"Somewhere Under The Weather" by furrball
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is what happens when you start out to write a story, and the story writes itself in a completely different direction. As you may have already guessed from the title, it features my favorite first season villainess (and future HOP Force member), Drake Sy—oops, I mean Weather Vane. The time frame in this one is the period from after "Weathering Heights" to somewhere before "Acmegeddon (Part One)". There is a small bit of descriptive real life-type violence in this tale (sorry), so apologies at the outset. Okay. End of disclaimer. This is where the story starts…
---
KA-BOOOM!!!
The artificially-induced eruption that resulted from Slam Tasmanian throwing an explosive device down an active volcano that day in 2772 accomplished several things: first and foremost, it destroyed the storm dragon unleashed when Weather Vane lost her temper; and second, it established once and for all that Tech E. Coyote really needed to get out of the lab more often.
There was only one unknown variable in all of this…
---
A few days later, Tech sat down at his computer, typing aimlessly. If anybody had asked him, he probably would have muttered some technobabble about trying to formulate a new equation or something, and he would have been able to convince them that that's exactly what he was doing.
Anybody who really knew him, however, would have known that wasn't true.
If there was one thing that bothered Tech more than anything else - including the quacking of Danger Duck's cell phone - it was an unsolved riddle, and right now the one resolutely planting itself in his brain like a gorse bush was a doozy:
What actually happened to Weather Vane?
What bothered him so much wasn't the riddle.
It was one of only two possible answers.
Either Weather Vane had become even more powerful, and therefore more dangerous... or she had died; and for reasons even he couldn't explain, the second answer bothered him far more than the first. He could live with the idea of a more powerful villain; after all, that was part of the Loonatics' job, to deal with super villains.
What he couldn't reconcile himself to was the fact that before she was Weather Vane, she was a young woman named Paula Hayes, who (to use an overworked cliché) didn't ask for what happened to her...
and thanks to the Loonatics, she was probably dead now.
There was no way Tech E. Coyote could ever live with that knowledge.
He rose from his computer with a determined frown on his muzzle. He had to know, one way or the other, what had happened to her. Only then would he be able to satisfy himself that the case was finally over. He strode silently out of the lab, took the elevator to the upper floor which opened out into the combination garage/hangar, and climbed aboard his Zoomatrix. Firing up the ignition, he sailed out of the sliding triangular door in the top half of the orb. Now, he was a coyote on a mission... in search of some answers...
---
The first place he visited was the Acme-T studios, figuring that maybe he could get some background on Paula. He parked his Zoomatrix and stepped inside the lobby, approaching the receptionist's desk. "Excuse me," he said. "My name is Tech E. Coyote. Can you tell me where I can find the…"
The receptionist was a cute blonde girl with oversize glasses, who had a name tag on her coat that read, "Hi. My name is Sharon". She looked up from doing her sudoku puzzle and smiled. "Hey, you're one of the Loonatics, aren't you?"
"That's right… Sharon. I'm trying to find the news department, specifically, the weather division…"
"You might as well forget it, Miss Breeze never sees anyone without an appointment. Matter of fact, she never sees anyone with an appointment, either…"
"I'll file that away for future reference, but actually, I'm not here to see her. I need some information about a young woman who used to work here…"
"Look, let me save you some trouble, all right? We have a lot of people who used to work here. I wouldn't know half of them from Adam."
"Adam who?" Tech smiled. This got a blank response from Sharon, so he cleared his throat and tried again. "Um, never mind. Her name is… or, rather, was Paula Hayes…"
Sharon scratched her head with the top of her pen. "Paula… Hayes… oh yes, I remember her. She was Miss Breeze's assistant. Shame about what happened to her…" At that moment, who should pass through the lobby but Misty Breeze herself. "Oh, wait just a second. Miss Breeze?"
"What is it?" Misty sighed irritably. "I'm due to have my publicity photo taken in a few minutes, and you wouldn't believe the prices they charge if you keep them waiting…"
"The studio charges overtime for publicity photos?" Tech asked curiously.
Misty looked at the coyote as if he'd just asked her how to spell duh. "Please! I never use the studio shutterbugs; they never get my good side!"
'I'm not surprised,' Tech thought to himself.
"Hey, wait a second… you're with the Loonatics, aren't you?" Misty asked apprehensively.
"That's right… is anything wrong, Miss Breeze?"
Misty looked around cautiously. "That pesky duck isn't here, is he?"
"No, not this time," Tech smiled.
"Good! Well, what is it you want?"
"I'm looking for some information about Paula Hayes…"
"THAT stupid little twit? She couldn't even make a decent tube of coffee, much less a halfway competent weather reporter, if you ask me!"
"Oh?"
"Yeah, she was just a spoiled little rich girl who wanted to get on camera…"
"Okay, Misty, that'll be enough!" Tech turned around to see a tall brown-skinned man with a goatee and yellow wraparound shades. "Don't you have some photographers to annoy?"
"Oh, you're right. Gotta go. Oh, if you see that duck, give him this for me." Misty handed Tech an envelope. "It's a cease and desist order."
"I'm sure he'll appreciate it," Tech smiled as Misty left.
"Sorry about that, Mr. Coyote, I'm still a little touchy about what happened to Paula…"
"I understand. You were the director on scene that day, weren't you?"
"That's right. Rob Feldspar. What can I do for you?"
"I'm trying to find out anything about Weath… er, Paula…" the coyote corrected himself.
"You've come to the right place, I'm afraid," Rob sighed. "Follow me…"
---
"Unfortunately, Misty's a little harsh on the help," Rob explained as Tech followed him into his office.
"Somehow, you'll excuse me for thinking 'stupid little twit' is more than 'a little harsh', Mr. Feldspar," Tech muttered. "What was this about her being a, quote, 'spoiled little rich girl', unquote?"
"Oh yeah, that. You ever hear of Rutherford Hayes?"
"The multi-billionaire industrialist? Yes, who hasn't?"
"Paula was his daughter… adopted daughter, actually. She had her heart set on becoming a weather reporter, so she applied for our intern program fresh out of high school. She could have bought her way into any station on the planet, but she told me that's not how she wanted to do it."
"That doesn't sound so spoiled to me," Tech noted.
"Try telling that to Misty," Rob sighed again. "Unfortunately, Misty saw her as a threat to her job, you know how that goes, so she took her on as her assistant."
"Paula must have been crus… deflat… disappointed," the coyote said, fumbling for the right word.
"Not at all, Tech. She loved it at first. It gave her enough cash to get her own apartment, as well as up-close television experience." Rob sighed. "The problem was, Paula was still too young and inexperienced."
"I thought that was part of what being an intern was all about, getting the experience…"
"Yeah… oh, don't get me wrong, Tech, she was smart. She once told me she wanted to apply for the Acmetropolis Meteorological Society someday…"
"Talk about your lofty goals! Do you think she might have made it?"
"I'm almost sure she would have if… if that hadn't happened to her…"
"Yes… what exactly did happen to her? Can you describe it for me?"
"I can do more than that," Rob said, punching up a video file on his computer. "We were broadcasting that day and caught it all on camera. See for yourself." Rob stood back while Tech sat down at the console and watched wide-eyed as the lightning struck Paula.
"That's… impossible! Nobody could have lived through all that!" Tech declared softly, as he watched Paula being lifted up off the ground, screaming in agony, with light emanating from her mouth and eyes.
"But she did," Rob noted. "Perhaps it would have been better for her if she hadn't, poor girl… Did she really turn into a storm dragon before she… died?"
"I'll level with you, Rob," Tech sighed. "We're still not sure that was her… and we're still not sure she isn't alive, either. We just don't know… Can I get a copy of that footage?"
"Sure. I promised myself I wasn't going to watch it anymore…"
"But you do anyway?"
"Every night since it happened. Misty says I shouldn't obsess about it so much…"
"She may actually have a point, for once," Tech said softly.
"I suppose," Rob sighed as he handed Tech the videocard. "Here you go. Oh, Tech, if you do find her, and she isn't…"
"Yes?"
"Well… let me know so I can see to it she gets a decent funeral, would you? She was a sweet kid, really. She didn't deserve to have that happen to her…"
"Nobody does, Rob…" Tech paused before leaving. "That reminds me, you said she had an apartment. Do you know where it is?"
