Chapter 10 - The Three Sides of Brainy Barker
Once Stretch and Brainy were a few blocks away from STAR Labs, Stretch morphed into his normal, Buddy identity, and asked Brainy to do the same and get her normal look too.
"This way we can walk around Metropolis without getting any attention. Besides, I'm sure you'll like to be treated like a normal dog at least for once." Stretch explained.
"Good point, but my fur is still purple. Not exactly a normal earthling dog color."
"Mmm… well, try this." Stretch, as Buddy, started concentrating and soon his fur was a darker shade. "It's not easy, but if you can do the same, then your 'purple' will look like a dark shade of gray or some other more… usual color."
"Great trick. Okay, I'm gonna try it." Brainy did as Buddy told her, and soon her fur was a shade much closer to a normal dog's color. This trick even worked with her nose, turning it from light blue to a very dark shade, so most humans looking at it, without paying too much attention, would think it was black colored.
"Very good! You are a quick learner… well, I already knew that." Buddy chuckled.
"It helps that I have a really great teacher." Brainy smiled, and a moment later they went back to their 'night off'; none of them wanted to call it a 'date', at least not now.
As promised, Stretch took Brainy to several normal 'hanging out' places, starting with a skating rink; since it was very late at night, there was almost no people around, so they could morph their paws into roller blades, and skate for a while. After that, they went to a nearby cafeteria; obviously, since dogs usually don't get service there unless a human buys them the food, Buddy felt a bit ashamed when realizing they'd need to eat from the dumpster.
"I'm sorry… but there's no way we can…"
Brainy silenced him by placing a paw on his muzzle.
"How about we use this chance to practice the 'human disguise'?"
Buddy grinned at this, remembering how they'd practiced molding their faces and bodies to resemble normal humans; they hadn't used it on any mission so far, but now it seemed to be the right moment to give it a try.
Brainy and Buddy needed a few minutes to make a convincing human transformation, specially when they had to adapt their canine muzzles into human noses. Since they still were blue colored, Buddy had the idea of morphing into clowns.
"So, you guys work at the circus?" The food stands employee asked them while preparing two large sandwiches.
"No, we work in private parties. We just came from a kid's birthday one." Buddy explained while toying a bit with the ornaments/bells in his jester-like outfit. Buddy had to clear his throat a few times, or at least it seemed like that for the food vendor; in reality, Buddy was shapeshifting his throat and vocal cords to talk like a human. Brainy noticed this, realizing it was a detail they hadn't considered until that moment, so she toyed with her own outfit's bells for a moment, covering up the noise she made when clearing/shifting her throat as well.
"Heh, that must be fun." The employee said while handing them the sandwiches. Brainy, who always carried the right currency for whatever planet the Dog Stars visited, paid for the food; at first, they had asked for BLT sandwiches, but ended asking for the lettuce and tomato to get removed, and to double the bacon.
"This is… quite the experience." Brainy said as she and Buddy ate their sandwiches. "Not the sandwich, I mean, sure, it's good and all… but eating while looking like humans…"
"I know. It's great, isn't it?" Buddy chuckled. "And you look very good as a clown girl."
"Thanks. I copied the looks from a TV report… but apparently that clown girl isn't exactly a honest-living one."
"Oh… guess I know who you're talking about." Buddy rolled his eyes. "That's the girl who usually takes care of Bud and Lou; apparently she's a dangerous criminal but quite a good pet owner."
"That's open to debate." Brainy chuckled as they finished eating. Buddy smiled at this, enjoying the view; it was rare for Brainy to be this relaxed and happy, not to mention that, thanks to their disguises, they could interact with the humans with little problem. Once they finished eating, they went to the movies, enjoying a romantic comedy, and then got a nice walk at the park; first as humans, and then, once they noticed no people were around, they morphed back to their natural dog shapes.
"This has been quite a wonderful night." Brainy smiled. "You really know how to make a girl happy."
"I'm glad you're having fun. I'm enjoying this as well." Buddy replied before thinking. 'Wish I could make you even happier."
"But you do. A lot. Like no other guy can."
"Brainy?" Buddy stopped walking, wide-opening his eyes. Brainy gasped, realizing she had accidentally read Buddy's thoughts, and worse than that, by instinct, she had mentally replied.
