"It sucks... It blows... It's the Pumpinator! Duh-duh, dah... Duh-duh, dah!"
Newton jumped out from behind a wall and swung the Pumpinator around in front of himself. He revved it a couple of times for emphasis, repeatedly flipping its two-directional trigger back and forth.
Newton was, to say the least, bored.
Nothing had happened in the previous months that was even remotely interesting. His mum had gotten another cat, and his papa had left for another trip. Newton himself had even given the Pumpinator an upgrade, adding a chamber on the side for the storage of small items so that they could be fired again. But that was all the excitement they had had in the last...
"... One hundred and seven days, nine hours, twenty-three minutes, and forty-one seconds," Newton grumbled, checking the stopwatch he had set on his watch after his little fiasco last June with the Titans. He shot a glance at the tan earl-grey tea tin chained to the roof. As if in response, the bottle cap lid rattled in disgust, sending a tremor through its restraints.
Even though he knew the Titans were locked in the tin, Newton couldn't help but worry about them. Sure, he had dropped out within his first term at the Popit Academy, but that didn't mean he had been living in a hole! His Papa had certainly taught him a few things about the elements, and he knew how to make use of it. Newton looked over at a niche on the roof, where he had mounted a chalkboard, and filled it with sticky notes and multicolored scrawls of equations and scenarios. He strolled over and placed the Pumpinator on his desk, looking up at the green, powder-coated surface to review his theories, marvelling at how obsessed he'd become with unravelling each property and separating every myth from fact.
"The Titans float somehow," Newton read, chuckling at his own ambiguity. "It's not quite explainable - either the creativity in the air is so thick that something so light can float on it, or it has something to do with plasmoids and solar winds.
"The main component of the Titans is a plasma-based element that feeds off of creativity and imagination, specifically two Padaxite (Px) and one Uguilum (Ug), which when combined made, of course, Dipadaxite Monugilum. This, when combined with one Kantron (Kn), forms the Titan. The Kantron gives the Titan the ability to inhabit and manipulate objects, and is only naturally found in creatures such as the Negativitron."
Newton sighed as he looked at the next line of text, which was all but covered by a large swath of post-its. They contained pointless reminders that he had never gotten around to, such as "CALL PAPA" or "FIX AIRSHIP FUEL TANK LEAK" written in bright red pen, or miscellaneous formulae that he had never ended up needing. He scraped them off gently, put the pastel-yellow pile off to the side, and continued to read quietly to himself.
"The Titan is made of a unique substance in that, due to the fact that Padaxite and Uguilum are perfect opposites, it is incredibly unstable. The Padaxite feeds off of imagination and creativity, and Uguilum is the basic element in both. Thus, it is entirely possible for the Padaxite to consume the Uguilum, leaving only the Padaxite and the Kantron, which, when put together, would cause an-"
Newton was cut off by a rattling noise from behind him. He wheeled around, snatching the Pumpinator off of his desk, holding it in front of himself and trying to look brave.
The noised had come from the tea tin. The chains were jolting up and down, with almost the force of what one might expect out of a very large seismograph during a forceful earthquake. And it did feel like the ground was shaking. Newton struggled to keep his footing as he stumbled over to face the tin. Just as he turned to face the canister, the screws holding the bottle cap lid in place flew into the air. Newton barely had time to cover his face before there was an incredible blast, and large, mean-looking shards of shredded metal were blown in all directions. Newton, who was still cowering, peeped out from behind his hands, and jumped as a dented bottle cap clattered down in front of him.
"-explosion." He finished his sentence, his voice barely more than a cautious whisper.
Newton lowered his arms, his back still pressed up against the wall. Just then, he heard the soft hum of something sharp flying through the air, and yelped as two pieces of razor-sharp shrapnel embedded themselves to the wall behind him, catching his royal purple trenchcoat and shirt. He struggled, trying to free his clothing from the wall, but the metal was buried deep in the wall, and as much as he tried, Newton wasn't strong enough to get it out, or even rip the fabric to free himself.
Something wasn't right. Explosions sent debris in wild directions. They couldn't aim shrapnel at a specific target.
Suddenly, a brilliant white light began to shine at the spot where the tea canister had been. Almost immediately, it dimmed again, and Newton saw a glowing orb. He began to process what exactly had happened, and cursed his misfortune - his papa was still travelling, and his mum had chosen this day to run her errands. It was just him, alone with a ball of what was now Dipadaxite Monokantron, a substance with more destructive force than the Negativitron AND the original three Titans combined. His theories had been correct, and now there was nothing he could do about it.
Newton turned towards where the Titan was, only to find that it was no longer by the wreckage of the tea tin. He looked around for it-
"Ah!" Newton squeaked, flinching. The Titan was right next to him. He jolted back as well as one could while pinned to a wall.
