Wilbur laid in his bed right after the Bowler Hat guy stole the time machine. He decided first thing in the morning he would go off in search of it. The problem was, he didn't even know where to start. He rubbed his hands on his face trying to think. When he opened his eyes, he saw Carl standing over him.
"Hey there, little buddy, why the long face?" Carl asked after Wilbur jumped slightly.
"Oh, it's…it's nothing," Wilbur said.
"The way you said it means it's something," Carl said. Carl could always tell when the teenager had something to hide.
"Carl, it's nothing, don't worry about it," Wilbur said.
"Let me guess, it's something at school?" Carl asked.
"No, Carl, it's nothing," Wilbur said.
"Is it a girl? Because I can help you write a poem to knock her socks off!" Carl said.
"Carl, it's not a girl," Wilbur said. He couldn't tell Carl. If he did, he would go to the family, and then his parents would know that he didn't lock the garage door.
"Are you feeling stressed? It's Lazlo and Tallulah growing up and not spending as much time with you, isn't it? I could go and talk to them…" Carl said.
"Carl, it's nothing. It has nothing to do with school or a girl or the family. There is absolutely nothing wrong!" Wilbur said. He put his pillow over his face and sighed.
"Well, something is obviously wrong because you sighed," Carl said.
"I did not sigh," Wilbur said.
"Yes, you did," Carl said.
"What? I'm not allowed to exhale?" Wilbur said.
"C'mon, Wilbur, you know you can tell me anything," Carl said.
"Yes, and I would if there was anything, which there's not, so you can go," Wilbur said.
"Wilbur…" Carl said. Wilbur pushed the pillow closer to his face. "Alright, give me that before you suffocate yourself." Carl tried to pull the pillow away from him, but Wilbur tightened his grip. "Fine, you pass out because of lack of oxygen don't come crying to me," Carl said.
"I won't suffocate," Wilbur mumbled.
"You sure about that?" Carl said.
"Yes," Wilbur replied.
"Nothing I can say will change your mind?" Carl asked.
"Nope," Wilbur answered.
"Not even if I do this?" Carl said, running his fingers up and down Wilbur's rib cage. Wilbur slowly started to curl up into the fetal position with the pillow still on his face. Carl took his other hand and ran his fingers along the other side of the teenager's rib cage. Wilbur tried to shield his ribs while still holding onto the pillow.
"So, now will you tell me what's the matter?" Carl asked.
Wilbur didn't say anything and Carl took that as his queue to get the boy to talk by means of tickle torture. Out of each of his fingertips, a small feather popped out. Carl put his hands under the boy's shirt and wiggled his fingers up and down his sides. Wilbur screamed in laughter and threw the pillow at the robot. This didn't affect Carl. Wilbur brought his arms to his side and his legs up, trying to make the robot stop.
"Okkay, okkay, I'll tell you," Wilbur sputtered. He paused to laugh and attempted to kick Carl, but had little success. "Just stop!" he choked out as he started to loose his breath from laughing so hard.
Carl stopped and sat down on the bed next to the teenager. Wilbur slowly sat up, grabbed the pillow, and hugged it. "So, what happened?" Carl said.
Wilbur sighted. "I forgot to lock the garage door and some guy in a Bowler hat took the time machine."
"First or second?" Carl asked.
"Second," Wilbur answered.
Carl was quiet for a minute. "Carl, I don't even know where to start looking," Wilbur said.
"Wait, isn't he the guy used to egg the house?" Carl asked.
"Yeah, that's the one," Wilbur said.
"Well, then he probably has a bone to pick with your father," Carl said.
Wilbur thought about this for a moment. "So why would he need a time machine?" he asked.
"Well, what was your dad's first invention?" Carl asked.
"Well, he made a memory scanner when he was twelve," Wilbur said, recalling the story his father had told him.
"Maybe that would be a good place to start, then," Carl said.
"Alright, I'll go first thing in the morning," Wilbur said.
"Oh, no, you need to let your parents do this. You know you're not allowed anywhere near that time machine," Carl said.
"Relax, Carl, how hard can it be? It's not like I'll get in a time machine wreck or anything, I mean there are only two," Wilbur said.
"Yeah, but have you forgotten you're only thirteen?" Carl asked.
"No problem, that thing is easy to drive. Just cover for me until I get back. I'll have both time machines safe and sound and no one will know the difference," Wilbur said.
"Alright, but I really don't approve of this," Carl said. "But you had better leave tomorrow morning and be back later tomorrow, got it?"
"Trust me a little, Carl," Wilbur said "Wilbur Robinson never fails."
A/N: So, how did you like it? This is my first Meet the Robinsons fanfiction and I wanted to do one about Wilbur and Carl because I saw there were no stories on here that even have Carl as a main character and I love the brother thing he and Wilbur have going on. Well, I have written for Phineas and Ferb, Alvin and the Chipmunks, High School Musical, Animaniacs, How to Train your Dragon, and The Fairly Oddparents. I am working on stories (along with these) for Wreck-It Ralph, All Grown Up, and Percy Jackson. So, if you like this, let me know how I did, and what I can do to make my next story better! God bless and keep moving forward!