Word count: 5256

Previously on Dead Ringers:

Aaron and Digby end inside a secret back room and see the girls have found Emerson and were caught by Mark Chase disguised as Oscar Vibenius. He wants revenge.

It so happens that while in prison, Mark Chase befriended the worst criminal minds in Papen County who helped him with his plan.

But Chase is frustrated now because he hasn't captured Ned. Chase decides to leave after locking the Pie Hole gang in Oscar's lair, and activating a bomb countdown.

In order to stop Chase, Aaron decides to surrender pretend he is the Pie Maker. Mark Chase gives an evil, insane grin, showing everything is going the way he planned.

And now the story...

XXV

The Power Of The Daisy

(October 31st, evening – Papen County – Oscar Vibenius's underground lair)

"I believe you were looking for me," said Aaron, with his hands raised.

Mark Chase just grinned like the proverbial cat that ate the canary.

"OH! The man of the hour has arrived. Well, I guess we'll have to suspend the fireworks celebration for the time being. Please, come in. But no funny business. I still have this box."

"Ah... Uh... Ned? What did you expect to accomplish coming here?" asked Chuck, looking puzzled. At least she was trying to play along.

"I'm the one he wants, Chuck. Here I am. Why don't you let them go, Chase?"

"Oh, but they are part of this too. Now that you're here, I can tell you the whole story, as I have something for you that will, literally or not, blow you away! I mean, I can either leave here with you as my partner, and we'll make a lot of money together, or with you as my victim. As a good businessman, I recognize the advantages of a win-win negotiation. So, this is always my first choice."

"Was that what you were thinking when you killed Bernard Slaybeck?" Chuck asked.

"It was exactly what I was thinking. I offered him a generous bonus if he would just keep quiet. But he forced his hand. Probably wanted more money. He was a dummy, but dummies aren't supposed to talk. And long ago I learned that a dead body is just as good as a dummy, with advantages that dead people tell no tales."

"Hey! I love money!" said Emerson. "Everybody knows that! But I ain't gonna share it with those girls, and this affected pie boy. Let them go, and I'll be your business partner. I'll tell you everything I know."

"Tempting, my dear P.I. but I won't fall for that. Besides, the man with THE special talent here is not you," said Chase, nodding at the man he believed to be Ned. "And by talent I'm not referring to baking pies. I mean something much more profitable. Are you willing to use your special talents and join me in a lucrative enterprise, so we can make serious money?"

Aaron had to think quickly, and he had to keep calm. He could tell Chase he wasn't Ned, and perhaps even manage to prove that. But then what would that villain do? Let them go? Much likely not. He might offer to help Chase bring dead people back for money as Ned could, if that was the case. Obviously he wouldn't be able to keep his end of the bargain, but that could buy them some time. Then it occurred to him that Chase's references to what he wanted with Ned were quite vague and perhaps the convict didn't know as much as he wanted them to believe. So, instead, he decided to be cool, and let Mark Chase do most of the talking.

"Cut to the chase, will you? We're two businessmen here. So, if you have a business proposal, state your terms and I'll consider them. What do you have in mind exactly?"

"Good. That was the attitude I was looking for. First let me tell you about the next product that will revolutionize the market. You see. In business we learn to turn a weakness into our strength. So, I was thinking, instead of having to hide that your product would blow up accidentally, why not use this explosive power as your main selling point?"

"And what did you come up with?" Aaron asked.

"I used a similar combination of electricity and a flammable liquid, another botanical miracle derived from an ordinary plant found everywhere. The result? Well, Mr. Cod is sitting right on top of it!" he said, pointing at Emerson.

"I'm flattered," said the P.I. in a sarcastic tone.

"I had this brilliant idea as I escaped from the police. I passed by this little, boring town called Coeur d'Coeurs and saw this endless field of daisies. Long story short..." said Chase, taking a test tube with a glowing, flickering gold yellow liquid. "Have you heard of the power of the daisies? Which you all soon might be pushing, if I'm not happy with your attitude..."

"Oh, no! Don't tell me you're using the lovely flowers of my sweet hometown as raw materials for explosives!" complained Chuck.