"Oh, yeah, I can give you the address," he said, writing it down on a piece of paper. "Here you go…"
---
Tech's next stop was Paula's apartment. Not surprisingly, all her possessions had already been packed up and moved out. The landlady, however, did give Tech a forwarding address, a mansion in one of the ritzier suburbs, so he went there. Unlike most mansions in Acmetropolis, with their high walls, security gates, etc., this one was actually inviting. At least, he certainly hoped so. He rang the doorbell and waited a few seconds. He considered ringing it again when the door opened.
A beautiful woman met his gaze, and Tech was startled. She looked almost exactly like Paula Hayes, except that her hair was dark brown and her eyes were soft blue. She also wore wire rimmed glasses, yet for all her beauty, still looked like she bore the weight of the cosmos on her shoulders. "Oui? May I help you, Monsieur Coyote?" she asked in a soft French accent.
"I hope so. I was told by Paula's landlady that her…" He stopped. "Forgive me, have we ever met?"
"Years ago," the woman replied, smiling. "I was a guest lecturer at the Acmetropolis Institute, and you asked me about my work in genetic mutation."
"Dr. Moreau! Of course, now I remember!"
"Please, call me Paulette… Tech, non?"
"Non… I mean, yes… may I come in?"
"But of course," she smiled. "Entrez-vous, s'il vous plâit." She led Tech through the main corridor and down the hallway to a locked bedroom. "This was my daughter's room, Tech," she said, unlocking the door. "Call me a hopeless romantic genetic scientist, but I wanted to have it ready for her if… if…" She removed her glasses and let the tears fall. "Pardonnez moi, Monsieur Tech, I don't mean to get so emotional…"
"I understand, Paulette," Tech sighed, producing a fresh tissue and gently wiping her tears away. After a few moments of silence, the coyote sighed again. "Listen, this is probably a bad time, maybe I should go…"
"No, Tech," Dr. Moreau said, attempting to smile. "Please stay. I'll tell you anything I can about Paula, if you tell me… how did she die?"
"That's just it, Paulette. I don't think she did."
"Then… she may still be alive?"
"Alive, yes, but I'm afraid…"
"You don't have to say it, Tech. This horrible Weather Vane she's become, that's not Paula." Paulette opened the door, and Tech took in a silent gasp. What Paulette defined as a bedroom could easily pass for a mid-size apartment. She led him over to a small bookcase. "She loved to read, Monsieur Tech."
"So I see," he noted, quickly scanning the book titles. "A lot of books on weather… wait a minute… Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?"
"Oh, yes. Paula loved reading Sherlock Holmes stories; she couldn't get enough of them. I think if she could have, she would have loved to live in that Victorian era. She said it wasn't as complicated as things are today."
"I don't really blame her," Tech smiled. "I would have never figured her for a fan of detective fiction…"
"There's a lot you don't know about my daughter, Tech," she smiled, handing him a scrapbook.
"I guess not," he said, his attention turned to a couple of small framed pictures on the top of the bookcase. "The family?"
"Yes, Tech," Paulette smiled. "This was taken a couple of Christmases ago. That's her father, me, Paula, and her brother Paul."
"You must have had a thing about that name, huh?" he chuckled. "Who's this she's with in the other picture?"
"That's her uncle Ben – he's Rutherford's brother – and aunt May. They have a small farm on the outskirts of Acmetropolis City. That's their daughter Pauline next to Paula. She's 10 now. They really loved each other, especially after…" Dr. Moreau sighed, and wiped a tear away. "Forgive me, Tech. Pauline had a younger sister who died from encephalitis. Pauline's all they have now… and the farm."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Tech said. "She must have really loved her families," Tech mused, sitting on a chair and leafing through the scrapbook.
"Oui, she did."
Tech stopped at an item in the scrapbook. "Paula was a champion sky surfer?"
"Five years in a row from 12 to 16."
"Imagine that," Tech smiled. He was really starting to get a fuller picture of the girl that Paula Hayes had been… and all of it made her transformation that much more tragic.
Dr. Moreau paused to sigh. "Do you know, Tech, I have Acme Prizes for my studies in genetic mutation and advances in human genome research, diplomas from the top universities, patents in every corner of the universe… and still, I would give them all away to have my little girl back?"
"I understand, Paulette. What I can't figure out is how being struck by lightning could cause so dramatic a change in her…"
"I have a theory, Tech," she replied. "Maybe it goes back to when she was caught in the radiation from the meteor."
"She was?"
"Oui," Paulette said, "but she never exhibited any symptoms. I suppose it was because her brother guessed what was about to happen, and tried shielding her with his own body, absorbing most of the impact himself."
"That was noble of him, but it still wouldn't have completely protected her," Tech mused. "Tell me, what happened to Paul?"
"He was in intense pain for six weeks, but other than that, perfectly normal afterwards… except he became a bit more – how vous say – moody."
"I can understand that part. When we were exposed to the radiation, Zadavia put us in an artificially induced coma for six weeks because our DNA was so affected that we wouldn't have been able to stand the pain otherwise."
"Perhaps I should have consulted this… Zadavia, is he?"
"She… what happened to Paula?"
"She was sick for only a couple of weeks, and after that, nothing except a sudden interest in the… weather…" Paulette looked back at the bookcase, and then at Tech. "Mon Dieu! Tech, maybe her condition was only semi-dormant!"
"Of course, and the lightning completed it! Now it all fits together!" Tech rose suddenly. "Dr. Moreau… Paulette… I can't thank you enough…"
"But… I thought you wanted to know about Paula…"
"Believe me, I know more now than I ever would have imagined. Tell me, do you think the effects could be reversed?"
"I don't know, Tech," Paulette sighed. "I'd need a blood sample from someone who'd… been affected…" She stopped and looked at the coyote. "Monsieur Tech…"
"Dr. Moreau, my arm is at your service," he smiled…
---
Somewhere in the middle of the ocean, on an otherwise deserted island, a girl awoke from her occasional blissful periods of unconsciousness. Unfortunately for her, they were blissful only because each waking moment intensified the excruciating pain she was already in. She would have tried standing up, but she was buried under so much underbrush, shrubbery, thickets, etc. that even that was impossible… with or without the pain.
She stopped asking how she got here. She no longer cared.
She tried raising herself with her arms and collapsed immediately, screaming, tears coming to her eyes. Something was definitely wrong. She coughed, and gasped as a small stream of blood spewed forth to land unceremoniously on an uncaring leaf. 'What the heck happened to me?' she thought. She caught sight of one of her hands… and suddenly she remembered. The lightning… the transformation… the damage she caused to Acmetropolis… the Loonatics… the storm dragon… the volcano…
All she wanted to do was report the weather, not… not this.
Paula Hayes felt it would have been better if she'd never been born.
She lay flat on the ground and cried. Long, agonizing wails of despair punctuated by pain and heard by nobody. Her worst childhood nightmare was finally coming to pass. She was going to die, alone, unwanted, unloved by anyone… and nobody cared where she was or what had happened to her.
She felt the blacking out coming over her at last. As she did, she unconsciously thought, 'Help… me… please…'
---
Back at the lab, Tech was poring over all of the info he had gotten about Paula so far. He needed to stop and take a break. Tech shook his head. Could Misty Breeze have been right? Not about her being a spoiled little twit; from everything he'd gathered, she was far from it. Rather, that he shouldn't obsess about her so much. He blinked and returned to his research, mentally blocking out whatever inane babbling Rev was trying to indulge him in, when suddenly his head shot up.
"Tech-what's-the-matter-okay-if-you-don't-want-pepperoni-maybe-we-can-get-a-low-cal-cheese-pizza-it's-up-to-you…"
"Quiet," he hissed. "I thought I heard something…" He raised a paw and concentrated, but in vain. "False alarm," he shrugged, and went back to his obsessing. Then his head shot up again. Rev never said a word all this time. "My… gosh… I heard it that time…"
"What-was-it-Tech?"
"I'm not sure… it sounded like a cry for help… someone thinking 'Help… me… please…'," Tech said softly.
Lexi Bunny cautiously entered the lab at that moment. "Hey, Tech? You're not gonna believe this, but I just heard the same thing…"
"Describe it for me, would you?" he asked. "I want to be sure we're not both imagining it…"
"No, this seemed real," Lexi sighed. "It was a girl thinking 'help… me… please…'"
"Anything else?"