"I… I'm so sorry, Buddy… I know I should have been more responsible… I… I must be way more relaxed than I thought if I forgot my most basic precautions!" Brainy groaned and face-palmed.
"Hey, it's fine. At least you only read 'My' thoughts, and not a stranger's, someone who'd be offended if you did that. And trust me, I'm not offended at all." Buddy gently smiled at her. "And… I really make you that happy? I know I try to make everyone around me happy as well, but…"
"... but you still think you're a bit too silly at times." Brainy held his paws now. "Buddy, I've told you before; I don't find you 'silly' or 'dumb' or anything like that. I find you… funny, kind, friendly, heroic, even sweet… all the wonderful qualities that would make any female to fall in love with you."
"Y-you mean it…" Buddy blushed.
"Oh, yes, definitely. In fact, added to all those qualities, I also find you physically attractive. A lot." Brainy blushed a bit at this part. "So… in case you actually are a bit 'silly' and hadn't realized it yet, I'll say it; yes, Buddy, I like you, and not just in 'I want to be his best friend' way, but the 'I want to date this wonderful guy' one."
"S-so, you have a crush…"
"More than a crush, Buddy; I'm in love with you."
Buddy blushed and smiled, barely believing these wonderful words.
"You're saying you're in love with me… when did this happen?"
"Well… I've felt some attraction for you for a long time now, but it had been… developing into a full crush, and later true, intense love from all the time we've been working together. If you want a.. precise date, well, it all started the night after our first training session."
"T-that long… wow… It's… amazing… I mean, I've felt mostly the same almost since then; I didn't say a thing because, well, you were recovering from a very nasty ordeal, learning how to use your new body and all that stuff; at that moment, you needed a teacher/mentor/friend rather than a boyfriend."
"See? You're also very caring." Brainy caressed his face. Buddy smiled back and continued.
"Thanks… and also, the reason I offered my DNA to create your body, wasn't just for you, even if it was the main reason... I was also doing it for the Dog Stars, I mean, what would they do without you? You're their leader, and if something happened to you, then the Dog Stars would cease to exist… and I knew you'd feel the same, so you'd put your leadership obligations ahead of any love relationship. So, again, I didn't want to make you feel… obligated… with me out of gratitude or something like that, when you already had a lot on your mind."
"I wouldn't have felt obligated, Buddy… but I see what you mean; in your place, I'd have thought the same. This also proves, once again, that you're heroic, selfless and an overall wonderful guy. You put everyone's happiness and our duties before your personal gain." Brainy nodded. "It would be almost impossible not to fall in love with you… in fact, I want to show you how I feel about you; literally show you."
"What do you mean?"
"The night after our first training session, I had this strange dream that I think it'd be best to show you."
Buddy, realizing that Brainy was about to link their minds again, nodded at the female, and then they moved to a secluded part of the park. Being just the two of them, they had no 'backup' to protect their bodies while the mental bonding was 'on', so they had to be at a relatively safe place before even thinking about doing it. Once they found a good place, behind some bushes and without any human or dog around, Brainy put herself in front of Buddy, and they sat down before staring at each other, Brainy starting the mental link almost instantly.
It took a few moments for Buddy to clear his sight and take a good look around. He then smiled when seeing a wedding at a distance… and even more when realizing the marrying couple was Brainy and himself.
"Nice scene, isn't it?" Brainy, smiling, moved next to Buddy, contemplating the wedding as well.
"Yes… you know, I've had dreams like this." Buddy nodded, never stopped watching the wedding, and chuckling a bit when seeing Streaky flying over the couple to spread some rice over them. "The difference is that, in my dream, Streaky spreads bacon or cookies."
"In that aspect, your dream is more realistic than mine." Brainy rolled her eyes, chuckling slightly. "And this is usually just the start of my dream. Want to see the rest?"
"Oh, yes, definitely." Buddy nodded at Brainy before she blinked her eyes, and the scene changed to a pair of pups, male and female, that combined traits from both Buddy and herself. Buddy gasped and then smiled when seeing Brainy and his 'dream selves' looking at the pups too, and then the 'Dream Buddy' morphing into a ball to play with the pups… or, more accurately, for the pups to play with him; 'Dream Brainy' chuckled and took a whole picnic out of nowhere, obviously for the family to enjoy later.
