CHAPTER 16: Facing the Other Half+ + + + + +
Arthur and Phillip were standing near Pinky & The Brain's cage when several minutes later a blinding light suddenly appeared out of nowhere on the opposite side of the room. A strange fizzing sound accompanied the light, like fireworks sputtering and crackling, while brilliantly colored flakes of light danced in the air all about. The event took everyone in the room by surprise. A few of the security men went for their weapons. A couple of the scientists looked quizzically at the strange light in wonder and interest. Arthur, himself, stood in complete and confused panic. His earlier anger had slowly being replaced with a feeling of anticipation and excitement. He would finally be able to see his toon half--to talk with it--to finally have the answers that had been eluding him for so long.
After several seconds the light faded away, the odd fizzing sound fading to silence. In their place stood something about three and a half feet tall, covered in impossibly vibrant red and white fur. Across the room from Arthur and Phillip stood the most handsome, cute, most perfect-looking cartoon fox Arthur could have ever possibly imagined.
Arthur's knees gave out on him and he collapsed onto a stool as he looked over at the toon fox standing less than twenty feet away. It looked so perfect, so ideal, and so eerily familiar to him that he dared not believe it was what he hoped it might be, but it was. After running into so many doubts about himself over the years, after so many shattered dreams and lost wishes, could it be possible? His pulse began to rise as a feeling of exhilaration began to overtake him and he knew, down in his heart, that the thing across the room was his toon self--the toon, Andy Fox.
Arthur, however, was not the only person in the room locked in paralysis at seeing the toon fox suddenly appear out of nowhere. Behind Arthur, Phillip was staring fixedly across the room at the toon, as was everyone else, including the two mice, who looked on with equal awe.
The fox glanced briefly about before looking directly at Arthur, fixing him with an oddly familiar gaze, then the fox's eyes shifted to the two mice and the rest of the room as he began walking over to the cage holding Pinky & The Brain. A tear slowly formed in Arthur's eye as he continued to look at the fox. "It's me," he gasped to Phillip. "Something kept telling me in my mind, but... I still couldn't believe it."
Two guards approached the fox and Arthur heard it say it was here for the mice. After a harsh order from Phillip, the guards led the fox over to where Arthur was standing next to the cage. As the fox came closer, Arthur began feeling like a forlorn, abandoned child in the being's presence. "My other half," he whispered, the phrase playing over and over in his head.
The fox paused and again eyed Arthur as he walked past and gave him a tiny sideways smile, his tail curling itself ever-so-slightly around the human as he continued past. Arthur opened his mouth to speak to the fox, but found his throat congested from the bitter-sweet sadness of the truth that was standing not five feet away.
One of the men brought over a stool and the fox hopped onto it to be eye- level with everyone else in the room.
"Well, what do we have here, then?" the fox asked, brightly. His voice was low for an animal his size, and was unfamiliar to Arthur.
"But, how..." The Brain stammered back, always the scientist.
"Self-generated dimensional dampening vortex," the fox rattled off hurriedly, "but that isn't important. Now if you two are done sight-seeing we can get back to our own universe. We're violating a half-dozen laws of physics with our presence."
"You can do that?" Phillip asked the fox. "Just like that--take them with you?"
The fox nodded. "Why not?" he smirked.
"Um..." Phillip began, faltering, "we were hoping you might be able to..."
The fox cut him short. "Thank you for finding them, Mr. Sandal. We... owe you our thanks. It's good to know there are people like you around to keep these two safe."
"You are indeed Andy Fox," Phillip said, decidedly. He extended a hand. The fox took it, only reluctantly. He shook his head and smiled.
"No. You've already met him," he replied, motioning to Arthur. "He's more real than me. Do me a favor and remind him of that now and then. I couldn't exist without him."
The fox released Phillip's hand and turned to the quietly confused human sitting on a stool, but Arthur still couldn't speak. His eyes remained fixed on the toon fox, his throat unable to make a sound.
Phillip retrieved the keys to the cage and opened it. The fox's attention shifted back to the two mice. "Let's just make sure you two are all okay before we go back. Don't want to catch any nasty magnetic fields or radiation." He reached his paws inside the cage to either side of the two mice. A gentle fizzing sound began to emanate from his paws as Pinky and The Brain began to glow with a curious green light.
