Chapter 2
Busted
"... and did you see me after Mojo tried to zap me? I was all WHOOSH, BANG, PUNCH, POW!" Bubbles re-enacted, throwing air punches and kicks into the empty space as the girls neared their family home.
Buttercup couldn't help but chuckle at that, finding the words and the actions very familiar. "Hey! You're starting to sound like me, kid!"
"I know!" Bubbles bragged. "I guess pretty soon you'll have to start calling me the toughest fighter!"
Bubbles received a punch in her arm for her lofty claims, but it was a playful punch and she actually took it quite well.
"Hey, don't start getting carried away now, punk!" Buttercup mock threatened. "That title still goes to me, you know."
"We'll see for how much longer!" Bubbles teased competitively, and she even stuck out her tongue for good measure.
The girls were just really having a good time with each other at this current time and place and they couldn't think of anything that could break such a mood. Blossom chuckled at the two of them and slowly floated down to their front door, putting her nubby arm on the handle.
"Alright you two, settle down! We're already late getting back home and the Professor is probably going to have a cow."
"Aw, he'll probably get over it when we tell him about all the awesome stuff our sister did today!" Buttercup said proudly, causing a blush to form over the blonde little girl's cheeks. Bubbles put on an embarrassed smile. "Okay okay, you already said I was hardcore already! No need to try to flatter me!"
Despite her words, it was clear she liked the compliments very much and held her burning face with both hands.
The girls continued laughing as they made it into the house, unaware of the dark atmosphere waiting for them until the light switched on and they could all audibly hear the Professor sternly clearing his throat. Their sounds of mirth stopped immediately and they all turned their heads towards him, seeing that he wasn't happy with them in the slightest just by his stiff body language. He sat upright in his chair, his eyes were closed with furrowed eyebrows, his fingers drummed impatiently on the armrests, and he tapped one of his feet with blatant disappointment.
Ho boy. They really did let the time get away from them, didn't they?
Blossom was about to be the first to apologize for this little blunder, "Oh, Professor! Sorry we're home so late, we-" but the man raised a hand to cut her off, setting his sights solely on:
"Bubbles, we need to talk."
His tone made the room seem ten degrees colder. As the girls were appropriately chilled into silence, the Professor gestured with a finger to the spot right in front of him, demanding his daughter to, "Come here, right now."
Bubbles felt a chill pass through her body. Her sisters looked at her quietly with shock. It was rare that the Professor ever used that tone with Bubbles, or really any of the girls, unless they were in some serious, serious trouble. It had all three of them feeling uneasy.
Bubbles bit her lip guiltily before dipping her head low in shame and placing her hands behind her back, floating towards her father with the disposition of a meek puppy. She had never felt so sick to her stomach, knowing that she had done something very bad to anger and disappoint him so.
Her new "hardcore" attitude disappeared in an instant. Her confidence blew away in the wind. She was back now to meek, timid, scared little Bubbles, facing the wrath of her disappointed father.
Blossom and Buttercup shared looks of anxiety with each other, having a good inkling as to what the issue might likely was, but not daring to intervene while the Professor was being so stern in singling their one sister out.
Bubbles gently landed at her father's feet and looked up at him like he was a giant lion getting ready to gobble her up. "Yes Professor?" she asked meekly, already feeling two inches tall.
The Professor attempted to glare at Bubbles with his most intimidating, unimpressed glower, but he quickly found himself dropping the act when he stared into her huge, blue pitiful eyes long enough. He let out a sigh. Those puppy dog eyes always did him in.
"Come here, Bubbles," Professor said more softly now. "Sit next to daddy."
She warily did as he asked, gingerly situating herself onto his lap where he stopped to wrap an arm around her, pulling her in close.
"It's been a long day, Bubbles. I've had to talk to some very upset people. Very scared, confused, and angry upset people."
Bubbles gulped, already knowing where this conversation was headed. She dreaded it, remembering how ruthless she had been to the poor citizens of Townsville.
"Bubbles, I'm going to ask you some questions, and I want some answers. Honest answers. Do not lie to me, do you understand?"
Bubbles nodded, biting her lip. "Yes sir."
Ok. Breathe in, breathe out. Time to begin. "Bubbles, I have been getting phone calls, all day long, from various citizens, telling me that you have been out there assaulting people mercilessly. I even heard that you assaulted a dog."
That's when her sisters tried to jump in. Blossom hastily tried to supply an answer. "W-Well Professor, she-!"
But no. He wouldn't allow it. The man held up a hand for silence.
"Blossom, I need to have this discussion with Bubbles right now. I will address the two of you later."
"But-!"
"No buts."
