Bradley Nicholson's Law
The last lesson of the day had just started at Jefferson County Middle School. The class were in the computer lab, finishing up advanced exercises on statistical analysis packages. The work was simple, take some data handed to the student by the teacher and organise it into a graph or pie chart (the student's choice). They also had to tell the computer to carry out calculations such as averages, standard deviations, etc. The class was also told repeatedly to save their work often. This was especially pertinent, because this class contained Milo Murphy, and around him, anything could happen, because of his curse, but no-one held that against him.
"Aaaaaaaannd, done," Amanda announced. Milo had been timing how long it took his girlfriend to finish organising her data. He clicked the stopwatch when she said she was finished.
"Wow, that's a new personal best," Milo complimented. Amanda then saved and printed her accomplishment, and when she held it in her hand, she then took out her phone and snapped a selfie, wrote down the time, and saved the photo in her phone's album.
"Do you do this every time?" Zack inquired.
"Oh yes, ever since elementary school. How else will I get faster results?" Amanda responded. She then showed her friends other photos of herself as a child doing tasks others would view as mundane, all with times edited in. "This is me drawing my first bar graph with the ruler I got for my birthday. This is me drawing my first pie chart with the compass I got for Christmas, and more recently, this is me organising a data sheet compiling all the instances of Murphy's Law that occurred from when I started dating Milo to our first anniversary," Amanda displayed her archive of photos.
"And she looks amazing in every single one of those photos. I even had the data sheet framed and put on my bedroom wall," Milo gushed.
"You know, most couples go out for dinner on their anniversary," Melissa commented.
"We did go out for pizza, but there were…complications," Amanda recalled. She then thought back to the time where Milo took her to the fanciest pizza place he could find. The cook was preparing their pizza when suddenly the pizza oven had a huge burst of flame come out of it, which then spread to the rest of the building. Luckily, Milo had extinguishers in his backpack, so the restaurant didn't completely burn down. Of course, it was only when the fire had been completely put out that the sprinklers decided to turn on. At that point, Milo got out a pair of umbrellas for himself and Amanda so they didn't get too wet. Milo and Amanda simply laughed it off, ordered pizza from Veronica, and sat back to enjoy a good movie.
"What was funnier is the manager offered to cover our take-out orders for life in exchange for never going in there again," Milo added.
"Oh wow, an anniversary date ruined, and yet you're still together," came a surly, unwelcome voice from the desk opposite them.
"What's that supposed to mean, Bradley?" Melissa asked defensively.
"I wouldn't say the date was ruined. After all, it's not about location, it's about having a good time and sweeping your beloved off their feet," Milo responded.
"Just be sure she doesn't end up on a hospital gurney. That wouldn't happen with someone like me, or anyone that isn't him," Bradley chided.
"Yeah, like you would know how anniversary dates go, or how to treat your date, assuming you find someone desperate enough to go out with you," Zack retorted.
"It can happen. I mean, if a walking disaster area who recently got out of the big house can land a date, I'm sure I can too," Bradley bragged. At this point, Amanda had lost her patience. There was one golden rule that Team Murphy had established as of last week, it was that no-one was allowed to judge Milo as a bad apple because he had been inside. This also applied to everyone they came across, and this rule was enforced VERY strictly. Up until now, no-one had broken this most sacred of commandments. Amanda then got up in Bradley's face and stared him down.
"Listen here, you half-plant, sorry excuse for a teenage schoolboy! Milo is a hundred times the man you are, and you couldn't walk an inch in his shoes, let alone a mile!" Amanda seethed.
"I bet I could," Bradley replied in kind. Melissa then had a light-bulb moment.
"I'll take that bet," Melissa piped up. Everyone looked at her with a start.
"You what?" Bradley inquired. Zack then noted the look on Melissa's face, particularly the evil grin she was sporting.
"Oh no, that's her idea face. I have nightmares about that face. Please don't push this any further," Zack pleaded. Melissa ignored him and carried on.
"If you, by some unfortunate happenstance, start getting affected by Murphy's Law, and you make it to school on time tomorrow, we at Team Murphy will help you find a date," Melissa proposed.
"We will?" Amanda probed.
"In time for homecoming?" Bradley asked. Melissa nodded in response.
