I hadn't been to the beach in a long time. Even though it was chilly, the air felt great on my face. Bubbles and I were the only ones there. She hadn't said much so far. We had spent the day wondering around some of the old places where we used to hang out. It was fun to see how things had changed, but I was too curious about Bubbles to really enjoy the nostalgia.

The sun was beginning to set. We were on the sand eating large cheeseburgers. It had always been our favorite snake when we were kids. I remember how surprised I was the first time I saw her devour one in five seconds. Those first few weeks we started spending time together were so much fun, watching her do all kinds of un-Bubbles like things.

I looked over at her. She was wearing a very strange looking scarf. It had a nice star pattern on it, but she must have torn it off of a bed sheet or something. I liked how long it was, and how it flowed in the wind. I decided to tell her that. "That's a really cool scarf. It looks great, like you're a super hero."

She looked over at me as she finished eating her burger. "You always did like my weird clothes."

"Yeah, I've always admired that about it you, and…about my-"

"You've got it backwards." She said out of nowhere.

I did a quick look at myself. "What do you mean I-"

"It wasn't anything you did that made me change."

I smiled and my shoulders instantly relaxed. I hadn't even noticed how tense I had been. "I'm so glad to hear that! I was really worried that when I didn't show up at your house that day…"

"I don't blame you for that. Even though they're crazy and evil, they're still your family. I realized pretty quickly that asking you to just abandon them like that was too much. I wouldn't have been able to do it either."

We were silent for a few minutes. Just the sound of the tide. A few seagulls were hopping around near the water. I was happy that Bubbles wasn't upset about me leaving…but I still felt rotten. I may not have abandoned my family, but I did abandon her. My friend. Maybe I could have found a way to keep myself with all of them.

I turned and looked at her. "If it wasn't me, then what was it?" I asked.

"Like I said, you had it backwards. It wasn't you Boomer, it was everyone else."

"But…I don't understand." I felt bad for not getting what she was saying. Sometimes I wish I could have an easier time reading between the lines, like Brick and Butch.

Bubbles turned towards me. "You did understand. You understood how I wanted to have fun and do my own thing. Go my own way. Be myself. No one else understood that."

She got up and slowly walked towards the water. I followed her as she aimlessly wondered around the sand. I figured she was trying to find the right way to explain things. I do that too.

She looked out at the endless water. "I was…lonely…after you left. I decided to stop hiding in Cityville. And when I starting acting differently-"

"They all thought you'd gone nuts." I finished her sentence for her.

She looked at me for a second. I was glad that I had finally caught on. She continued. "No one would accept that I wanted to be different. Not my sisters, not my friends, not the people of Townsville…no one. They thought something was wrong with me. Blossom and Buttercup kept trying to "fix" me so I'd go back to normal. After a while, I just couldn't take it anymore."

I rubbed the back of my head. I wanted to say something, but I just couldn't think of the right words. I knew that Bubbles could sense how sorry I was for her. She could always read me really well.

Bubbles began hovering just slightly off the ground. She gradually moved over the water. Naturally I followed her. "No one wanted me to change. They all wanted me to stay the same. To be sweet, innocent, naïve, and bubbly. The town couldn't handle having its predictable little world shattered."

I flew in front her. "But listen, I'm back now. You don't have to be lonely anymore. We can go have fun again."

She closed her eyes and smiled. Wow, it was great seeing her smile again, after all this time. "You're sweet Boomer, but I need a little more time."

After saying that, she began to slowly fly away. I didn't follow her that time. I could just sort of tell that our meeting was over. Maybe I'm not as bad at reading between the lines as I think I am.

I spent some time wondering around the beach. The sun was almost set now. I sat down on the sand and tried to sort my thoughts out. How was I going to handle all of this? Mojo and Him were going to come to Townsville eventually and try to kill the Puffs. So far I hadn't done a damn thing to stop them, or slow them down, or anything. I wondered what my brothers were thinking. Well, it wasn't hard to know what Butch was thinking. He'd been bragging about how he was the only one who'd actually been making progress.

