanksgiving at the time, to the Powerpuff Girls, Thanksgiving was just an elaborate excuse to eat more lavish and expensive foods.

In between bites of her food, Buttercup recalled something she'd noticed at school,

"All the kids at school were talking about what they were gonna do for Thanksgiving like it was that Christmas holiday people keep hyping over!"

"Yeah," Blossom agreed, "It sounds like a lot of them are gonna try and cram dozens of people into a house, I mean, if your house is small, why have so many people over and make it so crowded?"

"Well, part of the deal about Thanksgiving is you count your blessings with your family," the Professor explained.

"Um, Professor?" Bubbles looked up at her father, "Is this the whole family? It just seems so small... it doesn't feel right." The Professor swallowed his food, his eyes widening. He got quiet all of a sudden and put down his fork,

"No, Bubbles, we aren't the only ones," he answered after a bit of silence, "I have a brother, an older sister, and both of my parents are still alive; there's a lot of members in the Utonium family, actually."

"Why aren't they-" The Professor interrupted Bubbles in a sudden, harsh tone,

"I haven't been speaking to my family, I don't want to talk about them, please!" his face grew red when he noticed his daughters staring at him. The Professor tugged at his hair in shame, and he apologized, "I didn't mean to snap like that. Actually, I still keep in touch with my brother, but, I really don't want to talk about the others, trust me, you don't want to meet them."

And that was that, other than Eugene, the Powerpuff Girls never knew about any of their other relatives, and they all forgot about the outburst over Thanksgiving dinner. Now, the Powerpuff Girls would finally get to meet some other members of the Utonium family, something that they weren't anticipating at all.

...

The Powerpuff Girls had never wanted to just stay home and sleep in more than the next morning. The sisters hadn't slept well, and all the while as they hurriedly ate their breakfast and got dressed, they all felt crabby. Blossom got a couple of books for the trip, Bubbles carried a sketchbook along with a box of crayons, and Buttercup brought a couple of action figures.

Just before being rushed out of the house, Blossom tried to sway the Professor into letting the girls stay behind,

"What if something happens while we're at the hospital?" she reasoned, "The Mayor can't call over the Powerpuff Hotline, and we'll probably be too far away to see the Powerpuff Sky-signal!"

"The Mayor knows how to use his cellphone now," the Professor reminded her, "If something happens, he'll call me." As they all got into the car, Buttercup asked the Professor,

"Besides Eugene, do any of the others know we're superheroes?" her father didn't answer, starting up the car instead. The family didn't speak much as they drove away from the suburbs and into Townsville.