07/04/08
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! ... To those of you who celebrate it anyway and, even if you don't, have a good one anyway. X3
TOSoP Contest is offically over. I got absolutely no votes at LJ or Facebook so all of the votes came from Da. The b5 fanclub polls were as follows: NorikoSakuma 1, Yu-Gi-Ah 2, XxmostlyhumanxX 2, Dracophile 1, Serebronaga 5, SaintAsh 5, FunkyFish1991 1, TandyMastaofchu 18, and darkj3 7. Some people also voted on the picture I had posted on my profile and they are as follows: FunkyFish1991 1, TandyMastaofchu 2, darkj3 6, and Brainiac6Techgirl 2.
So first place is TandyMastaofchu.
Second place is darkj3.
Tied for Third is Seregronaga and SaintAsh.
And tied for Fifth is Yu-Gi-Ah, XxmostlyhumanxX, FunkyFish1991 and Braniac6Techgirl.
I'm a little torn about what to do about fifth place. That's three more people I wanted to give prizes to but they're only drabbles and that's only missing three people who entered in the contest. Besides 1st and 2nd, who get oneshots, should I give everyone who entered drabbles? Should I have a revote for fifth place?Should I put names in a hat and pick one? Suggestions please.
And don't forget the Fanart Contests for Unexpected Changes and Missing Pieces is due on July 13th and I have gotten NO entries for either one yet.
Chapter 36
Rolling his eyes, Jor-El covered Kal-El's own baby blues with his hand to stop the persistent glaring of the second son at his second father saying, "Go ahead Twen-Cam."
Taking out one of his tools, Tweek began to scan Brainy's eyes.
"Okay, about how far can you see now? A rough estimation."
"Well, my normal vision is superior to most peoples. Normally I'd be able to see up to as far as five miles away as well as most people could see a few feet away. I am currently at 90 per cent vision efficiency," Brainy explained, able to keep himself from blinking too much since the scanning device wasn't too bright for him to stand.
"I see… er, no pun intended," said Tweek, switching tools. "Look up please. When did you first start to notice your vision was failing?"
Brainy looked up and waited for Tweek to start scanning again before he answered.
"This morning when I woke up… after sleeping for a week because I was brought back from the dead with the Coluan Princess Wisdom's Martian powers."
Tweek stared at Brainy for a moment without scanning before glancing at Jor-El.
"I've been in this workshop too long, man." His eyes widened and he turned back to Brainy. "Wait, back from the dead? Like… are you a zombie or something?"
Brainy rolled his eyes, forgetting about the scan for a moment, thinking of Bouncing Boy and his horror movies.
"Yes, and I shall eat your brains. Grr. Of course I'm not a zombie! They are fictional."
Kal-El snickered, his view of events still being blocked by his father's hand.
Jor-El sighed and looked at the pile of mail Tweek had left strewn across the floor after digging through it for his invitation to Martha's Naming of the Seconds Ceremony.
"I can agree with the 'being in here too long' part. In that mail pile over there you probably have about twenty dinner invitations. And you need to get a comm that won't yell at me to go away when I call and will let me leave messages."
Tweek didn't look up when Jor-El spoke and continued to scan Brainy's eyes.
"I'm not interested in wearing those formal clothes and being shown off as some amazing specimen like I was in my youth. If people are going to stare and whisper about me, I'd rather they do it where I won't have to be subjected to it. The telephone is meant to stop that too, and to keep them from calling. And as for the zombies, I wouldn't be so definitive in that statement, little dude. You can't know for sure. Look to your left."
"I meant dinner at my house, but I do understand what you mean. They still treated you like that at university – but at least that's how we met," said Jor-El, scowling at a memory it brought up.
Brainy looked to his left but spoke to Tweek. "I know how you feel. My people used to act like I was some sort of prize because of my intelligence. Talked about me like I wasn't there, acted like I didn't have any choice in how I lived my life and locked me away so all I had to do was worry about 'work'. It's why I escaped the first chance I got. And I won't believe in zombies until I have proof."