"No, just that… oh wait, I did pick up something that sounded like… screaming and crying…"
"That's IT!" Tech said in disbelief. "She's ALIVE! I've gotta go!" And with that, he dashed madly out of the lab, leaving Lexi and Rev to exchange puzzled looks…
---
Tech soared through the Acmetropolis skies, heading to the last place Weather Vane might possibly have been… the volcano. He really didn't feel happy about lying to the others about where he was going, but he was determined to know what actually happened, one way or the other.
"Eh, goin' somewhere, doc?" Tech groaned inwardly as Ace pulled up on his left side.
"This is personal, Chief, if you don't…"
"You might as well forget it, pal," Danger Duck said, quacking into view on Tech's right. "That Porta-Lab of yours is so much toast by now, you're never gonna get it repaired!"
"Duck, if you wouldn't mind, I'm not going back there for that…"
"Just as well, it's a pile of lava-covered junk anyway…"
"Would you just back off already, Duck?"
"Tech, we can't do that," Lexi said softly. "We're worried about you…"
"Okay, so you're worried about me. Fine. I get that. What about Paula? Who's worried about her?"
"Paula? Who Paula?" Slam asked in perpetual confusion.
"I'm not going to get rid of you guys, am I?"
"Not legally, buddy," Rev said as he circled around the rest of the Loonatics.
"Okay, fine. Let's set down on the island and I'll explain everything," Tech said wearily, accepting that he wasn't going to get rid of them now anyway. As the Loonatics set down in a clearing, Tech plugged a portable video projector into his left glove. "Since you all are so curious, observe," he said, activating the projector, and then falling into a stony silence while the others watched Paula's transformation.
After a few minutes, Lexi broke the silence. "Oh my gosh… so that's what happened to her…" she whispered. "I never knew…"
"Well, now you do," Tech muttered.
"Gee, almost makes you feel sorry for her… well, almost…" Duck said.
"You just don't get it, do you?" Tech asked, exasperated. "Paula Hayes wasn't always like that. She was a kind and caring girl. She used to have a life before… before that happened to her. Sure, we destroyed the storm dragon, but I just… I just don't want to be responsible for killing her…"
"Tech," Ace said softly, putting a hand on the coyote's shoulder, "I get the feeling Paula was long gone when she got zapped… but at least let us help you look for her."
"I guess you do get it," Tech shook his head. "I'm sorry, guys, I should have told you…"
"Hey, don't sweat it," Lexi smiled. "Besides, you'll stand a better chance of finding her if there's more of us to help."
"Do-you-really-think-she's-here?-This-is-a-pretty-good-sized-island,-after-all," Rev asked. "It-could-take-all-day-to-find-her…"
"If she's here, then that's what we'll do," Ace declared.
"Yeah, well, good luck. It's not like we're just gonna turn around and she's gonna be right…" Duck said, looking down at his feet, and stopping suddenly as he saw something that looked like a black and blue python, kind of, emerging slowly from some underbrush. "SNAKE!" he yelled, preparing to throw a flaming egg at it.
"Steady, Duck, ya wanna start a conflagration?" Ace asked, bending down for a closer look. "Hey, this isn't a snake…" The weak moaning from beneath the underbrush confirmed it. He decided to hazard a guess. "Weather Vane? Is that you under all that?"
"Who… who's there?… AUGGGGHHHH!!"
"Guys, it's her! She's alive! Help me get this stuff off her!" Tech said, and the Loonatics wasted no time in doing exactly that. Once she was uncovered, Tech knelt down and took a good look at her. Yes, it was Weather Vane. From the looks of her, she had dislocated her shoulder, and was in terrible pain; and yet, looking at Tech, she was never so glad to see anybody as she was at that moment.
"You… you found me… AUGGGGHHHHH!" she sobbed.
"Don't move, Paula," Tech said, running an infrared scanner over her. "You dislocated your right shoulder and fractured several ribs… punctured your right lung, too… your left leg's broken… but the good news is, you're alive," he added, brushing the tears from her eyes. "Rev! You and Slam get the jet!"
"Right!" Rev said, as he and Slam took off towards Loonatics HQ.
Weather Vane directed a pained gaze at the coyote, and smiled. "You… you called me 'Paula…'," she whispered.
"That's who you are, aren't you?"
"No," she gulped, "not anymore… but thank you for remembering. How did you find me?"
"Technically, I didn't, Duck did," the coyote chuckled.
"Of all creatures," Weather Vane laughed. "Oooch! Tech… I'm going to have to go to prison, aren't I?"
"I'm afraid so," the coyote sighed, as Rev and Slam returned in their black jet and quickly brought a gurney to them. "You can't go wreaking havoc and expect to get away with it, you know."
"I… I know…" she whispered. "Paula would have never done that…"
"I know," Tech smiled. "I know. Bite down hard, I'm going to snap your shoulder back in place."
"Will it hurt?" she looked at him, half-terrified.
"Like the dickens," the coyote replied softly, gingerly feeling around her right shoulder. "Okay… got it. Brace yourself…" Tech gritted his teeth, and with a push and a loud pop, relocated it back into its socket.
Weather Vane still couldn't help screaming. She also couldn't help releasing a bolt of lightning that hit Duck. "YEEEEOWCH!!" he yelped, leaping into the air and landing with a crash. "Watch where you're shooting that, okay?"
The girl blinked back tears and tried to smile. "Sorry…"
Tech scanned her shoulder again. "Perfect. Okay, guys, gently…"
---
"So, Tech, how'd it go?" Ace asked as the coyote joined the others in the rec room. He'd just returned from the prison hospital, where he'd spent the last few hours operating on Weather Vane.
"Paula's resting comfortably, Chief. She's all patched up…"
"With nowhere to go," Duck added.
"That's not funny, Duck!" Tech glowered at the maladjusted mallard.
"Well, pardonnez me!"
"So what's going to happen to her when she gets back on her feet?" Lexi asked.
"They're probably not going to go easy on her, when you consider everything she did," he sighed. "And even if she does deserve whatever sentence she gets, I still can't help feeling sorry for her. It's strange, when you think about it. She was exposed to the same radiation we were, and yet her mutation was semi-dormant."
"Eh, you wanna try that in English, Tech?" Ace asked. Even the simplest of the genius coyote's explanations sometimes had a tendency to baffle him.
"I mean it hadn't completely developed, Chief. It just needed a catalyst to complete it. If she hadn't been struck by that lightning, none of this might have ever happened to her. Oh well, one out of two's not bad…"
"You're thinkin' about Black Velvet now, aren't ya, doc?"
"I guess I am. In a way, Chief, they're strangely similar. Neither one of them asked for what happened to them; but then, neither did we… the only difference is, Weather Vane is still alive. I don't think we'll ever see Black Velvet again…"
"If you want some advice, Tech," Zadavia said, appearing on their giant screen TV, "while empathizing with the villains is commendable from a humanitarian standpoint, you shouldn't identify with them too much. That can have disastrous consequences."
"In other words?"
"In the future, keep your mind on your job, Tech," the Frelengian smiled. "Anyway, it's highly doubtful Velvet survived her explosion. As for Weather Vane, she probably doesn't even know yet how fortunate she is that someone still cared enough about her to find her in the first place."
"Oh, she knows, Zadavia," Lexi said. "Believe me, she knows."
"In any event, congratulations on a successful conclusion to this case, Tech, even if it was unauthorized… or shall I call it 'extracurricular'?"
"Either one's fine with me," Tech smiled.
"Yes. Zadavia out."
---
After finally coming out of the anesthetic, Weather Vane lay in her hospital bed and thought long and hard about what had happened to her, and about the odd tricks fate can play on someone. There was no question in her mind she'd been dealt a really rough hand recently. Most 19-year-old girls couldn't possibly have gone through what she'd been through and come out alive.
But thankfully, she was alive – ironically, because of the very heroes she tried to fight. Especially the coyote. She wanted to thank them, but didn't know how… or even if they'd accept it.
She tentatively lifted the blanket that covered her, gazed at the wraparound bandage that covered her top half, and hoped when she finally healed that there wouldn't be much scarring. That would be all she needed. She was always insecure about her appearance, even as a little girl. The blue hair had always been bad enough, but now… blue skin? She looked at her hands and cringed, not at the lack of fingernails, but rather at the appearance of her fingers… these weren't fingers; at least, not a human's fingers. More like a witch's. If this is what the rest of her looked like, she didn't even want to see her face. No doubt it was as ruined as the rest of her life. 'That's the word,' she thought. 'My life is… ruined…'
She placed her open palms over her face and sobbed bitterly until one of the interns stopped by her bedside. "Rough day, huh?" he asked softly, reading her chart. "Broken leg, punctured lung, fractured ribs… lemme guess. Running of the bulls in New Pamplona?"