Arthur watched the fox intently, noticing that its green eyes were flashing rhythmically as the mice continued to glow and change color. "If he really is my other half," he thought silently, "how 'bout that 'guess a number' trick? I wonder if that would..."
"Ninety-four," the fox spoke up suddenly, not turning to Arthur. "Two thirty-eight, one eighty-three, seven. You can't fool me, Arthur."
Arthur sat upright, startled that the fox was speaking to him, and that he had guessed his numbers correctly. "Is he psychic?" Arthur thought. "He's psychic. He's just..."
"I don't have to read your mind, Arthur," the fox said flatly, his attention still focused on the two mice. "It's my mind too."
Arthur watched the toon fox moved with deliberate skill, appearing calm and in control as his paws moved around Pinky & The Brain, but for the first time Arthur began to notice the fox was trembling ever-so-slightly, his tail swishing almost nervously, his voice quavering very slightly. Arthur had also noticed that the fox seemed to be averting his eyes from him, only giving him passing glances. Putting it all together, Arthur suddenly realized: the toon fox was frightened--very frightened, at being there, being on Earth, at being with Arthur!
The glowing around Pinky & The Brain and the sound ceased and the fox retracted his paws. "There is a slight anti-particle decay in both of you," he assessed. "I'd suggest, Brain, that if you attempt this experiment again, you do it with a negative feedback envelope rather than a positive one."
"Yes," The Brain chided. "Noted for future reference, but I assure you this experiment will not be repeated."
"Good to hear," the fox smiled, "because I won't come down here to save you two next time. Now if you'll come along."
The fox extended a paw to the mice, palm open. The two stepped onto it as the fox lifted them out of the cage. "Come, Pinky," The Brain began chattering, "this two week sabbatical has put us off schedule. We must alter our plans to take over the world."
The fox paused and scratched his chin. "Two weeks, huh?"
The Brain looked back at Andy, slightly irritated. "What?"
Andy faltered a bit. "Oh, well, nothing really." He turned and nodded to Phillip and the rest of the Fans of Science. "Thank you again, gentlemen," he said, dropping the two mice into an invisible pocket in his fur. Then his mood went from cheery to somber. His shoulders sagged as the inevitable action he must take loomed before him.
"Arthur?" he said slowly, turning to the human. He looked quietly and kindly at Arthur, and Arthur could see that the fox was clearly scared. Cold beads of sweat dotted the toon's brow, his eyes now finally fixed upon the human that was his other half. Now after decades of separation, the toon and human finally confronted each other.
The fox swallowed hard and took Arthur's hand in his paws. Arthur could feel the fox's muscles trembling and placed his other hand around the fox's to try and comfort him. The fox gave another hard swallow, his mouth dry. "One force, forever bound by eternity," he whispered shakily.
Arthur remained silent, gently holding the paws of the cartoon fox, which seemed to have stopped their trembling. "Em... excuse me?" he asked, looking a bit bewildered.
"Thank you," the fox said quietly. He released Arthur's hands.
Arthur stared back at him, smiling weakly. "You'd better get home," he said quietly. "As you implied, this isn't your universe." Despite his smile, there was a strong undertone of sadness in Arthur's voice, carrying a yearning desire to return with the fox--to return home.
The fox laid a paw on Arthur's shoulder, understanding him implicitly. "You are wise," he agreed. This caught Arthur completely off-guard, and he couldn't help but snicker lightly. "You still don't believe I am you, do you?" the fox asked. "You think everything toony went back with me. You're quite wrong, Arthur. In fact you've got it quite backwards."
"Backwards?" Arthur asked, clearly confused.
"It's my fault," the fox admitted. "I've kept the truth from you."
"Truth?"
The fox nodded. "That you have the core, Arthur, of our energy force. It never left here. I've researched it all out... known it for years but kept the knowledge from you... until now. Now you know." He saw the confusion on Arthur's face and smiled warmly. The trembling was gone, his words now came soft and understanding.