"So, Coeur d'Coeurs is your hometown? Interesting! The same town where a certain lonely tourist Charlotte Charles was born?" said Chase with a grin, showing a perfect set of white teeth, while Chuck's jaw had almost literally dropped. "Yes, information is the most valuable commodity there is, and I'm full of it!" gloated the escaped prisoner before the general consternated looks.

"Yeah, you're definitely full of it, all right," sad Emerson, breaking the uneasy silence. "You ain't got nothing but a bunch of half-baked assumptions you just can't prove, you fool!"

"Whose the fool? I'm not the one who was duped by my ex-wife and had my daughter stolen!"

"You nasty son of a... You'd better kill me now or I swear I'll squeeze your neck with own hands until your eyes... pop out!" Emerson threatened.

This time they all looked at Emerson with surprise.

"Is that true? I think we haven't even seen that episode yet, Emerson!" said Olive.

"Please, please, gentlemen, we're all partners here. Mr. Chase, so this is a vial of explosive?" asked Aaron, nervously trying to change subjects and gain some time.

"The daisy extract is just one of the components. The contents of this vial alone, if released into the atmosphere, would have the most unpredictable effects in the human body and mind. But to reach an explosive effect, I also had to use chemicals extracted from honey and crushed bees..."

"Oh, no, no..." Chuck was about to cry. Olive held her and tried to console her friend. Chuck placed her head on Olive's shoulder, hiding her face beneath her beautiful mane of dark hair.

"You mad man!" shouted Olive.

"You're a tiny little angry girl, aren't you?" said Chase. "Wouldn't it be because deep inside you know the Pie Maker will never love you?"

"What? How..." And Olive fell speechless.

"That's right! I know all of your secrets! By the way, Mamma Jacobs says hi, and she still blames you for ruining John Joseph's career."

Aaron honestly doubted Mark did literally know ALL of their secrets, especially those related to the events occurred in the last couple of days, but he still found it wise to determine the exact extent of the former car executive's knowledge.

"We're getting sidetracked here..." Aaron cleared his throat. "...partner. Don't pay attention to her. Tell me more about your business plan. I'm sure it's brilliant."

"And I'm sure you're flattering me just because I'm threatening your life, although I'm forced to agree with you. My plan IS brilliant. But make no mistake. I'm no megalomaniac fool with an inflated ego and a false sense of superiority like most villains you've come across. I'm just a simple businessman, well maybe not so simple, trying to make an honest... Well, maybe not so honest, dollar. Well, for sure a lot more than just one dollar."

"Which you'll be willing to share with us in exchange for...?"

"Well, Mr. Pie Maker. Haven't I told you about the common friend we have? Late Dwight Dixon?"

A new wave of shock struck the Pie Hole gang.

"What about him?" said Aaron. There was no point denying knowing the man. Ned's memories were fading, but he still had some recollection as of whom the failed botanist was talking about.

"With my new inventive developments, and Dixon's connections, I came to realize I had enough to start a lucrative business venture in the weapons trade. But I don't know what this selected clientèle would pay more dearly for: a method of assassination which leaves no trace... Or a way of bringing the dead back to life?"

Mark Chase looked at his captive audience with disdain, probably expecting some reaction. But if that was so, he had reasons to be disappointed. Even though that had been the most serious revelation made so far, Chuck, Emerson and even Aaron kept their silent poise. The only one who seemed to have something to say was Olive.

"What? Oh, you were doing so well, mister. Now you're tripping like you binged on some homeopathic drug-laced pie!" she said.

"Yeah! I can't believe you'd say out loud something so ridiculous!" said Aaron.

"You really think this is ridiculous? Wilfred Woodruff wouldn't agree with you. He told me you killed Lawrence Schatz and did a very clean and professional assassination job, as you made it look like an ordinary heart attack. And coincidently, a convenient heart attack also killed Dwight Dixon, a man who was out to kill YOU!"

"That was just a coincidence!" said Olive with no hesitation.

"Oh, no, my horse-riding waitress friend. In business there are no coincidences. Just opportunities you use or miss."

"This is absurd. And how exactly would this farfetched killing method work?" asked Aaron, trying to deny the now undeniable.

"Perhaps you might wish to shed some light on that part. Would it have anything to do with something as trivial as... the human touch? Wouldn't that be the reason why the Pie Maker will never touch the woman he loves, lonely tourist Charlotte Charles, because she was once dead?"

