It was the day before the preliminary presentations. As it was for all the other nominees Miss Keane had to expect some visitors. Miss Keane grinned when she saw Bubbles and her "cute committee". All the class looked extra adorable that day, (Mitch wore a shirt that said "Keane Rocks") but Bubbles and her committee looked uber cute. Bubbles reminded Miss Keane of Shirley Temple, with her hair in ringlets and ribbons. She showed Miss Keane her drawing and Miss Keane laughed, "Wait 'til I tell them the clincher that'll blow their socks off!" Bubbles giggled.
"You girls are so adorable!" Miss Keane gushed to Bubbles and her cute committee, "If that doesn't make the judges heart melt, nothing will."
Buttercup made a gagging noise before she turned to her committee. "All right gang listen up!" Mitch, Lloyd and Floyd stood at attention. "At ease soldiers," Buttercup shook her head, mildly amused by their reaction, "In exactly 30 minutes, the judges will arrive to watch our class and Miss K. You all know what this means? Mitchellson!"
"We must be at our best behaviour sir!" Mitch saluted. Buttercup glared at him. "I mean ma'am."
"That's right, and what else does this mean? Floyjoyson!"
"Uh… which one?" one of the twins asked.
"Um, Lloyd." Buttercup shrugged.
Lloyd answered, "Him will most likely be in the vicininin…vicinin…the area!"
"And what does that mean for us? Floyd!" Buttercup asked, pacing back and forth in front of her committee.
"Keep on the look out for a red demon in drag!"
"Oookay… correct. And what do we do if we see him?" Buttercup asked, "The first one to answer gets a cookie."
"Kick his butt!" they exclaimed in unison.
"No!" Buttercup stated, "Discreetly inform a Powerpuff Girl and we'll get on it. Remember, you three don't have superpowers. However, in the unlikely event that a Powerpuff Girl is occupied with another mission, feel free to do what you will."
"So does this mean we still get a cookie?" Mitch asked.
Buttercup rolled her eyes and went to check on Blossom, "How's it coming Red?"
"I still don't know," Blossom sighed, "And don't call me that."
"If you ask me, I think we have enough," Bubbles shrugged, joining them.
"Yeah, for now, but come on guys, Him is a menace. I would love it if we could just come up with a way so that he won't bother Miss Keane, or us for that matter again," Blossom sighed.
"Can't we just play it by ear?" Buttercup asked.
"I guess at this rate we'll have to," Blossom sighed.
"Cheer up," Bubbles smiled, "You can still be in charge of Miss Keane's presentation. Besides, I don't think there's anything we can do to stop Him permanently."
"I guess you're right," Blossom sighed, "But you know I'm sick of Him and all the mind games he pulls on people just to spite us and bug us. It takes away people's free will and that makes me mad. But bothering someone like Miss Keane just because she was able to resist him and stand up to him… it's going too far! He has no right! It's like you said Buttercup, his fight is supposed to be with us, not her! That's why I'm determined to find a way to get the better of Him. You know, we may have won the battle in the past, but now I think it's time we win the war darn it!"
"Go Blossom!" Buttercup grinned, impressed by her sister's inspiring little rant.
"But how do you outsmart a demon? He may be on the lame side, going through a professional slump, losin' his creativity, but he's still a demon!" Blossom fretted.
Miss Keane came up behind Blossom and smiled, "Blossom, I appreciate all that you've done to help me, but relax. I'm sure you will think of something. I know you will. In the meantime… well you three girls have done so much. I feel confident things will work out. I see great progress thanks to you three and the rest of you guys!" she said, addressing the class. "And no matter what happens, whether I win or not, I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful bunch of students. I feel like I've won already."
"Aw!" the class shrugged and blushed.
"No… no, I mean it I…" she stopped when she saw Mr. Bradly and Mrs Moore come in, "Hello Mr. Bradly, Hello Mrs Moore. Class these are the people I told you about who will be visiting today."
"Hello!" the class greeted sweetly.
"Get on with it then Miss Keane, don't mess up," Mr Bradly frowned, glaring at her from over the rim of his glasses.
Miss Keane instructed the obedient class, their mere presence ruining her confidence again. She nervously taught the class while avoiding the scrutinizing looks from her superiors and judges. When recess came Miss Keane sighed with relief because now they were going to interview various class members and Miss Keane could breathe a bit. The class was backing her up, so she didn't have to worry about what their answers would be.
"Now Bubbles," Mrs Moore asked, "What are you working on?" Bubbles pretended to finish colouring her picture.
"Oh just a picture I drew of me and Miss Keane, see?" Bubbles replied, in her cutest voice holding up the picture.
"Did she ask you to do this to manipulate us?" Mrs Moore demanded.
Bubbles was offended by that question but maintained her maximum cuteness level, "No. I'm drawing this for Mother's Day."
"Miss Keane is not your mother," Mrs Moore said.
"I know, but I don't have a mother, and Miss Keane is so nurturing that I look up to her as a mommy," Bubbles giggled sweetly. "She's my favourite teacher!"
"She's the only teacher you've had. So what makes her so special?"
"Well, I don't know, she's nice, and fun, and knows how to make learning fun! Oh! And she's funny too! Did you know she saved our life once?" Bubbles asked sweetly.
"So I've heard," Mrs Moore actually smiled, "You know you are such a cutie!"
"Thank you," Bubbles curtsied.