"Don't you have normal people to bother?" Weather Vane continued to sob.
"Probably, but then, who's to say what's normal anyway?" he countered. "Besides, I'm supposed to look in on you and see…"
"See what?" she snapped, looking away from him. "The hideous teenage freak girl? Well, go ahead, have a look!" She turned to look at the intern, tears running down her face. "WELL?"
"If you'd let me finish," he said calmly, "I'm supposed to look in on you and see if you needed anything." He produced a tissue and gently wiped her tears away, which surprised her. Didn't this guy know who she was and what she'd done? "Actually, you don't look bad at all. Sure, the blue skin might take some getting used to, but hey, I see people on Acmetropolis with lavender hair all the time. It's no big deal."
"My… my hair's lavender?" she gasped. "Not…"
"What were you expecting, twigs?" the intern asked, handing her a mirror. "Go on, pretty girl, have a look…"
She seriously considered taking him up on that, but handed the mirror back to him. "I already told you, I'm hideous, I'm not pretty…"
"You're sure about that?"
"What do I have to do to get rid of you?" Weather Vane sighed in exasperation.
The intern smiled and handed her the mirror again. "Prove me wrong."
Half-closing her eyes, she gritted her teeth and looked in the mirror. "There, what did I tell you, I'm… I'm…" Her voice dropped off as she studied her face for the first time since her transformation. "Hmm… No crooked nose, no warts… I'm not crazy about those pink irises, but…"
"Hey, be glad you have irises now. When they brought you in, both of your eyes were solid pink."
"Really?" Weather Vane gasped, this revelation coming as news to her.
"Yeah. I'm no expert, but I guess the anesthetic affected that somehow. Says here you also had a dislocated shoulder but Tech fixed that before they brought you here. Let's have a look at it anyway," he said, gently cupping a hand on her right shoulder. "Hmm… Can you move your arm a bit?" Reluctantly, Weather Vane slowly swiveled her right arm back and forth. "There, how's that feel?"
"Not bad," the girl said.
"Good enough for me. Now, was there anything else you needed?"
Weather Vane smiled. "Can you… get a message to the Loonatics for me?"
The intern produced a small notebook and a pen. "Sure. What do you want me to tell them?"
"Just tell them I said 'thank you'. Especially to Tech."
"Okay, got it. Anything else?"
Weather Vane placed a finger to her lips in contemplation. "You wouldn't have a comb or a hairbrush, would you? My twigs are a mess…" she laughed.
"One comb, coming up… there you go."
"Thanks." She paused for a few seconds, and looked at the intern again. "Hey, listen, I know we aren't actually supposed to… well… you know… get involved or anything like that, otherwise I'd kiss you, but… wait, I got it…" She placed the first and second fingers of her left hand on her lips, and then lightly touched them on the intern's. "There. Thank you for making me feel human again."
"You're welcome, Weather Vane."
---
The Loonatics took their place in the courtroom to see how the trial of Weather Vane would play out. "All rise!" the bailiff called out. "Trial will now commence in the city of Acmetropolis this date, 2772, the honorable Judge Henry Knott presiding." The judge took his seat. "Be seated. The people of Acmetropolis versus Paula Hayes, a.k.a. Weather Vane…" The Loonatics looked towards the defendant's table and saw Weather Vane seated despondently by herself, her left leg in a cast. A fact not lost on the judge, either.
"One moment," Judge Knott declared. "Miss Hayes – or is it Weather Vane, which do you wish to be known by?"
Weather Vane rose unsteadily on her crutches and cleared her throat. "Either one, sir."
"As you wish. Where is your attorney?"
"I… I couldn't get one, your honor. Nobody wanted to defend me," she said, her voice occasionally cracking, and her eyes watering. "I don't… blame them, either."
"So you're acting as your own attorney?"
"No, sir. Your honor, may I speak?"
"OBJECTION!"
"Miss Breeze, you are not an attorney, so sit down and be quiet!" Judge Knott barked, causing Misty to blush and follow his orders. "Miss Hayes, approach the bench." The villainess tentatively did so. "Now what is it you wish to say?"
"Only, your honor, that what I did was indefensible. I realize that now. I also wish to apologize to the people of Acmetropolis, and to the Loonatics, and to Miss Breeze. I don't expect any of them to forgive the rash actions of a young girl who went too far, but if they could, I might be able to sleep a little better…"
"Boy, she shoulda got a mouthpiece," Duck whispered to Ace. "She's diggin' a hole for herself."
"One moment, Miss Hayes," the judge interrupted. "Just how young are you?"
"19, sir," she replied, the tears starting to fall. "I realize they could put me away for a lifetime, or even ten lifetimes, and it would never be enough… because I deserve it… I'm sorry…" She collapsed to the floor and broke down sobbing at that point. "I'm so sorry…"
Judge Knott banged his gavel to quiet the murmuring in the courtroom. "I'm calling a ten minute recess. Would someone accompany Miss Hayes to my chambers so she can compose herself?"
Lexi rose unbidden from her chair. "I will, your honor," she said, coming down front and kneeling down beside her. "Come on, Paula," she said softly.
Weather Vane looked up, blinked her tears away, and whispered, "All right…"
---
In the judge's chambers, Lexi didn't know what to do. Weather Vane looked absolutely pitiful, sitting in a chair and crying her eyes out like that. What made it even sadder was that she was so young, she had her whole life ahead of her, and now she'd probably spend it all in prison. Come to think of it, the two girls weren't that far apart in age, really. Were the circumstances any different, they might even have been close friends at one time. It was hard for Lexi to keep Zadavia's admonitions in mind at moments like this.
"Um, listen," Lexi said, "I'm supposed to testify against you, you know, but…"
Weather Vane waved her off. "I know… Lexi, is it?" The bunny nodded in reply. "There's nothing anybody can do for me, I know that…"
"Well, here's a start," Lexi smiled. "I forgive you."
"Thank you," Weather Vane sobbed, as Lexi handed her a tissue. The door opened, and the bailiff stuck his head in. "Miss Vane, Miss Bunny, it's time."
"Please," Lexi said, "can't you give us just a…"
"No, Lexi, I'll… I'll be fine…," Weather Vane smiled. "Let's go… and thank you."
---
"Are you composed enough now, Miss Hayes?"
"Yes, your honor."
"Is there anything further you wish to say on your behalf?"
"There… there's nothing I can say, your honor, other than if I'd only known what would have happened that day, I would have gladly skipped work."
"Yes. Then let the trial proceed…" The trial itself was not as lengthy as even she would have supposed, and while Weather Vane did gain a little sympathy when they played back the video of her transformation, a little sympathy was all she received. The testimony of the Loonatics certainly didn't help her case much, even when Tech described her condition at the time of her rescue.
The prosecuting attorney sealed the deal, so to speak, when he asked Tech, "Mr. Coyote, you've described the fact that Miss Hayes suffered the after-effects of the same radiation from the meteor that gave you your powers. In your opinion, is there any way to reverse it?"
"None that I know of, unfortunately," he said unemotionally.
"So, in your opinion, there's every possibility that Miss Hayes could well remain a danger to Acmetropolis and to others?"
"If a remedy isn't found, and – or if – she doesn't reform, I'd have to say, yes."
"That's not what I asked…" the prosecutor replied haughtily.
Under the circumstances, Tech managed to keep his feelings in remarkable control. Obviously, this attorney was out to score points. Tech hated abuses of power like that. If this were anywhere other than a court of law, he would have emitted a low growl you could have heard for miles. Calmly, yet forcefully, he replied, "But that's what I'm telling you. You asked for my opinion, there it is."
"I see… no more questions."
---
Weather Vane wasn't surprised when the guilty verdict came in. After all, she'd been expecting no other outcome. Judge Knott noted the verdict, and then motioned the girl to approach the bench. "Miss Hayes, have you anything to say before I pass sentence?"
She bowed her head briefly, tears rolling down her face. "No, sir."