"Whoa… our puppies? They… they're beautiful!" Buddy smiled. "And they can…"
"No, Buddy, they can't see us. Remember this is my dream… basically, it's like going to the movies to see a VERY realistic film. We can watch them…"
"But they can't see or hear us. Heh, it's like that 'Christmas Carol' story." Buddy interrupted Brainy, the elastic male thinking out-loud now. "So, you're saying we're just passive observers."
"Exactly… and what is this 'Christmas Carol' you mentioned?" Brainy arched an eyebrow.
"Remind me to show you one of the movie versions when we get back… well, knowing you, you'd probably like the book better." Buddy chuckled, still watching the game. "Hey, look, our Dream Daughter just bounced Dream Me! Nice one…"
Buddy stopped talking, and watched in awe as his Dream Son morphed into a large human-like body, resembling a basketball player, and jumped to catch the still ball-like Dream Buddy in mid-air.
"Wow… our pups have elastic powers too? Nice… oh, and they have mental powers like yours?"
"Well, Buddy, this is a dream, and they're our puppies as I dream they'd probably be some day; no way to say if they'd really look like this if we have a family for real. We might have two males, or two females, or much more pups than just two; and of course, no way to know if they'd all have all our powers. Since we both have elastic powers, it's logical to assume all our pups would inherit them; but I'm the only one with mental powers, and nobody else in my family has them, so maybe just one of our pups would inherit them, or maybe none would get mental powers at all." Brainy explained.
"I see… still, powers or not, and regardless of gender, I know all our pups would be as cute as the 'Dream Ones', since they'd look like you." Buddy smiled before pausing. "Except for the hairdo. In your dreams, our pups inherited my hair… oh, and my nose too? Nice touch."
"Speaking of which, how exactly did your nose turn out like this?"
"Well, it's a funny story." Buddy chuckled. "You see, I had this blue ball… that was my favorite toy, by the way… and it fell into the same vat that had the elastic solution. And I kinda jumped after the ball."
"So, that's why you fell into the vat." Brainy smiled while Buddy nodded. "And the ball…"
"Ace says that the ball's material got affected by the solution too, so the ball kinda fused with my nose… and it has the same properties as the rest of my body." Buddy continued. "Ace also says that the rest of the solution got affected by the ball's material too, and that's why it got dyed blue, and the same happens with the nose of whoever gets transformed by the formula, as long as at least some of it comes from the original vat."
"Does that also explain why you're always bouncing around Metropolis?" Brainy smirked.
"Heh, maybe; I know a ball has no instincts because it's not alive or anything, but guess it still passed me this… psychological urge… to bounce around." Buddy rolled his eyes. "It also helps that one of the very first things I did after getting my powers was to bounce and ricochet around the laboratory; mostly by accident, but you know what I mean."
Brainy then stretched her muzzle to give her big blue bulbous nose a good look, and then flicked it; the nose started bouncing up and down. Brainy chuckled and then yanked her nose down, releasing it a moment later for a quick bouncing effect.
"So, do you wanna head home?" Buddy grinned.
"Actually, I kinda feel like bouncing home…. but then again, we're already in the 'head home'; all of this is happening inside my mind, remember?" Brainy playfully smiled. "And I want to show you around; I really want to completely open myself to you, and the best way to do that is to show you my subconscious mind."
Buddy gasped at this, quite impressed. What Brainy was offering him was a deep insight of her very mind and soul; it was like reading her personal diary, but a hundredfold more personal.
"I… I'll be happy to do that." Buddy smiled back and soon they were holding paws before turning their other three ones into springs, and they started bouncing away from the picnic area and their Dream Family. Of course the 'bouncing' was done mostly out of familiarity, as it was a traveling way they both felt comfortable with; otherwise, Brainy could just change the scenario in the blink of an eye.
After bouncing away for a couple of minutes, the scenario changed from the flowery field to a dark tunnel with occasional flashes of random images; as Brainy explained, they were traveling deeper into her mind, and the images were little sparks or views of other memories and thoughts of hers they were passing by while getting deeper. They also started seeing floating numbers and random data.
