AN: TW for hallucinations and vomiting

Later that evening, Becky and Bob sat at the dinner table with Tim and Sally Botsford; eating a freshly cooked dinner of pulled pork and mango salsa tacos with a side of macaroni and cheese. TJ was at Johnson's house that night for a sleepover; maybe helping each other with homework and school projects.

Tim and Sally were happily engaged in a conversation about how their day went while Bob was well into seconds of his food. Becky just stared down at her food as her thoughts of this morning flooded her mind. No matter how much she tried to focus on something else, her eyes kept going back to the mac and cheese on her plate; making her think of Dr Two Brains.

He could not promise. That is what he said. He could not promise that he would consider getting this procedure. Becky wanted to believe he would do it. She wanted to believe that he wanted to be rid of that mouse brain; knowing it was hurting him somehow more than it used to. But she did not want to get her hopes up.

"Are you alright, sweetie?"

Becky lifted her head up when she heard her mother speak to her; looking up as she asked the question.

"Yeah, Mom?" the pre-teen said with an intentional question of her own.

"You barely touched your food. Is everything okay?" Sally asked her daughter if anything was wrong.

"Is there too much cheese in the mac and cheese?" Tim added his own question; wondering if the food was not up to standard.

Becky quickly responded with a little head shake and a small smile.

"No, no; nothing's wrong." Becky reassured before explaining. "I was just thinking about... something I saw on TV the other day."

Bob looked up from his food as Becky began to explain.

"I saw an advertisement for a movie... about a man, who gets an alien stuck to his head and it starts to make him do bad and questionable things." The girl partially lied; even though there was a movie like that.

"Oh! Is the handsome guy from A Summer in Italy in that? I think I heard him in an interview about it on the radio today." Tim asked; thinking he knew what his daughter was talking about.

"Robert Eveno? Oh, I love him!" Sally added as she remembered that movie.

Becky briefly gave her parents confused looks before she continued.

"Uh, yeah. I think that's it." She answered them before getting to what she wanted to say. "But the plot of it made me think of a hypothetical."

"A hypothetical you say?" Tim asked; wandering what his daughter meant.

"Oh. Well, hypothetical is a made-up station involving or being based on a suggested idea or theory." Becky defined the word for her father out of habit. "Like, the question that I'm about to ask is based on a hypothetical station that I have not really experienced in real life."

Bob gave Becky a worried look as she smiled; knowing what a bad liar she could be. Tim and Sally both gave their daughter curious looks as she explained the hypothetical.

"So, imagine there's this person. They have a... parasite stuck to their head and it makes them do things." Becky vaguely explained before going into mote detail. "If this person doesn't comply and does what the parasite wants, the parasite gives them really bad headaches and puts them in a lot of pain. Someone approaches this person with an offer to have the parasite removed for good... But for some reason, this person doesn't want to get rid of the parasite that is putting him through such pain."

Becky carefully thought of what she was going to say next; seeing Bob looking at her with a nervous frown.

"Do you think it's a good idea to push getting the procedure done with this person because they refuse to do it? Or should they just be left to decide for themselves and just hope they'll eventually come around?"

Becky and Bob watched as both her parents took a few moments to think about the question; both suddenly looking deep in thought.

"That's a surprisingly deep hypothetical." Tim said as he put his hand to his chin in thought.

"Well, Becky. There's a lot to consider." Sally explained before giving her two cents on the matter. "You can't really force someone to do something they don't want to. But if this parasite is hurting them, then they probably should have something done about it."

"Though, people don't really respond well to being forced or told what to do; even it's with the best intentions." Tim interjected with his opinion on the matter. "Sometimes, the best thing to do is let the person in question decide for themselves."

Becky took a moment to think about her parents' opinions on what they thought was just a made up scenario; not knowing the weight of the situation their daughter was dealing with.

"So... The people who care about this person should take a step back and let them choose?" Becky asked; wondering if that was really the best solution.