"Very well. You've already said yourself that ten lifetime sentences would never be enough. In my opinion, twenty would never be enough, either… but in your case, one lifetime sentence would be too much. Taking into account Mr. Coyote's testimony, I can only say that what you're having to go through is a life sentence in and of itself, and unfortunately, it may well expire when you do. What makes it even sadder is that you are a victim of a much unforeseen circumstance; and while what you have done went well beyond the limits of acceptable behavior, you have also demonstrated by your words and demeanor in this court that you truly regret those actions. You have my sincere and utmost sympathy, Miss Hayes. Nevertheless, justice must be meted out."
Paula took a deep breath. "I understand, sir."
"Paula Jeanette Hayes, it is the finding of this court that you shall be sentenced to a single term in Acmetropolis Prison for a period of not less than twenty, or more than twenty-five years. Perhaps in that time someone may actually find a cure for your unfortunate condition, or at the very least, you may gain some maturity to accompany that which you have already shown by accepting the responsibility for your actions. If there's anyone here you wish to say goodbye to, I suggest you do it now." Paula remained where she was. "No one?" Paula shook her head slightly. "In that case, sentence to begin…"
"Wait!" Lexi yelled, approaching Weather Vane. "One moment, your honor…" To Paula's surprise, the bunny looked at her with tears welling up in her eyes, and gently hugged her. "If it's any comfort, Tech and I both heard you the day we found you."
"You… you did?" Paula gasped.
"Yeah. Paula, I'm… I'm so sorry…"
"Hey, don't be, okay? 20 to 25 isn't that long. Who knows? If I behave myself, I might get out when I'm 35," she smiled. "That isn't too old, you know…"
"There you go. Hang in there, girl," Lexi said, releasing her hold on Paula.
"I'll try… and thank you…" She turned around to face the judge, and instead found Tech standing in front of her. "Tech… you heard it, too?"
"Yeah," he said, taking her in his embrace. "There must be a cure, Paula. I'll find it, I promise."
"But why…?"
"You deserve to have a normal life again," Tech replied. "Be good, kid. Oh, and if you can't be good…"
"I've already heard that one, coyote babe," Paula laughed. "Thank you, Tech. Give my thanks to the rest of the Loonatics, okay?"
"Will do," he said, releasing her at last. Paula wiped her eyes and turned forward to face the judge.
"You were saying, your honor?"
"Sentence to begin immediately. Court adjourned!"
Paula bowed her head and accompanied the officers to a waiting police van…
---
When Weather Vane returned to the prison, she expected to be escorted to her cell. Instead, to her surprise, she found herself back in the hospital ward. "What am I doing here?" she asked.
"Oh, that's my doing," said a voice from behind her.
Weather Vane turned around slowly. "You're that intern…"
"My name's Desmond Stewart, and I asked for you specifically. I told them I could use an assistant, and I thought it might keep you out of trouble. So, let's get the icky stuff over with. How long are you in for?"
"20 to 25, with possible time off for good behavior," Weather Vane shrugged. "I guess it could've been worse."
"There you go. So, you ever work in a hospital before?"
"Well, I was a candy striper when I was 15, does that count?"
"Oh, I didn't know I was working with a professional," Desmond laughed. "Sure. Come on, it's just about time for the rounds." He paused for a couple of seconds. "Hang about, let's get you a chair, all right? You're gonna have the devil's own time keeping up on those crutches."
"All right…"
Much to her own surprise, as time went by, Weather Vane found she actually had a knack for this job. Her candy striper experience actually proved useful to her, and what was more, Desmond's earlier assessment proved correct as well; it was keeping her out of trouble.
What she hadn't counted on was that she found herself falling hopelessly in love with him…
---
"So, what's a nice girl like you doing in a hole like this?" Desmond asked Weather Vane one day, after she had finally ditched the crutches and chair.
"Besides watching my stock options whittle away? Not much," Weather Vane giggled. "Why?"
"No reason. You've become the talk of the prison, you know that, don't you?"
"Wh-what are they saying about me?"
"Hang on, beautiful, it's nothing bad. Just your basic talk about how you've become such a model inmate and all, that's all. You may get that time off sooner than you know."
"I hope so, Des— did you just call me 'beautiful'?"
"I mean every syllable, Paula… do you mind if I call you Paula?"
"No, I don't mind… means there's still hope for me…"
"Hey, when there's life, there's always hope," Desmond said, quickly bestowing a kiss on the startled girl's hands. "I like what you've done with your hair. It looks good longer."
"Thank you, Des…"
A voice over the prison intercom interrupted them. "Weather Vane, you have a visitor."
"After all this time? Who?" she wondered. "Well, I guess I'd better find out…" She strolled nervously to the visitors' area, and sat down.
"Hey, how's it going, girl?"
Weather Vane turned sharply, her eyes wide with surprise. "LEXI!"
"So, keeping out of trouble?"
"So far. I'm working in the hospital ward."
"Setting bones or breaking them?"
"I'll let that pass, Bunny," she laughed, proceeding to regale Lex with her life so far. "And… I think I may actually have a boyfriend… don't tell anyone," Paula whispered. "I don't know if there's a policy against that, and I don't want to ruin my record…"
"Hey, that's great, Paula. They'll never hear it from me…"
"Nurse trainee Hayes, you're wanted in the ward in two minutes…"
"Oh, that's him," Paula giggled. "Gotta cut this short. Tell the guys I said 'hi'."
"Sure thing. Hey, whatever you're doing, keep it up, girl! Oh, what's this guy's name?"
"Desmond Stewart," Weather Vane smiled. "He's the best thing that's ever happened to me."
"Sounds like it," Lexi agreed. "Hey, I want a front row seat at the wedding…"
---
"Well, don't you look all smug and self-satisfied?" Duck asked Lexi as she literally danced back into HQ.
"Come on, Duck, what does she wanna go around doing imitations of you for?" Ace grinned. "What's up, Lex?"
"Guys, I think Paula's really making progress," she said, informing them of all she'd heard from Weather Vane. "And she's even got a boyfriend, can you believe it?" Lexi giggled.
"Well then, in spite of everything that's happened to her, she sounds like she's a very lucky girl," Tech smiled. "So where'd she meet him?"
"They met in the hospital ward when she was recovering from surgery. He's an intern named Desmond Stewart, and she says he really makes her happy."
"What can I say? If she's happy, then I'm happy," Tech replied. After Lexi left the room, the smile disappeared from Tech's face, and he sat down at the computer.
"Okay, Tech, what's up?" Ace asked.
"That name sounds familiar," he frowned, looking through the database. "Here we go… oh, no… guys, listen to this. According to the database, Desmond Stewart, real name Stewart Desmond, is the last guy Paula should be hooking up with right now! He's got a record as long as Duck's ego…"
"So, he's in prison, what's the worst that can happen?" Duck asked in that uninformed way that only he had.
"Duck, you haven't heard what he's done," Tech said quietly. "Apparently, on the outside, he had a habit of preying on lonely young women, turning on the charm, getting them to fall in love with him, and when he got them alone, he… well… murdered them…"
"It sounds like he's trying the same thing on the inside, now," Ace noted. "What else does it say?"
"It says his main modus operandi is to work in hospitals. His last few victims were all student nurses…" Tech gulped, and then dug a little deeper. "This is bad… according to this, he's never been caught!"
"Well-then,-how-did-he-wind-up-in-prison-in-the-first-place?" Rev asked.
"Probably by passin' himself off as an employee, I'm guessin'," Ace said.
"Makes sense, in a twisted sort of way," Tech agreed. "It's the old 'hiding in plain sight' gambit. What better way for a fugitive to do that than to show up in prison? It's the last place anyone would think to look for him, after all."
"Is that even possible?" Duck asked.
"You'd be surprised what some people can get away with if they talk their way through it, Duck," Tech replied.
"Well, people like that should be put in jail!"
"Duck, keep quiet, this is serious!" Tech said urgently. "I'm accessing the prison employee records now… guys? There's no record of a Desmond Stewart on their payroll…"
"Hey,-didn't-Lexi-just-say-that-Weather-Vane-was-a-nurse-trainee?" Rev asked, just as Lexi returned.
"Hi, guys, what did I miss?"
"Lexi," Tech said, his voice choking, "have a look at this."
"Okay," the fembunny replied, "what am I supposed to be… looking… for?" Her eyes widened as she read the report. "Oh, no! Weather Vane's gonna be heartbroken…"
"If she ain't dead foist!" Ace declared. "Loonatics, let's jet!"