"You are the higher half, Arthur," he sighed. "Here you have powers beyond anything back home. You are in the world of the creators, Arthur. You walk among those who shape our world. Here, you are one of them." The fox looked down sheepishly. "You are in the land of the gods, Arthur, and I am but a tiny speck, not worthy of your presence."
"But," Arthur began. "You have your powers. You..."
"My powers are within you, Arthur," The fox interrupted. "I finally understand now. You are the source now, and that is why I need you here. You're a human--the human me. Do you know how much I cherish having part of myself here, able to be a part of this world?"
Arthur stared blankly back, giving no reply. The fox continued. "You are priceless down here. You have no idea of the things and experiences you have here that do not exist back home."
The next words the fox said to Arthur were not spoken, but were delivered directly to the human's mind as the fox gazed into the human's eyes. "You are the conduit of time, my friend. You are able to see things about myself... about us, that I cannot. I have given you the future that I cannot know. No doubt you have seen things that won't happen for decades. You are my eyes for the future, Arthur. Guide us well, and one day we will again be together, and whole again."
Arthur's thoughts drifted and began to focus on a certain cartoon character he dearly loved. A tinge of panic struck him as he wondered how much he really knew about his other half's life in Toonity. Arthur hurriedly grasped the fox's paw and clasped it in his hand. Holding it longingly he looked at the fox, his thoughts conveying his question to the toon.
The fox's eyes flashed and glittered curiously in the room's light. "She's fine," he smiled after a moment's pause. He rested a paw on Arthur's shoulder. "And, yes," he added, "It's all true. And, no, she never blamed you for what you did here. She loves you more than anything."
"Me?"
The fox nodded slowly. "You--me--there is no difference. Please remember that. Take care, Arthur, and thank you." He embraced Arthur in a warm hug, his small furry body snuggling up to the human, his paws wrapped tight around Arthur.
Overwhelmed by the displayed affection of the small animal, at first Arthur stood rigidly, unable to believe something so furry and beautiful would want to hug a slightly overweight, middle-aged human who hadn't shaved in a few days. Slowly though, the fox's words began to sink in, and as he felt the fox's warm fur wrapped around him, be began to feel a new sense of kinship and odd sort of brotherhood to the toon. Putting his hesitations aside Arthur hugged the fox back, and was immediately lost in a wondrous sensation beyond any pleasure or joy he had ever known. Suddenly the world around him didn't matter anymore, and everything became clear and simple. The room and people around them dissolved into blackness. There was only one being, one life, one force, and for the briefest of moments, Andy Fox was whole once again.
Arthur, with his arms around the small furry toon, whispered into ear, his final words to him: "You're not a speck, Andy. You are the part I left behind, and the part that needs to become whole. You are fox, now and forever. And you're right, I do know the future... and the decision you will have to make one day. On that day, you will have returned to that which you came."
For over half of his life, Arthur had always been in the dark about something. There was always a part of him that was beyond his reach--something he could never touch, never feel, never get to know. Now that something had a shape, a form, and a voice somewhere in the vast expanse of space and dimension. As the fox took the two cartoon mice and disappeared in another shimmer of sparks and colored light, Arthur know that he was whole. And, he finally saw that he had a purpose.
"I... can't do it," Andy said, slumping down on the table and resting his chin on his paws. "I can never go down there again. Not until..."
"You have to, Andy," Samantha Cat replied. "There's no other way we can bring them back."
"She's right," Ed Puma spoke up. "We don't have any kind of technology to bring those two mice home, and neither does Earth."
"I... can't," Andy repeated, almost sobbing. "I've lost too much down there already. This whole damn mission has gone on too long as it is. How can I live with..."
"This damn mission is the only thing that's going to save those two," Samantha countered sternly. "The data you gathered on Earth was what helped us locate them. Now you need to go down there and bring them back. You've been there before. You've had no problems."
"You don't understand," Andy said, his tail swishing agitatedly. "He's down there with them. I can feel it. Lately I've felt drained... I know it was him connecting with me. I can't face him. It's not like it used to be there. If I go down there..."
