Bart wasn't feeling so good. it was simply awful.

No matter what he did, he'd always be punished for it. much like how Lisa would always have to endure Meatballs in her spaghetti instead of separated from it (oh, the woes of a vegetarian)

So what if he'd, for once, bought a thoughtful gift for her mom? The birthday had been ruined for no reason. It wasn't his fault the bunny would chew the wires everywhere. If anything, it was Mom's for letting the thing run through the house free (they were really lucky it hadn't dashed the moment he'd seen Homer screaming at it for chewing the phonewires)

But of course, the moment Mom walked up the stairs dejectedly, hugging the cute pet close, he knew what was coming next. The ever-famous words of 'WHY YOU LITTLE' were herald for nothing for him but pain.

He waited for the light to leave his eyes, for the black dots slowly appearing. Maybe this time Homer would go too far and he wouldn't need to wake again…but nothing happened.

Homer said, as if trying to calm himself down, "now Homer, you can't strangle a boy on his mother's birthday, juries hate that" then, he looked at Bart again, "So instead, Boy, I want you to GET IN THAT RABBIT CAGE!"

Of course bart protested. Put a kid in a rabbit cage? He was pretty sure the juries would hate that even more…

But in he went anyway, and out they did.

Homer slowly went up, and after about fifteen minutes (he counted them. There's not much else a hyperactive kid can do inside a cage that small) he walked down the stairs with Lisa and Marge and Maggie. All of them dressed for going out.

Lisa gave him a sideway glance that could be translated as pity. But that was it. Homer didn't even care, and Mom didn't even pay attention to the fact there was her son, or even any kid , in a cage inside her living room.

"now, boy. We're going out for dinner. You stay in there and think about what you've done!" said Homer, and the four went out the door.

The car started, and left the street, he could see it leaving, with the Lisa cheering for something.

It felt…it felt humiliating. Scathingly painful.

He was trapped in a rabbit-cage simply for the crime of buying a gift that happened to ruin another gift.

Think about what you've done.

Bart was out of the cage in five minutes flat. Most of that time was spent on pulling himself out of the cage as he muttered under his breath, the lock was picked in record time.

Now, he could think of many ways to get back at them.

It would take only five minutes for him to call Child Protecting Service. All he had to do would be placing the cage near the phone, so he could return inside after calling, and conveniently be nearby when the CPS came barging in. a sob story wouldn't be that hard to make up, and he was a master actor. there was no way the CPS agent wouldn't fall for his puppy eyes.

It would be glorious; he could already see it. Homer would lose all he had, and the Kids would go to better homes. Maybe Lisa could be adopted by a family that was actually respectful to her beliefs. Who knew, Maggie might even learn to talk!

It would even take even less that to call the Flanders. Ned would see it, or one of his kids would tell him to come and see it, and he was too lawful not to report a crime he could actually see.

Even less for him to run away! It wouldn't take long to pick up his belongings, a phone, a laptop, and a suitcase full of clothes. He could think of a place to live later. Maybe go to the Van Houtens for a while until he figured everything out…

But despite Marge's inaction to the many things Homer always to him, she was the one person he didn't want to hurt. And any of these ways of retaliation would hurt her.

He sighed, before going to the kitchen, fixing up something for himself to eat, as he pondered on what to do.

Half an hour later, he was all hey, screw it! Let's just give them another chance.

As he heard the car parking and Marge talking to Homer, he quickly returned to the cage, conveniently sucked the straw for some water, looking as nonchalant as he could.

They didn't pay him any attention, Lisa yawned and walked to the second floor, Marge shrugged, "Thanks, Homer. It was a great Birthday party!" and went to her room, Homer too going up to change.

They hadn't even greeted him.

Another half-hour later, with Bart finally getting comfy in the cage (surprisingly, it had a soft floor. And besides, it was better than the clown bed he used to sleep on), Homer walked to the living room with a can of beer in his hand, "Son, do you have a minute?"

Son? Now I'm a son to you?

"I've been thinking, I really shouldn't've put you in there and left you there while we were having a pizza party without you" he said, with a straight face, "so I'm gonna let you out with an apology"

Bart fumed. It was just like them, Homer would ruin everything for Bart, and then all would be well with a single apology.

He said sulkily, "I don't wanna come out!" Homer was, justifiably, surprised, "wha-ha-WHAT?"

Bart looked at him with a nasty glint in his eyes, "I like it in the cage! The seeds and shavings are a helluva lot better than my lumpy mattress!"

If Homer was apologizing of his own accord, he'd leave the living room with a 'meh!' right away, shrugging as he would say 'I tried my best'.

The very fact he put his foot on, saying "boy, get out of that cage!" meant he wasn't apologizing of his own accord.

Someone had made him do that. Someone had asked him to let the poor little kid out of the cage now that he'd been 'punished' enough.

As Lisa wouldn't ever do something like that, he knew it was Mom.

So she'd actually knew Bart was in a cage, And she didn't care! she had blamed him for her bad birthday too!

That made it worse. Now he wished he'd have done what he was planning when they weren't around.

It was homer forcing him out of the cage that finally did the trick.

If he couldn't get even at Homer, he would humiliate him in public.

And that was how he got into Graffiti, and Arts in the first place.


A.N:

Yes. The fact Bart actually apologized for his revenge in this episode really annoyed me. He literally had nothing to apologize for this time.

I mean, sometimes, when he's being punished, at least he deserves it. like when he was grounded for ruining thanksgiving. Or (to a very small degree) the time he got a restriction order. (even if the punishment was too much for the crime)

But this episode? He didn't even do anything wrong in this one. he was just a kid who'd bought something thoughtful for his mom on her birthday. it wasn't his fault the let the bunny out of his cage.

Thanks for reading.

And in case you haven't noticed by now, most one-shots here are going to be Bart-Centric.

Davoid Signing off