"Sometimes. Although, if it's a life-or-death situation, then it doesn't hurt to be forceful." Sally answered before talking further.

Sally and Tim continued to talk about the subject over their dinner. But Becky found herself zoning out as she thought about the mouse brained doctor and his wellbeing. She wanted to believe he would come around and do what was necessary to get rid of the mouse brain. But there was always the possibility that he was going to say no. She wanted to let him decide for himself; not wanting to force him into it. But she knew she would have to if worst came to worst.

Two Brains blinked as he looked up at the warehouse ceiling; laying on his back on his bed. The mouse brained doctor had the place to himself all day; having given the henchmen the day off so they wouldn't suspect something was wrong with him.

Two Brains enjoyed the quiet. Not just in the warehouse; but also, the quietness in his head. He could actually hear his own thoughts. He was able to at least eat something that was not cheese or covered in cheese for lunch today. He spent most of the day just relaxing and taking time for himself. He watched a few movies; put a puzzle together; he even painted a painting of a bowl of fruit. Two Brains thought he accomplished a lot in the span of today.

But he inevitably became bored after all that.

The mouse brained doctor found himself just staring at the ceiling with no focus as his human brain started thinking about many things. Most of it mundane; most of it ordinary. But one thought stood out to him among the rest.

"This thing WordGirl put on me made Squeaky pretty quiet." He thought as he shifted to his right side; stare still unfocused as he continued to think. "It's been forever since I could even hear my own voice in my head."

Two Brains reached under his pyjama shirt and pulled out the MSE; taking a closer look at it as his thoughts continued to manifest. He recalled WordGirl making him promise not to take it off. The more he looked at it, the more he wondered how it actually worked and how it was keeping Squeaky asleep. WordGirl said something about how it worked, but he could not really remember all of what she said. The doctor put his thumb over the red button as he looked the device over; thinking it just looked like a weird USB. Two Brains accidentally pressed down on the button with more force then he meant to; only noticing the red light disappearing after a few seconds.

Two Brains had no time to react to the light. Not before suddenly felt a rapidly growing headache coming on that made him let go of the Mse and bring both hands to his head. It wasn't long before he heard a loud and deafening ringing in his ears as the headache grew stronger by the second; soon becoming more then he could bare.

"GAAHHHHHH!"

Two Brains let out a painful scream as he tried to lay back down, but he fell out to the side of his bed and fell to the cold concrete floor; his head thumping internally as pain induced tears began to pour from his red eyes. Two Brains found himself breathing heavily as he began to hear high pitched squeaking getting louder and closer; knowing something was not right. Squeaky gave him bad headaches when the human disobeyed the mouse brain; but Two Brains thought the rodent was trying to kill him with this one. The doctor closed his eyes for a second as more tears built up and fell.

"Human disobey Squeaky..."

Two Brains gasped and opened his eyes again; staring widely as he saw something that he believed was some kind of nightmare.

A giant rodent stared down at him as he laid there curled up on the floor; red glowing angry eyes staring into him like they could steal his soul. Two Brains tried to process the form of this hallucination. The eyes were attached to a mass of black fur that was so dark that light could not do exist with it. It had ears that were almost as pointy as knives; claws that looked almost identical to daggers and a tail that was longer than a human being. Two Brains began to shake with fear as the hallucination spoke.

"Human talked to alien girl when she put Squeaky to sleep." The rodent demon spoke with a voice that despite being high pitched, made the doctor shiver and cower.

Two Brains immediately realised that this nightmare creature was Squeaky. That like what Two Brains saw when he would mediate; but as an angry abomination that wanted its desires met.

"I-I didn't mean to!" Two Brains tried to defend himself as he began to stutter. "S-she snuck up on me and I couldn't do anything about-"

"LIAR!"

Two Brains let out a pained cry as he felt a wave of pain erupted in his head; Squeakys yelling overpowering him as he curled up some more.

"Squeaky saw human brains' memories. Human wants to get rid of Squeaky!" The mouse brain accused his host of betrayal.

