Chapter 10

[Lunarium]

As Bubbles lay on her bed, wondering if the ice pack would really help or not, she pondered a means of excusing her presence when Professor returned home. Would he mind if she left a note and slipped outside to some lonely spot for an hour or two?

Not until she considered the content of the proposed note did she realize that the only place she could really go was Princess's. Bubbles didn't want anyone to see the bruises, or to risk getting caught in a lie if Professor spoke to someone she was supposedly visiting. Further, given her recent complaints about needing to see people, going off to be alone instead would just seem odd.

Her solution turned out to be an appealing one. She grabbed her bathrobe and sauntered off to the bathroom. Hanging the robe on the door behind her, she set the ice pack on the tub edge and drew a bath of pure hot water. After the tub had begun to fill, she opened a nearby bottle and made a bubble bath of it.

While she waited for the water to rise, she disrobed and examined herself in the bathroom mirror. With the aid of a hand mirror she was able to better observe the bruise on her back.

She winced a bit at the sight and felt compelled to rub the sore area. The thought that she'd endured worse consoled her somewhat, but greater consolation still was the promise of a warm bath.

The steaming water stole her breath and tightened her stomach pleasantly as she put her first foot in. When the second touched down, she inhaled sharply, then smiled. Just because her body could endure lava didn't mean she couldn't appreciate the sensation.

Her smile deepened as she lowered herself, closing her eyes and moaning almost inaudibly as the stark contrast of tickling bubbles and scalding water caressed her.

After a moment to appreciate the warmth, she grabbed the nearby icepack and draped it over her face. The mismatched temperatures made her head spin for a moment, but the soothing water didn't permit that to last long.

Eyes forced closed by the towel-wrapped bag of ice sitting on her face, it did not take long for her mind to wander. Wander, perhaps, but not back into the world of sleep. While Professor had awoken her a little prematurely, it seemed she'd slept enough last night that there was little risk of drifting off. Even so, her thoughts drifted along as if sleep were not far away, flitting from one random idea to the next, each forgotten as quickly as it came.

A door opened downstairs. Bubbles perked up her ears to hear the sound of keys and grocery bags, whereupon she resumed relaxing.

A few minutes later, she heard Professor calling up the stairs.

"Bubbles, I'm home!"

"I'm in the tub!" Bubbles shouted back.

"That's fine. Are you hungry?"

"Already ate, dad," she lied.

"Okay. I'll be downstairs if you need anything," he finished, leaving her in peace.

By now she'd been in the tub long enough for most of the heat to drain away, leaving the water lukewarm at best and the bubbles little more than scattered froth on the surface. The ice pack had mostly melted, so she set it aside and stared at the ceiling. She half-listened as Professor put away groceries, waiting for him to move on.

As footsteps plodded down to the lab, Bubbles sat upright and unplugged the tub. After the water had drained until what was left offered no comfort, she stood up and turned on the shower.

Later, properly cleaned and dried, she donned her robe and slipped back to her bedroom. Although she hoped to go nowhere today, she dressed and put her hair in pigtails out of habit.

It wasn't even noon yet and the day was quickly becoming tedious. The knowledge that she couldn't go anywhere or see anyone only made her feeling of isolation more poignant. Lying again on her bed, her stomach fluttered with energy while her legs fidgeted. She felt as if she could scream.

When she could take no more, she snatched up the phone and dialed.

"Yeah, what is it?" Princess's voice rang out before Bubbles even spoke. Despite the tone of annoyance, the sound made Bubbles sigh a little, like she'd just been holding her breath.

"It's Bubbles," she replied sweetly. "Do you want to talk for a minute?"

A pause. "Sure. Are you coming over now?"

Bubbles half-winced. "I actually just wanted to talk on the phone a while."

"Why? You could be here before I finish this sentence." Princess paused again, perhaps looking for Bubbles to do just that. "Don't tell me you're afraid to go outside or something stupid like that."

"No, it's not that," Bubbles said. "I'm just kind of lounging around today."

"Okay, whatever." Bubbles heard a door close as Princess spoke. "So what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know. Was there anything you wanted to talk about?"

"I already said I've got people to talk to." A beat. "What I don't have is anyone to talk to me." Another pause. "Not that I couldn't, I guess. I just don't care."

Bubbles closed her eyes and smiled. "That's sweet. Maybe. So you still think your therapists are enough?"

"What, you trying to reform me, too?" Pause. "You're not...right?"

"Nope. That's something you gotta do yourself."

"Good, because I don't think I could put up with that. Even from you."

Now Bubbles hesitated. "I am curious, though... What made you want to be a supervillain?"

"I never really saw myself that way," Princess admitted quickly enough. "Frankly, it's a matter of perspective. I'll admit I'm a bit...self-focused, but that's to be expected. People are built to want things. To need things. Because of all the stuff I get, I have to want bigger things, you know?"

"I guess," Bubbles said blankly, sensing from Princess's cadence she just wanted a quick acknowledgment that Bubbles was listening.

