Chapter 2: Accidents Happen

In the living room, Johnny's and the twin's father, Hugh Test, watches some TV, as calm as a lake. "Man, this is probably my best day ever. I am so glad Johnny got his sisters out. Whoa. Didn't know I can say that."

The doors open and Johnny walks in with his pet Dukey, and Mary leads her sister in, who's quivering uncontrollably. Hugh smiles and says, "Hello. How was the day?"

"Pretty good. Probably the best I had with my sisters." Johnny says.

"Somebody stop the Ferris Wheel!" bursts Susan.

The father jumps back from her outburst, then asks, "What was all that about?"

"It was her first time riding a roller coaster."

"But Ferris Wheels aren't roller coasters."

Johnny says, "We first went on a roller coaster, then the Ferris Wheel. Looks like rides do not agree with Susan here."

Mary takes the shaken Susan upstairs, saying, "Okay, Susan. Let's just get you back to your lab sanctuary."

"Yes. Lab. My only safety." The twin says, grinning maniacally. The firehead watches them move upstairs, then says, "I'm going to see if anything happens in the lab."

"Okay, but don't get into any of their inventions."

"Don't worry. I'm tired of the inventions." He chases after the girls, and Hugh widens his eyes. "He's tired of their cool inventions?"

In the lab, the twins enter and Mary says, "Here you go, Susan. Surrounded by all our cool inventions."

Susan sighs and says, "I'm feeling better. Thanks Mary. You're a real sister."

"Yeah. I know." she agrees matter-of-factly. "So now we can get back to our invention."

"But didn't you say to throw it away because it took too much energy?"

"Actually, I thought of a way to make it use less energy. We just need a quick trip to the store."

Behind them, the ray quietly hums to life and slowly moves the antenna to the twins. It starts to glow red again, but slowly. Too slow for the mysterious voice. "Stupid machine. Why does it take so long to charge?"

"Did you hear something?" Susan asks.

Mary says, "Must be Johnny trying to scare you."

Johnny and Dukey run in the lab and was about to ask about a videogame when they spot the ray moving on its own, pointing at the talking girls. "Uh, sisses?"

"Not now, Johnny." says Susan.

"But-"

"We'll talk later." Mary says.

Dukey yells, "But this is important!"

"What!" screams the twins.

The firehead asks, "Is that supposed to be on?"

"What?"

The lights start flashing again, and the girls say, "Uh oh." They turn and see a glowing antenna. "Mary, did you put an autopilot on?" Susan asks.

"No. Did you?"

"No."

Johnny says, "Then I suggest you RUUUUN!"

The ray fires, making the girls jump away. It charges for another round, and Mary yells, "Johnny, do something!"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you usually make our projects explode!"

"Oh yeah. That's right. Leave it to me!" He runs to the project, dodging another beam. The boy climbs up the machine, like a monkey, and opens the control hatch. "Now, let's see what happens when I do what I do best." Johnny starts moving and ripping wires, unscrewing bolts, and having so much fun destroying. Suddenly, he stops and asks, "Wait, doesn't this have a defense mechanism?"

"No. That's something we forgot."

"Oh, good." Suddenly, electricity shoots out and shocks Johnny to the bone, and he flies into the air. Screaming, the boy crashes next to Susan and screams, "I thought you said it didn't have A SELF DEFENSE MECHANISM!"

"It didn't! Someone must be controlling it."

The machine laughs, scaring everyone out of their wits, and says, "You have that right, Susan Test and Mary Test. I must thank you for this nice invention."

"Wh-whoever you a-a-are, get out of-of our m-machine!" stutters Mary.

Its answer is to fire again, but Dukey bites her jeans and pulls her away, so the ray blasts a hole on the floor. The lights everywhere flash more dangerously, and Mary states, "If he fires one more time, it'll cause a city-wide blackout!"

"Thanks for that." Dukey says. "JOHNNY, HURRY AND DESTROY THAT THING!"