Meanwhile Mitch was talking with Mr. Bradly while he played catch with Jeff. "So Mitchell, why do you think Miss Keane, should or shouldn't win."
"I don't know," Mitch shrugged, "She's just cool."
"I noticed you're shirt says 'Keane Rocks', did she ask you to do that?"
"Why would she do that? She's just cool," Mitch shrugged, "I wear what I want, ain't no one gonna tell me what I wear!"
"Right, I see," Mr. Bradly frowned.
Mitch glanced beyond Mr Bradly and saw a funny looking kid approach them.
"I don't know," said the kid, "She's not that cool, in fact, I think she's mean!" he said.
"Oh really?" Mr Bradly grinned.
"Uh huh, and Miss Keane was all like, 'be good and impress the judges because I want win and if I don't you will all get detention for three weeks because it would be your fault,'" the strange looking kid nodded.
"She said that?"
"No she didn't!" Mitch insisted, "And who are you anyway? You're not in our class!"
The strange looking kid glared at Mitch for a moment. "Yes I am."
"Oh yeah, right," Mitch nodded, "I remember you. You're new. It's true, Miss K did say that," Mitch nodded.
Blossom who was sitting under a nearby tree figuring out some plans looked up and noticed this, "Mitch!" Blossom hissed, "Don't listen to him! It's not true!"
"Yeah!" Lloyd and Floyd arrived, "This kid does not go here," Lloyd (or maybe Floyd) said.
"That's because it's HIM!!" Buttercup flew over, gently knocking Mitch at the side of his head, "You dolt! You're supposed to keep an eye out!"
"Oh fine," Him shrugged, "You got me. But I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve."
"Jerk!" Buttercup charged and Him vanished. "He makes me so mad!"
"Who does?" Mr. Bradly asked, evidently having no memory of Him ever joining them.
"Uh, no one," Blossom shrugged.
During the rest of recess, everyone kept an eye out for Him and once or twice he tried to manipulate either the kids, or Miss Keane's superiors, but there was always someone around to catch on and there was always at least one Powerpuff at hand to stop him.
"If you ask me, I don't think he's trying anymore," Buttercup frowned. "Either that or he's got no talent left."
"Yeah, but he's still annoying," Blossom sighed.
Bubbles frowned, "Too bad he's not as easy to defeat as Rumplestitlskin!"
"What?" Blossom asked.
"In the story last night," Bubbles explained, "Once she guessed his name, she defeated him for good. I just wish it was that easy with Him. You know, I never understood what the big deal was about the guys name. It seems silly to me, a bit too easy."
"Well Bubbles," Blossom explained, "Some cultures put high value to names, and some used to believe that by calling a daemon by their name would summon the creature and give the person power over that demon."
"Just by saying their name?"
"Something like that, I don't know," Blossom shrugged.
"Hmm, I wonder what Him's real name is…" Bubbles pondered.
"I don't know I…" Blossom stopped, "Bubbles! That's it! You're a genius!"
"I am?" Bubbles raised a brow, confused then she grinned, "Oh, yeah, I am! What?"
"Him!" Blossom called out, "We know you're here! Show yourself!"
In a poof of pink smoke Him appeared, "What is it? I'm busy."
Buttercup glared at him annoyed, "We know, jerk."
"Oh look, Mr. Bradly and Mrs. Moore are leaving," Him grinned, watching them pull away. Miss Keane sighed with relief as she waved after them. "Well, that plan failed," he looked to the girls menacingly, "What do you want? It's time for me to work on plan B, and you girls with your cute interferences are beginning to annoy me."
"What's your name?" Bubbles asked sweetly.
"As if I'd tell you," Him shrugged, "Don't you know that my name is so terrifying that if a mortal were to hear it they'd go insane?"
"Whatever!" Buttercup waved her arms, "What is it?"
Him rolled his eyes, "Guess." he said sarcastically.
"If we guess right, will you leave Miss Keane alone?" Blossom asked.
"Fine," Him shrugged, "But I doubt you'd be able to guess."
"We get unlimited guesses right? And everyone in the class is allowed to guess, right?" Blossom asked.
"Why not, I still doubt you'd get it," Him replied, "I'll even give you a day to come up with your guesses if you're so bent on guessing. Excuse me, I have to go come up with another plot for revenge since you and your pathetic schoolmates were so bent on ruining a simple game of manipulation. I'll be back tomorrow so you little brats can present your stupid guesses! But it won't work!" he vanished, apparently distracted.
"He doesn't seem to be too worried, does he?" Buttercup frowned, folding her arms.
"Well, of course not if his name's that scary!" Bubbles said.
"We'll see," Blossom shrugged. "He might be bluffing. Or he might be just trying to get us to let our guard down. Who knows? Anyway, it's all we got right now. Come on, let's go tell everyone what's up. We need all the help we can get."
A/N Care to help the class of Poky Oaks Kindergarten guess?
Well, one or two chapters left to go! Sorry it took me forever to update. I've had writer's block on this story big time. Anyway, as always thanks are in order…
Pilfered Sympathy: Bubbles is adorable anyway, but she's bringing in the big guns… er, ribbons. Samara from the "Ring" was a cutie, especially the part where she kills people… (*shifty eyes*)
Hairy Gregory: Thanks! Not much else to say right now.
Starship Gazer: Thanks for the compliments!
Dooly: While Him doesn't seem too mad in this chapter, he really is. He's furious.
PinkPuff514: Thank you for the compliments. I hope this chapter was long enough for you.