"However, should you fail to turn up for homeroom, you have to star in a public apology video where you state, to the viewing public, that Milo is the sweetest soul alive and that you were wrong to demonise him all these years," Melissa set the terms. Bradley laughed at this statement.
"This will be the easiest bet I've ever made. You are on, Melissa," Bradley accepted the challenge.
"Is there a problem here?" the teacher questioned, having now just noticed the commotion and approaching both parties.
"No, ma'am, unless a water pipe spontaneously bursts and fries every machine here," Bradley answered. As if Bradley was some kind of seer, that very thing happened, causing the safeties to kick in and triggering an automatic shutdown of every computer in the lab. "Put that on your datasheet, Amanda," Bradley remarked.
"That is enough, Bradley!" the teacher scolded. "Did everyone save their work?" she called out to the class, who all nodded, save for Bradley. "Well, seems someone doesn't listen to instructions or takes note of who's in the room. Let that be a lesson to you. Never forget to save," the teacher reminded.
"It wouldn't have happened if the jinx hadn't been here to begin with," Bradley muttered under his breath. Unfortunately for him, the teacher had excellent hearing, and she turned on him.
"Get. Out. You will wait for me at the end of the lesson, and I do not want to hear another word out of you, either in here or out in the hall, is that clear?" the teacher commanded. Bradley opened his mouth to object, but when the teacher yelled 'MARCH!' Bradley had lost whatever fight he had left and exited the room. She then turned to Team Murphy. "I take it he gave you a hard time?" the teacher guessed. They all simply nodded in response.
"He even mentioned Milo's stint in You-Know-Where," Melissa informed. She didn't like to snitch on classmates, but that was a step too far, in her opinion. The teacher was of the same mind, as she silently gasped when she heard this.
"I thought Principal Milder made it explicitly clear that was never to be brought up, under ANY circumstances," the teacher recollected.
"We all heard her at the assembly," Zack confirmed.
"Do you need to see the councillor, Milo?" the teacher queried. Milo took a while to process what Bradley had said. While he tried to be as positive as he could be, having his recent experience with the law used against him was somewhat hurtful. While it had been almost two weeks since those unfortunate events, it was still a sensitive subject for him, as well as his friends.
"Thank you, I think that would be best. Is he available for after-school appointments?" Milo inquired.
"Principal Milder implemented new protocols when you returned to school. No-one was to judge you because of what happened, and where you'd been, and no-one was to ask about it either, unless you yourself felt comfortable discussing it, openly or otherwise. In case of a breach, the councillor was to be informed immediately, as well as Milder herself. I'll make sure they both know what happened. I'll tell the councillor to expect you. Do you have any words for Bradley that you want me to pass on?" the teacher explained. Milo shook his head in the negative as a response.
"Normally, I'd be all for throwing Bradley in detention for a month, but I have something in mind that will teach him a little empathy," Melissa interjected. Now the teacher was curious.
"Care to share, Melissa?" the teacher asked.
"Yeah. How are you going to do that?" Zack added.
"Leave all the fine details to me. I assure you, by the end of the next school day, Bradley will know what it's like to be you, Milo," Melissa answered. She then rubbed her hands in glee and started laughing maniacally. Everyone stared at her.
"We've been up against nightmare kings, killer robots from the future, aliens, and plant monsters. I can say with absolute certainty, that was the scariest thing I've ever seen and heard," Zack commented.
"Before we do any of that, we have to take care of a few things first," Milo stated. He then reached into his backpack and got out some water pipe sealant and some towels. "The sealant is for the pipe and the towels are for everyone to dry their feet on," Milo clarified.
"This school is going to be very boring without you, Milo," the teacher complimented.
The rest of the day went on as normal. After his appointment with the school councillor, Milo and friends went to their usual hangout spot to take their minds off what happened in the computer lab. Meanwhile, Bradley was brooding in his room. He didn't do much else, since the absolute tongue-lashing he got from his folks put him in a foul mood. The school had called them and relayed the events of the last lesson to Mr. and Mrs. Nicholson, who weren't pleased. Bradley wasn't allowed to leave his room for the rest of the day. They brought meals to him, but Bradley didn't feel like eating much. Bradley just didn't understand it. Milo was a walking disaster area. Things broke, fell apart, and malfunctioned all the time around him. Milo had even been to a youth detention facility, yet everyone seemed to like him, even love him, despite these imperfections. Bradley had worked for years to be well-dressed, perfect, clever, all that good stuff, yet people drifted away from him. Mort was in Milo's garage band, Amanda even started dating Milo, and he couldn't understand for the life of him why Melissa, the girl he pined for, hung around with him so much. He slumped into bed thinking the world had it out for him.