"I'm on it!" The firehead runs back to the ray, this time grabbing a small mechanism on a table. The machine charges another blast as the boy climbs back to the hatch. The machine fires another electricity bolt, but Johnny ducks and switches his machine on, creating electricity between the two rods. "Say hasta la vista evil robot!" He stabs the hatch with the mechanism, and the whole thing starts fizzing out, then the glow vanishes and smokes. Dukey sighs, then faints onto Mary. "Hey! Get off me, you furball!"

Johnny and Susan help her up to her feet, and Mary hugs her brother. "For once, your destructive trait came in handy."

"I knew it would, someday."

Susan asks, "But who was controlling the machine in the first place?"

"We may never know." Mary says.

Behind their backs, the machine mysteriously turns back on. It quietly charges the ray and points at the firehead, then says, "You are getting on my last nerves."

The lights start flashing again, and Susan says, "Oh, come on!"

The machine fires a red ray, and Mary quickly turns and widens his eyes. "Johnny, look out!" She pushes her brother away, and the red beam envelops the twin.

"Mary!" everyone yells.

The blast sends everyone against the wall, and the unlucky redhead screams as her molecules shift around and painful energy is forged into her. Metal merges into her skin, and a whole new experience opens up to her. The lights in the house brighten to almost blinding, scaring Hugh, then everything electric in the house blows out. "Girls!"

The red light vanishes as the machine breaks to pieces, and Mary falls down. "Mary!" screams Susan. Despite the pain, she runs to her sister and tries to wake her up. "Mary, wake up, please. Wake up!"

"Here, let me try something." Johnny takes off his shoe and waves it around his sister's nose. She doesn't stir, and the firehead says, "Wow. She's either knocked out really well, or she's…"

"No, she can't be." Susan shakes her twin vigorously and yells, "Sis, wake up! WAKE UP!"

She still doesn't move, and Susan finally gives up, tears forming in her eyes. "I can't believe it." she cracks.

Mary gasps awake and looks around, eyes wide. "Wha-What happened?"

"Mary! You're alive!" Susan hugs her sister, choking her. After letting go, she asks, "Are you okay?"

"I think so. I feel the same, but different. What does that ray do, anyway?"

Johnny asks, "Yeah, what does it do?"

"It's supposed to give people better brain power so everyone can have a better life, and help the Earth with its pollution problem. So Mary, do you feel smarter?"

"No. To tell you the truth, I feel slightly…dumber."

"And you look different, too." the firehead says.

"Huh?"

Susan backs up and sees that her sister looks less like herself. "Um, anyone have a mirror?"

Mary runs to the giant screen, where a mirror twin looks back. She expects to see teal eyes staring at her, but instead, the eyes are cherry red, and at the end of her curly hair is black, lines running up a little. "What happened to me?"

Hugh enters the lab and yells, "Look what you girls did! You are soooo…What's up with Mary?" He watches the redhead freak out at her changes, and Susan says, "She accidently got hit by our ray, and, instead of the usual affects, they changed Mary's physical appearance, and she says she's less smart."

"Okay. So, are there any side effects that could be bad?"

"That'll be easy. I just need to connect her to the computer and-"

"One little problem, sis." Johnny says, pointing at the dead light.

"Oh."

Hugh rubs his chin, then says, "Then I guess we'll just take her to the doctors."

Mary says, "Yeah, but this is not a simple illness, dad."

"Right. But to get an appointment with those scientific doctors, it'll either cost a lot of money, or maybe…"

"So let me get this straight." Lila Test, a middle-aged wearing a blue suit and skirt, red high heels, with brown hair and teal eyes, says. "You need to get to a special hospital because Mary here has a rare disease?"

"That about clears it." Hugh says.

Lila looks at her daughter, who's wearing sunglasses. "She doesn't look sick."

"Yeah well, the disease doesn't show, but she has it. Now, could you please call?"

"But what is the-"

"OMG, would you just call the stinkin' doctors?" Johnny orders.

"I am not calling the doctors until I know if this is really serious."

Susan says, "Mom, you should know us. If an experiment hit one of us, then it would probably be bad."

"Oh, alright." She opens one of her phones and makes a call, and Mary asks, "Are you sure this is a smart idea?"

Hugh says, "It's the only one we have right now."