Andy broke off, burying his face in his arm and closing his eyes, dreading the inevitable. For the first time since he had been split into a human and a toon over thirty years prior, both halves of himself would be together on Earth, and he would be completely gone from Toonity, one hundred percent-- again.
In the blackness of his mind, two orange eyes glowed, piercing his senses with the same chilling cold he had felt when he was in the cubical with the two foxes. Momentarily, a very faint image began to appear next to the eyes--a vague and mysterious light with no form. Suddenly he heard very faint voices, echoing through the corridors of the universe. The minds of two toons, lost and in danger, were calling out through the vastness of time. As Andy's attention fixed on the two voices, the eyes and the cold disappeared from his mind, replaced by the piercing cry of a wild fox that echoed through his mind. The chill he had felt seemed to wash over him with the sound, changing into a surge of energy and spirit. Suddenly Andy sat up straight in his chair and looked squarely at the rest of the assembled toons.
"Okay," he said decidedly. "Let's do this thing."
Arthur and Phillip were standing near Pinky & The Brain's cage when several minutes later a blinding light suddenly appeared out of nowhere on the opposite side of the room. A strange fizzing sound accompanied the light, like fireworks sputtering and crackling, while brilliantly colored flakes of light danced in the air all about. The event took everyone in the room by surprise. A few of the security men went for their weapons. A couple of the scientists looked quizzically at the strange light in wonder and interest. Arthur, himself, stood in complete and confused panic. His earlier anger had slowly being replaced with a feeling of anticipation and excitement. He would finally be able to see his toon half--to talk with it--to finally have the answers that had been eluding him for so long.
After several seconds the light faded away, the odd fizzing sound fading to silence. In their place stood something about three and a half feet tall, covered in impossibly vibrant red and white fur. Across the room from Arthur and Phillip stood the most handsome, cute, most perfect-looking cartoon fox Arthur could have ever possibly imagined.
Arthur's knees gave out on him and he collapsed onto a stool as he looked over at the toon fox standing less than twenty feet away. It looked so perfect, so ideal, and so eerily familiar to him that he dared not believe it was what he hoped it might be, but it was. After running into so many doubts about himself over the years, after so many shattered dreams and lost wishes, could it be possible? His pulse began to rise as a feeling of exhilaration began to overtake him and he knew, down in his heart, that the thing across the room was his toon self--the toon, Andy Fox.
Arthur, however, was not the only person in the room locked in paralysis at seeing the toon fox suddenly appear out of nowhere. Behind Arthur, Phillip was staring fixedly across the room at the toon, as was everyone else, including the two mice, who looked on with equal awe.
The fox glanced briefly about before looking directly at Arthur, fixing him with an oddly familiar gaze, then the fox's eyes shifted to the two mice and the rest of the room as he began walking over to the cage holding Pinky & The Brain. A tear slowly formed in Arthur's eye as he continued to look at the fox. "It's me," he gasped to Phillip. "Something kept telling me in my mind, but... I still couldn't believe it."
Two guards approached the fox and Arthur heard it say it was here for the mice. After a harsh order from Phillip, the guards led the fox over to where Arthur was standing next to the cage. As the fox came closer, Arthur began feeling like a forlorn, abandoned child in the being's presence. "My other half," he whispered, the phrase playing over and over in his head.
The fox paused and again eyed Arthur as he walked past and gave him a tiny sideways smile, his tail curling itself ever-so-slightly around the human as he continued past. Arthur opened his mouth to speak to the fox, but found his throat congested from the bitter-sweet sadness of the truth that was standing not five feet away.
One of the men brought over a stool and the fox hopped onto it to be eye- level with everyone else in the room.
"Well, what do we have here, then?" the fox asked, brightly. His voice was low for an animal his size, and was unfamiliar to Arthur.
"But, how..." The Brain stammered back, always the scientist.
"Self-generated dimensional dampening vortex," the fox rattled off hurriedly, "but that isn't important. Now if you two are done sight-seeing we can get back to our own universe. We're violating a half-dozen laws of physics with our presence."
"You can do that?" Phillip asked the fox. "Just like that--take them with you?"
