Chapter 8


Bubbles.

Mojo stared at the blonde holding his wrist in disbelief, awe, shock, and several other emotions he couldnt quite place or describe. She looked back at him, her iridescent blue eyes almost glowing as she looked into his own. Slowly, she let go of his wrist, but then Mojo grabbed her own wrist in return. "....It cant be...!" he murmured, his eyes never once leaving her. Who he presumed to be Bubbles gave him a smile--the same smile he always remembered her having. His fingers flexed over her arm. "You...you're...!"

"I was," Bubbles spoke, her voice not a bit different than what he last remembered her having. "I was gone, Mojo...I did die."

"Then...how...!?"

"B...Bubbles...!?"

It was Buttercup who had spoken. She had stood up and was now staring at her sister, her expression mirroring Mojo's. Tears poured from her eyes. "Oh God...! Bubbles...! You're alive...!" She rushed forward and fell to her knees about three feet from Bubbles. "Forgive me!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. "Please Bubbles...! Forgive me for killing you!" Before she could get any answer regarding her forgiveness or lack thereof, Mojo let out a growl and kicked out at her.

"How dare you speak to her!" he snarled, raising his hand for another attack. Again, Bubbles grabbed his wrist. He looked over to see Bubbles staring up at him with almost pleading eyes.

"...Dont," was all she said. It was all it took for Mojo to calm down once more and disengaged his attack. Bubbles looked back at her sisters, then at Him, who nodded at her. He raised a claw to the two sisters on the ground, and His eyes glowed a bright green before the girls fell unconscious, albeit harmlessly.

"Perhapsss..." Him said, catching Mojo's attention, "...we should adjourn to a more...private location...? One of my own...?" Before Mojo could reply, he was engulfed in a reddish-pink mist. The mist dissipated, and the trio vanished.


When the mist faded, Mojo saw that he was in what looked like a pink and red Martha Stewart nightmare of frills and doilies. Him merely grinned and gestured to the sofa. "Please, do make yourself comfortable, Mojo," He said cheerfully. "Refreshments? Tea?" Without waiting for a response, He flounced out of the room into seemingly nothing, leaving Mojo and Bubbles to sit in the bubblegum puke-fest of a living room.

Mojo stared at Bubbles. She hadnt changed much since he last saw her. She was wearing a light blue long-sleeved v-neck shirt that cut off just below her breasts with a white tank top underneath to cover her torso up, paired with a blue miniskirt and white boots that looked like they came out of his own closet, only they had tufts of long white fur lining the top of them. The lining of the collar of the blue shirt had the same white fur, as did the blue skirt. Mojo sarcastically wondered to himself whose idea that was. The most evident difference was Bubbles' hair; it was cropped short and put up into messy pigtails, giving her a younger appearance, despite her matured face and body, and it had darker, dirty-blonde streaks in it.

He didnt know how long he had stared at her, but he was cut out of his thoughts when Bubbles knelt in front of him and took his hands in her own. "...Mojo, are you alright?" she asked softly. Mojo could feel something deep in his chest well up with...what was that...?

Completeness.

Mojo squeezed her hands and smiled back at her around the same time Him came flouncing back in like a merry housewife, carrying a large tray with a large red teacup with pink swirl patterns on it, accompanied by three little teacups. Next to the tea set was cream, sugar, and an array of cookies. He set them down, then sat down on a large red chair and smiled at them a little deviously. "Did you have fun catching up?" He asked, folding His claws together, along with His legs. Mojo felt his left eye twitch.

"...What is going on here?" he demanded. "I demand to know what the meaning of this is! You told me that Bubbles was dead, but here she is alive, which is to say, obviously not dead, destroyed, or deceased--!"

"Mojo...Mojo, calm down!" Bubbles quickly intervened before Mojo could really get on a roll with his redundant speech. These days, Mojo only went into repetitive speech patterns when he was overly nervous or upset. Now was one of those 'upset' moods, and once he stared, it was hard to get him to stop, short of hitting him. She squeezed his hands again. "Mojo...let Him explain, alright?" She turned and nodded to Him, staying by Mojo's side.

Him nodded back, grinning at Mojo. "To make a long story short," He said, waving His claw carelessly, "I brought her back."

"But you said..." Mojo cut in. Him laughed, cutting him off.

"Mojo, I said that there was nothing you could do!" He proclaimed. "I said that there was no way you could bring her back! I however..." Him's eyes glowed brightly. "...Was able to do so."

"....How?" Mojo asked.