"Alright," the mother says, hanging up. "I've scheduled an appointment at five, which is an hour from now. Hopefully, she doesn't change or explode during the hour."

"Okay, while we wait, we should get the power back on. I want to play some videogames." says Johnny.

"I already called the electrical company and they said they're working on the city wide problem."

"City-wide? Sure, why not. I'll be outside for an hour."

"Wait for me!" Mary runs after her brother, Dukey following, and the parents turn to Susan. She sighs and says, "I'll keep an eye on them."

Outside, the two walk down the sidewalk, and Johnny spies her sister rubbing her arm. "Something wrong?"

"My arm just hurts. Nothing big. So what are we going to do?"

"Besides going to the park, can't think of anything."

A golden car park by the two and the window rolls down to reveal a chubby boy with diamonds and gold all over him and brown hair. Johnny and Mary groan as Eugen, aka Bling Bling Boy, looks out and asks, "Johnny, Mary, where's Susan?"

"Why would we tell you?" Mary asks, folding her arms.

"What's up with your eyes and hair? And I want to show her my smokin' new wheels. Then she'll love me and go on a date with me."

Johnny asks, "You think she'll date you because you have a new car?"

"Studies say that girls dig hot rides. Now, get me Susan right now!"

The twin walks to the back and says, "Get out of my sight." Her arm morphs into a larger metal arm, and she punches the car's bumper, sending it flying back to a base. Johnny, Dukey, and Mary gape at the action, and the firehead grins. "Awesome!"

"Is that one of the side effects from the machine? Growing a cyborg arm?" asks Dukey.

"No." Mary answers, slightly scared. "Is there a way to get rid of this thing?"

"Hmmm. What were you thinking when you punched the car?"

"I was thinking of getting rid of Eugen at all costs, and it just popped out. Oh. I think I know where you're going with this." She concentrates on having a regular arm, and later the metal shrinks down to the size of her arm, and it vanishes, leaving only skin. Mary flexes her arm around and feels it's normal. "Huh. That's better."

"Cool. Do you have any other powers besides cyborg arms?" the firehead asks.

"I don't know."

"Then let's go find them in the park!"

"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea, Johnny." Dukey interrupts.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, if you go to the park and Mary here grows her psycho arm in front of everyone, I think they'll call the army and have them lock her up and do painful experiments on her?"

Mary says, "I agree with Dukey. I don't want to be a human science experiment and I definitely don't want the military to have this power. It could be too dangerous."

"Would you give it to yourhumanscience experiment?" Johnny asks with puppy eyes.

"No."

He groans as Susan runs to them. "Hey guys."

"Hey. So what are we going to do about her powers? Something this good you can't keep under wraps for long."

"Powers? What powers?" Susan asks.

The twin answers, "Well, first off, Eugen stopped by us and asked for you, but I grew a metal arm and punched his ride to his secret island, I think."

"Wait, you grew a metal arm?"

The twin concentrates and her arm turns back to a metal and grows, and Susan's jaw drops. "I've got to agree, that is cool."

"Hey, Test!"

Everyone turns and sees the neighborhood bully, Bumper, walking to Johnny. The bully has a military cut, orange hair, dark eyes with an orange monobrow, and wears a ripped white shirt, plaid jacket, and blue jeans with sneakers. On his wrists are black bands, and he uses his hands to crack his knuckles. "I was wondering where you were."

"Bumper, why don't you scram? We're kinda in the middle of something here."

"Sorry, but you're due for a punch or two."

Mary walks in front and says, "You think I'll just let you bully my brother?"

"Yes. Unless…" He points at his cheek, and Mary makes a disgusting face. "Ewww."

Johnny elbows her and whispers in her ear, but the teen says, "I would, but what if he brags to the military?"

"I did weirder things to him and I'm still here."

Mary grins, then says to Bumper, "Alright Bumper, I'll give you a kiss."

The bully closes his eyes and lean forward. The twin creates her metal arm and punches his face, sending the boy back into his house. Everyone falls down laughing at the flight of Bumper, but Susan says, "You shouldn't have done that, Mary."

"Wh-why-y no-ot?" laughs the twin. "Tha-at was the f-fun-niest thing I-I've ever seen!"