"How can things get any worse?" Bradley asked himself before the day ended. Milo was trying to sleep, but the nightmare returned. As he tossed and turned in his bed, he found himself not in his room at home, but in his cell in the facility. Milo looked around in a panicked state.
"I thought I'd left this place," Milo said to himself. He looked to see Dean and Alistair, his old room-mates, opposite him.
"It's like they say, once you're in, you never really get out," Alistair remarked.
"Face it, your future is over. Do you really believe anyone will accept you now? You're one of us, embrace it," Dean taunted.
"I'm a good person," Milo weakly asserted.
"Then how did you end up in here?" Alistair countered. Before Milo could respond, the scene changed to the school. Milo was sitting in the cafeteria, where he became aware of the other students staring at him.
"Who let him back into this school?" Milo heard one student ask snarkily.
"The curse was one thing, getting thrown in jail was another," another added.
"No place for ne'er-do-wells in this school. Bye bye, jinx!" Bradley mocked. Principal Milder then came into the scene.
"School policy, juvie time means expulsion. Leave my school, Milo," Milder ordered. He scene then changed to a job interview setting. The interviewer was looking over Milo's application.
"I must say, your application is impressive. Good grades, better behaviour…..wait, what's this? It says here you did a day in a juvenile detention facility. I'm sorry, but we don't hire ex-cons. All is not lost, though. I have a brother who may have a job for you. Hope you enjoy fast food service," the interviewer informed Milo menacingly. The scene then shifted again to Milo working at a dingy fast-food joint watching his more successful friends drive by in luxury Sedans. Milo's boss, a tall figure dressed in a black robe, holding a peculiar-looking staff with a green orb at the end of it, then looked down at him.
"Back to work, Murphy!" the figure ordered. It was then that Milo was snapped back to the real world, waking in a cold sweat. He looked around and he saw he was back in his room, in his PJs.
"Just a nightmare. The same one, though. Who is that guy that keeps showing up?" Milo noted and tried to get back to sleep.
The next day, Bradley woke up, and with a start, the bed he was lying on collapsed under him. The bed frame had completely snapped, causing the mattress to sink to the floor. As if that wasn't bad enough, the alarm clock on his bedside table read that it was 7:45am. Bradley had somehow slept through his alarm, and he only had fifteen minutes to catch the bus to school. In a hurry, he got dressed, scarfed down his breakfast, brushed his teeth and booked it out of the house before anyone could say a word to him. Running on a stuffed stomach wasn't doing him any favours, as he felt pains all the way to the bus stop. When he finally arrived, he was relieved to see the bus hadn't arrived yet, but everyone was backing away from him and giving him dirty looks. Word had evidently spread about what happened the other day, and no-one wanted to talk to him.
"Oh, come on! It's not like I'm the cursed one," Bradley remarked.
"There he goes again. Do you ever give that a rest?!" Mort scoffed.
"Yeah, what's your problem, dude?!" Chad added.
"My problem is-" but before Bradley could answer, he was interrupted by the sound of something large, heavy, and round heading towards him. Bradley found this odd, because Milo was nowhere to be seen. But he had little time to dwell on this, as he found himself running away from the object, which was gaining on him. A few seconds after Bradley had run away, Milo and gang showed up, having seen what happened.
"Was that Bradley screaming and running from a giant yoga ball?" Milo asked.
"Doesn't that sort of thing usually happen to us?" Zack added.
"Talk about karmic justice," Mort mused.
"Shouldn't we help him?" Milo probed. He made to do just that when Melissa stopped him.
"No, no, he needs to learn," Melissa cautioned. Meanwhile, down the street, Bradley was still running and screaming as the yoga ball was chasing him.
"Where did this thing come from?!" Bradley yelled. Across town, Trucker Ted was yelling down the phone again, having lost another cargo shipment.
