Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over the Powerpuff Girls franchise

Envy

Being a cheerleader when you could fly was pretty pointless. Bubbles didn't need a base to get up in the air. She also didn't need backspots either, she was completely invulnerable. Just a few days ago she had been slammed into a building so hard she broke most of its major supports and still wasn't late to art class an hour after. A fall from this height wouldn't even bruise. She only had either of those things for appearances sake. One girl, after all, did not a pyramid make.

That didn't matter much either way. The stunt was over quickly and she was back on the ground again, bouncing around and trying to hype up the crowd.

"GIVE ME A H! GIVE ME AN E! GIVE ME A R! GIVE ME AN O! GIVE ME AN E! GIVE ME A S! WHAT'S THAT SPELL! TOWNSVILLE HEROES! WHOA!" Yeah the cheers were a little silly, but weren't all high school cheers.

Cheerleading wasn't really needed by this point, though. It was fourth quarter with less than a minute to go and they were ahead by seven. It would take a monster attack to make the Townsville home team lose this week. However, monster attacks weren't unheard of in Townsville, so Bubbles and the rest of the cheerleaders weren't done for the night.

The loud buzz of the bell signaled both the last point scored and the end of the game and roused Bubbles from her thoughts of what she would do if a monster or villain attacked right at that moment. She had to stay prepared for those kinds of things now, with Buttercup gone the Powerpuff's had lost their toughest fighter.

Either way she had more fun things to focus on at the moment!

"Ohmigosh, Robin!" Bubbles twirled around to face her best friend and co-captain, "Did you see the way Mitch jumped over that guy to get a touchdown?"

The brunette nodded, bouncing excitedly on her heels, "Oh, man, it was amazing!"

And it was amazing! Bubbles and Robin's graduating class had singlehandedly brought Townsville High School into the state playoffs last year and appeared to be on their way to be doing it again. It was mostly the work of quarterback Mitch Mitchelson, Robin's boyfriend, who had managed to turn his aggression from classroom bullying to football field glory.

"He's going to get scouted for sure this year." Robin said, grinning broadly, "I heard there were even scouts at this game from Citiesville!"

"That would be totally amazing!" Bubbles nodded enthusiastically.

Robin whipped her head around to look onto the field where her was standing, "I've got to go congratulate him, I'll see you later." She ran off, long brown hair flapping behind her.

Bubbles stood there for a moment before she turned to the rest of her squad, "Okay girls, that was a fantastic game. We've had a long week so the coach said we could go straight home, but be in the gym right after school Monday for practice!"

This was all the encouragement the other girls needed to head off to go home or out to eat of run off with their boyfriends. Normal teenage girl things. Bubbles watched them go for a second then picked up her pompons again and smiled. It was a nice night and it went by without a single incident of supervillain activity! Now she could go home and take a long hot shower, assuming Blossom hadn't used up all the hot water.

It was a pretty, clear night. The October air was cool enough that she needed her windsuit jacket over her uniform, but under the shining night sky Bubbles couldn't help but love Townsville. High towers sparked in the moonlight and the people seemed to shine too. Everyone was in such a good mood from the football win, laughing and talking to people they usually would not have given the time of day. Bubbles adored the camaraderie and decided right there that she would walk home instead of flying. It was easier to soak in the pleasantness of the evening that way.

Bubbles knew everyone in Townsville by name and didn't hesitate to greet them, waving at classmates, parents, and teacher alike with a happy, "You did great out there, Dave!" and a cheeful, "Tell Myrna I say hi, John!" They said hello back, of course. She was a Powerpuff and that made her everybody's friend. She blew people kisses and inquired on the state of family members who weren't there. When she heard her name she turned to to say hello to whoever was talking, but once the conversation registers the hello died on her lips.

"Looks I'm just saying that Blossom is the hottest Powerpuff." It was a boy name Blake Davis. He was a senior and on the tennis team. Buttercup had saved his life when Mojo Jojo caved in the school using a giant robot and now he was ranking her sisters on hotness.

It wasn't like Bubbles didn't know that guys thought about that kind of stuff. She had read the blogs and forum posts and been adequately grossed out at the idea some grown man had been getting off the her since she was like eleven. She would have just turned around and pretended that she didn't hear them talking about her sisters like that. She wasn't prepared for what she heard next.

