Hey guys! Welcome to Slavestown finished last week, so I am trying my hand at writing some shorter fics for the archive. This story has actually been sitting in my Doc Manager for a month now, but it features one of my favorite fanfiction tropes: the "Freaky Friday" Flip. I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to let me know what you think!
Saving Face by SClownzZzZz
Part One – Strange Magic
"I, Loki Beaker, have achieved success beyond my wildest dreams. Everybody wants to be me, and frankly, I don't blame them. After all, I'm fantastic. But for me to say that anyone could achieve my same level of success would be a lie," Loki completes, moving away from the reporter's microphone and looking up at the head reporter for Scientific Success Magazine. Loki smirks, "Does that answer your question?"
"Yes, thank you," the reporter nods, writing a few more lines down on his clipboard as he sits at one of the lab tables in Loki's workplace.
Across the room, Vidcund is sitting slumped at his lab table with his brothers, feeling rather sorry for himself as he watches the reporter stand up and shake Loki's hand. Vidcund leans forward slightly, catching the tail end of the pair's exchange.
"-The article will be out next month. It was an honor meeting you, Dr. Beaker," the reporter reassuringly states as he steps back from the table.
"Perfect," Loki replies. He turns slightly as the reporter exits the room, catching Vidcund's eyes in the process. Loki cocks his forehead and flashes his inferior a smug smile. Vidcund rolls his eyes.
"Loki!" Circe calls out. She throws her arms around her husband, causing Vidcund to cringe from the table. "I heard the interview went great. I'm so proud of you!"
"I know. I am too," Loki states, pulling Circe closer to him and lowering his voice to a not-so-subtle whisper. "Let's celebrate tonight by making the next scientific genius," he coos, embracing Circe and kissing her a few times to rub it in Vidcund's face.
"Sounds great. I'll make the dinner reservations at Londoste," Circe beams, pulling back and giving Loki a small wink before exiting the area.
Loki smiles as he watches her leave, his demeanor screaming success. "Isn't it great, Curious? First, I receive the highest scientific honor anyone in Strangetown has ever seen, and now I get to go home and make a baby with the love of your life," he states, staring down at Vidcund pitifully, "It sure is great to be me."
Vidcund clenches his fists slightly as he stands up from the lab table, clearly having enough, "You know Loki, you sure are full of yourself," he begins as he follows Loki into hallway.
"It's easy to get obsessed with greatness," Loki quips.
"I wish we could all achieve success as easily as you," Vidcund adds.
"Yeah, well, you can't," Loki says, stopping in the corner of the hallway to look at him, "At least, you can't." Loki smirks, throwing his head back and laughing evilly towards the ceiling. Vidcund sighs, shakes his head, and walks away.
A few moments later, Loki moves his head down, now noticing Vidcund's departure. "Psh, what a baby," Loki comments before heading further down the hallway. Loki treks forward, finding the hallway growing darker by the minute. He stops in the center of the floor and glances around, seeing nothing but empty walls on either side of him. All of a sudden, a cloud of red smoke flashes in front of him, causing the scientist to back up and cough a few times. "What the hell…?"
The smoke cloud diminishes, revealing a young, blonde, green-skinned witch leaning up against the wall next to him, her elegant black dress flowing to her knees. "My, my," the woman tisks, crossing her arms as she stares intensely at the scientist, "you are a big bully."
"Oh yeah, and what's it to you?" Loki questions, glaring at the supernatural creature.
"The name's Amber Pons," the woman continues, her greeting sounding more like a warning, "And if you don't change your ways, Mr. Beaker, one day you may find yourself alone."
"Really?" Loki huffs, rolling his eyes up at the ceiling, "I'm going to find myself alone because I bully Vidcund Curious?" he asks, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do-" Loki cries, storming past the witch and down the hallway.
The red smoke cloud appears in front of him as Amber steps out, blocking his path. "I'm warning you, Loki, you shouldn't be cruel to others. You never know how tough they have it-"
"-Nor do I care," Loki fires back, "Now leave me alone Cruella de Witch," he snaps, trekking forward and pushing right past her. Amber turns towards him, watching the young scientist storm off, a vengeful gaze forming on her face.