"Yep, giant yoga ball, rolling down the road. That tourist trap is gonna hafta do without or come up with another gimmick. What do you mean 'go after it'? It's a giant ball, how am I supposed to get that thing back onto my truck, magic? Doesn't help that you gave me sub-par restraints either! You don't pay me enough to lug this stuff around!" Ted ranted and hung up. Back with the giant yoga ball, Bradley kept running until he spotted a narrow alley between two buildings up ahead, small enough for him to fit through, but too big for the ball chasing him. He squeezed through and the ball bounced off the walls and rolled in another direction. Bradley then emerged from the alley, proud of his victory.
"Turns out I *can* walk a mile in Milo's shoes. Now, to call my mum and arrange for a ride," Bradley said rather smugly. He got his phone out, but before he could dial the number, the Recurring Raccoon emerged and snatched his phone away, scampering while his theme music plays in the background.
"Oh, come on! Don't worry, Bradley, all is not lost. The next stop is just a few minutes from here, you can still make it on time," Bradley resolved. He had just begun making his way to the next stop when a truck carrying fish swerved out of the way of a giant yoga ball that was on the road. The contents spilled from the open roof of the container and engulfed Bradley in a pile of raw fish. Bradley wasn't hurt, but he now had to carry the smell of fish with him to school, the thought of which made him shudder. He could at least ask to use the gym shower before starting lessons. Bradley was half-way to the bus stop when he could hear the sound of cats coming from behind him. He turned to look and found a clowder of cats following him, licking their lips as they went.
"Oh, really?" Bradley remarked and started running again, the cats rushing to keep pace. One positive to come from this is that Bradley was catching up with the school bus. From the window, Team Murphy could see what was happening. Melissa opened a window to speak to Bradley.
"Gang of alley cats, such a classic," Melissa observed.
"Ha ha, very funny, now let me on!" Bradley demanded.
"Oh sure, just look out for the…" Milo tried to warn Bradley, but he found himself falling through the road. "…open manhole cover," Milo finished. Bradley fell into the running sewers, which washed the smell of fish off him, but now he reeked of sewer. He looked up to see the cats had moved on and climbed the ladder to get out, only for the rungs to give way, sending him falling back into the running sewer water. With no way back up to the surface, Bradley started wandering, lost and afraid. After about ten minutes of aimlessly walking the sewers, having no idea where he was going, Bradley ran into a familiar face.
"Oooooo, overlanders. We don't see your kind too often in these parts. Are you lost?" Scott the Undergrounder asked with concern.
"Oh great, crazy sewer guy. I don't need directions from someone who speaks to a milk carton. Out of my way, basket case," Bradley chided and resumed walking.
"I am not a crazy sewer guy," Scott rebuffed. He then brought Mildred to his ear. "Yeah, tell me about it, Mildred!" Scott replied. Bradley then found another manhole cover. Thinking that he did not want to spend any more time down here, Bradley climbed up and emerged to find himself in an unfamiliar part of town, near a construction site.
"OK, where am I?" Bradley inquired. His eyes were fixed on a pile of rubble, and he thought that Milo must have been here recently. If he followed the trail of destruction, Bradley would surely find his way to school, or the next bus stop. However, when he could find no such trail, it became clear to Bradley that this rubble pile wasn't as recent as he thought. This was confirmed when he heard a catchy jingle.
"Doofenshmirtz's pile of rubble," the jingle sang out.
"What was that?" Bradley probed. He turned to the source of the sound and found a four-man jingle band singing next to the rubble pile. A construction worker then emerged to confront the band.
"Do you guys have to sing that every time someone comes near here?" the worker interrogated.
"Yes. Yes, we do," the band replied, still singing.
"Get off my construction site!" the worker demanded. The jingle band then scurried away. Bradley hurried along with them. He looked at his watch and it read 8:15am. Bradley figured that if he found another stop, he would make it in the nick of time, just before first period starts. He ran as fast as he could along the sidewalk, hoping to find a school bus stop. As if by some miracle, he found one and the bus was approaching. He made it on board.
"Hey, aren't you a little-" but before the driver could finish, Bradley hurried to the back seat, not wanting to be disturbed. To his relief, Bradley did not see anyone he knew here. This must be a different bus to school. He didn't care too much, either. After what he went through, he deserved a win. The bus finished its route in time for homeroom, but something was wrong. Why were all the other occupants of the bus much younger than Bradley? The call from the driver sent ice down Bradley's spine.
