Chapter 10

The next morning, Clyde got together with Stingy, Trixie, Pixel and Ziggy and huddled beneath the treehouse. Because of his recent outbreak, he decided it was time to let them in on his secret.

"Look, guys…" He started with a hesitant sigh. "…About yesterday, I'm sorry if I seemed a little…uhh…"

"Crazy?" Stingy suggested. "Weird? Off the wall?"

"Yeah, okay. But there's a reason why I did what I did and how I did it." He hesitated again. "Uhh… I'm not exactly sure how I can tell you this but…"

"Well just try." Ziggy encouraged. "We'll understand."

"Okay. You see, I have what is called a multiple personality disorder. Or MPD."

Everyone exchanged glances, unsure as to what Clyde had just said. After a few empty blanks, Sportacus' nephew continued.

"It's like this… Uhh… sometimes my mind kind of wanders off and I'm suddenly going into another frame of mind. One that isn't my own. I become… someone else. Someone who doesn't exist or someone who does exist but only in a fictitious atmosphere… You guys… know what I'm saying?"

More blank exchanges passed between the kids until Ziggy, daring to get a better understanding, tried to piece together puzzle.

"So…" He started. "…The people you imitate only come out when your mind shuts down?"

"Yeah. Sort of. It doesn't shut down exactly but it kind of wanders off and my head starts to get filled with all sorts of… weird stuff. And then I start doing things that I normally wouldn't do. Like hurting and humiliating Terrance."

"But why does it happen?"

"I don't know." Clyde shrugged. "I guess maybe because of the tension I get when I'm conflicted against someone like Terrance or when I'm trying to bottle up my emotions from someone and trying not to…"

Clyde immediately changed the subject and looked back up at his friends. "It's just an emotional thing, that's all."

"Oh." They all nodded.

"Look, promise me you won't say anything to Stephanie."

"What? Why not?" Trixie asked. "It's not like she'd make fun of you or anything."

"Yeah, I know but… I just don't think she'd understand."

"Sure she would! Stephanie's the most caring and understanding person we know!"

"I believe you. It's just… I don't want to her to freak out or anything."

Suddenly, Trixie's eyes widened with a revelation that she should have seen coming right from the start. "Oh, I get it! You like her!"

"Of course I do." He said casually. "She's a good friend."

"Right. Friend." The pigtailed girl snickered. "That's what they all say at first!"

Stingy just looked confused. "Huh? What are you going on about?"

"Nothing, Stingy. Lie down before you hurt yourself."

Clyde then realized what Trixie was implying. "Whoa! Hey! No, no, no! I didn't mean it like that! Nuh-uh! No way, man! I mean, yeah, she's cool and everything but, uhh… I don't really see myself… with someone like her… know what I'm saying?"

"Sure I do." Trixie kept that smug look of hers.

"Just don't tell her, all right? Please?"

"Oh, all right!" Trixie rolled her eyes. "But don't go acting up again like you did yesterday or else you'll give yourself away"!

"I've got that under control. I'm back on my meds again."

At Lazy Hills Retirement Home, a group of seniors sat around in a group while they presented their hand-crafted pieces of art.

"Okay, now who wants to go first?" Said the friendly nurse. "Mr. Johansen? How about you?"

The old man stammered a bit before getting up from his seat. "Uhh… okay. Ahem. I have a horsie. Neigh…"

What followed was an octogenarian slowly moving his handmade wooden horse about in midair while pathetically neighing like a horse.

"Wuss!" Remus cried out, laughing to himself.

"Mr. Tard?" The nurse shot a glance. "Would you like to go next?"

Remus looked down and kept his hands tucked under his blanket. "Uhh, no. Not yet."

"Very well. Miss Clara? Do you have anything?"

The old woman adjusted her glasses and took out a hand-woven quilt with a picture of Ike Eisenhower on it surrounded by hearts, flowers and risqué limericks.

"My sugar-daddy!" The old lady proudly declared whilst licking her lips. "Ooh, the things I would do to him! Mm-mm, good!"

The nurse just smiled uneasily. "That's nice. Oh, boy… Miss Pewter? How about you?"