"I wasn't going to! I swear!" Two Brains denied the rodent accusations; feeling like his head was going to crack like an egg. "I'd never do that!"

"Don't lie to Squeaky, traitor! Human is a terrible liar!"

Two Brains could barely understand what his mouse brain was saying. The headache was making it almost impossible to focus on anything real or not. But Squeakys' next few words were clear as day to the mouse brained doctor.

"Squeaky thinks human brain's been in charge for too long. Human not bringing Squeaky enough cheese." Squeaky spoke with increasing malice as the monstrous rodent approached.

Two Brains saw the monstrous mouse move its tail and wrapped around one of his legs. He knew this was all in his head; but somehow, he could feel it. And it was getting tight around his ankle.

"You know what, Steven?"

Two Brains had no reaction to his old name being spoken. He was too preoccupied by the growing sharp fanged grin the giant demonic looking rodent had on his face; the humans heart rate going up as it spoke once more.

"Squeaky thinks you need a timeout."

Two Brains looked up as the he began to sweat and shake nervously; Squeaky looking down at him with a growing high-pitched cackle. The doctor fully realised what the mouse meant by "timeout" as he saw a claw towards him.

"No, no! I don't want to go! Please; not the dark place!" Two Brains spoke in frightened protest as he tried to get up; his head now pounding like a drum.

"Hold still, human! Squeaky will take over from here forever!" The mouse brain insisted with a threat; the hallucination bringing its claws closer to his trembling form.

Two Brains began to hyperventilate as his vision began to blur; his second brain glowing and convulsing as the headache reached its peak. Two Brains knew what was happening to him. Squeaky was trying to take full control. And it was working. The frightened shook his head in denial as he felt himself beginning to blackout; crying out as he moved his hands away from his aching head. He did not want to be in the back of his own mind; left in dark with his other half.

"No, no; I can't-!" He cried out as he struggled to lift himself up from the floor.

Two Brains could feel himself slipping into the darkness of his subconscious as Squeaky began to cackle wickedly; the rodent taking pleasure in the pain of his host. Squeaky brought his dagger claws closer to the struggling human; close to fully taking over.

But Two Brains narrowed his brow and breathed heavily as he brought his hand to his chest and grabbed the device with all the strength he could muster before crying out for the whole world to hear.

"I WON'T GO BACK IN THE DARK!"

Squeaky stopped cackling and watched in horror as Two Brains held down the button on the MSE; yelling in protest as the blinking light on the device came on and the frequency hit him with a vengeance.

"NO! SQUEAKY NOT SLEEPING! SQUEAKY... Squeaky... Not..."

Two Brains could hear Squeaky quiet down as the device did its thing. Two Brains watched as the giant demonic mouse in front of him began to drift off into a sleeping state; disappearing as it fell to the concrete floor. And then... silence. All was quiet in the warehouse again.

Two Brains caught his breath as he brought himself to his knees and looked down at the device; realising how close he was to succumbing to what he now knew was a fate worse than dying. The man looked up again and stared straight ahead as he wiped his eyes of any leftover tears and rubbed his still aching head; silently promising himself not to turn or take off this little device ever again.

"Boss?"

Two Brains blinked and looked up when he heard a very familiar voice. Charlie and Joey were back from their day off; coming home to seeing their employer down on the floor looking sweaty and scared. Both henchmen looked concerned as their boss gave them both a rather dazed stare; noticing be looked rather pale and ill then before they left that morning.

"Are you okay, boss?" Joey asked as he pointed. "You don't look so good."

Two Brains blinked as his henchmen stared at him; his headache slowly calming down but still lingering as he tried to speak.

"I... I uh..."

Dr Two Brains could not get the words he wanted out. But something else came up. It was vomit.

Charlie and Joey watched with wide eyes as their boss regurgitated what he had eaten that day; which was not a lot of solid food. Mostly just fluid. Charlie quickly moved to the doctors' side when he finished emptying what little content was in his stomach; breathing heavily as Charlie quickly but gently lifted him off the concrete floor and away from the biohazard.