"Let me guess… we're going through your rational, analytical mind?"
"Yes. Once we get past it, we'll reach my subconscious…"
"Aaaaaand, you're there now!"
Brainy and Buddy stopped bouncing and looked around, trying to find whoever was talking to them; it was a female voice, very similar to Brainy's, but considerably louder and a bit childish.
"Who said that?" Buddy asked.
"Well… we're in my subconscious, so it must be part of myself… But I can't tell which part of myself is talking because, well, it's subconscious; I'm not personally aware of most stuff happening in this part of my mind."
"Oh, so now I'm 'Stuff'? Heh, funny; I thought my name was 'Who', as in 'Who said that', 'Who is bouncing around" and 'Who is pouncing on us'..."
"Who is… Oof!" Buddy and Brainy got tackled by a blue-outfitted version of Brainy; in fact, she looked a lot like Brainy's elastic self, except that her blue nose was even more bulbous and similar to a clown's.
"Heh, exactly; but as much as I like 'Who', I think I like Stretch-A-Mutt better!" The energetic canine girl laughed, now on top of both Buddy and Brainy and giving them a friendly, goofy face.
"Stretch-A… Heh, I like it too." Buddy chuckled while Brainy gave a good look to this Alter-Brainy of hers.
"Mmm… obviously, you're a construct of my subconscious mind… one with her own personality that reflects some aspect of myself."
"And give the girl an A!" Stretch-A-Mutt morphed one of her paws into a large A. "But you don't have the whole story yet! You see, I'm part of your mind, but I'm the part of your mind that has the most of Stretchy here."
"Care to explain… and to let us stand up?" Buddy chuckled.
Stretch-A-Mutt giggled and stood up, stretching her arms to help both Buddy and Brainy stand up, and then morphing her tail into a couple of chairs for them to sit down. Stretch-A-Mutt then pulled a screen out of nowhere, as well as a popcorn tube she offered to her guests, while she started explaining herself.
"Okay, as you all know, Brainy's new body is a cloned one, that combines her old body's genes, some of Stretchy's, and a lot of the substance that gave him his powers." The goofy canine explained while the screen showed what seemed to be pre-school kids drawings that illustrated her words. "Well, as Stretchy knows, he can control pretty much every single part of his body…"
"Yes, full molecular control." Brainy added.
"Exactly! Meaning that even the tiniest, smallest, mini-part of his body has a tiny, small, mini-part of his mind. So, when the Dog Stars, Krypto, Streaky and Tall-Dark-And-Batty cloned your new body, they also got a little part of Stretchy's subconscious mind included in the whole package. Since it's just a little part, and you have very strong mental powers, you had been unaware of my existence… meaning I didn't get a birthday present; or a party… gee, not even a cake." Stretch-A-Mutt rolled her eyes before getting back to her clownish tone. "Anyway, since you don't let me get out and play, I've been playing and having fun here; I also entertain myself watching your memories. Also, and this part you're gonna like, I've grown stronger thanks to the both of you; the most you, Brainy, accept your feelings for Buddy here, and come with more fantasies and dreams about him…"
Brainy blushed slightly at this while Buddy grinned.
"... the strongest I become because I'm a link between Buddy, your feelings, and your sense of humor too… and we all know Buddy makes you so happy that your sense of humor had improved a lot as well."
"So… what's your goal? You are gonna try to take over…"
"The world? No, Pinky, not tonight." Stretch-A-Mutt interrupted Brainy before getting slightly serious. "But if you fear I'm gonna take over your mind and replace you as the main personality… nah, not happening. Remember I was originally born from part of Buddy's mind, and he's so nice, kind, heroic and lovable that he can't do anything that might hurt you, so I can't do anything against you either. Besides, I'm happy here, and I'm not alone, so no rush to get myself a physical body."
"Heh, good to know… But you said you're not alone here." Buddy pointed out.
"Ah, you're paying attention! Nice of you!" Stretch-A-Mutt hugged Buddy before turning herself into a ball and rolling a few steps away. "And yes, I have two sisters here; they're part of your mind too, Brainy. Want to meet them?"
"Well… yes, sure; I wouldn't mind getting to know myself a bit better." Brainy smiled.
