Family Matters

Chapter 1: Words You Can't Erase

The bells rang in the many rooms, footsteps pounded on the tile floor, voices echoed off the walls. The sounds of either the beginning of school or the end of it. It was difficult to tell, unless you look up at the sky.

But Bubbles wasn't looking at the violet sky. The only violet color she could see was its sheen reflecting off of Boomer's face, mingling with the blue of his eyes and the gold of his hair. He was staring outside the window, his eyes fixed on the scene in front of him.

As far as Bubbles knew, for the whole five minutes that she'd been standing there, he was still looking out the window. Other than the occasional blinking of his eyes, he hadn't moved. It was weird, even for Boomer, because this wasn't the case of him spacing out.

Eventually, after a few seconds of watching, waiting for Boomer to at least move—which he didn't—Bubbles approached him. She expected him to look back and leave, just like his brothers told him to, but he didn't notice her, even when she came up next to him. He must be spacing out a lot, Bubbles thought.

She was about to ask him why he was hanging around the window when he gave a question of his own. "Where are they going?"

Bubbles looked at him in confusion, wondering where his question came from. Then she looked out the window. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. There were students sitting at some places, either talking or reading; a handful were at the front gates, being led away by their guardians, most of them parents; and others were heading over to unseen parts of the school.

She couldn't see anything very interesting, so she asked Boomer, "Where are who going?"

Boomer pointed directly at the students leaving the school. "Where are they going?"

"Oh. I think they're going home."

"You think?"

"Well, sometimes, the parents take their kids to stores or restaurants and stuff." Boomer fixed Bubbles with a dubious stare, and she remembered that Brick and Butch had told him not to trust anything a Powerpuff Girl says. "I'm serious Boomer. The four of us have done it a couple of times before."

"Four?"

"Yeah! Me and my sisters and the professor."

Boomer shrugged and went back to looking out the window. His eyes got that preoccupied stare she'd seen him use many times. When it looked like he was transported into his own world. He didn't run, nor did he tell her outright she was lying, so Bubbles decided against leaving.

"What are you thinking?" she asked Boomer.

"Why do kids and parents do that?"

His question struck Bubbles as odd. What was he asking her? "Do what?"

"Take them out. Why don't they just go home?"

"Maybe something special happened or the parents just want to have some family time with their kids. Don't you and your brothers do it?"

When Boomer shifted uncomfortably, she knew instantly she shouldn't have asked. His eyes closed, hiding his expression. "No. Weasel picks us up and takes us straight home—"

"You can't stop somewhere?" Bubbles clapped a hand over her mouth. She didn't mean to ask, but it had just come out. "N—No. I'm sorry, I wasn't—I didn't mean to—"

"Weasel wouldn't do something like that. He and Brisbaine don't think of us as family. We were reborn to be weapons, not to be children." He didn't say it, but Bubbles suspected he wanted to add, "Unlike you."

Bubbles felt stunned. She'd never heard an adult say something like that, and yet she's hearing this from someone her own age. All she could say was, "I... I'm sorry."