"Last stop, John P. Trystate Elementary!" the driver announced. The kids all got off the bus, while Bradley just sat there and screamed. In his rush, he got on the wrong school bus. "Hey, kid, the bus is just going to sit here until the end of the school day, so you might want to get off," the driver advised. Bradley did so rather dejectedly. There was no way he was getting to Jefferson County Middle School on time now. Principal Simmons was watching through the window and saw Bradley. She rushed over to him and provided a comforting arm.
"I take it you're not here to talk to the kids about middle school life," Simmons surmised.
"No. Here's what happened," Bradley responded. He then proceeded to tell Simmons everything that happened leading up to this point. The runaway giant yoga ball, the hissing cats, his sewer adventure, him getting on the wrong bus, all of it. Simmons was a good listener; it was part of what made her an effective principal. She never judged Bradley once throughout his story, instead sympathising with his struggles.
"You know, I had a student who suffered through all that and more. He had boundless optimism, a warming smile, and he was the nicest kid in that entire class. I cried buckets when he left for middle school," Simmons recalled. Bradley then realised something.
"You're talking about Milo, aren't you?" Bradley put two and two together. Simmons nodded in the affirmative as a response.
"Yes, I am. Even though he brought flooding, spontaneous combustion and electrical hazards, he also brought warmth, comfort, joy, and the assurance that no matter how bad things got, they would get better. He reminded me why I became an educator," Simmons stated affectionately.
"I guess it was his personality that adhered people to him, despite his affliction. Look at me, prim, perfect, but snobbish and a bit of a jerk. No wonder people love Milo and not me. Milo even got thrown into a cell and people still adore him," Bradley lamented.
"Yes, I heard what happened. When the news broke, I was on the phone to my lawyer sister hoping to arrange legal counsel for him, but he got out, and so did the truth about his situation, and that wasn't necessary anymore. It's not too late, people change, especially when they're your age, but you have to make the effort to do so. If I know anything of Milo, it's that he doesn't have it in him to hold grudges. I'm sure that if he sees how sorry you are, he'll forgive. Look, let me drive you to middle school. You won't get there in time for homeroom, but you could just about avoid a tardy for first period," Simmons offered.
"I'd like that. When you call the school, could you tell them to tell Melissa she won the bet, please? She'll understand what it means, don't worry," Bradley requested.
"Of course. I'll be there shortly," Simmons agreed. After she called Milder to inform her what happened, and to pass along Bradley's message, the pair were in her car en route to Jefferson County. The entire journey there, Bradley was thinking about what he would say to Milo. The words escaped him. When they arrived, Bradley settled on something simple. The bell rang to signify the start of first period. Bradley walked the halls to Mrs. White's English class, his peers glaring at him as he went by, but he paid them no mind, as he thought he deserved their ire. He made his way to class, where Milo, Melissa, Zack, Amanda, as well as the others, were at their desks waiting for him.
"Just in time, Bradley. Take your seat," Mrs. White instructed.
"Before I do, I'd like to say something first," Bradley interjected. This caught everyone off-guard. Bradley's attention then turned to Milo. "Milo, this morning, I got to experience what it was like to be you. Amanda was right, I couldn't walk an inch, let alone a mile, in your shoes. I have no idea how you managed to maintain a positive attitude throughout the chaos that surrounds you, and I most likely never will. This has taught me a lot about you, and why people are drawn to you. I was wrong to vilify you all these years. I was wrong to ostracise you because of your curse, and I was DEFINITELY wrong to bring up….the forbidden subject. I can't imagine what it was like for you, but I had no business using that against you. For that, and everything else, I deeply apologise," Bradley said remorsefully and bowed his head in shame. The whole class just sat there in awkward silence until Mrs. White stepped in.
"That…was incredibly brave. Not many could summon the strength to admit their faults as you have and take responsibility for their actions and words. However, the road to atonement is a long and hard one. I hope you're ready for such hardship," Mrs. White praised. Bradley raised his head back up again.
"I know. Melissa won the bet. I'm willing to repeat all that in front of a camera if that's what it takes. There's one thing I don't understand. Why did Murphy's Law suddenly start affecting me?" Bradley wondered.
