WordGirl and Captain Huggyface stood in front of the door to Professor Robert Tubings' laboratory. Huggy was good and ready to go in; waiting for the superhero to knock on the door. But he looked up in confusion to see her just standing there and staring at it.
WordGirl had been here many times before. A few times to visit Professor Robert Tubing. Many more times to visit Dr Steven Boxleitner.
The name on the door was different now. But looking at the door itself made her think of him. All the times he helped her gain better control over her powers, all the times she just dropped by to see what he was working on at the time; even visiting as Becky Botsford on occasion without him even realising he was still talking to the same person. Thinking about those times made her wander if she had been there when he had the accident, maybe she could have prevented him from being merged with that mouse and stopped him from becoming Dr Two Brains. Maybe it still would have happened and she could have gotten immediate help before Squeaky had completely influenced the doctor and changed him permanently. Or maybe she would not have been able to do anything at all and Steven was bound to become Dr Two Brains no matter what.
WordGirl snapped out of her daze as she heard Captain Huggyface squeak at her; making her look down at him as he pointed to the door of the lab.
"Sorry; just got caught up in my own thoughts there." The superhero apologized before approaching the door.
WordGirl gently knocked on the door as Huggy climbed up and rested himself on her back; waiting for a response or permission to come in. After a couple of seconds, they heard a click in the doors lock and a small gap opened. A familiar monkey poked her head out and saw the pair.
"Hi, Bosco." WordGirl waved at the monkey as did Huggy. "We're here to see Professor Tubing-"
WordGirl did not get to finish telling the monkey why she and her sidekick were there. Bosco immediately shut the door on them again and the sound of a motorized wheelchair could be heard on the other side.
"State your name and business." Professor Tubing spoke cautiously from the other side of the door.
"It's WordGirl and Captain Huggyface, Professor." WordGirl quickly stated who they were. "We're here because you wanted us to see something important."
WordGirl and Captain Huggyface could hear Professor gasp in delight before the door opened again; the professor giving the pair a welcoming smile.
"Please; come on in." Tubing Moved himself to the side as Bosco held the door open for the superhero and her primate partner.
WordGirl and Huggy smiled as they both thanked the man of science and his monkey of science as they entered the lab; seeing everything the same as it was when they first came here for help in stopping Dr Two Brains. Bosco closed the door and climbed onto her master's lap as he turned to their visitors.
"I'm glad you both were able to make it here. Did you have any trouble on your way here?" Professor Tubing asked as he caught up with the pair.
"We didn't have any trouble at all, Professor. I mean, the Butcher did try and Rob the bank again, but we made short work of him." WordGirl explained as Huggy climbed off and looked around. "You could say we butchered the butcher's plan."
Captain Huggyface shook his head and face palmed while WordGirl giggled at her attempt at a joke. Bosco gave the superhero a confused while Professor Tubing smiled with a light chuckle.
"Delightful; just delightful." The professor said before getting down to business. "Now then. You must be wandering why I asked you to come here."
WordGirl quickly remembered why she and Captain Huggyface were here as she looked back to Professor Tubing.
"Yeah; you said you wanted to talk to me about Dr Two Brains." The superhero remembered when the professor called earlier.
"Yes; I've been working on something that I think you'll be quite interested in." The professor said before asking WordGirl a question. "Do you remember when Dr Two Brains threatened to turn everyone's hair gel into cream cheese a few years ago."
WordGirl shuddered as she remembered having cream cheese suddenly being in her hair in place of hair gel. She found that day pretty hard to forget.
"Yeah; we stopped him by exploiting the mouse brains' fear of cats." She replied with what she remembered from that time.
"Well before we did that, I offered to see about removing the mouse brain for him. As you can imagine; he said no." Professor began to explain as he wheeled his way over to his desk. "Recently, I've been thinking about that day and I had an idea. Maybe the reason why he declined the offer is because the mouse brain influenced him right at that moment. So, what if there was a way to turn off the mouse brain temporarily? Long enough to get through to his human brain and convince him to go through with removing the extra brain?"
While Huggy was looking around the lab and looking for anything edible, WordGirl had all her attention on Professor Tubing and his idea; her curiosity building up as he explained.
"That sounds like a good idea. But how would we do it?" WordGirl asked with genuine curiosity.
Professor Tubing gave the girl a smile before looking towards Bosco.
"Bosco; be a good egg and get the subjects ready for a demonstration, would you?" He asked the monkey assistant on his lap.