As the group went around showing off their creations, Remus hastily worked on his project by cover of his blanket. The old man turned a few knobs and screwed in a few compartments all while looking up occasionally to make sure he wouldn't be caught.

"Okay, now." The nurse continued. "Mr. Lyle. What did you make?"

"I made brownies!" Giggled a cheeky old man.

"Oh, how very thoughtful! Do they have nuts?"

"Uh, hang on. Let me check…" The old man said as he reached for his bedpan.

"NO!" The nurse interrupted. "No, no! That's okay. Now then, Mr. Tard. What do you have for us?"

Remus added a few touches on his invention then finally revealed it from beneath the covers. He held up a small metallic cube with a set of buttons on one side and grinned at everyone.

"What is it?" Asked the nurse.

"It's my new invention! Mind you, it isn't finished yet but once I get the pieces I need, it'll be a real work of art! It's a portable energy containment unit complete with an ultraviolet emitter used to disorient superfluous and unwanted pursuers in the hopes of evading indictment."

Of course, this led everyone to stare at the old man until he could clear the air with this valid explanation:

"It's a distraction!"

At that moment, several slots opened on the faces of the cube, shooting out intense beams of light that blinded everyone. Remus slipped on a pair of sunglasses and wheeled his way out of the building, taking advantage of everyone's current disorientation.

"Later, suckers!" He laughed. "And now… to Rotten's!"

Inside his airship, Sportacus immediately responded to his blaring crystal and headed for the controls. In no time at all, the hero in blue responded to the frantic retirement home and noticed the bright lights peering through the windows.

"What's going on?" He asked to no one in particular as he headed for the door, shielding his eyes from the blinding light.

"Sportacus? Is that you?" The head nurse asked as she maneuvered her way past a group of herding orderlies.

The hero responded. "Yes. What's happening? Where are you? I can't see you?"

"It's Remus! He got away! He unleashed this light as a distraction and now the whole place is in a frenzy just trying to calm down our more sensitive patients!"

"Right. I'm going in!" Sportacus said as he slipped on a pair of dark lens goggles.

He flipped his way through the hallways and dodged another group of occupied orderlies and burst inside the recreation room. There, the light had grown even stronger and more intense as Sportacus could feel a strange energy tickle his skin.

"What is that?" Sportacus noticed the cube on the floor. "That must be it."

Sportacus wasted no time and leaned over to pick up Remus' invention. Once it was in his hand, the above-average hero searched for a way to turn off the light until he noticed a green crackle of energy start to crawl around the cube's surface.

"Uh-oh." He gasped. "This can't be good."

More and more sparks shot out from the cube until finally, the lights drew to a close. Sportacus lifted his goggles and looked at the cube some more when suddenly, the cube disappeared in one last spark of energy.

"It's gone." Sportacus looked around the room as the nurse and her orderlies approached the door. "The cube and Remus. They're both gone."

"What does this mean?" The nurse asked.

All Sportacus could do was shrug. "I wish I knew."

Robbie paced around his lair, trying to think of a way to snatch Sportacus and Stephanie. His plan to break them away from Clyde was going nowhere and the resident villain was already losing his patience.

"Think, Rotten! Think!" He scolded himself. "I can do this! I know I can! Somehow, some way, those two need to come into my reach so I can put them in my machine and---"

CLUNK!

"Huh!? Who's there!?" Robbie looked around but saw nothing. "Hmm. Must be my imagination."

The villain paced around some more, tapping his head and muttering to himself while a shadowy figure crept behind one of the lair's furnaces.

"There's got to be an easy way to bring them here." He continued. "I know there is. Maybe I'm overlooking something. Maybe my plans are too complicated when all I need is something simple. Like, trapping them in a net or… or making some kind of sleeping pill or---"

"Or maybe conking one of them on the head."

"Exactly! …Wait, what!?"

CONK!

An unconscious Robbie fell to the floor as Remus sat in his wheelchair, wielding a ridiculously large mallet in his hands. Pleased with himself, the old man dropped the mallet and held out his hand as his cube suddenly rematerialized.

"Okay, Robbie." He grinned. "You go ahead and rest. I'll take it from here."