The Henchmen
Dr. Two Brains glanced over his shoulder, checking for what felt like the millionth time to be sure the police weren't coming after him. Then he slowed down to a walk and came to a stop in the middle of the alley. He knew he was on the very outskirts of the city be now, to be sure, and all around him were the marks of a place no one would ever choose to inhabit. The apartment buildings were small and crammed together, each one looking more miserable and decrepit than the last. The alley was also lined with cars, which looked almost as battered and beaten as the homes they were parked beside. Practically all of the trees lined up in front of the houses appeared completely dead. Trash littered the walkways, the streetlights flickered feebly, and, most importantly, there was not another soul in sight.
The doctor leaned against one of the cleaner-looking buildings to examine the contents of the sack he had been carrying with him. He'd had to move fast before Wordgirl arrived, but he had gotten a good selection before she stopped him. Inside were cheeses of all shapes and sizes, and in all different flavors, from monterey jack to swiss to mozzarella and gouda…...He took a deep sniff and as the mouse brain began to pulsate with its eerie green light, he began to eat, grabbing the first pieces he could get his hands on, consuming as much as he could. It was the most delicious thing he'd ever eaten; he had liked cheese before, certainly, but now it had a completely different taste to him, richer and creamier with bursts of zest. He could hardly imagine anything more succulent, more salty, more sweet, more wonderful, than the contents of that bag. It was only when he felt certain he couldn't eat any more that he stopped and closed it again.
He could feel Squeaky's mind squeaking in pleasure, and smiled slightly. It was only as he stood up again that he realized his predicament. He, Dr. Two Brains, was completely on his own. He hadn't, of course, made any plans of returning to his lab; his life there now felt like nothing more than a distant memory. But where could he go? He might rent a hotel, perhaps; he had money on him, but the police had no doubt spread word across the city that there was a supervillain on the loose, and he couldn't risk going out in public again. The idea of living in this area of the city didn't sound very appealing, but he could think of no other options for the meantime. With a sigh, Dr. Two Brains began wandering down the street, hoping he might be able to break into someone's house whose owners were on vacation. He was just wondering what he might use to shatter the windows when it started.
It came faint at first, but then grew in intensity; a strong, burning feeling from the very back of his mind. He fought it, tried to repress it, praying it would just give up, go away, but of course, such actions were futile.
"How can you do this?!" The words shot out of his mouth before he could stop them, so loudly he cringed. "How can you even think of breaking into these innocent people's homes, when they haven't done a single thing to-"
Two Brains slapped a yellow-gloved hand over his own mouth and made a sound of frustration. He ground his teeth together, and answered coldly, "That's no longer your concern. In case you haven't noticed, Stevie, I'm in control now. And I'll decide what we're doing-"
"But you've already stolen from the grocery store, now you want to be convicted of vandalism and breaking in as well?"
"Maybe I don't care, Steven! Did you ever think of that?"
There was a note of desperation in Steven's voice when he spoke again. "And do you think you can just keep me locked up in here f-forever, that you can just go ahead and r-ruin my whole life and nobody's going to care? My parents are probably worried sick by now…...and Wordgirl….."
Two Brains laughed, a high-pitched mirthless laugh that sounded like icy water. "Not a chance, Professor Goody-Two-Shoes. I'm very happy with my existence, and besides, Wordgirl doesn't care about you anymore. Now if you'll just excuse me, I have another crime to commit-"
There was a loud rustling sound around the corner of a building less than ten feet away. Dr. Two Brains froze, terrified that someone might have overheard his argument. Steven took advantage of this momentary weakness, and quietly slipped into control of his body again.
There was a soft meow, and a small, red-orange animal appeared around the corner. It was a kitten, less than a year old. It was ginger with bright orange spots across its back and long, thin whiskers. It looked up at Steven with big brown eyes, a smile spread wide across its adorable face.
Relieved no one had been listening, Steven gazed down at the little creature, melting at the sight of such cuteness. "Awwww…..a kitty."
Suddenly he felt his feet jerk out from beneath him . Steven looked, startled, down at his shoes in confusion. He glanced once more at the tiny kitten, and his feet moved again as if by their own command. Steven heard Squeaky's voice squeaking furiously into his mind, and began to panic. "Oh no. No no no no no no, there is NO WAY I am fusing my brain, and running from a kitten, on the same day-ouch!"