Bosco nodded before she jumped off of her master's lap and climbed onto the desk. It was then that WordGirl noticed the Glass cage. She looked closer and saw the three little mice; two slightly big ones playing in a cardboard tube and a smaller one huddled up in the corner. The superhero smiled a little bit at the fuzzy little critters as Professor Tubing wheeled over to them.
"These three mice have been my subjects for the past five weeks now." He explained before introducing the mice and pointing at them. "These two big ones over here are Stuart and Bean; and the little shy one in the corner is Silvi."
"Silvi, huh? Is it a girl mouse?" WordGirl asked as she looked at the shy little mouse.
"Yes; quite a cute one too." Tubing answered WordGirls' question as he reached into his pocket. "Now back to the subject at hand; this is what I've been working on."
WordGirl blinked in confusion as Professor Tubing took a small device out of his pocket and held it out for the visitor to see. WordGirl thought she was looking at some kind of USB device. But with a small red button on the side and a small speaker built into the front.
"A USB device?" WordGirl wandered out loud; thinking the thing Tubing wanted to show her was on the drive.
"It looks like one, yes. But this is actually a miniature Soundwave emulator." Professor Tubing answered with a proud smile. "Or Mse for short."
"Soundwave emulator?" WordGirl repeated in questioned; wandering what soundwaves had to do with the mice in the cage.
"Well. After I thought about how to turn off the mouse brain, I started researching some studies where a scientist found a way to put different animals in sleep like states without the use of anaesthesia or drugs. His findings lead him to find out that certain frequencies can activate the pineal gland to produce melatonin; a hormone that makes the subject feel drowsy and in turn puts them to sleep. So, I went and found a frequency that works on mice and put it on the Mse."
WordGirl nodded as the professor explained; feeling like she had a decent understanding of what he was talking about. But Professor Tubing knew that a demonstration would be better.
"Watch."
WordGirl watched as Professor Tubing held the red button for a second; a small red light blinking every couple of seconds after letting go. Captain Huggyface walked up to the desk with a half-eaten apple in his hand just as Professor opened the top of the cage and lowered the activated device inside with the mice. What happened next made WordGirl gasp in amazement and made Captain Huggyface drop his apple.
The mice slowly stopped whatever they were doing before they began to appear drowsy. After barely any time, they fell asleep and began snoring lightly. WordGirl looked closer at the mice; trying to find some kind of trick to it.
"How... How did you do this?" The superhero asked in a mix of amazement and shock.
"I uploaded a high-pitched frequency on here that activates the sleep hormone in mice. So as long as this device is on and as long as the battery lasts, the mice stay in this sleeping state." Professor Tubing explained before taking the device away and turning it off. "Or at least until I turn it off or take it out of range."
WordGirl and Huggy watched as the mice slowly woke up with little squeaky yawns; resuming whatever they were doing before Tubing demonstrated his invention. Tubing smiled before he continued his explanation.
"And this is where Dr Two Brains comes in." Tubing continued as he reached into his pocket and took out a brightly coloured lanyard; attaching it to the device as he explained his plan. "If you can get close to him and place the mse on him while it's turned on. Then the mouse brain will be put in a sleep state and you'll be able to talk to him without the mouse brain influencing him; hopefully convincing him to at least consider getting it removed."
WordGirl blinked once as Professor Tubing handed her the device; staring at it as a sudden thought made its way into her mind. A thought that she had given up on a long time ago.
"Professor? Are saying that we might have a chance... to get Steven back?" The superhero asked; trying not to sound too hopeful as she looked back up.
The smile on Professor Tubings' face slowly faded into a look of uncertainty as WordGirl asked the question; looking down when she looked up at him. Tubing let out a light sigh before he looked up and spoke honestly.
"WordGirl. I don't want to damper any hopes you might have. But I want you to understand something." The professor said before he began to speak realistically. "There's no guarantee that Two Brains will even want the mouse brain removed; even without it influencing him. And if he does go through with it, he probably won't be the same as he was before the accident that fused him with it."
WordGirl looked away from the professor as she processed his words. She knew getting Dr Two Brains fully back to his old self was more or less wishful thinking at this point. He had been fused with that darn mouse brain for five whole years now. Sure, he had moments where Stevens' personality would show for a few brief moments; but then he would just revert back to how he was now. Sure, his human brain was in control most of the time. But the incident at the grocery store made her think something was wrong. And it might have something to do with Squeaky.
"Professor, I know the chances of getting Steven back are very slim." She admitted before voicing her concerns. "But I'm worried that the mouse brain might be taking more control than it should."