"Oh, you are going to regret doing that, Mr. Beaker," she snarls.
The Atrociously Evil Witch's Lair – 11:45 p.m.
Later that night, Amber is standing in front of her spell book, leafing through the pages. She stops when she comes across the ancient spell that she is looking for and bookmarks the page. Amber closes the spell book and grabs her broom, staring up at the Beaker residence. "It's a shame you didn't change your ways, Loki, because now you'll have to experience things firsthand."
The Curious Residence – 12:00 a.m.
Amber Pons lands a few feet away from the back entrance of the Curious residence and sets her broom against the side of the house. She sighs as she peers through the kitchen window, finding Pascal and Vidcund sitting at the kitchen counter eating pizza. Amber crouches a tad, attempting to stay out of sight as she takes out her spell book and aims her wand towards the middle Curious brother. She quietly mutters the spell to herself and strikes him, causing Vidcund to fall back in his seat towards the floor.
"Vid!" Pascal cries, jumping up from his seat and attempting to catch him.
Amber nods in satisfaction and hops back onto her broom, her taste for chaos growing with each passing second.
The Beaker Residence – 12:03 a.m.
Amber arrives at her second destination, on the roof of the residence of Strangetown's most despised villain. She smiles as she sets down her broom and climbs down the stairs to the second-story balcony. Amber stops in place and stares slightly into the window of the master bedroom, where sure enough, Circe and Loki are situated.
"Are you ready?" Circe coos, motioning her husband over to the bed.
Loki growls and lunges forward, stopping in place when Amber strikes him with the curse. Loki moans and collapses onto the bed into a deep slumber, causing Circe to shake her head in a snit. "You know, you could've just said 'no'!" she snaps, leaning forward slightly as Loki remains unresponsive. "Loki?" Circe chimes, giving him a shake. After a moment of silence, Circe shrugs, turns off the light, and goes to sleep as Amber cackles evilly from the window.
The Curious Residence – 5:07 a.m.
Loki groans as the sun seeps delicately through the window, causing him to scrunch his eyes in discomfort. He yawns and sits up slightly as he throws the covers off his body. "Morning already?" Loki speaks quietly, his voice sounding more horse than usual, "Come on, Circe," he states, reaching his arm out to the left, expecting to feel the right side of his bed, but hitting the wall instead. "What the-?" Loki turns to the side, now noticing the room that he is situated in, which is a small, drab, and classless bedroom. Loki eyes widen as he finds himself in none other than Vidcund Curious's bedroom. Loki shrieks as he looks down, wearing nothing but melon boxers. He holds his hands out in shock, which are now a bit shorter and fuller. "No, no, no!" Loki cries under his breath as he scans them over, "Tell me it's not true!"
Panicked, Loki races out of Vidcund's bedroom and races into the Curious brother's bathroom. He stops in front of the bathroom mirror and looks into it, finding Vidcund's face staring back at him. "AHH!" Loki screams, the sound of Vidcund's voice coming out of his mouth causing Loki to freak out even more. Hearing this, Pascal bursts into the bathroom clutching a baseball bat.
"Alright, where is he? Where's the burglar, Vid?" Pascal cries, fiercely scanning the area as if their lives depended on it.
"Vid? Eek!" Loki squeaks, ducking as Pascal swings the baseball bat around, barely missing him. Loki stands up, his blood boiling, and grabs the bat. Loki is hoping to take it away from Pascal, but has to settle for merely holding it in place. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" he rages as Lazlo walks into the room, tiredly scratching his armpit.
Lazlo narrows his eyes wondrously at the pair of feuding scientists. "Uh…why are you guys up at five in the morning?" he questions, "I mean, for Pascal it makes sense, but not for you, Vid."
"What?" Loki responds, quickly letting go of the bat at the sound of Lazlo's words, "No, no, no! Do not call me that! That is not my name, and this is not happening. This must be some kind of messed-up hallucination!"