"Alright. Let me call them." Stretch-A-Mutt morphed her paw into a pair of large fingers, put them in her mouth, and whistled loudly. "HEY, GIRLS, WE HAVE VISITORS!"
"I think even those without psychic powers would hear that mental call." Buddy groaned while he and Brainy rubbed their ears.
A few moments after Stretch-A-Mutt yelled, two other Brainy-likes appeared. One of them looked pretty much like Brainy's pre-transformation self, while the other was an exact copy of Brainy's current self but her fur color was Buddy's.
"Nice. I'm meeting the whole family." Buddy half-joked.
"An accurate comparison, Stretch-O-Mutt… or you prefer Buddy when not in service? I know it makes no difference for you when it's Brainy here talking to you, but better ask first." The pre-transformation Brainy-like said, her tone as diplomatic and serene as the normal Brainy's when going into 'leadership-mode'.
"Either one is fine." Buddy said. "So… which parts of Brainy's personality are you both?"
"Well, she's Smarty," the Buddy-colored Brainy-like explained, "and I'm Normy."
"Yeah, I wanted to name them after something funny or cool like myself, but their names are fitting." Stretch-A-Mutt added.
"Well, I can deduce… Smarty here… is the subconscious representation of my logical, analytical side…"
"Also your responsibility and other qualities that help you do your leadership work." Smarty added while nodding.
"... but what would be your… background, Normy?" Brainy continued while looking at the third look-alike.
"Heh, well, I have no powers like these two." Normy pointed at her 'sisters' before chuckling. "And that's fine with me. My name says it, I'm a normal dog…. and let's be honest, Brainy, you have wanted to be a normal dog more than once; no responsibilities, no life-risking, stuff like that."
Brainy nodded while Buddy gave her a puzzled look, but then he got an understanding one. By now, he was well aware that Brainy didn't just like doing normal or funny activities with him… she LOVED doing them, and at times, she even NEEDED it. Being the Dog-Stars' leader and all-around serious dog was too much pressure, and while she enjoyed using her powers to help others, she also liked the idea of just being a normal dog without the extra pressures of superheroism.
"I'm still a bit surprised. I thought I knew my own mind better than this." Brainy admitted.
"Well, that's why we're part of the 'subconscious mind'. You're not aware of our existence until you find us." Smarty reminded her.
"Yes, we're like an old dress you forgot you had, and you only find it when you clean up your closet." Normy shrugged.
"Heh… "I'm the Christmas sweater you only used once"... "I'm the socks that granny made for my birthday"... "I… am your Subconscious Friend!" Stretch-A-Mutt half joked while using her morphing powers to get a long cape and a fedora, playing an old cartoon hero that Brainy saw once on an earthling TV transmission.
"What, no duckbill?" Stretch-O-Mutt chuckled while getting a duckbill himself.
"Oh, I knew I forgot something." Stretch-A-Mutt laughed before morphing back to normal.
"Try to live with her." Smarty rolled her eyes at Brainy. Even if Brainy could tell her 'Smart Self' actually liked Strech-A-Mutt, she could easily deduce she didn't have that much patience for her antics.
"Ah, don't be like that." Strech-A-Mutt giggled before getting an arm around Smarty's shoulders, and taking a 'selfie' of them both. "This will be a great photo."
"Where did she… oh, right, this is a mental place." Stretch-O-Mutt face-palmed, laughing, when deducing where did Stretch-A-Mutt got the little camera from.
"Heh, yep. And she's very good at getting random stuff from nowhere." Normy explained. "And never mind Smarty; she actually likes Stretch-A… but since their personalities are so opposite…"
"I get it; you're the one in-between. Your work in this family's dynamics is to be a 'bridge' between them both." Brainy correctly guessed, Normy nodding at this.
"Indeed; Normy's thought process is very close to mine… not as intellectual, but with remarkable amounts of common sense and diplomacy, so we can have rational, calm conversations…" Smarty was interrupted by Stretch-A-Mutt.
"... and she also has a very good sense of humor, so she spends a lot of time with me whenever Smarty needs a break from my company. Heh, even I admit I can be a bit too much for Miss I-like-Boring here." Strech-A commented.