"It's never a supervillain that I wanted to be, anyway. It was a hero. To be a PowerPuff Girl like you. You girls were so...awesome. The things you could do. The way people looked at you. I wanted that."

After a reasonable silence, Bubbles asked, "And now?"

"'Now' what? Do I still want it? Maybe. Maybe not. Have I changed? No."

"So when did things start to...go wrong?"

"Depends on what you mean. I'm sure you remember I started butting in right away. If you mean when I started hating you all, that didn't take long either. If I couldn't be a part of it, then I wanted it gone. I studied your enemies and ended up falling right in with them. You could probably guess there was a lot of Mojo in it. He was always getting in your way, and of course, he had all the neat toys.

"It must have rubbed off on me too much. I mean, he was all 'destroy, destroy, destroy.'" Bubbles winced. "I can't believe I actually ever said that I wanted to 'destroy' you girls. I mean...that's just kind of creepy if you stop to think about it. Like you were just some stray dogs or something."

"Yeah," Bubbles said softly in a shaky voice.

"Hmm?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"It's not like you were dolls or animals or something. If I told my daddy 'I want to murder the PowerPuff Girls' he'd have hauled me off to an institute or school somewhere to get straightened up. As it is, I assume he figured we were playmates or something. Who knows."

"Do you think you could ever do it?" Bubbles asked distantly, only half aware of the question.

"I...used to think I couldn't even if I tried my hardest. You...you were unstoppable. I just... I really don't know what I'd have done if I ever... After Buttercup and Blossom, I just don't know anymore. It kind of scares me sometimes, you know?

"It's, like, I just wanted to push you girls. Make you angry. At least I could force you to acknowledge me and make you see me as an equal. But I never saw myself as a bad person, really. Then again, I guess most people don't ever see themselves like that."

"Some do!" Bubbles said earnestly, sitting upright as she continued speaking. "Mojo would brag about being evil. The Amoeba Boys wanted to be bad. We all know about Him."

"Wow, what's got you so worked up?"

"I...I might have done something really bad," Bubbles said without thinking.

A brief pause. "Is it too late to do anything about it?"

"Yeah," Bubbles said shakily.

"Then take the advice you gave me and don't worry about it."

"But—"

"But nothing. What? So are you worried you're a bad person now or something?"

"Yes," Bubbles said, squeaky voice on the verge of tears.

"Oh, right, like that'd ever happen. You stick your neck out for other people so much you make Mother Teresa look like a thieving con artist. I bet you couldn't even spit in someone's face without making the world a better place somehow.

"What's the measure of good and bad worth, anyway? Good for me? Good for you? Good for the world? How about good for good people? You'll just keep going in circles. So answer me this: assuming everyone knew, is anyone other than you even going to shed one measly tear over this?"

Bubbles hesitated, scrunching her brow in thought. After several seconds breathing steadily, she answered plainly, "No."

"I figured. Then what's got you worked up? If no one else even cares, why should you?"

"I dunno. I guess... I'm just maybe not the person I thought I was."

"Ha. See, here's where the therapists earn their keep. Ever heard of cognition distance? Er, cognetted dissonance? Or whatever they call it. Anyway, when reality doesn't match your image of yourself, it's all frustrating, you know? At the end of the day, you've either gotta change what you do or admit what you are."

"What if you can't, though? What if I can't change anything, and I don't want to be..." Bubbles trailed off.

"Well, I guess you could always change how you look at the world. Maybe something you thought was bad really isn't. I mean, you already said no one but you is even going to raise a fuss. You seem to like making the world a better place. Sounds like you already admitted it couldn't have made the world a worse place—so could it have actually made the world a better place?"

"Well...I guess so, but—"

"Then it's settled. You're crazy. You made the world a better place and you're blabbering to a 'villain' about it making you a bad person. Are you sure you don't want to see some of my therapists?"

Bubbles giggled.

On the other side of the line, Princess briefly wore a relieved, self-satisfied smile before showing concern. "So, uh... What did you do, anyway?"

"Mmm... Maybe some other time. I think you...er...'the friend' was a big help already."

Softly, Princess speculated, "I guess you used to go to them with all this stuff, huh?"

"Yeah," Bubbles said wistfully, remembering time spent with her sisters for the first time in days. "I don't think they'd have let me get away with it so easily, though. Or at all."

"Well, welcome to freedom, honey. It's a big, scary place."

"Yeah, really."

"So, if not today, should I plan to see you tomorrow?"

"Maybe. I've got another big appointment at the hospital. I'll let you know how it goes."

"That's nice of you, but I'll probably know before you do. Money travels faster than the speed of sound. I don't want a repeat of last time."

Bubbles smiled, closed her eyes, and shook her head. "You're not big on privacy, huh?"

"This from the girl who flies over people's heads in a dress."

Bubbles giggled again. "You've got a dirty mind."

"So do they."

After a pause, Bubbles dropped the subject and cooed a soft, "Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll catch you later, then?"

"Yeah. Definitely."