After the discussion with her sisters, Bubbles thought on the best approach to take with Him. She had no fear of him, and though she had long ago given up the suspicion that his loss of memory and injuries were part of some scheme, Bubbles still wasn't sure what to make of the creature. Him was a mystery in and of himself, and had been since their first meeting when she'd been a child. The years that followed had done nothing to shed light on his intentions, other than his want to cause trouble in Townsville, though why he would spend so much time and effort to cause trouble for the city was yet another facet of Him that remained draped in mystery.
But Bubbles had been honest with Him since she and her sisters had brought him into their home, and she saw no reason to deviate from that course now. Him's grasp of his powers was returning to him, surely his full memory would be quick to follow. She wanted to convince him to become their ally, to use his power for good rather than return to facing them as their enemy.
She would hate to have to fight Him once more. It was not the fear of his powers, but the pain of having to fight one who had managed to become her friend. Bubbles had allowed herself to come to care for Him, she had already admitted as much to herself; it would be a horrible thing to find that her trust had been betrayed. He had tricked her several times in the past, she couldn't bear the humiliation of being made a fool of by him again.
Him was not in the backyard, the kitchen or the living room. She knew that he would not be in the Professor's basement laboratory, as Him had shown an aversion to the space for some reason; he'd been brought there only twice in all the time he'd been at their house, and he'd all but run from the space once the Professor had finished with his examinations.
That left only one place where he could be. Bubbles drifted upstairs and peeked into the study. "Him?"
She shivered slightly as that cunning, otherworldly voice echoed from all corners of the room. "Hmmm?"
"Can we talk?"
She watched as a red mist materialized and flowed over the floor, meeting in the center and quickly rising to take shape. Him emerged, forming himself into being. "Oh, Bubbles, you know I always have time for you." He said kindly, opening his arms to welcome her into the small study where he slept. Not that he'd been doing much sleeping, lately.
She smiled, "Thank you. My sisters and I were talking earlier and you came up in conversation." The girl saw no reason to draw out her point in speaking with him. "Your claws are healed and we've seen you using your powers."
Him gestured to the sofa and moved to perch beside her as Bubbles sat down. "Yes, I have been trying but I still can't remember how to get home…or where my home is…or why I can't remember…"
"Do you still dream about your children?" Bubbles asked. They had not spoken of it since the first day he'd mentioned being able to hear his children calling out for him while he slept.
Him shifted and looked away for a moment. "Sometimes. They aren't being hurt, they only sound confused by my disappearance – even more confused than me! I have to remember what happened soon or else some underling with a bold streak will try to take my place." Him clicked his claws. "If that happens, the war for control of my realm will spill into this world and we can't have that."
Bubbles raised her brows. She would have to relate what he'd just said to Blossom, who was still making a habit of questioning Him and making notes of all that he could remember about his origins. "We want you to remember what happened, Him, but not if it means that you'll turn on us again." She said seriously.
"I already told you I wouldn't." Him told her. "I promised it, and I can't break any promise I make."
The petite blonde smirked at him. "Yes, and we all know from past experience that you have a way with words. It's what you do in your actions that count the most, Him. We want you to stay, but you have to prove that you can be good."
His eyes sparked a bright green for a moment as he huffed, "I am in control of my actions, you know!" He smiled at her, then. "But to put your mind at ease, what can I do to prove that I can be...good?"
He all but shuddered in revolt at that last word.
"There are lots of ways. The easiest is just to do good things whenever you see the opportunity." Bubbles explained, trying not to laugh as she watched him cringe at the very concept.
Waiting for an opportunity seemed easy enough to Him; a large part of the mischief he'd performed in the past was based on waiting for the perfect opportunity. "Well, how will I know?"
"It's always come naturally to us, but I guess you'll have to be…trained." Bubbles said, teasing him.
Him snapped his claws and stood up to pace, his long booted legs covering the length of the room in two strides. "Trained? I'm no one's pet!"
Bubbles laughed at his irritation. "It'll be easy, Him…unless you're afraid."
Huffing and petulant, Him crossed his arms. "I told you before, I fear nothing."
"Then this won't be any challenge for you."
He smiled at her, intent to turn the tables on the little blonde minx.
If she wanted to tease him by implying his need to be trained a new trick like a favored animal, then she had to know that he would not perform without reward.
Bubbles gasped as Him pounced at her, his arms suddenly braced against the back of the sofa on either side of her narrow shoulders, his face suddenly very close to her own. Her eyes widened and her pulse jumped at having Him very nearly atop her.
"All right. I'll do what you want, but I want something in return."
Him drew back slightly, just enough for Bubbles to catch her breath. "I...what do you want?"
The demon smiled, flashing his fangs. He leaned in close, and hissed into her ear, "From you, Bubbles? Just a little sugar."
Bubbles could still hear Him's laughter echoing around her as she scowled into her reflection an hour later. Him and his bizarre mood swing, what had all that been about?
She shivered, recalling how quickly the mood between them had changed. It seemed that in one moment they were teasing each other and in the next, he'd trapped her beneath him and made his desire frighteningly clear.
Him desired her.
Bubbles shook her head, feeling foolish. Here she had grown to care for Him and could admit that she found him attractive...had he sensed that and only been teasing her for it, or had he been genuine in his want of her in return for performing good deeds?
The damn creature was such a mystery that Bubbles didn't have a clue one way or the other. She'd been so shocked by his words and behavior that she'd run from him the moment he backed away from her. Him had not followed to press on with his proposition, but she'd heard him laughing as she retreated into her room.
She shivered, confused by her body's mutual thrill and terror at having Him so suddenly, intimately close.