---
The Loonatics wasted no time hurrying over to the prison, quickly reporting their suspicions to the warden. "My god," the warden said, shocked. "I… I may have just signed that poor girl's death warrant…"
"How do you mean?" Tech asked.
"This Desmond character asked if he could have a dinner for two with Paula tonight for an hour, so I okayed it…"
"What? Where are they supposed to be?"
"In the visitors' dining room. It's where we usually entertain visiting VIPs and such…"
Ace fixed a stern look at the warden that stopped just short of asking him how he ever got the job in the first place. "Yeah, well he's gonna be entertainin' somethin' else in there unless we stop him. Where is it?"
"Follow me, Ace, I'll show you…" The Loonatics followed the warden into the elevator, and looked with more than a little consternation when the elevator refused to move. "This was working just this afternoon! It can't be out of order!" he sputtered.
"It can if someone sabotaged it… like Desmond…" Tech offered.
"Why, that… this is terrible…"
"It's gonna get woise, trust me!" Ace acknowledged.
"Chief, I can get it moving…"
"No time for that, Tech," Ace declared. "Duck, can you get us all to – what floor is it, warden?"
"Third floor, Ace."
"I've never tried large quantity quacking before…"
"Hurry!" Lexi pleaded.
"But I'm your duck! Hang on!" The Loonatics and warden held on tight to each other as Duck whispered a silent prayer and quacked them all outside the dining room. "Well, whaddaya know, it worked!" the mallard said quietly, amazed at his own accomplishment.
"Good job, Duck!" Ace smiled.
---
"So, Paula, what do you think? A little artificial moonlight, some candlelight, some soft music, and a beautiful girl to die for," Desmond said, wrapping his arms around Weather Vane's waist.
"Stop it, you're embarrassing me," she giggled.
"I'm just getting started, my dear," Des continued. "Say, I've been meaning to ask you, what's with the bracelets? They don't really do a thing for your outfit…"
"I know, but it's something Tech cooked up to restrain my weather powers with. We wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen around the oxygen tanks, would we?"
"No, we wouldn't," Des agreed, as she leaned her head on his chest.
"Oh, Desmond, I'm so happy, I wish this could last forever…"
"Yes, well you know what they say, nothing lasts forever," he noted as his hands slid slowly up her back until they were just about level with her neck…
---
"Stand back, guys!" Ace said, shooting a quick laser blast from his eyes towards the door. Unfortunately, the blast bounced back in his direction. Fortunately, he ducked. "What the?"
"Security door," the warden said almost apologetically. "It's there as a safety precaution."
"Whose safety, might I ask?" Duck inquired…
---
"Hey, did you hear something?" Paula asked, still unaware of Desmond's motives.
"No, not a thing, just the music and the heartbeat of my little blue freak girl," Des hissed.
"Yes, that must have been… WHAT?!?" Paula gasped as Des proceeded to choke the life out of her. "Des! What…?"
"Oh, come on, don't tell me you were so naïve as to think anybody would ever fall in love with the likes of you!" he laughed maniacally. "Remind me to thank Tech for coming up with those bracelets, by the way. Makes my job so much easier, heh heh heh…"
Paula tried prying his hands off her throat, but he was too strong. This was even worse than dying alone, she thought… and then she got an idea. Quickly she moved her right leg just to the inside of his left and kicked with all her might.
It worked.
Quickly he lost his hold on her and toppled to the floor, allowing her to escape to the door. Unfortunately, it was locked. "HELP!!" she screamed, alternating between pounding on the door and trying furiously to remove those bracelets, knowing full well nobody could possibly be out there.
To quote Duck, boy, was she wrong.
"Duck, get quacking!" Ace said, and the group linked arms again.
"Right-o!" And again, Duck quacked the Loonatics inside the dining room, much to Paula's relief. Unfortunately for her, Desmond had regained his balance, grabbed a table knife and lunged for the ill-fated girl.
Tech was the first to her aid, producing a remote device. He pressed a button, and her bracelets fell to the floor. Lexi aimed a brain blast that caught Desmond right between the eyes, sailing him completely across the room. "You wanna try that again, mister, you're gonna have to go through ME first!" the bunny declared.
Before the Loonatics could do anything further, though, Weather Vane turned and looked at Desmond. "NOBODY calls me a FREAK… not even YOU!!" she roared, extending her arms forward.
Too late, Tech realized what he had done. "PAULA, DON'T!"
She wasn't listening. Not anymore. "MY NAME IS WEATHER VANE!" she declared, shooting an unending stream of lightning at Desmond that seemed to go on forever. Unfortunately, he was still holding the table knife, and it acted like a lightning rod. Before the startled eyes of the Loonatics, Desmond was bathed in lightning, while Weather Vane continued ignoring his screams, laughing maniacally until Tech decided to tackle her to the ground.
"All right, that's enough! Now STOP IT, PAULA! STOP IT!"
Duck quacked briefly, reappearing long enough to slap Tech's bracelets back on her, before quacking him and Tech out of her way. Weather Vane shook her head, breathing heavily, and got up from the floor.
Then she finally saw what she had done to Desmond, screamed, and blacked out…
---
"Well, Tech?" Ace asked, as Tech rejoined the rest of the Loonatics in their HQ sometime later.
"Well, what?" the coyote muttered morosely. "Sure, we saved her life, but what good did it do her, Chief? I should have never unlocked those bracelets…"
"She could say she was acting out of self-defense, you know," Rev noted quietly.
"Except with all of us there, she didn't have to, Rev. Besides, she can't say anything now, remember? She saw what she'd done and went into a catatonic state." He uncharacteristically pounded his fist against the wall – hard. "Zadavia was right, and I didn't listen to her! I should have never gotten involved."
Duck asked, "Not that I really care, but how's what's his name?"
"Desmond? Scarred for life. He'll be facing a lifetime of skin grafts and he'll still never recover."
"Part of me can't help feeling he deserved it," Lexi sighed. "What happened with her, anyway?"
"Weather Vane just lost all control. I don't know what pushed her over the edge more, the fact that someone she thought she was in love with tried to kill her, or that he called her a freak. Either one or both might have done it," Tech muttered. "The prison psychiatrists say she's most likely going to remain insane for the rest of her life."
"So there's… no hope of recovery?" Lexi asked.
"I'm afraid not, Lex. Since she no longer has any control over her powers, they feel she's even more dangerous now than before…"
"Tech, you might as well forget it…" Ace said with an air of genuine sympathy.
"How can I, Chief? I feel it's all my fault…"
Lexi placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Tech, maybe Ace is right. You can't save everybody."
"Maybe not, Lexi – but I've at least got to try. Something, anything…" He headed towards his lab, but turned to look back at the other Loonatics. "Otherwise, if I can't save anybody… then what's the point of being a hero?"
---
The coyote sat down at his computer again, but didn't know where to begin. Before he could even touch a key, a voice came through the speakers. "Video message for Tech E. Coyote," it said.
'I might as well,' he thought, feeling totally dispirited. "Play."
The screen changed from orange concentric circles to a familiar face. "Monsieur Tech?"
"Dr. Moreau!"
"How is she?"
"No change, Paulette. I'm sorry. I was going to try formulating a cure, but I don't think I've got a prayer of coming up with one."
"You give up too easily," she admonished him softly.
"I haven't even started. I wouldn't know where to begin."
"I see. Try this. Prepare for an upload at the end of this message."
"Wait a minute, let me switch you over to my secondary research computer, that way you can upload it now as we speak."
"All right…"
"Okay, Dr. Now." Tech closely monitored the feed from Dr. Moreau. "All right, got it… my gosh, this is incredible!"
"That's why I have all those useless awards," she smiled. "I'm thinking of calling it 'Christmas'."
"Why?"
"That was Paula's favorite season, Monsieur Tech. A time of miracles."
Tech studied the diagram, fascinated. "If this works, Doctor, this'll be another one… and right now I can't think of anybody who needs it more…"
---
"Tech's sure been in that lab a long time," Ace noted.
"Yeah," Lexi replied sadly. "He won't tell me what he's working on, either."
"That's not like him to keep a project that secret. I've never seen him so moody, either." Ace paused as an idea struck him. "Hey, Lex, you don't think this would have anythin' to do with Weather Vane, do you?"
"That's gotta be it, Ace, but I don't think there's anything he can do for her now…"
The fembunny hung her head and let a quiet tear roll down her muzzle when, without warning, they heard Tech's excited cry, "EUREKA!" and were nearly bowled over by the excited coyote. "Ha ha, I've GOT it!"