"I don't like 'Boring', Stretch-A-Mutt; it's just that my concept of… fun… is much calmer than yours." Smarty sighed. "In fact, an eight degrees earthquake's activity is calmer than you."
"Oh, well, back to topic, it's very nice to finally meet you, Brainy…" Normy addressed Brainy now before turning at Stretch-O-Mutt. "And it's VERY good to finally meet you, Handsome."
"Heh… well, you're very welcome. And it's very nice that Brainy's 'sisters' like me." Buddy commented.
"Oh, well, it's logical, considering we're all part of Brainy's mind." Smarty pointed out. "Of course, we all like different aspects of you, Buddy; I find your abilities, and your interaction with Brainy, to be very mentally stimulating, not to mention the stress reliever effect you have on her."
"And I think you're very-very-very funny!" Stretch-A-Mutt added, laughing.
"And, not surprisingly, I like the… normal aspects of the relationship; a gentle interaction, a nice chatting, sharing a decent lunch…" Normy continued before blushing a bit. "And of course, the three of us find you very handsome."
"Yes, yes, we like when Brainy is looking at you; my heart makes 'pump-pump' when she does that!" Stretch-A giggled while making her heart to do a toony effect, forming a large toony-heart on her chest, and making a loud beating sound.
"And I find you… physically attractive." Smarty, despite using her normal, intellectual tone, was blushing slightly.
"Then we all agree, because I find Brainy VERY attractive too; and pretty, and cute, and any other word that means I really like how she looks." Buddy said while grinning at the three 'sisters'. "Meaning I also find the three of you very good looking."
"What else do you like about Brainy?" Normy asked.
"Mmm… well, I like that she combines the best traits of the three of you; smart, kind, brave, willing to do funny and/or normal stuff when we're off-work…" Buddy continued. "But mostly, I like her sense of justice and self-sacrifice, like she did back on Catopia, I mean, if she hadn't contained the blast from that Krypto-Bomb, me and the other Dog Stars would've been goners."
The three sisters couldn't help but cringe at this; it was actually a bit surprising to see Smarty and Stretch-A-Mutt dropping their normal personalities, and act as uncomfortable as her sisters.
"Yes, that's something that none of us are gonna forget any time soon." Normy groaned.
"Certainly; it's a very deeply ingrained, traumatic experience." Smarty sighed.
"Not. Funny. Not at all." Stretch-A-Mutt grunted before getting a little of her smile back. "But you did a very-very-very nice thing helping Brainy, Buddy; that's another reason we all love you."
"I must agree with Stretch-A-Mutt here; your sense of self-sacrifice and unselfish personality are traits we all appreciate and admire, added to your other many physical and personality's qualities." Smarty added.
"Plus, again, you are helping Brainy have a semblance of a normal life, and you never treated her differently after the accident." Normy pointed out. "That's something dogs, and people, recovering from serious accidents really hate, when others pity them."
"Well, I never saw any reason to pity Brainy. Sure, I felt awful about the whole thing; we all did." Buddy cringed a bit himself, remembering Brainy's state after he and the Dog Stars found her after the explosion. "But she recovered fairly quickly, and besides, I think she needed to have fun and relax, and enjoy her new powers as she learned to use them… and even I know you can't do all those things if the one teaching you gets stressed or too worried all the time."
"Again, something we all like about you, Buddy." Stretch-A-Mutt giggled. "You can do very serious stuff, and do it well, and knowing how important it can be, while still joke about it and have a good time. You're not overly serious like Ace, or trying to be super-responsible like Krypto, or complain all the time like Streaky… and you have no problems telling Brainy your own opinions without thinking she's gonna lecture you if you do wrong, as it happens with the Dog Stars."
"Heh… just being myself, I guess." Buddy shrugged, smiling and pausing. "And let me guess; that's another thing about myself that you all like."
"Exactly. You're not forcing yourself into keeping an image. You act like your natural, normal self at all times. No pretenses and no poses, unless you're going undercover or similar, and you need to pretend it for a mission's sake. Except for those rare occasions, you are the most open, honest dog we know." Smarty pointed out.