Professor Tubing blinked in confusion while Bosco climbed up to the top of the scientists' wheelchair.
"What makes you think that?" The professor asked with a concerned look.
"Well... This does."
WordGirl looked down as she lowered the glove on her left arm; causing Professor Tubing to gasp in shock as he saw the bandaging underneath.
"Oh, my goodness. What happened?" Tubing questioned with concern in his voice; thankfully not freaking out like Huggy did when it happened.
"Dr Two Brains bit me when we stopped him at the store." WordGirl explained what happened that morning.
Professor Tubing and Bosco both blinked and looked at each other briefly in confusion before turning back to WordGirl.
"He bit you?" The scientist questioned; finding that rather difficult to believe even with the evidence in front of him. "Has he ever done this before?"
"No; he hasn't." WordGirl answered before voicing her concern. "But I don't think he was in control of himself when he did it. He didn't seem to remember after it happened and he just ran off."
"He didn't remember?" Professor Tubing repeated in question as he thought about it.
Professor immediately recalled WordGirl telling him about the day Dr Two Brains let the mouse brain takeover for a whole day; apparently displaying more animalistic and more evil behaviour during this time and having no recollection of it afterwards.
"Didn't you once tell me that he could not recall what happened when he let the mouse brain takeover for a while?" the professor asked; thinking there might be a connection.
WordGirl recalled that day. She remembered Two Brains waking up all confused after Squeaky went back to being the second brain; having no memory of what happened when Squeaky took over for the duration of that time.
"I think his henchmen might have told him what happened. But no; he couldn't recall." The superhero answered as best as she could.
Professor Tubing put his hand to his chin in thought; thinking this could be serious.
"That sounds like it could be more dire than I thought." He though out loud before speaking directly to WordGirl. "When do you think you'll try and plant the mse on him?"
WordGirl took a couple of moments to think. She had to go to school tomorrow. But not a lot of the city's villains committed crime early in the morning. Maybe she could stop by at Two Brains' lair before school starts; that way she would have time to try and talk him into going to see Professor Tubing about removing the mouse brain. But thinking about it brought up another thought.
"I could try it tomorrow morning." She answered before voicing her concern. "But, Professor? If he does go through with getting the mouse brain removed, how is it going to be done? And what happens after? I mean, he's still going to have a criminal record and we won't know if he'll give up being a supervillain."
Professor Tubing nodded in acknowledgment before responding properly.
"I do understand your concerns. If Two Brains agrees to this, I'll run some tests to determine how the mouse brain is attached and how it can be safely removed. Then if all goes well with the tests, I'm going to contact some associates of mine at the city hospital and have him admitted in secret so we can perform the surgery needed to remove the brain. And after that, he'll have to spend a week or two recovering in the hospital so we can make sure he doesn't suffer any major side effects such as developing any brain aneurysms or any other damage the mouse brain may have caused while attached."
Professor Tubing let out an uncertain sigh before speaking honestly.
"But I'm really not sure what will happen after that. Honestly WordGirl; with his criminal record, I don't really think the city will care. I have noticed that most of the people in this city are a bit obtuse."
WordGirl rolled her eyes to the side as she nodded; finding it hard to disagree with the professor on that as he continued.
"But I'm afraid we'll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it." Tubing finished with his two cents on the matter.
WordGirl nodded in understanding; even though she was a bit sceptical about how it will happen.
"Okay. I'll talk to Dr Two Brains tomorrow and try to convince him." The superhero said before calling out to her sidekick. "C'mon, Huggy; time to go."
Huggy immediately responded and jumped onto WordGirls' back; waving goodbye to the Professor Tubing and Bosco.
"Now remember, WordGirl! Make sure you turn the mse on before you try to plant it on Dr Two Brains! It'll work better that way!" Professor gave out last minute instructions before she and Huggy left.
"I'll remember! Goodbye, Professor!" WordGirl said as she and Huggy walked out the door; waving goodbye as they did so.
When the pair were out of the lab and out of the building, WordGirl began thinking. She knew Professor Tubing said not to get her hopes up. But something inside wanted to be hopeful. She wanted to believe that Two Brains might at least consider the offer. He and Squeaky had been fused together for five years now; but the memory of seeing the aftermath of the accident that caused it was still fresh in her mind. For now, all she could do was plan on how she could convince him and what she could say to him. Deep down inside, she knew Steven was still in there. She knew her old friend could be saved.
AN: I probably made the whole sleeping soundwave stuff up, but it might be best to take it with a grain of salt.