Emerson and Chuck exchanged guilty looks.

"No! Chuck didn't die! She just faked her death!" said Olive, repeating the truth she knew. "Oh, don't you all look at me like this. He knows a lot. We might just put it out in the open!"

"Then how would you explain the fact that Ned would allow his childhood sweetheart to suffer a nasty fall, not only not trying to catch her, but even getting out of his way not to touch her! A fact observed by one Lemuel 'Lefty Lem' Weinger. He lost his arm, but his eyes are just perfect!"

"I don't believe Lemuel would associate with such a heartless individual such as you," said Chuck.

"Perhaps not, but he surely was cooperative when I promised I'd join him with his love Elsita. Of course his discovery wouldn't mean much by itself, except that it matches what Oscar Vibenius had observed, and written down in his diaries."

"Oscar is an idiot and nothing he says makes any sense!" said Emerson, trying to discredit Oscar in a last-ditch attempt to avert a disaster. "The guy lives underground like a mole. He's prone to having fantasies and fabrications. All the fumes he's been sniffing down here have made him go bonkers! Ask your friend LeNez, and he'll tell you that."

"Hey!" Chuck, who always jumped in defense of her friends, shouted. "Oscar isn't..."

She interrupted her sentence in the middle as Aaron and Emerson gave her a reproachful look, and Olive just looked confused as hell.

"Oscar isn't... supposed to be trusted. These are just fabrications..." Chuck said, and lowered her sad gaze.

"You're a terrible liar, Ms. Charles. Some people find that a virtue. I think it's a weakness. So... Fabrications? What do you have to say about this?" Mark Chase got closer to a desk next to him, opened a drawer and produced a folder. "Did Vibenius fabricate these pictures, Ms. Charles?"

The criminal C.E.O. showed Chuck a high-definition color photograph, probably taken with the aid of a telephoto lens, of a man whose head was wrapped in bandages, and who was also wearing sunglasses and a hat. He was at a gas station, filling up a Mercedes.

When Chuck saw her father's picture, she stopped breathing, then gasped for air. If there were any tears to be shed, she held them back bravely.

"I... I've... I've never seen this man in my life. How... How could I know who it is? His face is faced is concealed," she said it with a fake smile, as if she didn't care.

"Yeah! What is this? A promotional picture of the movie The Invisible Man?" Aaron asked.

"What's the matter? Don't you recognize your own father, Ms. Charles? Your father, dead and buried twenty years ago?"

Chuck could barely look at the picture. Instead, she looked at Aaron with pleading eyes, as if begging that if he had an Ace up his sleeve, it was about time he used it. He understood it. It so happened that he did have one. And it was about time he used it.

"Mr. Chase. I would love make money with you, but if that's all you've got, I'm afraid I'll profit more baking pies to the homeless. Looks like all these criminals you've been talking to led you on a wild-goose chase," said Aaron. "I'd be amused if I weren't concerned for my life."

"You don't think that B.S. will persuade me to forgo my plans, do you?"

"No, but the truth will. Obviously you're insane if you believe all that nonsense," said Aaron.

"Yeah! I just told you this is all a bunch of hooey!" said Emerson.

"Exactly," confirmed Aaron. "And I can easily prove it to you. First of all, this is not the same Chuck you think she is. Hers is just a common nickname back in Coeur d'Coeurs."

"You gotta do better than that," said the man holding the remote.

"I will. But I have to admit I love this girl," said, looking at her in the eyes. Chuck smiled at him, as if she were saying that if those were her last moments in this world, she appreciated being told she was loved. But while Emerson just rolled his eyes, Olive once again looked upwards, like she had done earlier when she made the sarcastic remark that everybody had to be in love with Chuck.

"How could I not love her? She's just adorable!" Chuck's smile grew even bigger. "This is why I'm very proud that she is... my sister."

"What?" said Chase.

"What?" said Olive.

"And by the way," Aaron continued. "I have no problems to touch her," he said, hugging her, then kissing her forehead. "Like when I used to sink you in our swimming pool, remember?"

"Uh... Yeah?" she said.

"But... That's not possible!" said Chase.

"Thank you... I love to have you as a brother," said Chuck.

"See? You said she was a bad liar. Is she lying now?"