Brainy nodded at this, again, not saying anything since right now, literally, her mind was speaking for herself. Buddy's personality was mostly the same in both his normal and Stretch-O-Mutt's identities. Even Krypto, who was a very honorable and honest dog as well, had to play 'pretend' more often than not in order to keep his facade as a normal pet.
"Well, guess that would be all for now." Smarty said as she conjured a large clock. "As you can see…"
"It's getting late!" Stretch-A-Mutt, morphing into a rabbit and holding another clock, started hopping and running around.
"Joking aside, they're right." Normy said to both Brainy and Buddy. "It's great to have you both here, and the time in the 'mindscape' is very flexible, but even with that advantage, the time in the 'outside' is still running, and considering all the time you had been here, and how deep you had to get into the subconscious mind to have this conversation.."
"We have to get out now." Brainy concluded. "You're right. I calculate we had been here like… an hour or so, meaning that time in the 'outside' must have moved to 20 or 30 minutes. Not that much, but better play it safe."
"Alright then." Buddy smiled before stretching his arms to shake paws with Smarty and Normy… and then stretching his nose and forming a third hand/arm to shake with Stretch-A-Mutt, who followed his example and did the same with her own nose. "It had been great to meet you all, girls."
"I K-NOSE, right?" Stretch-A-Mutt giggled at her own pun. "Hope you guys can come and visit more often."
"Yes, it would be nice to see you here once in a while." Normy agreed while she and her sisters now turned at Brainy.
"And even if we'd prefer if you came here with Buddy, we'd still appreciate a lot if you decide to come by your own too." Smarty said to a nodding Brainy.
"Of course. It will be nice to get to know myself a bit more." Brainy smiled.
Once Brainy and Buddy finished saying good-bye, they walked away from the subconscious mind's area, and back to the nice mind field where they originally arrived. After watching the Dream Family one last time, Brainy ended the mental session, and she and Buddy got back to the normal, conscious world.
"Whoa… that was quite the trip." Buddy smiled and then arched an eyebrow. "And you didn't lose any time to get back on the job's uniform."
"I'm not the only one." Brainy grinned as she gave Buddy and herself a good look. Buddy was also a bit surprised when realizing both of them were back to wearing their superhero uniforms.
"What happened? I've never sleep-walked, and now I'm a sleep-dresser?" Buddy rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, we were in my subconscious mind, and, in a way, we interacted with our heroic identities; even one of my subconscious selves dressed and acted like you, so probably we switched into our uniforms without realizing it." Brainy correctly deduced. "Even if we were inside my mind, we still had a link/bond with our bodies."
"Ah, like when you have a dream where you're running, and you start moving your legs in your sleep." Buddy chuckled. "Heh, or the time I dreamed I ate a giant marshmallow… and when I woke up, I couldn't find my pillow."
Brainy laughed loudly at this; so much, actually, that for a moment her body language and voice were exactly like Stretch-A-Mutt's. Then again, Stretch-A-Mutt was part of Brainy's mind, so it was logical she'd act like her jester-mind-self when happy enough.
"Well, guess we'd be leaving now." Brainy smiled back at Stretch-O-Mutt, holding hands/paws with him while wagging her tail like crazy. "And since we're back in uniform, I suppose we no longer need to move around like regular dogs."
"You're SO right." Stretch-O-Mutt grinned as he morphed his paws into large springs. Brainy grinned and did the same, but instead of her paws, she morphed her tail, making it a spring almost as large as her whole body.
The duo started bouncing away, and every few dozen yards, they both morphed into another 'bouncy' form. Stretch-O-Mutt changed his limbs into grasshopper-like ones while Brainy changed most of her body into a kangaroo's; then, he changed most of his body into a ball, while still keeping his limbs, and she changed her whole body into a spring before changing into a ball herself, Stretch changing into a frog-like body at that moment.
"This is the most fun I've ever had Stretchy." Brainy giggled as she morphed into a giant rabbit's body.
"And I love when you call me Stretchy." Stretch chuckled as he changed into his Buddy identity. "And when you call me Buddy."
"Yes, Buddy, I love it too." Brainy smiled as they both switched into large anthro bodies and leaped over a tall building in a single bound.
Buddy knew Krypto's owner wouldn't mind about copying his moves for a romantic evening's sake.