"I'll go get a mop." Joey said before hurrying off to find said mop.

Two Brains watched from his spot on the chair he was seated in as Joey finished mopping and cleaning up the last of the vomit off the floor; slipping a glass of water given to the doctor by Charlie. Charlie also grabbed a light blanket for the boss to keep him warm and safe in; noticing he was shivering a bit after that brief vomiting spill. Joey put the cleaning equipment and supplies away before heading over and sitting next to the mouse brained doctor.

"I've never seen you get sick like that, boss." Joey said as he scratched his head in question.

"Yeah... Ya know, mice and a lot of similar rodents are incapable of throwing up." Two Brains blurted out a bit of trivia related to the situation. "I almost figured since I technically have mice DNA in me, I'd never vomit ever again. Boy, I was wrong."

While their boss focused on his drink of water, Charlie and Joey gave each other worried looks; knowing something was definitely not right with their boss.

"Ummm, boss? Charlie and I had a talk while we were out today... And we're both really worried about you." The henchman in the red beanie spoke for himself and his friend.

Dr Two Brains watched as Charlie nodded in agreement with Joey. The mouse brained doctor just gave the two men odd looks as nervous laughter found its way out of him.

"What's there to be worried about? I'm just a little under the weather." Two Brains tried to reassure his henchmen. "I'm fine, boys. I'm really-"

"We heard you shouting when we came in, boss."

Two Brains dropped the nervous laughter as his eyes went wide and a worried frown took over his lips. His henchmen heard him struggling against his second brain. At least they did not know what Squeaky said to him.

"You did?" the evil scientist asked; wondering how much they actually heard.

"We heard you yell something about not being in the dark." Joey recalled the shouting he and Charlie heard as they returned from their day out before asking a concerning question. "We're you having a really bad dream, boss?"

Dr Two Brains looked away from the red beanie wearing henchman as he processed the question. The mouse brained doctor wanted to lie and say it was a bad dream. But he already lied to them about what was going on. He knew his boys were easy to trick, but they were not stupid. They both had gut feelings that something was wrong with their boss. Two Brains took a little breath before speaking out.

"I wasn't actually dreaming." The scientist spoke with partial truth as he looked up and faced his henchmen.

Charlie and Joey gave each other concerned and surprised looks before looking at their boss again.

"You weren't?" Joey asked with a confused tone. "Then why were you shouting?"

Two Brains pointed at his second brain as he answered the question.

"I was fighting with Squeaky again." The doctor said before he began to explain in depth. "I'm sure you've both noticed that we've been having quite a few disagreements as of late. It's mostly because I have not been doing what Squeaky wants and he's starting taking control of me without my consent. That's we left the store in hurry yesterday."

"The mouse brain took over while we we're robbing the grocery store?" Joey asked before trying to recall yesterday's events. "I didn't see you turn feral at the store yesterday. Did you see it happen, Charlie?"

Charlie shook his head no; recalling himself being too busy fighting Captain Huggyface to see their boss turn into Squeaky brains. Two Brains continued explaining as his henchmen continued to listen.

"I was down at the back of the store fighting WordGirl when Squeaky took over." The mouse brained doctor recounted as the one event he dreaded came up. "And then... He made me bite her."

Two Brains looked down at the floor in remorse as Joey and Charlie gave him surprised looks; both recalling that scream and how Captain Huggyface took off in a hurry.

"Was that why we heard her scream so bad? How did you even do that? I thought WordGirl was tough as nails!" Joey questioned; wondering how the boss managed to actually hurt the superhero by biting her.

Dr Two Brains shuddered at the thought before he spoke up.

"I don't know how... But you should've how she looked at me with those tears in her eyes." The doctor said with pure regret as he held his head. "It only resulted in a bruise. But if she didn't have super tough skin, I could've sent her to the emergency room. Then I tried telling Squeaky he went too far; but now he's threatening a full takeover!"