"Well, that's great, Tech, you wanna tell us what it is?"
"Okay, Chief," he declared with more enthusiasm than the law allowed. "You've heard of Dr. Paulette Moreau?"
"Isn't she Paula's adoptive mother?" Lexi asked.
"That's right. She was kind enough to forward her research into the human genome pattern; generally, that part of the DNA that triggers insanity in some people, and Paula specifically; and I think we've finally come up with a serum that will either block it or eliminate it completely. It's Weather Vane's only hope now, but it's not without risk."
"Will this alter her… permanently?" Lexi asked.
"The truth? Yes," Tech replied, calming down a bit. "Once she's injected, the results, for good or bad, can't be reversed."
"You know this might not work, don'tcha, doc?" Ace asked quietly. "At best, you'll just wind up with a sane Weather Vane, nothin' more."
"Even that's better than what she's going through now, don't you think?" Tech challenged him quietly.
"I suppose," Ace shrugged. "Tech… even if this does work, pal… you're never gonna bring Paula Hayes back, you know that, right?"
Tech turned to face Ace with an uncharacteristic glare. "Don't bet on that," he growled, and left.
"Why are scientists always so moody?" Lexi wondered.
"They never get asked to the prom?" Ace replied…
---
"Good luck, pal," the guard said as he opened the door leading into Weather Vane's padded cell. "You're really gonna need it with this one."
"Thanks," Tech replied as the door closed behind him. He turned around, and then he saw her. For the first time, tears came to his eyes. She was cowered in a corner, wearing a straitjacket and pajama bottoms. Her hair was a tangled long lavender mess, and there was a feral look in her eyes he'd never seen before. "Um, Weather Vane?" he asked, cautiously approaching the girl.
She looked up at him and screamed fiercely. No words, just screaming. The doctors were right. The poor girl was really off the deep end now. It was doubtful she even recognized him.
Inwardly, Tech asked himself, 'What am I even doing here?' But he tried not to let his apprehension show. He steeled himself and continued coming towards her. "Listen, we need to talk," he said, knowing full well that if he got too close, she'd be all over him like ugly on an ape. 'Oh great,' he thought. 'Now I'm channeling Duck!' The ironic part was, getting too close was exactly what he had in mind; and as long as she was in that straitjacket, he was in no immediate danger. He pulled a syringe from his pocket, trying to keep it as well hidden as he could, and kept approaching until they were almost face to face. "Hi…"
Weather Vane looked at him curiously for a second or two. Then she screamed loudly, strained against her straitjacket and broke the buckles, freeing her arms, and pounced upon the surprised coyote. He wasn't expecting this. But, he figured, that was all right. He had something she wasn't expecting, either. He closed his eyes and rammed the business end of the syringe into her behind, quickly injecting the fluid into her, pulling it out and flinging it as far away from them as he could. It stuck in the wall. She responded with an even louder scream… no, not a scream. More like a howl.
'It didn't work!' Tech thought to himself, looking straight into her face. He would have kicked her off, thrown her off – heck, punched her off - anything to give himself a chance at that moment; and he would have, had he not noticed something… different about her. He could see it at once in her eyes. He could hear it in her silence.
He could feel it in her tears.
She looked into his eyes, and spoke for what must have been the first time in weeks. It wasn't the voice of a crazed villainess, either; more like that of a frightened little girl. "T-T-Tech?" she stuttered.
"Yes," he replied softly.
"Tech?" she repeated, her tears splashing on his face. "Wh-wh-what happened? Wh-wh-where am I?" Weather Vane added, looking around and seeing her surroundings for the first time. "D-d-did I do s-something bad?"
"I'm afraid so," he whispered, slowly sitting up and wrapping his arms around her. "You don't want to know," he added, stroking her hair while she cried into his shoulder. "Ssshh, ssh ssh ssh, you're gonna be all right now, Weather Vane, I promise…"
She stopped her crying long enough to look at the coyote and attempt a smile. "M-my name's P-Paula, remember?" She then returned to resting her head on his shoulder and softly sobbing.
'Whatever,' Tech thought. 'It worked…' He waited until she had gotten the tears out of her system before speaking again. "C'mon, let's get you out of this and into something more suitable," he said, removing her straitjacket, revealing a simple white T-shirt underneath. "Besides, this is for crazy people…"
"And I'm not crazy… am I?" Paula asked hopefully.
"No. A teensy bit anti-social, perhaps, but you're not crazy," Tech smiled, pulling her close to him again and thinking, 'Not anymore…'
---
A half-hour later or so, when Weather Vane finally rejoined Tech after getting cleaned up, he noticed she was dressed in her black gown with lightning motif, her hair freshly shampooed and cut. "You're going with that?" he kidded her.
"I decided to stick with what works for me," she shrugged with a smirk. "Like the hair?" she asked as an afterthought, flipping the back of it playfully.
"Lovely! Long hair looks good on you," the coyote smiled. "Keep it."
"Thanks, I think I will." Weather Vane paused and turned to the coyote. "Tech?" she asked uncertainly, as he walked her down the corridor. "What do you think is going to happen to me?"
"I really don't know," he sighed. "They're just going to keep you overnight for observation, and they'll make a final evaluation tomorrow, that sort of thing…"
"No, not that," she replied. "I expected that much. I mean… after that…"
"Oh, that," Tech sighed again, looking into her eyes. "I have no idea."
"Oh," Weather Vane gulped. "Tech… I'm scared…"
"That's understandable," the coyote said, stopping to collect his thoughts. "I'm afraid that's out of both of our hands now." He briefly held her close and stroked her hair again, before he noticed that they were outside the hospital ward. "Well, here we are. Good luck, Paula…"
"Thank you, Tech," she smiled nervously as a female attendant approached them. The attendant wore a long hooded cloak over her nurse's uniform.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Coyote," the attendant said in a soft voice. "It's time…"
"Wait, can't I just have one moment more, please?" Weather Vane asked pleadingly.
The attendant smiled kindly at her. "Of course, dear."
"Thank you," Weather Vane said, motioning for Tech to come closer. When he did, she placed her fingers on her lips and lightly touched them on his. "Thank you for caring, Tech," she said, hugging the coyote one last time. Having done that, she turned to the attendant. "Okay, let's go." And with a final wave back to Tech, she disappeared through the door. Tech waved back until she was gone, and then turned away quickly.
He didn't want her to see him crying.
"Merry Christmas," he choked. He briefly wiped his eyes, and then stopped. Without warning, all of the lights had gone out, and all movement seemed to freeze except for him. He then noticed bright flashes of rainbow colored lighting from the ward where Weather Vane was… with that attendant…
He rushed to the doorway, but couldn't move further. He realized then he was being held back by some sort of force field. All he could do was watch, but he couldn't quite comprehend what was going on. Paula was lying prone on her bed, and the attendant… at least, he assumed it was the attendant… had her hand on Paula's forehead, and the hood of her cloak pulled up over her head. It was what was going on beneath the hood that had Tech transfixed.
Projecting from the hood was a rainbow-colored stream. In that stream he saw every moment Weather Vane had spent with Desmond in rapid reverse order, from her attack to the first time they met after surgery; after this, she continued playing back every moment from when Tech had just left her to the time of her surgery... but it appeared to contain only the moments containing the Loonatics. Then, it stopped. The woman in the cloak bowed her head, held her hands to her eyes, and appeared to be… crying.
Tech would have asked what was going on, but he was still being held by that force field. He closed his eyes briefly… and when he opened them, the lights were back on, and everything else was back to normal. Paula was still lying on the bed, asleep, but the attendant was nowhere in sight. He rushed in and found an envelope lying on Paula's bedside… addressed to him. He quietly pressed his fingers to his lips, lightly touched them on Paula's, took the envelope and left…
---
"So, Tech, how'd it go?" Ace asked the next day as the coyote returned from the prison, where he'd spent the afternoon visiting Weather Vane.
"Success, Chief," Tech said. "The psychiatrists say they've never seen so remarkable a recovery in such a short time. The medical journals are already calling it a breakthrough."
Lexi read something in Tech's demeanor. "But…"
"Well, okay, she's not quite a hundred percent." He chose his words carefully. If he'd told them what he'd seen previously, how would they react? "She still has this mental block concerning Desmond and what exactly happened. They mentioned his name and she didn't even recognize it at all," he sighed. "Perhaps it's best she doesn't remember him. She still has enough to worry about…"
"What do you mean, Tech?" Lexi asked.