"Check your glasses," Melissa replied. Bradley did so and, on the rim of his glasses, he could see a small device. "Negative ion generator, courtesy of Phineas and Ferb. I swapped out your regular glasses with those ones while you slept. In the meantime, I had Milo wear a negative ion suppressor and had the ones around town switched off. It was no trouble; the boys have to do that once a month to prevent overload and empty the ion storage tanks. They wouldn't tell me what they did with the ions collected, however," Melissa explained.
"It was an interesting social experiment; to see how you handled my curse, and a useful lesson on empathy," Milo added. Melissa then tossed Bradley his regular glasses for him to wear.
"Please never take up teaching," Bradley begged.
"Now that's all settled, the terms of the bet were that you had to star in a public apology video if you lost," Zack reminded.
"I know, we'll do it in drama class," Bradley responded.
"Not so fast, a friend of ours visiting from California has proposed an alternative," Melissa said.
"What would that be?" Bradley inquired. Melissa grinned at Bradley's question, which made him fear for his life. When drama class rolled around, Bradley found himself in front of a green screen wearing a bright orange suit. Bradley was looking over the song lyrics.
"Who wrote these lyrics?" Bradley questioned.
"I did, now sing!" Melissa's co-director ordered. She then played the music, to which Bradley danced and sang:
I'm Brad and I was wrong
I'm singing the 'Brad wrong' song
I shouldn't have taken that chance
Now here's my remorseful dance
As Bradley did the song and dance, Melissa, and her co-director Mabel Pines, were reviewing his performance.
"I'm just not feeling the emotion from this take. What about you, Mabes?" Melissa asked.
"Definitely needs more sorrow inserted into the song," Mabel replied.
"I think he's suffered enough, guys," Milo observed.
"Yeah, how long are you going to drag this on for?" Zack added.
"For as long as we feel necessary," Amanda, the producer of this video, rebutted.
"Take 30!" Mabel called out.
"Oh, come on!" Bradley whined. After the girls were satisfied that Bradley had been punished enough and the school day ended, they met up at the cabin after saying goodbye to Mabel, who boarded a train back to Piedmont. Waiting for them were Phineas and Ferb.
"Now that the fun and games are over, we have to talk. Something weird is going on," Phineas informed.
"Hello to you, too. What kind of weirdness are we talking?" Melissa asked.
"When we went to check the ion storage tanks, we noticed an abnormality. The ion levels were lower than usual for this month. We did some investigating, and found this," Phineas answered. He then punched up some security footage on his tablet. In the footage, the gang could see a black-cloaked figure holding up some sort of device at the storage tanks. They could see the ions being transferred from the tanks to the devices.
"Is that guy stealing negative ions?" Milo asked.
"It would look that way, yes, but the really puzzling part comes after," Phineas replied. The footage then showed the figure drawing a staff, the green orb at the end glowing, then the figure vanished in an instant. Milo then noticed a similarity.
"Can you freeze that image, please? I need to see the staff," Milo requested. Phineas did so, then Milo put two and two together. "I've seen this guy before, in my nightmares. I need to call someone," Milo added. He then sent a flurry of texts, then portal appeared, and from them emerged Star, Marco, Moon, and Eclipsa.
"You rang, Milo?" Marco stated.
"Yes, it is as we feared. There are dark magic users on the loose. The brothers caught them on camera, and I think one of them has been giving me nightmares," Milo responded.
"I see, well, let me get a good look at you while you tell us what you've been seeing in these dreams," Eclipsa said while she used her magical abilities to examine Milo's headspace. It wasn't an intrusive feeling. Far from it, Eclipsa was being as gentle as she can. While she did her thing, Milo was telling the others about the recurrent nightmares he had been having over the last week or two. Needless to say, Team Murphy were very concerned for Milo's mental wellbeing.
"Milo, we would never abandon you," Zack assured.
"Plus the city made it abundantly clear you weren't at fault for anything. You even got a medal, for crying out loud," Melissa added.
"You're a good person, Milo. I wouldn't have fallen for you if you weren't," Amanda consoled.
"I know, but the insecurities are still there, and what happened with Bradley brought all of them to the surface," Milo replied.
"I may have an answer for that. There has been some magical activity in your brain. The spell amplifies the hidden insecurities you possessed and manifested your fears into these nightmares, conjuring images of altered past events, and hypothetical scenarios designed to induce negative emotions such as fear, resentment, and anger. I can dispel it easily, but the psychological damage this spell has inflicted are wounds I cannot mend," Eclipsa explained.
