-------Part Four: Conflict, the Broken
"Your little friend was quite an odd case," said Dr. Yubi Sik, who despite the lack of a turban was obviously of Egyptian descent. "When she kept lapsing, we feared some sort of virus, but.. now I have reason to believe most of her condition may have been psychosematic."
Hoagie scratched his head. "Psycho-what?"
"It means that her thoughts and feelin's were causing her to get worse."
"Wow, is that possible?"
"Many doctors believe it is." Yubi Sik continued. "In your friend's case, during her fever she must have encountered a delirium, during which time she concocted this fantasy about her best friend being murdered by some girl. In her delirious state, she did not realize that it was merely a fantasy and began to be concerned, which resulted in the physical effects you have all witnessed. More to the point, note that when she had her friend right by her side, her temperature dropped and her health became stable after a mere ten minutes."
"Does this mean she can go home?" Kuki's mom asked.
"Yes." Abby's mom answered. "Feel free to call us if she shows any more symptoms, however."
"All right. Thank you."
Both the doctors merely nodded in response, and Kuki's mom left, carrying her daughter. Her friends soon followed her down the hall and out the door, where Kuki's mom placed her daughter on the ground as she went around and activated the car.
"We'll come out and visit you later today." Nigel promised her. "I've just got a few last things to deal with at home... and I've got to gather up some more Star Trek movies." With that last one, the two smiled at each other, and then Kuki hugged him. This time he had expected it, and he hugged her back. Then it was time to go, and she got into the passenger seat of her mom's car waving goodbye to her friends.
And when the car rounded the bend, Wallabee kicked a wall, and the others looked at him in concern.
"Is something wrong, Numbuh Four?" Nigel asked.
"Yea! She could care less that I was there, but when she sees you she get's bettah instantly!" He put his hands in his pockets and looked downward with the expression of having been clearly miffed. And then he smiled a bit. "I didn't think ya had it in ya to cheat on Lizzie."
And then Nigel sighed. "Me and Numbuh Three don't have that kind of a relationship. She's still available. Anyway even if she wasn't, I'm not cheating on Lizzie anymore."
And then Wallabee and the others looked at him. "W-whaddya mean?"
"I mean I told Lizzie off. If she still wants to date me after the tongue-lashing I gave her, she's crazy."
And everyone smiled, and even cheered him on as they patted his back victoriously. "Wow Numbuh One," Hoagie answered, "I never knew you had it in ya!"
"Oh come on, you guys wouldn't doubt your leader, would you?" Nigel smiled at his humorous statement. For the first time since before he had met Lizzie, his heart felt like pure gold again.
-------------
"This is what I wanted to point out to you guys," Nigel informed them when the team (with only Kuki absent) returned to headquarters and he showed them the note from KND High Command. "Due to my stupidity, I'm not allowed to put things on the KND Account anymore. And as you all know, the leaders are the only ones who have access to the charge cards."
"That means we can't buy the stuff we need to build more Two-by-Four technology weapons." Wallabee acknowledged. "We'll have to make due with what we have."
"Yes. In the meantime I'll be trying to pay back the amount I spent. Perhaps if I do, they'll reconsider and let me use the card once more."
And then Nigel felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Abby smiling down at him as she said "We're behind ya all the way, Numbuh One."
And Nigel's heart felt even warmer... until suddenly, the front door of the treehouse kicked open, and a shot was fired. Nigel watched in shock as he heard Abby moan in pain, and turned his head to see that a bullet had scraped a piece of her shoulder. Then he turned back to the door.
Fortunately for him, this was the first time Lizzie had ever used a gun, and her aim was terrible. Nevertheless, Numbuh One knew it was he she was aiming at, and got off the sofa, running to the other side of the room, managing to miss a meeting with a few more bullets as he yelled "Lizzie, have you gone insane?!"
"Be quiet! You had no right to say those things about me!" She answered him, firing a shot, "You were the worst boyfriend I ever had, Nigel! You treated me like garbage, you used me for my money!" Another shot, "You made my life miserable!"