Dr. Two Brains had regained control. He immediately began to run away from the hideous monster, as fast as he could, resisting the impulse to scream. He could hardly believe his alter ego was insane enough to think that horrible vermin was cute…
He kept running and running, far faster than he had when he was escaping the police. He ran until he could run no more, exhausted and completely furious with himself for wasting so much time. The doctor knew he'd have to be more cautious in the future, in order to prevent Steven from interfering with his plans. If that brown-nosing scientist tried to take control again, by cheese, he'd have to teach him a lesson, that was for-
"Who were you running from?"
Doctor Two Brains spun around to face the speaker, his heartbeat racing. He saw not one but two men, one short and one quite tall who were both rather large. How had they been able to approach him without his detection? "Who are you?" He demanded.
The shorter one with a red cap on said, "My name's Sam and my friend here is Charlie." He had a very deep, bass voice was somewhat intimidating, though there was nothing threatening in his tone. He noticed the bag Dr. Two Brains was carrying. "What have you got in that bag?"
Dr. Two Brains scowled. "That's none of your business. Now, do either of you know of a place where I could stay the night?"
The taller man leaned over to Sam, and whispered something into his ear. The latter replied in his slow, almost monotonous voice, "Well, Charlie says you could try that old abandoned warehouse. No one ever goes in there."
The doctor's red eyes widened. "An abandoned warehouse? Where?"
Charlie pointed far off to his left, indicating the general direction of the building. "It's pretty far away," Sam elaborated.
Dr. Two Brains sighed. "Too far for me to walk there?"
Charlie shook his head. The supervillain tilted his head a little to one side, glancing at the two men up and down as if unsure whether or not he could trust them. His stare was so intense, so filled with suspicion and ferocity and intelligence all at once, that for the first time, Charlie and Sam felt slightly uncomfortable and fidgeted somewhat awkwardly. After a long moment, Dr. Two Brains decided they probably weren't lying to him. He straightened and lifted his bag off from the ground where he'd laid it. "Well, thanks," he said, giving them the barest trace of a smile. He turned around and began walking in the direction of which they had been pointing.
He had only moved a few feet away when he heard loud, thumping footsteps behind him; pivoting around, he found the two men had been trying to follow him without his detection. They both looked down rather sheepishly as he demanded, "Why are you following me?"
Sam shuffled his feet and responded, "Well, Charlie and I don't have any place to stay the night, so we thought we might come with you to the warehouse."
Dr. Two Brains's eyebrows rose. "You guys want to stay…..with me?"
Sam and Charlie nodded eagerly.
He laughed at them rather mockingly. "Sorry, but no thanks. You two don't look like you'd make the best of roommates."
"Oh, but we'd make great roommates!" the shorter man told him eagerly. "Charlie knows how to cook, and we'll both keep the place nice and tidy for you, and we won't ever make you do the laundry or take out the garbage unless you really-"
"Stop, stop, stop!" Dr. Two Brains exclaimed, holding up his hands. "I don't care what ridiculous promises you make to me, there is NO WAY you two are coming with me."
He folded his arms across his chest and glared at the two men, who were looking at each other rather sadly. Sam put his arm around Charlie, who much to the villain's surprise, actually looked like he was about to cry. Feeling a strange twinge in his chest he couldn't explain, he demanded, "Well, don't you guys have a place to stay?"
Charlie shook his head, and Sam answered him, "Our landlord threw us out yesterday. Now we have no home to go to."
Dr. Two Brains began to feel an inexplicable and uncomfortably hollow sensation inside him, though he was still so full from the cheese he had eaten. He was thirsty and disoriented, and exhausted beyond measure; he had experienced terror, agony, and terror again in the past four hours; yet despite all of his own problems, he couldn't help but think of the two men standing alone in the darkened, dirty alleyway all night long…..
The mouse brain began hissing into his mind, jerking him out of his thoughts. 'PATHETIC HUMANS ARE NOT YOUR CONCERN. GO TO NEW HOME AND FORGET ABOUT THEM.'
Dr. Two Brains gritted his teeth to stifle any noise and demanded in his thoughts, 'So you want me to leave them out here to die?'