"It can't be... I was so sure... OK, maybe that part was wrong, but..."

"Everything you said was wrong," retorted Aaron. "My relationship with Chuck, and, one more thing. You should know this is the woman I love."

Aaron then gently, but quickly and firmly, held Olive's hand, and pulled her close to him. Then he made a move which in dancing is called a dip. Soon, Olive Snook was as if she was floating in mid air, not far from the ground, just suspended by the arms of that man. And he gave her an absolutely breathtaking kiss. And her response was pretty convincing, as she kissed him back the same way.

"Oh, for chrissake... Will you two lovebirds get a room!" said Emerson.

"All right, all right!" Chase complained. "So I made a mistake. But there has to be some truth in all I said!"

"But there isn't any. Don't you realize how insane all that sounds? Think logically. Such things do not exist. Only your insanity will let you believe them. And not even good insanity! Throughout history people have used their insanity in a positive way. Saint Paul and Saint Francis of Assisi gave away all of their earthly possessions to serve a God they had never seen."

"Yeah, that definitely was be insane," Emerson agreed.

"And Joan of Ark led an army, when in fact she was schizophrenic. But at least those people found some meaning in the universe. What did YOU end up with besides angry investors, a murdered victim, a life sentence in prison, and a whole bunch of worthless stories?"

"No! I will rebuild my company and my fortune! That's all that matters!"

"But why? To make money? Does that give your life meaning? You think you know reality, but it's not a reality. It's a delusion," said Aaron Tyler.

"Listen to him," said Emerson. "Money's great, but it don't call you daddy."

"I don't care about meaning. I'm a simple man. I'm happy with money and power," said Chase.

"You might be fine if you think existence has no meaning," said Aaron, the theologian, who was slowly walking towards his nemesis, while a hesitant Mark Chase kept walking backwards towards the wall behind him. "Meaninglessness in a universe that has no meaning – yeah, we all get that." And Mark made another step back. "But if any of what you said were true, then we'd have meaninglessness in a universe with meaning!"

"Huh??? What does that even mean?"

"That means you're getting close. Almost there."

"Close to what? To the Universe? To God?" Mark Chase questioned.

"No. Close to the door!" said Aaron, kicking the door open. "NOW DIGBY!"

An orange shadow jumped out of the room and sank his teeth in Mark Chase's right forearm. He then dropped the remote control. Aaron dove and caught the little black box before it reached the floor.

The girls jumped on the bad guy, knocking him to the ground. And Digby remained relentless in biting the man's arm. However he still managed to free his left hand, and with that, he grabbed the vial of daisy extract, smashing it against the floor.

Suddenly, a yellow smoke filled the entire room, and they all started coughing. Digby was dizzy, so he let go of Mark Chase's arm. The bad guy then pushed the girls away, and managed to get up. As he had reached the door, however, the fumes were too much for him, and he fainted right there.

* * *

Emerson had been feeling terrible all that evening. He hated the way he'd been fooled and overpowered by Mark Chase, and he hated even more the fact he was still tied up, impotent before that threat.

Now the room was being filled with yellow fumes and he couldn't even help any of his friends to catch the bad guy who was trying to escape.

The girls were the first ones to be knocked out. It was all about body mass, and they had the least. Then Mark Chase fell down, probably because he'd been fighting and was breathing pretty hard. The drug would affect his adrenaline-filled blood quite easily.

And Aaron was down too. He probably lost consciousness when he hit the floor catching the remote. So, Emerson was the only one still conscious.

The door opened, and he could make out the fuzzy outline of the small person who had opened it. The person got a little closer, and then he saw it was... an African American girl.

"Daddy! Help me, please!"

"Emily? Is that you? Oh, my God. Untie me!"

"Daddy! We need to go. Follow me!"

"I can't, Emily! I can't. Please don't go. Come back. COME BACK!" shouted Emerson pleadingly.

* * *

Olive Snook was the first to wake up. She looked around and the room was still filled with the yellow smoke. Chuck and Aaron were lying near her, and Mark Chase had passed out near the door. And poor Emerson, had had no chance, tied to his chair the way he was.

She got up, then she heard some familiar noises behind her. A gallop to be exact.

The yellow stallion stood right in front of her, and lifted his front legs. The horse gave a long neigh.

"What? Pie? You came back from the dead?"