"I think you've got that story in reverse!" He continued running, "But it figures that you would resort to outright denial!" with that, he ducked into the kitchen, hiding beside the doorway. "You're not only a drug, you're evil in the purest sense of the word!"
"Go on, Nigey. After you're dead," he could hear her slowly approaching, "I'll just tell everyone that you abused and used me. They'll believe I was a victim. And as we all know, the truth doesn't mean jack if people don't believe it!"
Nigel didn't bother to mention that he had three witnesses in his favor, but as he ducked under the table, it concerned his mind. He had another vision just then, of him being shot dead, and of the bloody remains of his friends in the main room, and his mom and dad, leaving Kuki to come by sometime later and discover the slaughter...
Kuki... She just got out of the hospital, there's no way I'm going to let Lizzie put her through this!
And when he saw Lizzie's feet looking around the kitchen, he knew what he had to do. Quickly he moved out behind her, and as he got up he lifted a chair, and swung it across her face. The sudden impact caue her to accidentally pull the trigger, destroying a part of the pancake pan Abby had used to cook that morning, but then Nigel dropped the chair and readied his fist, reeling back, and sending her sprawling to the floor harder than she had done to him at the theatre. As she fell, the gun dropped out of her hands, and Nigel slowly bent to attain it.
As Lizzie layed there, holding her face and sobbing with pain, she asked "Nigey, why?"
Nigel wasn't going to face the sweet and innocent act. That was over. This time he had to make it loud and he had to make it clear. He aimed Lizzie's own gun at her. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow your brains out right here and now."
As she layed there, silent and in obvious fear, Nigel heard the scruffling feet of his friends and operatives scramble into the room, but they stood back, seeing the drama being acted out. Each of them wanted to say something, but didn't know what they should say. They all, besides that, wanted to know what Nigel was going to do.
Nigel's decision really came as no surprise. Continuing to aim the gun at Lizzie, he ordered her "Get out of here or I'm calling the police."
And then Lizzie stood, fear still apparent in her tear-dripped eyes... and something else. A longing? A guilt? It didn't matter, for within seconds, she was running back home... or, in her mind, as far away from this place as she could get!
For the rest of her days, she would always tell people that Nigel had been a bad boyfriend. But the truth always ate at her--the truth that she had done wrong, been found out, and that the proof of her wrongs was still out there. What's worse, he had broken her control and even, for a short time, controlled her! She had become so mentally scarred, that she would fly into a rage any time someone mentioned Kung Fu movies or Star Trek. And more continued to be added on to this, as more boyfriends came and went, leaving her to imagine wrongs they had committed so she could go on believing she was a perfect little angel, an illusion which came apart when, after one blind rage too many, she finally had been committed to a mental institution.
But that was about fifteen years into the future.
--------------
A week after Lizzie's attempt on the life of Nigel, he and Kuki Sanban were now at a local Hastings movie rental, though Nigel was unsure if he should be renting movies instead of buying parts for two-by-four technology, but he was doing it with money he had earned, not someone else's funding. "Now, let's see... I think Abby will like this one," Nigel stated. Kuki looked it over and agreed, then turned down the aisle, and stopped short. "Hey," she whispered, "Isn't that Lizzie?"
Nigel looked. It was Lizzie, with a new boyfriend, someone he didn't recognize. For a moment, Nigel thought of running over there to warn this new victim in the making about what he was getting into... He also felt a pang of guilt, wishing that he had eliminated her and thus for all time stopped her from toying with the hearts of men.
Yet, elsewhere he realized that Lizzie had somehow been important to him. Not as a love interest, of course, but rather as a life experience. Through her, he had learned how truly complex his feelings were, how one could think they were happy when really they were miserable, and that not all relationships are to end happily ever after. Maybe her new boy needs that experience as much as Nigel himself did.
He grabbed Kuki's shoulder, and softly ordered "Pretend you don't see her."
And Kuki, after a moment, nodded an affirmation. And the two began looking through the available movies once more.
