"Bart Simpson's Doppelganger"
By Quick-n-Popular
A/N: This takes place during "Bart gets hit by a car" episode but draws the conclusion that Bart had a more serious accident.
Disclaimer: All Simpsons characters, places, and settings are properties of Matt Groening, Sam Simon, James L. Brooks and Twentieth Century Fox.
Chapter One: A memorial for a prankster
Lisa Simpson stood outside of the waiting room of the Intensive Care Unit of the Springfield Memorial Hospital.
She had been here for over two hours, anxiously waiting with her family on the news on what her brother's condition was.
Bart, who had decided to play hooky, was ran over by Mr. Burns, who had mistaken him for a speed bump.
Bart was immediately rushed over here and Homer and Marge were called.
Homer took Lisa out of class and the whole family came here and was now waiting for the answer.
Marge was worried sick, Homer, pacing all over the room, while Maggie just calmly sucked on her pacifier, totally oblivious to what was happening.
Lisa felt scared. For the first time in her life she felt that prayer might be the best answer. Fore, when Bart had arrived his vital signs were slipping and he was immediately rushed to the OR.
Dr. Hibbert's staff told the family that Bart had slipped into a coma and there was massive cerebral damage, looking at his x-rays, he also suffered hemorrhaging and a broken neck.
Homer's pacing ceased as a nurse came right in to address the family.
Her look said it all.
"I'm sorry. We've done all we could." She said.
Marge bursted into tears and Homer cursed up a storm.
Lisa fell very silent as she ended up staring at her feet and became totally unaware that both she and the family had went back home.
Two days passed after her brother's passing. In some way, Lisa felt that a side of her went along with it. Lisa had always prided herself on her difference from the rest of the family, that her triumphs in school and her music made her better than them and that it was the only way she could go on with this family.
However, with Bart gone, she felt completely numb. She ignored phone calls from Alison and Janey, refused to go to anymore band practices, and she was ignoring her homework more and more.
Lisa, sadly, noticed how Bart's death took on the rest of the family.
Homer stopped eating and Marge would sit with a glass of Merlot and stare vacantly out the window at Bart's tree house, not answering to anyone for small periods of time.
Maggie, on the other hand, remained herself. Being an infant, her whole world depended on Marge's attention, which Marge, even though she was grieving, still gave to her.
A call from Springfield Elementary School gave everyone another reason to remind himself or herself Bart was really gone. Principal Skinner had announced that the school planned on having a Memorial/Wake for Bart Simpson.
Marge was against it. She was in complete denial that her son was gone from her. Both Lisa and Homer talked her into it.
Arriving at the school, Lisa was greeted the same way she has for the past couple of days. Some people came up to her and offered their condolences. Others seemed to avoid talking to her and those that did couldn't get a word out edgewise.
Then there was Milhouse.
Sitting by himself in one of the folded chairs that had been laid out in the playground, he was just like Marge and Lisa combined.
Lisa walked over to him and sat next to him.
"How's it going?" She asked, trying to be casual despite what today represented.
Milhouse's eyes had lost the spark. The spark that represented the life long kinship that he had developed with her brother. Friends since preschool, never having been able to make other friends, Milhouse, as Lisa could see, was in sheer pain.
Suddenly recognizing that someone was talking to him, Milhouse turned his head to Lisa.
"Do you think Bart will show up and make fools out of everyone?" He asked, glumly.
Lisa patted his hand as others started to fill in the rest of the seating.
Principal Skinner led the Memorial by first thanking all who came; which actually was a pretty impressive number of people.
Lisa was amazed to see the sort of people who were here in honor of her brother.
Kent Brockman, Krusty, Sideshow Mel, Mrs. Glick, just to name some of the many of off beat people that came.
Lisa also noticed that Nelson, along with Jimbo, Kearney, and Dolph; were all wearing black arm bands.
When Principal Skinner finished, he opened the discussion up for anyone else who would like to say something about Bart.
To Lisa's surprise, it was Martin.
Martin, dressed in his best, took out a sheet of paper and read aloud.
"To wherever there was a person to prank, a spiky-haired boy was the one to thank.
His boyish antics were always crude, but no ever questioned him as he was always thought of as "The Dude".
Ner'well doers should always know, when they walk through our school halls, that there was a boy named Bart who tagged for an art rather than a show.
His pranks defined as the worst, the teacher regarded him as an ill-received curse, and the students praised him for his entire outburst.
So when you think of Bart, please do remember, that this, once, chum of mine will never be forgotten.
Fore his spirit shines like a well polished amber."
Milhouse, next to Lisa, then broke into tears.
Everyone came up to each of the Simpson family and hugged every one of them.
Lisa wondered if Bart knew how much this town appreciated him despite what he had done to it in the past.
The memorial lasted for three hours until everyone, including her family, decided to leave.
When they arrived back home, Marge went back to the kitchen and got back into her bottle of wine, while Homer went back up to Bart's room.
Lisa decided she needed to take a walk.
Walking from Evergreen Terrace to Elm, Lisa noticed a new family moving in.
Deciding to be neighborly, She walked right over as the family was getting boxes out from their U-Haul trailer.
"Hi. Welcome to the neighborhood. I'm Lisa Simpson."
The man of the family shook her hand as he introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you, Lisa. I'm Bob Greenbrook. This is my wife Ashley, our daughter Karen, and…wait. Hon, where's Cliff?"
His wife shrugged, "Probably skateboarding, dear."
Lisa felt her heart ache as she heard that. Something that she knew was a staple to her memory of her brother was skateboarding. It'd probably be awhile before she could get used to hearing that again.
"Oh, wait, here he comes. Cliff, I'd like you to meet Lisa. She's a wonderful little lady, who we just met." Bob said.
Lisa felt her blood in her veins freeze as she looked at the boy who was standing before her.
Spiky hair, with the exception of a widow's peak in front, holding his skateboard while slurping on a squishee.
"Aren't you going to say "hi", Cliff?" Ashley asked.
Cliff rolled his eyes. "Don't have a fit, mom." He said.
Lisa, then, fainted.
A/N II: I haven't decided whether or not to pursue this. This will be a one shot, until I read the reviews and decided whether or not to go on with this. So please, if you like this and like to see it continued, Read and Review.
Q-n-P