"I resurrected her the same way I resurrected her brothers, the Rowdyruffs," Him replied. "I found her soul, and recreated her body. Her powers, however....were a little difficult to re-manifest..." He broke off in thought. "She was created with a natural substance--sugar--but what held her together--Chemical X--was not a natural substance." He shrugged. "The only reason I was able to recreate the Rowdyruffs was because what held them together was not an unnatural substance." He sighed. "In fact, it would've taken much longer for me to resurrect Bubbles, had it not been for my power inside of her..."

Mojo was about to ask Him what He was talking about when he remembered that it was Him's attack on her that gave her fire powers anyway. Her absorbent nature must have manipulated her DNA to give her some of Him's own powers. Mojo nodded. "...I see," he replied. "How long?"

"Eh?"

"How long ago was she resurrected?" Mojo said, getting annoyed at having to repeat himself (irony was hilarious). Him nervously tapped the points of His claws together.

"Umm.....three months ago...? ....Heh heh...."

Cue the 'kabooom'.

"WHAAAAAAT!?" Mojo's cry of outrage seemed to ring throughout the entire living room area and out into the abyss. Mojo leapt up, his purple aura going batshit crazy around his form. "BUBBLES HAS BEEN RESURRECTED FOR THREE WHOLE GODDAMN MONTHS AND YOU DIDNT SEE FIT TO LET ME KNOW!!?!?!" His hands sparked with violent bolts of electricity. "IF I COULD KILL YOU, I WOULD RIGHT NOW!!!"

"Mojo, please!" Bubbles cried, pressing her hands to his chest to keep him from advancing onto Him. "He had a reason! When I came back...I wasnt...." She bit her lip and her eyes went downcast. Mojo calmed himself down and held her shoulders, looking at her, concerned.

"...You were not...what?" he asked softly. Him watched the exchange between former enemies with interested eyes. In all His days of knowing Mojo Jojo, He knew that of all the villains, Mojo was the most indomitable; the most proud. Of course, the former ape would give Him a term of respect, what with Him being the superior in power and all...but other than that, Mojo never let anyone tell him what to do, or how to act. He would have much sooner have someone shave his fur off. And now he was adjusting his own attitude, simply because it was upsetting Bubbles? Him grinned. It was kinda cute... But he digressed. Bubbles seemed unable to tell Mojo why it had taken so long to tell Mojo of why it took so long to contact him. Him sighed. Once again, He had to come to the rescue...

"Bubbles...wasnt herself..." He offered, trying to find the right words. Mojo glanced over to Him for elaboration. Him sighed again. "...When I resurrected her....all that was resurrected was her body...it...it didnt have a soul." He saw Mojo glance down at the blonde, who was looking a little traumatized and clenching her delicate hands into his uniform. "...She could talk and think...she could move...she was there...but it wasnt her." He folded His claws again. "...It took...a very long time to find her soul," He continued. "Until then...she was tormented inside her own mind..." He raised His eyes to look at Mojo. "I dont think even I can describe what it's like to live without a soul. It's like a living Hell." His eyes flickered around the room to make his point.

"Bubbles' body and mind went without a soul for nearly six months before I finally found it and summoned it into her body."

Mojo felt a shudder run through him as he looked down at Bubbles, who was trembling and looked like she was about to cry. Immediately, Mojo pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. He had already told himself over a year ago that he didnt want to see her cry again. This seemed to calm Bubbles down, because her trembling stopped and her grip on his uniform lightened up. Him waited for a few more moments before continuing.

"...When I finally did find her soul...I went through a Hell of my own bartering with a Soul Collector from Upstairs," He said, pointing His claw in the direction of 'up'. "If it wasnt for Bubbles' insistence herself, the whole thing wouldnt have worked." He sighed and slumped in His chair. "I had to trade ten pure souls I won fair and square for hers! So you had better be happy, Monkey-Boy!"

Mojo was about to growl back a reply when he heard Bubbles giggling. Bubbles turned around to look at Him. "Hiiiim..." she drew out in a sing-song voice, sounding creepily as devious as the demon Himself. "...As I remember, you were practically throwing those souls at the Soul Collector for me..." Mojo watched, almost amazed, as Him began to blush, even through all that rouge he was wearing. Bubbles pulled back from Mojo and stepped over to Him, who looked like He wanted to disappear into that oversized fluffy pink collar of His, and stood in front of Him, her hands on her hips. "Not to mention, it wasnt even ten souls you threw at him...it was more like...what was it...?" Her grin widened.

"...Fifty?"

Him made a soft, choked sound, His complexion actually deepening in color. "...Fifty-five," He mumbled, shuffling His stiletto-clad feet childishly. Bubbles giggled again, sounding so much like her old self, and leaned down to peck a sweet kiss onto His cheek.

"And I still thank you for that."

Mojo stood across from them, blinking. What the Hell...?


There, I ended it on a cuter note rather than an angsy one. Rejoice.