"Of course, Olive. Wanna go for a ride?" asked the horse.

"You betcha!"

Olive jumped on the saddle and the stallion left at full gallop. Soon they were in a long race track, in a bright sunny day.

"Did you miss me, Olive?" asked Pie, while he kept running

"I sure did. I never stopped thinking about you."

"I never forgot you either, Olive."

"Just one question, Pie. Why are you so yellow now? And since when do you talk?"

"And I can count too! That's two questions, Olive. Well, I'm yellow because I'm made of cheese, of course."

"Yeah, I noticed that. And your mane... It's made of macaroni. Why is that?"

"I don't know, Olive. You made me this way."

The horse kept galloping, this time on a lovely green prairie.

"Where are we going?"

"To the future."

"Macaroni and cheese taking me to the future? That doesn't make any sense."

"Don't worry. It will. And the future is a beautiful place, but in order to get there, you'll have to let go of the past."

"Do I have to? I don't know how."

"I'll show you how. First you have to forget everything you heard today. That was not for you to know."

"OK, Pie, if you think it's important..."

"It is. And then you have to open your heart to new possibilities."

"I don't know if I can do that."

"Maybe you're not ready, Olive. But you will be. Now let's enjoy the ride!"

* * *

It was Chuck who was the first to wake up. Or at least she had thought so. She saw all of her friends, and that one man who hadn't been so friendly after all, though she was trying so hard to forgive him. They were all unconscious. Then she saw herself on the ground. She wasn't breathing. She was dead.

Chuck had had a good life. Both of them. She was thankful for the extra time she had borrowed, and she took some consolation from the fact she knew she would be meeting Ned when his time came.

She saw The Light and started walking towards it. She stepped into the tunnel of light, not far from the ultimate passage from where there was no return.

"Charlotte Charles!" a voice behind her caller her name. She turned to see who it was. It turned out to be a small African American man wearing a white lab coat.

"I know you. You are the coroner! What are you doing here? Are you here to take me to heaven?"

"No... That would be... ironic... Don't you want to see Ned one last time?"

"Of course!" her face lit up with a smile. "But I don't know how."

"I'll show you. Come with me."

Next thing she knew they were standing at a beach. Ned was talking to another Chuck.

"So cute. He's dreaming of me! Hey, Ned! I'm here, not there!"

"Save your breath, young lady," said the coroner. "You aren't really part of his dream. He can't see you or hear you."

"Oh, what a bummer... Not the way I pictured it."

"But you can step in," he said. "Just try."

"Don't mind if I do!" she replied in a chirpy way.

"Just one more thing. Make sure you give him this. It isn't for reading. It's just the right weight and size. He'll need it to deal with the Old Lady," said the coroner, handing her a small green book. She read the title on the cover.

"Alice in Wonderland. But what old lady..." Chuck never finished the sentence. When she raised her gaze again, the coroner wasn't there anymore. Chuck noticed Dream Chuck was saying something.

"Besides, we're not thinking about Olive anymore. But perhaps I could be more like a certain other brunette from Niagara Falls? It's your dream. Nobody has to know."

"Hey, hey, hey!" said Chuck with great concern. "What do you mean, nobody has to know? *I* would know! And what brunette is that supposed to be?"

"I like Jaye. Very much," Ned said.

"What? This is not a dream. It's a nightmare!" Real Chuck said.

"But I really can't define how I feel about her. For the time being I just want you to be Chuck."

"Much better!" said Chuck, although she wasn't totally happy with his use of the phrase 'for the time being.'

So, before she heard something else she didn't like, she stepped in and took over the place of that Dream Chuck.

"Oh, Ned. I wish things could be different..." she then said. And they started talking, probably the last conversation they would have in a long, long time.

Ned embraced her very tenderly, and she enjoyed every second of it.

"Oh, Chuck. I wish I could tell you. I mean, tell the real Chuck, that I really think things will end up all right. Things may seem ugly right now, but in the end you will be happy. I'll make sure of that."

"Oh, Ned. If only you had told me that earlier. I'm afraid now it's just too late."

"Hey! I really feel optimistic. And you don't sound like me anymore."