Tweek blinked at Brainy and smiled before getting back to work.
"We born geniuses get it rough, huh?" He reached over to pick up a flashlight pen, caught Jor-El's eye and grinned. "It would be nice to see Laura again. And this new daughter of yours, Martha." He turns back to Brainy. "Keep looking left and open your eyes as wide as you can. This is going to be bright." He placed the goggles back over his eyes and clicked the side until the lenses turned green. "And as for proof, go to our old university sometime. Plenty of zombies walking around there."
Brainy did as instructed, trying not to smile at Tweek's last remark.
"If your experiments can be put on hold you're welcome to come over to dinner tonight." Jor-El uncovered Kal-El's eyes and gave him a look that said not to complain. "And Martha loves new people."
"She's practically a magnet for love and adoration…. Do anything to injure her and there won't be a body left to find," Kal-El threatened.
"Kal-El, stop that!" growled Jor-El, looking tempted to put his son into a headlock.
Tweek winced and mumbled; "It's not like I try to blow stuff up, especially around other people." And then he made his voice louder. "I'd love to come. What should I wear?" He clicked his goggles again and zoomed in on one of Brainy's eyes. He frowned and hummed in thought.
"Anything is fine as long as it doesn't smell like smoke. I don't want it to make Martha sick," said Jor-El.
"Dad, whatever you do, don't let him hold Martha! He'd probably drop her!" Kal-El paled.
"He held you plenty of times-" Jor-El began to explain.
"That explains so much!" Kal-El's eyes widened.
"You were fine. He didn't drop you. Laura watched him like a hawk," Jor-El sighed, trying to be patient.
"My poor baby noggin all bumpy…" groaned Kal-El, feeling his head in mourning.
"Kal-El, be nice," insisted Brainy.
Looking surprised for a moment, Kal-El then pouted and became silent.
Clearly not fully listening to the conversation, Tweek said, "Actually I was just wondering because I haven't showered in maybe about five days I think. Hey! No moving your head dude, I'm trying to help here."
"Sorry," mumbled Brainy, going back to holding still.
"I would recommend showering first. You know how Laura is if she finds out you haven't been taking care of yourself," said Jor-El.
Tweek chuckled, looking both amused and horrified.
"I'd end up being mollycoddled again like I was when we were younger. Like that time I came down with the Venusians flu from working in sub zero temperatures. Or when she made me bag lunches." Laughing again with some amusement. "A juice box and happy face cupcakes don't exactly say 'boy genius'." He wrote some notes down on a piece of paper. "Do you think she'll try to 'put some meat on my skinny bones' like before too?" Turns back to Brainy. "Rest your eyes for a bit and then please look to your right when your ready."
Kal-El burst out laughing, "Happy face cupcakes…"
Brainy closed his eyes and chuckled. "You should have tried being around her when she was pregnant."
Jor-El looked at Tweek and quickly looked away.
"Well, just be prepared to have seconds, possibly thirds, then dessert."
"Oh boy…" Tweek winced, before noticing Brainy had opened his eyes again. "Right, I'm going to pull your lids away from your eye for just a moment, starting with your right. If you get uncomfortable just tell me. And I was around her when she was pregnant with Kal…" He shuddered. "There's a reason besides not finding 'the one' I don't have kids of my own."
Jor-El chuckles, "Not all women are like Laura, Twen-Cam. When my brother's wife was pregnant with my niece Kara, she became calmer then usual and slept a lot. And a few women at the science center acted the same as usual when they were pregnant except that they had to sit down more often."
Kal-El eyed Tweek with suspicion now, "Are you even interested in women?"
"Kal-El!" exclaimed Jor-El, blushing.
Tweek released Brainy's eyelid, leant back and shrugged.