Pascal and Lazlo turn to each other and exchange confused glances before Lazlo turns back to Loki.
"Uh…yeah," Lazlo slowly states, clearly puzzled, "Are you sure you're feeling okay, Vid?"
"I'm fine, and I'm not Vidcund," Loki corrects him once more, throwing his arms down at his sides, "Obviously, I'm Loki!"
"Ooh! Is this a new game?" Pascal exclaims, bouncing excitedly in place, "Can I be Buzz? I can do a great Buzz impression!" Pascal announces before immediately shifting into a serious expression, "Grr…I hate aliens!"
Loki crosses his arms and glares at Pascal. "You know, it's amazing you're still alive," he comments, "But as I was saying earlier, I'm not your brother, I'm Loki. I went to sleep last night as myself, then I woke up this morning and somehow, I'm in Vidcund's body!" he shouts, noticing Pascal and Lazlo turn to each other for a second time, concerned gazes on their faces.
"Look Vid," Pascal begins, Loki cringing a bit as Pascal places a hand on his shoulder, "I know you're jealous of Loki because you still have a thing for Circe, but this is getting creepy – you're not him."
"Yes, I am!" Loki cries, frustration building up inside of him as both Pascal and Lazlo shake their heads in pity. "Really," Loki adds, sounding more like a plea than a convincing argument. Loki turns towards the bathroom doorway, locking eyes with Amber, who is smirking at him from the outside window.
"You!" he growls, racing out of the room and storming over to her. "You did this to me!" Loki yells, gesturing down at Vidcund's barely-dressed body, "Once I get my body back, I'm heading straight to the Strangetown Magical Regulatory Commission and-"
"-And do what?" Amber pompously states, "Nobody believes you, not even with a sincere exterior," she reminds him, "You crossed me, Loki Beaker, and now you're paying the price. It's a shame, really. You had such a great life, but you didn't deserve it. Now it belongs to someone else, and you're forced to watch it from the sidelines. Funny, isn't it?"
"Hardly," Loki growls, staring into Amber's crass, brown eyes, "And I hope you know that my wife won't stand for this, she'll have your head if she finds out what you did to me!"
Amber leans back and gives a small chuckle. "I find that hard to believe when Circe can barely stand you."
"What are you talking about? My wife adores me!"
Amber cocks her forehead. "Does she?"
"Yes," Loki firmly nods.
Amber sighs as she scans the young man over. "If you say so," she states, "But if you ask me, you are clearly lacking in acuity, for I see nothing but an unlovable man," Amber remarks, taking a few steps back and summoning her broom with a wave of her hand. "Ta-ta, Loki!" she waves, getting on her broomstick and preparing to launch off.
"What? No!" Loki cries, racing desperately towards her, "Don't leave me like this!" he shouts, sighing defeatedly as he watches her disappear into the clouds. "This is the worst day of my life."
The Beaker Residence – 7:01 a.m.
An alarm goes off on the nightstand in Loki and Circe's master bedroom. Vidcund groggily lifts his head up and flimsily throws his arm out to silence the alarm, unaware of the fact that he did not fall asleep on his stomach last night.
"Ow! Loki!" Circe voice calls out next to him, "What is wrong with you?!"
"Loki?" Vidcund springs awake at the sound of Circe's voice, only to find himself in the center of the Circe and Loki's bedroom. Vidcund looks up towards the dresser and narrows his eyes at his rival's reflection in the mirror, that of whom he can now fully control. "Don't question it: Just don't say anything and do whatever she says," he tells himself after he quits internal screaming.
"Loki? Are you okay?" Circe chimes in next to him, "You haven't said anything for the last fifteen minutes."
"I'm fine, Circe," Vidcund states, clearing his throat in a few times attempt to remain calm, "Really," he assures her, before pulling Circe into an embrace.
"Oh! Okay," Circe squeaks, a slight blush forming on her cheeks as she is taken slightly off guard.
Vidcund sighs as he feels her hugging him back. "This is the best day of my life."