As he had expected, Squeaky grew angry, sending a burning pain shooting across his forehead. 'YEEESSSSSSSS. LEAVE THEM NOW!'
Unable to suppress the pain any longer, Dr. Two Brains suddenly cried out, doubled over and pressed his hand to his forehead.
Sam and Charlie exchanged a look of equal surprise and fright. They both stared at him apprehensively. "Are you okay, sir?"
The doctor straightened and put down his hands, though his face was still white as milk. "Yes….I'm fine," he answered breathlessly. "Just a…..really bad headache." He cleared his throat and continued, sounding a little more confident. "I'm sorry, but you're simply going to have to find another place to spend the night. I must forbid you to come with me to the warehouse."
And without giving them so much as a backward glance, he swung the bag of cheese over one shoulder and started off towards his destination.
It took about a half-hour's walk, but Dr. Two Brains eventually arrived at the aforementioned building. It seemed to have been out of use for many years, and was rather small in stature, but the building appeared sturdy and reasonably clean, and its design; small, darkened windows in a brick-walled building with a solid black metal roof, positively declared it to be, in the doctor's opinion, the perfect supervillain's lair.
Dr. Two Brains turned the handle on the front door, and was surprised to see it swing open easily. He entered a spacious, high-ceilinged room with a clear inch of dust on everything in sight. There were tables and chairs that had been covered in white sheets, shelves filled with what seemed to be instruction booklets of some sort, and desks whose drawers opened to reveal materials he knew to be frequently used in the conduction of complex science experiments. The doctor couldn't help but wonder what had happened to cause the warehouse to become abandoned and forgotten as it was, with so many of its materials left behind.
As Dr. Two Brains continued to wander across the room, he spotted a door on the far left side of the room. Approaching it with nearly silent footsteps, he noticed straight away that something was wrong. Rather than being covered in dust like all the room's objects, the door's shiny, metallic handle had not a single speck of dust on it.
Someone's been here recently, he realized, and instinctively he seized the knob and turned it.
The door opened with a loud squeak, and there, in the dimly lit room, sat Sam and Charlie on a faded green couch, looking up at him like small children caught in wrongdoing. With a quick inspection of the room, Dr. Two Brains could see they'd already set everything up for him; in the next room over they'd put covers on a bed and laid two pillows against the headrest, as well as having set a nearby table with chairs and silverware, despite the forks and knives being in all the wrong places. For a long moment the doctor simply stared back at them, seething with frustration, until eventually he sighed, and closed the door behind him.
"You're not mad, sir?" Sam asked, as he and his friend stood up.
He sneered at them. "Mad? Of course I'm mad." He set the bag of cheese down on the table and shrugged. "But you're here, aren't you, and I can't think of any way to get rid of you, so congratulations. You may stay."
"We can stay?" Sam said excitedly, and Charlie's face broke into a grin.
"That's what I just said, didn't I?" He laid down on the couch and motioned for them to sit as well. They did so immediately, and the doctor continued, "On one condition."
"Anything, sir."
He cleared his throat. "You must agree to follow all of my commands and do everything and anything I ask of you. Do you understand?"
After a pause, both men nodded solemnly in affirmation.
"Now, do either of you have any questions before I go to this bed you have so thoughtfully prepared for me?"
Charlie shook his head, but his friend spoke up. "Yes, sir," said Sam. "What's your name?"
Dr. Two Brains raised an eyebrow incredulously. "You don't even know who I am, but you agreed to work for me anyway?"
The shortest of the three men shrugged. "It doesn't matter to us, does it Charlie?" Charlie nodded. "So, who are you?"
The supervillain rose from the couch to his full height with a menacing smile on his face; his spiky white hair stood shone strikingly and his eyes gleamed like priceless rubies in the darkened room. "I am Dr. Two Brains."
Both men gasped. Sam cried, aghast, "The supervillain?"
"Mmm-hmm." And with that, Dr. Two Brains spun around and headed off to his bedroom, calling softly over his shoulder, "Sweet dreams, henchmen…."
So this is my very first fanfic ever, and I hope you liked it. I feel like people kind of forget about D2B's henchmen so I wanted to do a fic for them.
I added in the Stephen and Squeaky bits at the last minute. I had to include them, because I'm weird like that. XD
Please let me know what you thought of it! I'm open to criticism.