"Men, women, as long as there's something there I can connect to on some level or that piques my curiosity I'll be interested in some way." He leaned forward and smiled at Brainy with a wink. "And you pique my curiosity quite a bit, handsome."
Eyes widening, Brainy blushes.
Kal-El's face went red for a different reason. "He's taken by someone his own age!"
"Kal-El-" But Jor-El was completely lost as to what to say.
"Dad, introduce him to Pri-Nox!" exclaimed Kal-El.
Tweek immediately looked horrified.
"Ooooh no! I am not going on another one of your blind dates! Not after the last time. Though that name does sound familiar for some reason…" He walked over to a computer and began typing while muttering to himself. "Maybe…"
"Last time?" questioned Brainy.
"Pri-Nox is the blonde councilwoman who accused those other idiotic, power hungry, bastards of abusing their power and got them scent to jail even though she had put herself in risk in the process! …Plus she's pretty! And smart! And… she wears glasses?" Kal-El began frantically but then trailed off at a loss.
"Kal-El, stop trying to sell the councilwoman!" yelled Jor-El.
Tweek froze. "Did you say 'councilwoman'? As in part of the council?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Kal-El, rolling his eyes. "Didn't you hear anything else I said?"
Tweek started typing again.
"She sounds...very nice, but I don't think that would be the best idea. The council members aren't big fans of mine."
"He really doesn't listen," groaned Kal-El, looking like he wanted to pull out his own hair. "Pri-Nox isn't like normal council members. She got the others arrested for abusing the law and threatening Brainy. She openly supports Brainy even though a lot of people in power, including half of the Enforcers, hate him. Tell him Dad!"
Jor-El sighed. "She's a very kind woman." He then turned to Kal-El. "Leave him alone."
Tweek thought for a moment and smiled slightly.
"She does sound quite intriguing. I'm sure I wouldn't be her type though. Might end up blowing up her refrigerator. But, uh, I think I might have an idea what's wrong with little green dude."
"She gets along with Princess Wisdom and my mom, I don't think she has a type," Kal-El muttered.
"I'm not sure I like the way you said that," Jor-El said, watching Tweek cautiously.
"What's wrong with me?" asked Brainy.
Tweek glanced at Kal-El. "Focus, Junior, you didn't come here to play matchmaker for me, chya?" He shook his finger at him before brining up holographic line model of Brainy. "Okay, so far as I can tell his ocular sensors are beginning to erode and collapse." He focused in on the holograph's eyes. "Because his body is part organic, part tech his eyes have both organic and non organic components. When he, er, well, died… or was in the process of dying really, his reserve powers were trying to focus on healing the damage to that damaged tissue only. And it still focused on that area when he was revived. As such the tech and organic in his eyes were ignored. For some reason, possibly due to the blast or his temporary death, the connection between his eyes and his brain was partially dropped. With me so far?"
Rubbing his temples, Kal-El looked away from the holograph.
"Sounds logical but I'm not an expert of the technology of in this world. Is it fixable?" questioned Brainy.
Tweek sighed, pulling his goggles off of his eyes and putting them on his forehead.
"I'm not sure. It's hard to tell without… a more thorough look."
"What's a more 'thorough' look?" asked Kal-El, walking forward and placing his hands onto Brainy's shoulders.
"You can only find so much out by looking at the surface… But I think that would be best left as a last resort. I'm not certain if surgery could even help since I'm not familiar enough with your eyes composition to perform any repairs," Tweek spoke straight to Brainy and then looked back at the holograph, deep in thought, before snapping his fingers. "But there might be something else I could do!" He took up a pencil in each hand and started drawing over a large piece of paper with both.
"At least he's not completely insane," said Kal-El.
"Kal-El, this is your last warning! Be nice!" exclaimed Jor-El.
Not paying attention to them, Brainy watched Tweek draw as he, unknowingly, reached up and placed one of his hands over Kal-El's on his shoulder.
"A little insanity comes in handy every once in a while… like now!" Tweek grinned and drew faster.