The fox nodded. "Why not?" he smirked.
"Um..." Phillip began, faltering, "we were hoping you might be able to..."
The fox cut him short. "Thank you for finding them, Mr. Sandal. We... owe you our thanks. It's good to know there are people like you around to keep these two safe."
"You are indeed Andy Fox," Phillip said, decidedly. He extended a hand. The fox took it, only reluctantly. He shook his head and smiled.
"No. You've already met him," he replied, motioning to Arthur. "He's more real than me. Do me a favor and remind him of that now and then. I couldn't exist without him."
The fox released Phillip's hand and turned to the quietly confused human sitting on a stool, but Arthur still couldn't speak. His eyes remained fixed on the toon fox, his throat unable to make a sound.
Phillip retrieved the keys to the cage and opened it. The fox's attention shifted back to the two mice. "Let's just make sure you two are all okay before we go back. Don't want to catch any nasty magnetic fields or radiation." He reached his paws inside the cage to either side of the two mice. A gentle fizzing sound began to emanate from his paws as Pinky and The Brain began to glow with a curious green light.
Arthur watched the fox intently, noticing that its green eyes were flashing rhythmically as the mice continued to glow and change color. "If he really is my other half," he thought silently, "how 'bout that 'guess a number' trick? I wonder if that would..."
"Ninety-four," the fox spoke up suddenly, not turning to Arthur. "Two thirty-eight, one eighty-three, seven. You can't fool me, Arthur."
Arthur sat upright, startled that the fox was speaking to him, and that he had guessed his numbers correctly. "Is he psychic?" Arthur thought. "He's psychic. He's just..."
"I don't have to read your mind, Arthur," the fox said flatly, his attention still focused on the two mice. "It's my mind too."
Arthur watched the toon fox moved with deliberate skill, appearing calm and in control as his paws moved around Pinky & The Brain, but for the first time Arthur began to notice the fox was trembling ever-so-slightly, his tail swishing almost nervously, his voice quavering very slightly. Arthur had also noticed that the fox seemed to be averting his eyes from him, only giving him passing glances. Putting it all together, Arthur suddenly realized: the toon fox was frightened--very frightened, at being there, being on Earth, at being with Arthur!
The glowing around Pinky & The Brain and the sound ceased and the fox retracted his paws. "There is a slight anti-particle decay in both of you," he assessed. "I'd suggest, Brain, that if you attempt this experiment again, you do it with a negative feedback envelope rather than a positive one."
"Yes," The Brain chided. "Noted for future reference, but I assure you this experiment will not be repeated."
"Good to hear," the fox smiled, "because I won't come down here to save you two next time. Now if you'll come along."
The fox extended a paw to the mice, palm open. The two stepped onto it as the fox lifted them out of the cage. "Come, Pinky," The Brain began chattering, "this two week sabbatical has put us off schedule. We must alter our plans to take over the world."
The fox paused and scratched his chin. "Two weeks, huh?"
The Brain looked back at Andy, slightly irritated. "What?"
Andy faltered a bit. "Oh, well, nothing really." He turned and nodded to Phillip and the rest of the Fans of Science. "Thank you again, gentlemen," he said, dropping the two mice into an invisible pocket in his fur. Then his mood went from cheery to somber. His shoulders sagged as the inevitable action he must take loomed before him.
"Arthur?" he said slowly, turning to the human. He looked quietly and kindly at Arthur, and Arthur could see that the fox was clearly scared. Cold beads of sweat dotted the toon's brow, his eyes now finally fixed upon the human that was his other half. Now after decades of separation, the toon and human finally confronted each other.
The fox swallowed hard and took Arthur's hand in his paws. Arthur could feel the fox's muscles trembling and placed his other hand around the fox's to try and comfort him. The fox gave another hard swallow, his mouth dry. "One force, forever bound by eternity," he whispered shakily.
Arthur remained silent, gently holding the paws of the cartoon fox, which seemed to have stopped their trembling. "Em... excuse me?" he asked, looking a bit bewildered.
"Thank you," the fox said quietly. He released Arthur's hands.