"Man, as long as it's not Bubbles I'm good. I'm not some sort of fucking pedo!"

Pedo?

"Yeah," Blake laughed in agreement, "Bet she doesn't even know what sex is."
Bubbles face was flushed pink and suddenly it didn't seem so fun to walk home. She shot into the air, startling the people surrounding her and leaving a bright blue trail in her wake.

She didn't immediately go home, she didn't really want to. Her stomach felt like it was tied in knots and her face burned hot. All she could think about was how it wasn't her fault she couldn't date. It wasn't like she wanted to be all alone and it wasn't like she wanted to devote every single waking moment to superheroics. Bubbles Utonium would have given anything to have it easy like Robin. Robin could relax and kiss boys and go shopping without having to worry that if she did something stupid it would end up online for the whole world to make fun of. Robin didn't have to hear Blossom yelling at her about how "Of course they couldn't have boyfriends!" and how apparently she "Wants to run off with some fucking supervillain like Buttercup!" When thats not what she wanted at all. All she wanted was someone to take her out to the movies then kiss her goodnight on the front porch afterwards. Now she was crying and her game day eyeliner would a wrecked.

A tissue was pressed into Bubbles hand and she used it to wipe her eyes with a grateful, "Thank you." Before she realized she was still far above the city of Townsville. She opened her eyes to see the last person she had expected and yelped loudly.

"There, there, Bubbles, no need for crying." Him was lounging comfortably on a cloud in front of her.

Him looked precisely the way Bubbles remembered. He was unnervingly tall and thin, with unnaturally long limbs, arms ending in large red lobster claw and legs with shiny black boots. His little red dress was still trimmed with white fur and belted neatly. Him's hair was slicked back and his goatee was perfectly shaped. A black lipsticked grin stretched from pink cheek to pink cheek and seemed to move slightly out of sync with what he was actually saying. It had been three years since the girls had last fought him and he hadn't aged a day.

Bubbles moved back warily. If she flew off and got Blossom that would leave Him unsupervised to do whatever evil he had planned, but on the other hand there was no way she could take him out by herself. "Him."

"Hello, Bubbles," His voice echoed in the night sky, but she knew it would echo just as much in a small room. That's simply how his voice was, "It's so nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you, too." It wasn't nice at all.

After that she couldn't think of anything else to say. What did you say to something like Him? He was staring at her unblinkingly, it felt like he was staring into her soul and knowing Him, he might have been. He grinned at her and lunged forward.

Bubbles jerked backwards with a scream and shoved him away hard. Him flew back then stopped. In a flash of light he was gone and back again, now barely inches from her face.

"Oh so quick to the punch aren't we, Bubbles. What happened to that nice little girl I met ten years ago?" He cooed and ran a claw-hand across her cheek.

She pulled back away from his enormous claw, voice sharp and offended, "I'm not a little girl anymore!"

"I know you're not a little girl anymore," Hands held up in mock surrender, his face was the picture of false innocence, eyes wide and mouth pouting. He floated around her and looked her up and down, face back to that creepy smile, "Why, you're all grown up these days."

Part of Bubbles was deeply disquieted at the look Him just gave her, but another was oddly pleased. At least someone could see that Bubble Utonium wasn't some stupid little kid, "Thanks. And you're still, well, you."

He laughed and the way it echoed sent a shiver down her spine, "Indeed I am, call it a perk of being me."

"So," She bit her lip nervously, Him being friendly was never a good sign, "What brings you to Townsville?"

Him sighed dramatically, "Oh, it does get terribly lonely back home. I simply wanted to check up on my favorite Powerpuff."

That surprised her, "Favorite?"

"But of course, Bubbles dear," He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and wouldn't let her shrug it off, "Who else but you would be my favorite?"

"Blossom? Buttercup?" Those were the two only other answers after all.

He shook his head and pulled her into a hug that left her squirming. She felt a claw run through one of her ponytails. The hug left her pressed chest to chest with the man and his grin was mere inches from her face, "Why those two are so boring compared to you, dear Bubbles. You're so much sweeter than either of those two. So much nicer. So much better."

Bubbles pushed back with all her super strength and managed to escape the hug, glaring at Him, "Don't talk about my sisters like that! They're both great and I'm not better than them!"