The pink puff withdrew her hand then, using it to rub her arm and look away uncomfortably on the floor.
"Now when I heard that," The Professor went on, "I thought no. That couldn't be right. That can't be my little Bubbles. But then the calls just kept coming and the people were very insistent that something was very wrong. So Bubbles," he finished softly, "What's been going on here?"
Bubbles was rendered speechless for the first few minutes. She really didn't know what to say. "I... I..." she stammered, wringing both of her hands. What could she possibly say that could possibly make her actions okay?
Should she tell him she was tired of being treated like a baby, so she briefly became a monster instead? Should she tell him she was trying to prove she could handle the rough stuff along with her sisters when all she'd really proven was how much of a violent, angry bully she could be to those who were weaker than her?
She remembered beating the Talking Dog to a bloody pulp. She remembered him cowering in the street.
"Oh Bubbles!" he told her quaveringly with fear. "Have mercy!"
And she snarled at him that mercy was for the weak. What sort of hero said those kinds of things? No hero, that's who. That was something more along the lines of what a villain would say. Was Bubbles a villain? She'd certainly acted like one today. Not even Mojo had caused as much damage as she did! As Blossom herself would say, she had done nothing worthy of the name Powerpuff.
The shame of it brought her to tears. She could barely look her father in the eyes. As she began to whimper, she felt a gentle hand cup the bottom of her chin, and then a thumb beginning to brush away her tears.
"Bubbles," The man asked gently. "Did you hurt people today?"
"Yes." Bubbles answered, never remembering a time where she had ever felt so ashamed.
"And you hurt a dog?"
"Y-Yes." The tears started to fall onto her dress.
"Why honey?" he asked now, no longer scolding her but truly trying to find out the motives behind her actions. "That's not like you. Why would you do such a thing?"
"Because of us!" Buttercup suddenly shouted before quickly apologizing. "Professor, I know you told us not to say anything, but hear us out! It's true!"
"If we had actually treated her like a valuable member of our team instead of like a baby, then she wouldn't have gotten so frustrated and tried to handle the city all by herself!" Blossom said.
"Yeah! We weren't fast enough to stop her! This was all our fault!"
Bubbles felt like crying all over again. She couldn't believe her sisters were doing this. Even though she had been the one who had behaved badly, they were still willing to defend her in her hour of need and take the blame for themselves. It made her cherish them all the more.
"All we're saying is that if you're going to do something to punish Bubbles... then you have to do something to punish us too. We're all responsible."
The Professor was shocked. Was this where all of her behavior had come from? "Bubbles? Is this true?"
"I just didn't wanna be treated like a baby anymore. By you or anyone... it made me really mad."
The Professor felt a pang of guilt in his heart. "Bubbles, why didn't you tell me this before?"
"Because you wouldn't listen!" The blue puff shrieked, covering her mouth for a brief moment before regaining the courage to go on again. "I tried to tell you that I didn't want you to turn the training simulation down and when I said it wasn't fair you just said that I look cute when I'm so pouty like that!"
Her tone took on a bitterly mocking one as she mimicked the Professor's overly doting words. This made the scientist blush. Perhaps he had been guilty of babying Bubbles too much. "Bubbles I... I was just trying to look out for your safety. I didn't mean to-"
"But I took the training simulation to 11 while you were all asleep!"
"You what?!" Now all three of the family members besides Bubbles exclaimed. They had no idea she had done that. While Blossom and Buttercup were actually pretty impressed, the Professor just sounded terrified.
"11? But I thought I put a safety feature in that to prevent it from going that high! Bubbles, you could've gotten hurt!"
"BUT I DIDN'T!" The girl now screamed, frustration making tears prick at her eyes again. "I beat all the monsters and I was itching for more when I was done! B-But y-you don't even care about that b-because you still think I'm a baby!"
If she was being fair, Bubbles did intentionally leave out the part where one of the monsters had gotten a lucky shot in on her and made her mouth bleed, but that still wasn't a serious injury.
The Professor now sighed, realizing his daughter's grievances. He took out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped away her frustrated tears, holding her close as she hiccupped and sniffled.
"Bubbles, I know you're not a baby. I know you're just as capable as your sisters are and you've faced terrible threats and saved this city from danger more times than I can even count. It's just... well... " He struggled to say this next part, his face heating up. "You'll always be my baby, if that makes any sense. All of you. No matter how old you get or how powerful I know you are, I just can't help but see you three girls as my precious little angels. I know it can be suffocating at times."
"Oh Professor." Buttercup couldn't help but groan, just short of gagging at the sentiment. She knew the guy loved them but sheesh.