"He agrees he's insane. Why can't I say it?" asked Kal-El.
Brainy and Jor-El hushed him and turned to listen to Tweek.
"Now, if we did nothing your eyesight would slowly continue to erode because the collapse is not only blocking the connection to your brain but also to your healing function, making it impossible for them to heal. At this rate the living organic cells in your eye stems will begin die out and collapse even further until you became essentially blind. And, with your tech pushing into the biological functions, the rate of collapse could speed up at anytime. You've been able to slow it down yourself obviously by redirecting your inner maintenance ordinances to maintain the connection as best as possible and heal what they can get to. When the collapse continues though the faulty connection will make this harder as well. However…"
His left pencil snapped.
"Son of a…!! Where's my pencil sharpener?"
Kal-El yanked at his own hair.
Jor-El spotted the pencil sharpener, holding it out to Tweek. "You mean this?"
"As long as it's not a toaster I can make it work!" exclaimed Tweek, sharpening his pencil. "Where was I? Oh yeah, however, if I were to send a small amount of electricity into the stems, it might jolt some of the dying tissue back into life and stave off the blindness for a while. The living cells would spread out a little more and keep the passage from completely collapsing. Kind of like that earth book, what's it called… Hammerstein? Where he used electricity to bring a man back to life?"
"It's Frankenstein," corrected Brainy.
Kal-El's face was stony. "I'm not sure if I like the sound of that. At all."
"It's very good in theory-" began Jor-El.
"Toaster," Kal-El shouted.
"Please forget the toaster, Kal-El," groaned Jor-El.
"I believe it would work. We just have to be careful about how the electricity is administered," Brainy theorized.
"That's what I was thinking too. The electrodes would have to be located somewhere on you head, so I'm trying to work that design out now. But as far as the power source-" Tweek began before putting his pencils down and rushing off, coming back with what looked like a large surfboard with an off board motor over his head. "We can use this!"
Brainy blinked and stared at the board asking, "What is it?"
"My current board! It flies using static electricity – been working on it for years and it's nearly done, but I can use the mini generator inside to power the device," explained Tweek excitedly.
"It flies with static electricity? That's impressive," said Brainy.
"You made a ring that could make people fly!" protested Kal-El.
"You made a ring that can make people fly?" Tweek nearly dropped his board.
"Well… yes. Sadly it was broken when Kal-El and I were attacked by the former Head of Council-" began Brainy.
"Dickhead…" Kal-El interrupted.
"And the material for it hasn't been discovered yet in this time," finished Brainy.
"But he can fly anyway now because of his Martian powers," grinned Kal-El.
"Martian powers… righteous!" celebrated Tweek, pumping his fist in the air. He blinked and turned to Jor-El. "When did we elect a guy named Dickhead to the council? Was I there for that?"
"His name isn't 'Dickhead': that's just what Kal-El and Zel-Kar started to call him after he attacked Brainy and Kal-El, putting them both in the hospital. And he's the one who signed the papers to get you thrown out here in the first place," explained Jor-El.
"Oh… him," Tweek spat out his tongue. "Wait a second, he attacked Kal and Brainy?! Put them in a hospital?!" Without warning, he revved up his current board and hopped on. "I'm going to go get that bastard!! He'll be lucky if he still has a spine when I'm done with him!"
"Wait, Twen-Cam," Jor-El easily pulled Tweek off the board and held him in the air. "He's already in jail, awaiting trial, and if you attack him you'll join him in jail. You don't want that now do you?"
"Prison not good for Tweek…" he twitched, "but if he breaks out, I call first dibs!" He turned to his captor. "Uh, can ya put me down Jor? I need to turn off the board before it starts moving on its own."
"Good," said Jor-El, putting Tweek down.
"I already have dibs on the Dickhead. And then Zel-Kar but you're more then welcome to help us skin him alive," said Kal-El.
"Don't even joke like that," sighed Brainy.
"Who's joking?" asked Kal-El.