If her body was merely confused, then her mind was a complete mess.
That she, a young woman who had devoted the use of her powers to the greater good of her city since childhood, should allow herself to become infatuated with a former enemy - an inhuman former enemy, at that! - was a thing that shamed her. She could tell no one, and she could not begin to avoid Him without arousing the suspicion of her family.
But why should it be a cause for shame?
Bubbles slipped on her pajamas and thought on that question, though if it had come from her own mind or it was another trick of Him's, she couldn't say for sure.
The next morning, Bubbles invited Him to go on a walk through the neighborhood. She had a plan in mind for him, a test of his understanding.
In his disguise as a young man, a character Bubbles had christened Larry, Him fell into step with her as she strolled down the sidewalk. Her clothing was casual for the sunny weekend: a dark denim skirt and a blouse of pale pink that Him suspected had been pulled from Blossom's closet. Freed from her preferred low pigtails, the blonde strands had instead been braided into a long golden rope down her back.
Neither one of them made mention of what had happened the night before: Bubbles because she was too embarassed, Him because he wanted to see how Bubbles would respond to his proposition now that the seed had been planted in her mind.
He was merely curious, and still found himself infatuated with the petite hero. He remebered the three sisters besting him in the past, but Bubbles had been his favorite PowerPuff to toy with, usually by manipulating her trusting nature. Now that she was less a girl and more a woman, he wanted to toy with her in a different way.
He followed Bubbles around the corner to the next block of her neighborhood and he stopped behind her as her eyes fell on a group of children standing below a tree. Bubbles smirked at seeing them.
Right on time, she thought in relief.
She had explained things to the kids as best she could, but Him was anything if predictable which is why she'd gone to the trouble of creating an opportunity for him to do some good.
Bubbles tugged on Him's human arm. "Aw, those poor kids! Look, their kite is stuck in the top branches and the tree is too high for them to climb."
Him only looked at her blankly.
Bubbles cleared her throat pointedly. "If someone taller was here, maybe he could bring the kite down for them."
The wheels began to turn in his mind, slowly grinding out an idea.
Him looked up at the red kite so high above them, its tail tangled in the thin branches; he looked down at the upset children; he looked at Bubbles beside him, her pretty eyes hoping for him to do the right thing.
The kite. The tree. The children. Bubbles.
Kite. Tree. Children. Bubbles.
In an instant, it clicked, and Him understood what he should do.
Bubbles took a step back as "Larry" melted away, his form and features blurring away to reveal the devilish creature he truly was. Him spread his arms wide, expanding his size until he towered above Bubbles, the children and the surrounding houses, forty feet tall at the very least.
Him glared at the tree, his eyes beginning a slow burn into the thick trunk.
Bubbles shook her head, "Oh, no."
The tree burst into flames, a flare that rose into the air before the fire died away to reveal a black, charred husk where a beautiful, flourishing oak tree had been growing only moments before.
Him was not finished.
He drew back his now massive claw and swung it into the destroyed trunk. In a shower of burnt black splinters, he'd knocked the tree over into the street, it's long branches catching on a power line and bringing down several electricity poles, the tree's impact on hitting the ground setting off many nearby car alarms.
Seemingly unbothered by the noise and chaos he'd just created, Him began to reduce his size as he gingerly walked to the top branches of the fallen tree, and retrieved all that remained of the kite: the warped, half-melted frame.
He then approached the group of children who had cowered behind Bubbles, and handed the ruined kite frame to the nearest little boy.
All at once, the children shrieked in fear and ran from Him as fast as they could.
Him turned to Bubbles. "How did I do?"
Bubbles didn't have the heart to wipe the smile of triumph from his face. She sighed and tried to smile back at him. "Not exactly what I had in mind, but we're getting closer."
Several hours later, Professor Utonium looked up as a haggard-looking Bubbles entered the kitchen and moved toward the freezer. He watched as she took out a pint of Ben & Jerry's and dug into it with a spoon, tension radiating from her petite form as she ate with purpose.
"Hey, Bubbles, how did it go with Him?" He asked tentatively.
She swallowed an ice-cold spoonful of Phish Food and sighed. "Not so good Professor."
"No? And why's that?"
Bubbles set her pint on the table and sat down across from the man. "It's Him. I tried to get him to do some good earlier today but he kept going overboard with his powers. I swear, he almost destroyed the whole neighborhood today!"
The Professor nodded. "Bubbles, it's only been one day, and he's a little like a wild animal, you can't expect his instincts to leave him overnight. Him has been through a severe trauma and it's certainly been an adjustment for him just to live here with us. I don't know what he did when he wasn't fighting you girls, but I highly doubt that was the only time he used his powers."
"What do you mean?"
He scratched his temple, "Well, being what he is, he probably used his powers for lots of things but I'm sure most of it was for malice of some kind or another. He's never known how to use his power for good. I'm sure that the concept of being good, for the simple sake of being good, is alien to him."
Bubbles cradled her head in her hands. "I tried to guide him but he wound up burning down a tree and scaring a bunch of neighborhood kids."
"Mmm, so I suppose it's safe to assume he was the reason our block lost power earlier today?"
She looked up, "I think he really was trying, but it's like he has to cause as much trouble as possible in everything he does!"
The Professor extended his arm to put his hand over her own on the table. "Your frustration is understandable, honey, and I know how making Him into a force for good has become something of a project for you – but a leopard can't change his spots, you know."
"I understand what you're saying, Professor, but I'm not ready to give up on him just yet. I believe that he can choose to be good, all Him needs is a reason to change."