"I admit, it was a little funny. But you shouldn't use your powers like that. I think spending time with Johnny is starting to get to your head."

"That's silly, sis. I am not becoming a Johnny."

"Okay, but still, we should examine this side effect for anything dangerous that might happen."

"Aw, c'mon sis. Why don't you lighten up a little?" Mary says, placing an arm on Susan's shoulders. "It'll do you some good on that attitude."

"So far, I don't even know you anymore."

"Well, she's right." Johnny points out.

A red car park by them and Hugh says, "Get in. It's time to see the doctors."

The kid's hop in the back and the father drives to a neighboring state, where a special hospital is nearest.

The scientist, Doctor Hashamo, looks at multiple screens showing a digital Mary Test, looking at the results. Soon, a table extends out of a machine and Mary sits at the edge. Hugh asks, "So how is she?"

"Well, Mr. Test, in all my life, I have never seen anything like this. I mean, these results are incredible! I'm guessing that your twins are super geniuses?"

"Yes, and it sometimes gets them in trouble." He says, looking at the girls.

Mary blames, "Hey, it's mostly Johnny who makes the house go kaboom."

"Kaboom? Really?" Susan asks.

"What? It's the first word that popped in my head."

Hugh turns back to the doctor and says, "Continue."

"Well, her DNA is fine, but it seems to have grown a few more bases."

One screen shows Mary's DNA, and parts of it, the bases, separates. "These bases have properties of metamorphic metal that is connected to a part of brain that is unfamiliar with me. Do you mind telling me how this happened?"

After the girls tell Dr. Hashamo about their project, he looks back at the screen and nods, "That makes slightly more sense. But I can already tell you that these are not the side effects someone might have."

"What do you mean?" Susan asks.

"I mean is that something else happened to your machine that could've caused this. Is there anything you forgot to tell me?"

The twins turn to each other, hesitant, until Johnny says, "The machine just worked on its own and shot Mary here."

The doctor chuckles at the sentence and repeats, "The machine just worked on its own, like it had a brain?"

"Yes."

Hashamo continues to chuckle and adds, "Kid, I like your humor, but there is no way a project can just grow a brain. Unless it has something like an autopilot."

"That's the problem. We didn't put an autopilot feature on it." says Mary. "Did we?"

Susan says, "No. You should know this, Mary. We built it together."

The doctor thinks over, then says, "Well, whatever happened, I can tell you it's not lethal to the body or anyone else."

Everyone sighs in relief. The doctor continues, "From what I can get, Mary Test has, like I said before, a metamorphic metal ability, all controlled right here." He points to the top of a brain, where a red color flashes.

"So, what you're saying is that my sister has a bendy metal power that can turn into anything? Like say, a giant, metal hand?" Johnny asks. The twin kicks him behind, and he turns and growls.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Um, will this wear off eventually, doctor?" Susan asks.

"According to the studies, the effects are…forever."

Everyone becomes silent for a while. Later, Dr. Hashamo says, "On the bright side, you don't have to waste money on tools."

"Okay. Anything else I should be worried about?" Hugh asks.

"The ray seemed to have also have an effect on her intelligence, as well."

"Huh?" the firehead asks.

Susan says, "It means she's not that smart anymore."

"Oh great. So much for science answering all my problems."

"Science doesn't answer all your problems, Johnny. You should've learned that by now."

Hugh asks, "So, how smart is she, exactly?"

"She is still a genius compared to an average teen, just not like her twin. That's how smart she is."

Mary says, "Well, if we're done here, can we get home? I'm starting to get bored."

"Fine. Head to the car." the father says. Mary and Johnny flash outside, and Dr. Hashamo adds, "Oh yeah, there's also a personality change in her brain."

"Then that explains her difference." Susan says.

"Okay. Thank you Dr. Hashamo." The rest walk to their call as the doctor says bye to them. When they're gone, he loses his smile and starts rippling. The doctor hologram costume disappears and a man covered in yellow zip-zags says, "Not my best work, but she could still help us. Hopefully my boss doesn't see this as a failure."

His whole body turns into a light and zap into a computer, traveling through the wires toward a mountain.