"Looks like more therapy for me. I hope your mother doesn't mind working overtime," Milo said.
"That would make for an interesting session," Amanda commented.
"In the meantime, you should take this charm. It will ward away nightmares. I gave it to Star when she was a baby," Moon offered. She procured a necklace containing a small shell and handed it to Milo, who gave his thanks.
"In light of these ion thefts, I'm taking the negative ion suppressors around Danville offline until further notice. That includes the ones in here. Until we have an idea as to what these guys want the ions for, it's best we err on the side of caution. I don't want them getting any more," Phineas resolved.
"I'm more interested in that staff. I've never seen anything like it," Eclipsa observed.
"Nor have I. I'm going to consult the Mewman archive, see if we can dig up anything about the magic they use. That orb in particular is not of any world I've been to," Moon resolved.
"We'll get the High Commission and Homeworld Security up to speed. I'm sure they'll be very interested to hear about all this," Star added.
"I'll hit up my monster contacts, see if they know anything. As for you lot, you need to be extra vigilant. I figure it will only be a matter of time until tall, dark, and creepy comes for the source of the negative ions, now that the tanks will soon run dry," Eclipsa cautioned.
"Great, now we're up against evil sorcerers. Can't our lives be normal just once?" Zack rebuffed.
Elsewhere, in a small pocket dimension known only as The Void, the black-cloaked figure had the tank full of negative ions in hand. He was then approached by a smaller, stouter figure. This figure inspected the containment unit with his crab-like left hand. Afterward, he handed the container back to the taller figure.
"Supreme Warlock, is this sufficient?" the first figure asked.
"It will suffice, Fear Monger. I am, however, disturbed, by your recent experiments. I gave specific orders that the Murphy project was to be abandoned," the Supreme Warlock answered.
"I was merely trying an alternate angle," Fear Monger tried to justify giving Milo nightmares.
"We are attracting too much attention in that world! Your actions and those of your colleague, Vainglorious, have now raised an alarm. Any more activity and we'll be found. Our Dark Master demands subtlety!" the Supreme Warlock reprimanded. The mere mention of the Dark Master invoked a feeling of dread in the Fear Monger.
"A-a-apologies, Supreme Warlock. We'll pull out of that world immediately. I do have another target in mind," Fear Monger said regretfully and fearfully. He then showed the Supreme Warlock an image of a boy dressed in orange, with white hair. The Supreme Warlock chuckled slightly.
"Yes, he'll do nicely. The Plague Bringer has also expressed an interest in that world, and one of our more practical objectives is there as well. Go with her and assist her with anything she needs. You have permission to pursue this side project of yours," the Supreme Warlock conceded.
"My thanks, Supreme Warlock. Glory to the Dark Master," Fear Monger saluted and left. In his place, another cloaked figure appeared.
"Ah, War Leader, what news do you bring?" the Supreme Warlock inquired.
"We've had to withdraw from Amphibia, Supreme Warlock. The situation there has grown complicated," War Leader updated. He showed the Supreme Warlock an image of the floating palace, as well as the robots patrolling Amphibia's lands. "King Andrias is finally making his move. We will never reach the objective while this is happening, however, his enemies move against him as we speak," War Leader updated.
"Ah, you're waiting until Andrias is either surplanted or eliminated to liberate our imprisoned general. Very wise. Ensure that he is not found until the proper time. If you can, aid the resistance without giving us away, otherwise, stay out of the fighting," the Supreme Warlock instructed.
"As you command, Supreme Warlock," War Leader acknowledged and left. The Supreme Warlock then adjourned to his private chambers, where a stream of dark magic was flowing upward. The Supreme Warlock then spoke to it.
"It will not be long, my master. Soon we will have all we need to fuel your return, and then you can finish the work you started all those centuries ago, and the entire multiverse will quake at your feet," the Supreme Warlock informed. From the stream of magic, two malicious, purple, eyes could be seen opening in response.
Author's note: Well, that escalated quickly. In all seriousness, I do hope that, if we get a Season 3, that we will get an episode where Bradley gets afflicted with Murphy's Law somehow, but since we don't have that yet, I decided to do it myself. I also wanted to dip my hands further into the arc I started with my last multi-chapter fic, as well as plant seeds for what I had planned next. The usual disclaimers, I own nothing. All properties belong to their respective owners. Enjoy.