The doctor stopped for a breath to calm down before he explained further.

"But this morning before you both woke up, WordGirl came by and had a talk with me." Two Brains recalled as he looked at the MSE. "She put this thing around my neck that apparently puts mice in a sleeping coma; including the mouse brain. She told me that Professor Tubing made it."

Charlie and Joey stared as their boss just stated at the device with a little smile of fondness; the doctor recalling a few times in his days as Steven Boxleitner when he worked with professor Tubing a few times. The mouse brained doctor remembered telling his wheelchair bound colleague about his mind reading experiment; remembering Tubing saying what an innovative idea it was. If he had known what would come from it, he wished someone would have talked him out of it. He even wished he had told WordGirl about the experiment. Maybe she could have talked him out of doing it out of concern for his wellbeing. Or at least convince to use a different mouse that was not a cheese obsessed psycho.

"It actually feels nice that I can't hear Squeaky screaming in my head right now." Two Brains spoke with a slightly saddened tone in his voice. "If he knew what I was saying or thinking about right now, he'd lose it."

Two Brains looked up in time to see his henchmen giving him nervous looks. The doctor knew how terrified his boys were of Squeaky. Not only was he just unpleasant to deal with and be around; but he was a borderline psychopath. The doctor had things under control for a while. But after what happened at the store yesterday and what happened here a few moments ago; Two Brains came to a rather sudden and uncharacteristic conclusion.

"I've made up my mind."

Charlie and Joey watched as their boss took the blanket off and stood up off his seat; taking a deep breath before speaking up.

"I'm going to get Squeaky removed." The doctor announced as he crossed his arms and stood up straight.

Two Brains' henchmen gave the mad doctor bewildered stares as their processed what he just announced before them.

"Boss? Are you being serious?" Joey asked; thinking he might have heard wrong.

"As a heart attack. Squeaky needs to go." Dr Two Brains spat out the fact; even if the idea tied his stomach into knots. "Squeaky has just been getting worse for the past couple of years and I can't keep fighting him over control anymore. It's starting to take its toll on me and pretty soon; I don't think I'll be able keep Squeaky from becoming the dominant brain."

Two Brains watched as Charlie and Joey gave each other concerned looks. But they both turned to the doctor as the looks softened to a look leaning towards worry.

"But, Boss? If you get rid of your second brain, then you won't be Dr Two Brains anymore." Joey said with a worried tone. "Aren't worried about what the other villains are going to think about this?"

Two Brains took a few moments as he thought about Joeys' question; sighing briefly before answering.

"It really doesn't matter what they think about this. Being Dr Two Brains was fun for the first few years and I really do like cheese." Two Brains said as he looked towards the photo of his past self on his bedside table. "But it's not worth it if I'm just going to be playing second fiddle to a crazy mouse that's taking over and practically sucking the life out of me."

Two Brains quickly noticed his henchmen giving each other brief looks of understanding before giving their boss little reassuring smiles.

"Well, boss. Even if you stop being a criminal after this, we understand." Joey started to spoke as he stood up with open arms. "You need to do what feels right for you. And we'll be with you every step of the way."

Dr Two Brains was slightly taken aback by the positive reactions from his henchmen; thinking they would try to talk him into not getting the procedure. The mad scientist was about to say something when he suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around his form and hugged him gently. He looked down as Joey gave his boss a reassuring hug of support before Charlie came up and wrapped his arms around the two; turning it into a little group hug. Two Brains found himself smiling a little as he started to feel a little choked up; finding it hard to keep himself composed as he hugged them back.

"I really don't know what I did to deserve henchmen like you boys." Dr Two Brains said as he tried and failed to hold back tears.

As his henchmen reassured their boss that he deserved the world and all the love it had; Two planned out tomorrow in his head. As soon as he and his henchmen woke up, he would find WordGirl and tell her he was getting the procedure; wondering just how Professor Tubing was going to do it. And wondering how it would really affect him in the long run.