"I know. I know." Professor Utonium lightly teased her, and then opened his arms for all three of the girls to give him a hug. Even though Buttercup rolled her eyes at the prospect of this, she ultimately submitted to it along with Blossom and Bubbles.
The only problem was that when he hugged them, Blossom let out a soft noise of pain. Not anything dramatic, but enough for the girls and the Professor to take notice.
"Blossom? Are you alright, honey? What's wrong?"
"Ow... nothing Professor. I'm just a little... sore." Her tone sounded like she was hiding something, and he didn't miss the short glance she spared at Bubbles who looked at her with worry. "Nothing to worry about though."
"Um, Professor," Bubbles suddenly spoke up again, her tone dripping guilt. "T-There's something else I need to tell you. At recess today at Pokey Oaks... I h-hurt Blossom too."
Predictably, his eyes widened. "You hurt Blossom too?" he inquired, not liking that one bit. He never liked it when the girls fought each other.
"Yes."
"No."
Two voices said at the same time; one with a desire to confess while the other had a desire to simply forget the whole thing.
" 'm fine."
Critical eyes scanned over her body as she now tried to gain some distance from him. The Professor was having none of it. "Come here, Blossom."
"I'm fine Professor, really."
"I didn't ask if you were fine; I asked you to come over here."
Seeing that he wasn't taking no for an answer, Blossom sighed heavily before floating over and doing exactly as she was told, her cheeks blushing from the embarrassment of it all.
Once she was within arm's reach, he immediately began inspecting her face and body for bruises and scars. The girls weren't usually ones to get hurt so easily, but whenever he learned of them getting into fights with each other, the Professor's worry tended to go straight through the roof.
"How did you hurt your sister?" Professor asked evenly of his daughter, keeping himself neutral and composed.
"I pushed her on the playground." Bubbles confessed miserably. "We were playing a game of Duck, Duck, Goose and I got so mad while I was chasing her that I pushed her into the ground. Hard."
"I started it," Blossom insisted, making a shrug stiffly from her shoulders. "I asked if I was too fast for 'cute little Bubbles' and that's why she pushed me. I deserved it."
While he appreciated the honesty from both sides, he still couldn't help but be disappointed.
"Blossom, can you turn around for a bit? I want to check your back and then I'll be finished." It was the only spot left for him to check for damage, and when he got around to pulling up her dress to expose a bit of skin, he finally found a darkening, livid bruise right over her spine.
He pressed his thumb lightly over the area, applying a bit of pressure.
"Does that hurt?" He asked lightly, gauging her reaction.
"No," Blossom lied, but he saw her wince even as she said it. He also heard her take a slight, hissing breath.
He sighed, lowering her dress back down. He was sure applying an Icy Hot patch or something similar would help the soothe pain but that wasn't what had him worried. "You know I don't like it when you girls fight each other."
He still had awful memories of the screaming matches Buttercup and Blossom got into that sometimes escalated into real physical blows being thrown. He remembered Blossom zapping Buttercup with her heat vision. He remembered the latter retaliating by firing energy out of her own hands and launching the former into the opposite wall.
That had been a nightmare to break up and he couldn't help but worry about the girls using their powers on each other. What if one of them managed to seriously injure the other one day?
"I know Professor," Bubbles told him softly. She looked at her sister. "I'm sorry, Blossom." she said tearfully.
Blossom's brows furrowed in sympathy before she too let out a soft sigh and likewise apologized, "I'm sorry too. For making fun of you."
"I'm sorry I called you the scarediest." Buttercup muttered, looking down at the carpet with crossed arms while scuffing her shoe over the ground. She always hated apologizing as it made her feel weak, but she found that she often felt better just ripping the Band-Aid off quickly instead of drawing it out when it came to these things.
"I think Blossom isn't the only one you have to say sorry to." The Professor told her sternly.
Bubbles nodded her head. "The rest of the townspeople too."
"In particular, the ones that you hurt. And I think if we're going down a list, we should start with that poor dog. He's most likely still at Townsville's animal hospital. From what the veterinarian said, he shouldn't be too badly injured but he's still quite understandably shaken up."
"I'll make it up to him. I'll give him the biggest, juiciest doggy bone ever!"
"That doesn't sound like too bad of an idea. We can get him some other apology gifts too but I don't want you to think that will be a substitute for actually saying the words 'I'm Sorry.'"
"Of course, Professor." Bubbles agreed. She'd probably be guilty of saying sorry too much once the animal and the young girl met again in person.
Once he was satisfied about their little plan, he placed a hand on top of her head. "Okay honey. I think we've got a method to our madness for tomorrow then. Since you are home so late, I want you to go straight to bed so we can have lots of energy to make it up to all those people in the morning."