THE END.
"Your little friend was quite an odd case," said Dr. Yubi Sik, who despite the lack of a turban was obviously of Egyptian descent. "When she kept lapsing, we feared some sort of virus, but.. now I have reason to believe most of her condition may have been psychosematic."
Hoagie scratched his head. "Psycho-what?"
"It means that her thoughts and feelin's were causing her to get worse."
"Wow, is that possible?"
"Many doctors believe it is." Yubi Sik continued. "In your friend's case, during her fever she must have encountered a delirium, during which time she concocted this fantasy about her best friend being murdered by some girl. In her delirious state, she did not realize that it was merely a fantasy and began to be concerned, which resulted in the physical effects you have all witnessed. More to the point, note that when she had her friend right by her side, her temperature dropped and her health became stable after a mere ten minutes."
"Does this mean she can go home?" Kuki's mom asked.
"Yes." Abby's mom answered. "Feel free to call us if she shows any more symptoms, however."
"All right. Thank you."
Both the doctors merely nodded in response, and Kuki's mom left, carrying her daughter. Her friends soon followed her down the hall and out the door, where Kuki's mom placed her daughter on the ground as she went around and activated the car.
"We'll come out and visit you later today." Nigel promised her. "I've just got a few last things to deal with at home... and I've got to gather up some more Star Trek movies." With that last one, the two smiled at each other, and then Kuki hugged him. This time he had expected it, and he hugged her back. Then it was time to go, and she got into the passenger seat of her mom's car waving goodbye to her friends.
And when the car rounded the bend, Wallabee kicked a wall, and the others looked at him in concern.
"Is something wrong, Numbuh Four?" Nigel asked.
"Yea! She could care less that I was there, but when she sees you she get's bettah instantly!" He put his hands in his pockets and looked downward with the expression of having been clearly miffed. And then he smiled a bit. "I didn't think ya had it in ya to cheat on Lizzie."
And then Nigel sighed. "Me and Numbuh Three don't have that kind of a relationship. She's still available. Anyway even if she wasn't, I'm not cheating on Lizzie anymore."
And then Wallabee and the others looked at him. "W-whaddya mean?"
"I mean I told Lizzie off. If she still wants to date me after the tongue-lashing I gave her, she's crazy."
And everyone smiled, and even cheered him on as they patted his back victoriously. "Wow Numbuh One," Hoagie answered, "I never knew you had it in ya!"
"Oh come on, you guys wouldn't doubt your leader, would you?" Nigel smiled at his humorous statement. For the first time since before he had met Lizzie, his heart felt like pure gold again.
-------------
"This is what I wanted to point out to you guys," Nigel informed them when the team (with only Kuki absent) returned to headquarters and he showed them the note from KND High Command. "Due to my stupidity, I'm not allowed to put things on the KND Account anymore. And as you all know, the leaders are the only ones who have access to the charge cards."
"That means we can't buy the stuff we need to build more Two-by-Four technology weapons." Wallabee acknowledged. "We'll have to make due with what we have."
"Yes. In the meantime I'll be trying to pay back the amount I spent. Perhaps if I do, they'll reconsider and let me use the card once more."
And then Nigel felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Abby smiling down at him as she said "We're behind ya all the way, Numbuh One."
And Nigel's heart felt even warmer... until suddenly, the front door of the treehouse kicked open, and a shot was fired. Nigel watched in shock as he heard Abby moan in pain, and turned his head to see that a bullet had scraped a piece of her shoulder. Then he turned back to the door.
Fortunately for him, this was the first time Lizzie had ever used a gun, and her aim was terrible. Nevertheless, Numbuh One knew it was he she was aiming at, and got off the sofa, running to the other side of the room, managing to miss a meeting with a few more bullets as he yelled "Lizzie, have you gone insane?!"
"Be quiet! You had no right to say those things about me!" She answered him, firing a shot, "You were the worst boyfriend I ever had, Nigel! You treated me like garbage, you used me for my money!" Another shot, "You made my life miserable!"