Side effects of the formation of the new substance could include new abilities, Newton thought, remembering his notes, such as teleportation, telepathy, and enhanced flying, speed, and manipulation techniques.
There was a sharp pain from his chest. It felt like he had just been hit with lightning. He looked down to see the center of his torso glowing bright white. He yelled, thrashing, as he knew what had just happened. His cries of desperation quickly turned into groans, as he began to struggle to stay awake. Finally, the shrapnel holding him on the wall drew away and fell to the ground. Newton let out a sigh as his head hit the ground, knocking him into the realm of his own subconscious to deal with the Titan.
Newton groaned as he pushed himself up with his hands. His head ached as he stood up, his vision slowly coming into focus. Chemical diagrams and complex math problems drifted through the air of the black, colorless space. He remembered the first time he had come here, when the three Titans had entered his mind. He hadn't even lasted five seconds before they had overpowered him. This time, he was determined to put up more of a fight.
He walked forward slowly, jumping at every little noise he heard. It wasn't long before he saw the Titan. It was floating through his subconscious, its flight pattern jittery, as though it were looking for something.
Or someone.
"Hey!" Newton yelled. "You nitwit! I'm over here!"
The Titan froze, turning to face the lightbulb, who was now flailing his arms and performing erratic taunts. It shot towards him, and Newton turned tail, speeding off deeper into his mind. The Titan pursued him. When it was about to catch up, Newton would bolt between the charts and symbols littering his subconscious, throwing it off course. The Titan began to lag behind.
Newton himself was exhausted. It felt like he was back to playing tag when he was a little kid. He stopped, breathing heavily. Seeing an opportunity, the Titan bursted forward in a final attempt to reach its goal.
Newton turned just as the Titan was about to hit him. He ducked, and laughed as the dizzy orb rocketed over his head and fell to the ground, its light pulsing.
Newton walked over to it, looking smug. "Ha, you see? The trick is to show no fe-"
Just then, pain erupted at the back of Newton's glass skull. He tumbled forwards, falling on his face. His attacker lowered an outstretched fist, smirking as Newton groaned and rolled over. The figure was clad mostly in purple, with cardboard-soled boots and a bowler hat with an egg-timer band. His head was a lightbulb, glowing completely white.
Newton's look-alike chuckled at his opponents blank, horror-stricken face. The Titan rose up off of the ground again, joining its puppet.
"Hello there, old chum," the white Newton cooed. "I'm terribly sorry for giving you a scare, but it seems as though your head got in the way of my fist."
The real Newton gulped and pushed himself away from his twin. He was outnumbered, and now knee-deep in a predicament he could not get himself out of.
"Why're you running away? I though that your trick was to show no fear?" The possessed Newton spat out the words, lacing them with mockery. He relished the sight of the yellow lightbulb curling in on himself.
"Ah, you're still just as cowardly as I remember you, Newton," he continued. "You can't fight. You can't even defend. Look at you now - you can't even face me. Nobody thinks you can do anything, Newton." He chuckled. "And they're right."
As the possessed Newton and the Titan toyed with their subordinate's mind, the real Newton lapsed further and further into a state of doubt - and with it, his perpetrators began to grow. Or was he shrinking? His yells in protest to their jeering became halfhearted pleas, until finally he collapsed, shaking.
The possessed Newton smirked. He was now almost twice the size of Newton. "You're through already?" he asked. "Pathetic." He grabbed Newton by his shirt and lifted him up into the air. Newton kicked and squirmed, trying to free himself of his captor's grip.
The Titan itself began to morph and twist, and Newton stared as it formed the sturdy bars of a cage. He squeaked in fright as his possessed self forced him inside, locking the door.
Newton grabbed at the lock, prying, twisting, and jerking it in a desperate attempt to get out. "Let me go!" he yelled. "I'm not finished with you!"
The possessed Newton laughed. "Who said you got to make those decisions anymore, old chum?" he asked. He placed a finger to Newton's forehead. Newton went stiff, jolted by an electric shock. He began to feel drowsy, and he toppled over onto his side.
"I'm in charge now," the possessed Newton laughed. As Newton's vision blurred, he watched as his evil twin walked away, leaving him alone.
I tried, he thought. That's more than I did last time.
Newton opened his eyes, briefly wondering why he was lying on the ground. He quickly shook off the thought, dusting himself off and looking around at his surroundings. He spotted a bit of imagination floating in the air. He looked at it hungrily, then raised his arms. He shot up fifteen feet into the air, and all of the imagination around his home was drawn to him, like moths to a light. He descended back down to the rooftop, a grin shining on his pure white face. He grabbed his Pumpinator. He had work to do.
A/N: Wow... that was my first fanfic. That took a while. I REALLY want a LittleBigPlanet 4, but quite a few people think there isn't going to happen. Thus, my own hopes, perhaps?
Anyway, if you did take the time to read this, thanks, and I appreciate any feedback!