The sun was almost down now. There was still red light dancing along the ocean. What about Brick? He'd been acting oddly for a couple of weeks now. Brick had been really determined before we got here, but looking at him now….he'd been so quiet, and distant. Was he having second thoughts about all this? I know that Blossom hadn't turned out to be the psycho perfectionist we thought she'd be, so was that throwing him off this badly?

I kept staring at the red light as I thought about my situation. The sun was down now, and the stars were bright. They just made me think about Bubbles scarf. I wondered if I could help her by talking to her sisters. Surely Blossom would listen and understand if I carefully explained what had happened all those years ago. Then Bubbles would be happy again, and I could tell them about what Mojo and Him were planning to do.

Something clicked in my brain. The sun was down…so…why was there still red light reflecting on the water? Then I had a much more important question, why was it moving?

The light was spinning around on the water's surface. It began to move faster and faster. I stood up and backed away as it became a whirlpool. A red whirlpool. Then I heard the laughing. His laughing.

Suddenly everything turned red. The water, the sky, the sand, the air. I put my arm up as a bright flash of red light nearly blinded me. The laughter was still ringing in my ears. Once the light went away, the form of my Dad floated on the water.

"Oh Boomie, it's so good to see you again." Him said with a smile.

"Wha, what are you…doing here?" I asked as a slightly trembled.

"You know, beach stuff. Getting a tan, hanging ten, watching you catch up with your old friend."

I felt my blood go cold. I wanted to fly away as fast as I could, but my body didn't want to move.

"Did you think I wouldn't notice? All those times you snuck out at night, and those times when you'd disappear for hours? I'm just a biiiiiiit more perceptive then the average villain you know."

I wanted to say something, anything.

Him let out a depressed sight and hung his head. "I was really hoping we could have avoided this. That's why I took you away from here. Can't have those horrible girls corrupting my most valuable weapons, after all."

"She's not corrupting me!" I suddenly shouted. "Bubbles has treated me better than you or anyone else ever has! I'm not your weapon either, and I'm not going let you hurt her, or her sisters, or anyone else!"

Him didn't looked fazed at all by my outburst. He just smiled and chuckled. "OH REALLY!" He yelled, pointing one of his claws at me.

The pain that came! It was like my blood had been replaced with boiling water! I wrapped my arms around my chest and fell to my knees. I couldn't see anything, couldn't breathe, couldn't move. Then it was gone. I sucked in as much air as I could. My sight was coming back, but I felt so dizzy. I gave up and let myself drop onto the sand. I stared up at the stars, waiting for my head to clear up. As soon as it did, Him's grinning face appeared above me.

"That's what happens when you don't behave." He said mocking.

I rolled to my right and got up. Great, now what was I supposed to do? There was nothing I could do, so I did nothing. Him just laughed as I stood there.

"I wouldn't unleash monsters like you three without making sure I had an actual leash." Him said as he lazily floated in the air. "And don't get any funny ideas about trying to attack me, because you're only alive thanks to my powers. If I go down…" Him somehow snapped his claw and caused fire to appear around me. I wanted to move, but the heat was all around me. The fire got bigger and bigger, closer and closer. I had to close my eyes once it got too close. "YOU GO DOWN WITH ME!" I heard Him's loud voice right next to me.

Suddenly the heat was gone. I opened my eyes and saw that everything was back to normal. No fire, no red coloring everywhere. Just Him, sitting on a beach chair. He lifted up his sunglasses, looked over me and smiled. "But I'm sure you won't have to resort to doing something so drastic. Look at the bright side, once the girls are gone I can dispose of that annoying monkey, not to mention anything else that gets on my nerves, and if you boys behave and do a good job, I might just let you keep living."

"And another thing sweetie." Him said as he floated up into the sky on his chair. "Do try and keep your brothers on track. I'm worried that Brick might be having a similar problem. See you soon!" He said happily, and disappeared.

I sat there for a long time. I can't remember the last time I was scared to move.