"I think you've got that story in reverse!" He continued running, "But it figures that you would resort to outright denial!" with that, he ducked into the kitchen, hiding beside the doorway. "You're not only a drug, you're evil in the purest sense of the word!"
"Go on, Nigey. After you're dead," he could hear her slowly approaching, "I'll just tell everyone that you abused and used me. They'll believe I was a victim. And as we all know, the truth doesn't mean jack if people don't believe it!"
Nigel didn't bother to mention that he had three witnesses in his favor, but as he ducked under the table, it concerned his mind. He had another vision just then, of him being shot dead, and of the bloody remains of his friends in the main room, and his mom and dad, leaving Kuki to come by sometime later and discover the slaughter...
Kuki... She just got out of the hospital, there's no way I'm going to let Lizzie put her through this!
And when he saw Lizzie's feet looking around the kitchen, he knew what he had to do. Quickly he moved out behind her, and as he got up he lifted a chair, and swung it across her face. The sudden impact caue her to accidentally pull the trigger, destroying a part of the pancake pan Abby had used to cook that morning, but then Nigel dropped the chair and readied his fist, reeling back, and sending her sprawling to the floor harder than she had done to him at the theatre. As she fell, the gun dropped out of her hands, and Nigel slowly bent to attain it.
As Lizzie layed there, holding her face and sobbing with pain, she asked "Nigey, why?"
Nigel wasn't going to face the sweet and innocent act. That was over. This time he had to make it loud and he had to make it clear. He aimed Lizzie's own gun at her. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow your brains out right here and now."
As she layed there, silent and in obvious fear, Nigel heard the scruffling feet of his friends and operatives scramble into the room, but they stood back, seeing the drama being acted out. Each of them wanted to say something, but didn't know what they should say. They all, besides that, wanted to know what Nigel was going to do.
Nigel's decision really came as no surprise. Continuing to aim the gun at Lizzie, he ordered her "Get out of here or I'm calling the police."
And then Lizzie stood, fear still apparent in her tear-dripped eyes... and something else. A longing? A guilt? It didn't matter, for within seconds, she was running back home... or, in her mind, as far away from this place as she could get!
For the rest of her days, she would always tell people that Nigel had been a bad boyfriend. But the truth always ate at her--the truth that she had done wrong, been found out, and that the proof of her wrongs was still out there. What's worse, he had broken her control and even, for a short time, controlled her! She had become so mentally scarred, that she would fly into a rage any time someone mentioned Kung Fu movies or Star Trek. And more continued to be added on to this, as more boyfriends came and went, leaving her to imagine wrongs they had committed so she could go on believing she was a perfect little angel, an illusion which came apart when, after one blind rage too many, she finally had been committed to a mental institution.
But that was about fifteen years into the future.
--------------
A week after Lizzie's attempt on the life of Nigel, he and Kuki Sanban were now at a local Hastings movie rental, though Nigel was unsure if he should be renting movies instead of buying parts for two-by-four technology, but he was doing it with money he had earned, not someone else's funding. "Now, let's see... I think Abby will like this one," Nigel stated. Kuki looked it over and agreed, then turned down the aisle, and stopped short. "Hey," she whispered, "Isn't that Lizzie?"
Nigel looked. It was Lizzie, with a new boyfriend, someone he didn't recognize. For a moment, Nigel thought of running over there to warn this new victim in the making about what he was getting into... He also felt a pang of guilt, wishing that he had eliminated her and thus for all time stopped her from toying with the hearts of men.
Yet, elsewhere he realized that Lizzie had somehow been important to him. Not as a love interest, of course, but rather as a life experience. Through her, he had learned how truly complex his feelings were, how one could think they were happy when really they were miserable, and that not all relationships are to end happily ever after. Maybe her new boy needs that experience as much as Nigel himself did.
He grabbed Kuki's shoulder, and softly ordered "Pretend you don't see her."
And Kuki, after a moment, nodded an affirmation. And the two began looking through the available movies once more.
THE END.