"Because of the way she defended herself, they changed her status to extremely dangerous. I got the word they're going to be transferring her to a new maximum security penitentiary in a few days, along with Massive, Mastermind and Sypher."
"Boy, I pity the poor schmuck who has to guard them," Duck said.
"Strange you should mention that, Duck," Tech half-smiled in his direction.
"Great."
"Listen, this has been a rough few weeks for me, guys," Tech sighed. "I think I'm going to take the rest of the night off. I haven't had a stroll downtown by myself in ages, so I think I'll do that. If we're needed for anything, you'll let me know, okay?"
"Sure thing, doc," Ace said. And without another word, Tech left.
---
It was a beautiful night in downtown Acmetropolis, but Tech hardly noticed. As was usual for him, he had a million and one things on his mind. He didn't have the slightest idea who that attendant really was, but he had a book full of questions he wanted to ask her, such as, what was it she did to Paula last night? Actually, Tech already had his suspicions. He could understand extracting her memories of Desmond; that seemed to make perfect sense. But why did she have to go and remove her recent memories of the Loonatics? It wasn't fair.
At least he understood why Weather Vane had acted the way she had when she saw him this morning; not at all the friendly one they had gotten to know. Instead, she wanted nothing whatsoever to do with him. He'd decided not to tell the Loonatics about that part of his visit. It would only upset them as much as it did him.
Also, why did that attendant leave that note for him telling him to meet her in the park, and not to mention it to the other Loonatics? Who was this woman, anyway?
He kept walking almost absent-mindedly until he approached a fountain in Acmetropolis Park. He was just about to sit down when he saw the woman in the cloak standing off in the shadows. "Wait!" he shouted. "I need to talk to you!" She didn't move. Tech ran until he was right next to her.
She turned around slowly, pulled down her hood, and spoke. "Yes, Tech, what do you wish to know?"
It was then that Tech gasped in recognition. "ZADAVIA? YOU?" The beautiful blonde Frelengian nodded sadly. "But… but I don't understand…"
"Please, Tech, let me explain," she half-whispered. "What you saw at the prison was a Frelengian memory absorption. I thought it best that Weather Vane remember nothing of her time with Desmond. It was the best way to save her sanity."
"That explains her memory block concerning him…" the coyote pondered. "How long will it last?"
"She will never remember that portion of her life, Tech," Zadavia continued to explain. "If anybody even mentions it, to Weather Vane it will always be as if it happened to somebody else, not to her." She bowed her head, and tears fell from her eyes. "I've done the maneuver countless times, Tech, but that was the saddest one I've ever had to perform."
"Why?"
"Because," Zadavia sighed. "That maneuver is ordinarily to be used only for erasing bad memories. Her times with Desmond – up until that night – were the happiest moments Weather Vane has ever had… and I had to make her forget them all."
"Can't you just restore her memory to her?"
"No, Tech. Once that portion of the memory is wiped, it's gone forever; and even if I could restore it, it would only drive her insane again… permanently." She wiped the tears away. "Neither one of us wants that. Unfortunately, I also had to erase her memories of any recent encounters she had with you and the other Loonatics."
"But… but why?"
"Empathizing with the villains is one thing, Tech, but becoming friendly with them is something altogether different. It tends to reduce your effectiveness as a crime fighter. I know how much you and the others had grown to care about Weather Vane, especially when she was making such progress, but the fact remains she is still a criminal… I know this makes me sound heartless, Tech. I'm sorry. I wish there had been another solution."
"In other words, as far as she knows, we're still enemies," Tech brooded. "That explains her behavior towards me today. You're right, Zadavia. There should have been another solution." He looked down at the ground, sighed, and then turned his attention back to the Frelengian. "So that's it? You're just going to wipe all of my recent memories of her?"
"No, Tech, not all of them," she said. "Only that period between her surgery… and after you cured her in the cell… plus that time span from when you first saw me perform the maneuver until I perform it on you. As far as you're concerned, all of that will remain a complete blank."
"So I still get to keep my last few minutes with her?"
She smiled. "I don't want you thinking I'm made of stone, Tech. You should at least have that much to remember. Other than that, it will be as if you had no other contact." Zadavia took a deep breath and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She may be a criminal now, but deep down inside, Paula still has a good heart. You've seen it… and so have I. Someday, it will surface again, I'm sure of it; and when it does, there will be no telling what good she may yet accomplish." She paused to let some more tears drift down her cheek, and smiled again. "When that day comes, Tech… and it will… Weather Vane will finally find the kind of true happiness she lost … only the next time, it will be with somebody who truly loves her for herself."
"Do you think that's even going to be possible, Zadavia?" Tech asked, wiping her tears away.
"I still have hope for her," Zadavia smiled.
"Well, I guess half a memory is better than none at all," he smiled in return. "I suppose you're going to do the same with the others?"
"I already have," the Frelengian said. "Now, it's your turn."
"That explains the poor lighting," Tech chuckled, looking around him. "Will it hurt?"
"No," Zadavia smiled. "You'll be unconscious while it happens, is all. If I ever have to perform it on someone again, as far as you and the others will be concerned, it will be the first time you've ever heard of it."
"Understood," the coyote said, but he couldn't get something… or rather, someone… out of his mind. Too late, he sensed that Zadavia was picking up on this. "No, Zadavia! Not Dr. Moreau…"
"Doctor who?" she smiled. "Relax, Tech. I have no reason to change the doctor's memory…"
"Actually," Tech breathed a quiet sigh of relief, "that wasn't quite what I was thinking about."
"Oh, of course," Zadavia said. "Rest assured, Tech, I left all of Weather Vane's memories of her families intact. She still has to have hope, too. Any last questions?"
"Just one. I think you can already guess what it is," the coyote shrugged.
"Yes… You will have no memory of ever meeting me."
"That's the question, all right. Zadavia… will we ever meet again? For real?"
"Someday, Tech, I hope to meet all of you again… for real, as you put it. As for when? I cannot say."
"I understand. Well, we might as well get this over—" He stopped in mid-sentence as Zadavia quickly performed the maneuver on him, erasing not only his memory of seeing the maneuver, but also the moments up until she performed it on him. When it was over, she sighed, smiled, and tapped him on the shoulder. "—with… that's odd, I…" He looked around and discovered he was alone. "What the heck am I doing here?" he asked…
---
Story © November 30, 2007 by Jerry D. Withers (Furrball T. Cat). All rights reserved. Newly revised version © Sept. 12, 2009 by same. Characters © 2005-2009 Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., and are used without permission, except as follows: "Sharon", "Dr. Paulette Moreau", "Desmond Stewart", and "Judge Knott" created and © 2007-2009 by ME! All rights reserved. The six-week coma explanation (as otherwise mentioned in Acmetropolis 3, "The Return") was borrowed wholesale from Akira Cat's story "The Rise Of Heroes", and is used by permission. (Thanks, Akira!)
Just in case you missed them, here are the original reviews for Somewhere Under The Weather…
acosta perez jose ramiro / 2007-12-02
ch 1 Dr Moreau, Uncle Ben and May... nice references!
Cool story here, and good way to link it with the real series.
Keep the good writing.
Zabbie Q. / 2008-01-11
ch 1 First off, I like the title. It's cute.
Misty handed Tech an envelope. "It's a cease and desist order."
"I'm sure he'll appreciate it," Tech smiled as Misty left.
I like that!
"I'm not going to get rid of you guys, am I?"
"Not legally, buddy," Rev said as he circled around the rest of the Loonatics.
Ha, ha!
"Well, don't you look all smug and self-satisfied?" Duck asked Lexi as she literally danced back into HQ.
"Come on, Duck, what does she wanna go around doing imitations of you for?"
I like that too.
"The fembunny hung her head" A female rabbit is called a doe, btw.
I like the memory absorption thing. Good tactic.
Twilightgirl / 2008-02-02
ch 1 It's so sad and beautiful, you have such a talent with words and you allow emotions to be intertwined with sentences.
NWCobalt / 2009-01-14
Not usually much for the super-long one chapter stories such as this but this was awesome. I have always wondered what happened to her. I like how you portrayed Tech's compassionate side. For someone who spends more time around gadgets than people, he's got awesome people skills.
Ontheair / 2009-02-03
This is the story that made me a Paula fan...and Zadavia. Well done!