Arthur stared back at him, smiling weakly. "You'd better get home," he said quietly. "As you implied, this isn't your universe." Despite his smile, there was a strong undertone of sadness in Arthur's voice, carrying a yearning desire to return with the fox--to return home.
The fox laid a paw on Arthur's shoulder, understanding him implicitly. "You are wise," he agreed. This caught Arthur completely off-guard, and he couldn't help but snicker lightly. "You still don't believe I am you, do you?" the fox asked. "You think everything toony went back with me. You're quite wrong, Arthur. In fact you've got it quite backwards."
"Backwards?" Arthur asked, clearly confused.
"It's my fault," the fox admitted. "I've kept the truth from you."
"Truth?"
The fox nodded. "That you have the core, Arthur, of our energy force. It never left here. I've researched it all out... known it for years but kept the knowledge from you... until now. Now you know." He saw the confusion on Arthur's face and smiled warmly. The trembling was gone, his words now came soft and understanding.
"You are the higher half, Arthur," he sighed. "Here you have powers beyond anything back home. You are in the world of the creators, Arthur. You walk among those who shape our world. Here, you are one of them." The fox looked down sheepishly. "You are in the land of the gods, Arthur, and I am but a tiny speck, not worthy of your presence."
"But," Arthur began. "You have your powers. You..."
"My powers are within you, Arthur," The fox interrupted. "I finally understand now. You are the source now, and that is why I need you here. You're a human--the human me. Do you know how much I cherish having part of myself here, able to be a part of this world?"
Arthur stared blankly back, giving no reply. The fox continued. "You are priceless down here. You have no idea of the things and experiences you have here that do not exist back home."
The next words the fox said to Arthur were not spoken, but were delivered directly to the human's mind as the fox gazed into the human's eyes. "You are the conduit of time, my friend. You are able to see things about myself... about us, that I cannot. I have given you the future that I cannot know. No doubt you have seen things that won't happen for decades. You are my eyes for the future, Arthur. Guide us well, and one day we will again be together, and whole again."
Arthur's thoughts drifted and began to focus on a certain cartoon character he dearly loved. A tinge of panic struck him as he wondered how much he really knew about his other half's life in Toonity. Arthur hurriedly grasped the fox's paw and clasped it in his hand. Holding it longingly he looked at the fox, his thoughts conveying his question to the toon.
The fox's eyes flashed and glittered curiously in the room's light. "She's fine," he smiled after a moment's pause. He rested a paw on Arthur's shoulder. "And, yes," he added, "It's all true. And, no, she never blamed you for what you did here. She loves you more than anything."
"Me?"
The fox nodded slowly. "You--me--there is no difference. Please remember that. Take care, Arthur, and thank you." He embraced Arthur in a warm hug, his small furry body snuggling up to the human, his paws wrapped tight around Arthur.
Overwhelmed by the displayed affection of the small animal, at first Arthur stood rigidly, unable to believe something so furry and beautiful would want to hug a slightly overweight, middle-aged human who hadn't shaved in a few days. Slowly though, the fox's words began to sink in, and as he felt the fox's warm fur wrapped around him, be began to feel a new sense of kinship and odd sort of brotherhood to the toon. Putting his hesitations aside Arthur hugged the fox back, and was immediately lost in a wondrous sensation beyond any pleasure or joy he had ever known. Suddenly the world around him didn't matter anymore, and everything became clear and simple. The room and people around them dissolved into blackness. There was only one being, one life, one force, and for the briefest of moments, Andy Fox was whole once again.
Arthur, with his arms around the small furry toon, whispered into ear, his final words to him: "You're not a speck, Andy. You are the part I left behind, and the part that needs to become whole. You are fox, now and forever. And you're right, I do know the future... and the decision you will have to make one day. On that day, you will have returned to that which you came."
For over half of his life, Arthur had always been in the dark about something. There was always a part of him that was beyond his reach--something he could never touch, never feel, never get to know. Now that something had a shape, a form, and a voice somewhere in the vast expanse of space and dimension. As the fox took the two cartoon mice and disappeared in another shimmer of sparks and colored light, Arthur know that he was whole. And, he finally saw that he had a purpose.