"Because now it's me. You're talking to the real Chuck. And I came to say goodbye, Ned. You mean the world to me. But I have to say goodbye. It's too late, Ned. I'm here because I'm dead. I'm so grateful for the little extra life I had." She shed a tear.

"I'm not enjoying this dream anymore, Chuck. I think I want to wake up."

"It's about time, really. But first... A friend asked me to give you this book. You'll need it to deal with the Old Lady."

Chuck gave Ned the little green book.

"I can't make heads nor tails of this. What use will that have for me?"

"This particular book isn't for reading. It's just the right size and weight."

"But it's gibberish..."

"Of course! You can't read in dreams. Dreams are processed in the right brain hemisphere, and reading happens in the left one."

Ned closed the book, and gazed into her eyes.

"I don't know what you said about being dead, and I don't want to understand that. Whether this is a dream or not, I beg you. Don't give up on us. I may have found a loophole." He touched her hair, then held her cheek. She closed her eyes and rubbed her face against his large hand and long fingers. Next, he closed his eyes. And then they kissed.

It felt wonderful for Chuck. But then she couldn't breathe. She opened her eyes, but now everything was dark. She was struggling to breath.

Finally she felt lips touching her lips again, and she managed to take a deep breath, the same kind of breath she had taken over a year ago, when she was lying inside that casket at Schatz Brothers funeral home.

She saw light. Now she could see! She saw Ned. He'd just been kissing her... But it felt more like kissing her brother, if she had one. And it wasn't a real kiss; it was CPR. Real, not emotional. And that wasn't Ned. It was Aaron Tyler, and she was lying on the floor of Oscar's retreat.

She sat up and started coughing convulsively. Emerson tapped her on her back and that helped her clear her airways.

"Aaron!" she finally said. "You... You brought me back to life!"

* * *

Oscar's lair was filled with cops, forensic technicians, and paramedics. Emerson had excellent connections with the Law and Order forces, so all it took him was a simple phone call from a nearby phone and the place was swarming with law agents. Mark Chase was being taken away by two uniformed policemen.

"You can't take me! I have a company to run! The launching of the new Dandy Lion SX is next week. I have a lot to do!"

"Looks like we just got lucky," said Emerson. "Mark Chase thinks it's one year ago, and that he still has a car company. He has no memory of his time in prison."

"Speaking of memory..." said Olive, "what are we doing here? Aaron, did we find Oscar? I can't remember anything..."

"Well, Chase did say the daisy gas would affect humans unpredictably," said Aaron. "But don't worry, Olive. You didn't miss anything important. The police is going to free Oscar, and the man behind his and Emerson's kidnapping is going back behind bars. And Emerson, did the gas affect you in any way?"

"Hmmm. I just had a weird dream I don't wanna talk about, so don't even ask."

"Well, I had a wonderful dream about macaroni and cheese. And Pie," said Olive.

"Your wonderful dream was about having dinner?" asked Emerson in a sarcastic tone.

"Not pie, the food. Pie the horse. And he was made of macaroni and cheese, so of course I wouldn't eat it! And Pie talked to me."

"You dreamed of a talking horse? That's so neat! What did you dream of, Aaron," asked Chuck.

Aaron's face became gloomy, and he averted her gaze.

"Do you really have to know?"

"If you wanna be like Emerson and you don't want to tell, don't tell."

"I don't mind sharing... I had a death dream. Very scary."

"Really?" asked Olive "How scary. Did you see angels or rotting bodies?"

"None. The other time I even met the Devil himself. But it was more like a metaphorical allegory, I see now. This time I really thought I was dead, and this time it was really scary."

"Why? What did you see?" asked Chuck.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. I died and there was just a big Nothing, with capital N."

"I'm sorry, Aaron I guess you find what you believe in," said Chuck.

They all went silent, and that was awkward. Finally Olive spoke.

"And you Chuck? What did you see when the gas got to you?"

"I had a death experience as well. But I saw Ned, and it was beautiful. By the way. I'm feeling that... We have to go to the Pie Hole. Immediately!"

"For crying out loud! Can't that wait?" asked Emerson. "I just wanna go home, get in my bathtub, and count my money, while I drink the vodka that is in my freezer. Then, just to relax, I might rib-stitch a ski cap."

"No, Emerson" Chuck retorted. "We have to go to the Pie Hole now! Ned is coming back tonight!"

- 15 -