"My sweet Bubbles," He smiled at her, almost fondly for once instead of the disturbing clownish grin he usually wore, "You are though. So bright, so kind, so incredibly good. Why you were so good that you even almost befriended a monster like me. Do you remember that?"

She did remember. The first time the girls ever met Him was when he impersonated her octopus doll and almost destroyed Townsville. Later on he tried to use her against the others by convincing her to channel her anger into evil drawings that came to life. Both times he was defeated with the help of her sisters. Bubbles frowned at Him.

"Ah, so you do remember." His grin was wicked again, "Oh, didn't we make such great friends."

"You tried to use me to destroy Townsville!" She glared at him, but he ignored her.

"Great friends help each other," He was back to staring into her soul, "When I saw my sweet, dear friend Bubbles was in trouble I simply couldn't resist coming to help her."

"I'm not in trouble," But she looked around quickly. She wouldn't be surprised if he had some monster ready to attack when she said those exact words.

"That's strange," He motioned to the tissue still clutched in one hand, "Mortals don't usually cry if somethings not wrong."

"Well you're mistaken, nothings wrong, sorry to interrupt your evening you should probably just go home now." Bubbles was not about to get dragged into another of Him's evil plots.

"Something is wrong," He leaned forward, close to her, "You're envious."

Bubbles laughed, that was ridiculous, "Of who?"

Him shook his head, "I wondered that myself, what would a girl who can do anything want? But I know a lot about envy, Bubbles, and realized it was so simple. You're jealous of those other girls, the normal ones."

"No I'm not!"

"Aren't you?" Bubbles looked away from his smile, "You are. You're jealous of the normality of their lives. You wish you could have what they have. A life free of responsibility. Happiness." He leaned so close that if he breathed she would have been able to feel it, "Love."

"I…" She stared down at the city below them and tried not to cry more. He was right.

Bubbles Utonium wanted to be like Robin more than she wanted to breathe. Bubbles wanted to be carefree and happy and have a boyfriend. She wanted her biggest worry to be studying for science. She wanted people to look at her and see Bubble the person, not Bubbles the hero.

"No one can blame you," He sounded like he was actually trying to be nice, "I would hate them too, if I were you."

"I don't hate them!" Bubbles voice was high and defensive. She didn't hate them, really! They were her friends and she wanted them to be happy, but…

It just wasn't fair that they got to have all that when she couldn't have anything. She was patrolling the sky above Townsville while they were out on dates. They were having sleepovers while she was fighting monsters. They had families that loved each other when she didn't even have a phone number to find Buttercup at. Why didn't Bubbles get to be happy like everyone else? After she had given so much to keep the world safe she didn't even get to really live in it.

"Oh, sweet Bubbles," Him cooed and brushed a tear from her cheek. How he did that with enormous lobster claws was anyones guess, "Don't cry. I'm here to help."

"No you're not!" She snapped, "You're evil. You're going to act like you want to help me then use it to hurt everyone!"

He pulled back and for a moment she was afraid she said something that will make Him decide to give up on this idea and just go terrorize Townsville properly. The moment passed when he took her hands surprisingly gently, "Dear Bubbles, I've been what I am since before you can even comprehend. I've grown rather tired of being alone."
She looked at Him and tried to think for a moment what that would be like. All alone for all eternity. Nobody to ever turn to. Suddenly Bubbles felt rather bad for Him. The tears were welling up again.

"You are the first being in my long life to make an honest effort at friendship, even if under false pretenses. I'm only returning the favor."

Bubbles took a deep breath, then looked at him seriously, "You're offering to be my friend?"

He nodded and despite his smile he looked serious too, "And to help you be happy. For isn't that the meaning of friendship?"

"And you won't hurt anyone because of it?"

Him shook his head, "I will do nothing you don't expressly desire."

It was a terrible idea. Being friends with Him was possibly the stupidest thing she could ever try to do. It blew running off with a supervillain out of the water. "Okay."

"Okay?" He dragged the word out.

Bubbles smiled at Him, still a little wobbly from crying, "Let's be friends, Him."

Later that night, lying in bed, Bubbles couldn't help but know she made a decision that couldn't go back on. Whether it was a good or bad one waited to be seen.

Author's Note: Sequel to Two of a Kind. Please read and review to tell me what else you'd like to see.