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Operation: Val Chapter 5
"You want me to….what?" Val was watching the doctor with a face of plain confusion. Dr. Thorndill was standing before her with a mannequin propped against the wall, a target on its head, chest, and other vital areas.
"I want you to kill it." He was clearly growing more impatient by the moment. Val studied him for a long moment.
"You want me….to kill…..a doll?"
"NO! This is practice! You will be killing those three pests that have irked me to no end. Got it?" He was far more impatient now, stamping his foot in frustration. Val blinked.
"So, they're rats? I'm so confused. Why don't you just buy a mouse trap?" her ears tilted in dizzying confusion. Dr. Thorndill smacked himself in anger.
"NO! They're large vermin-like annoyances that are plaguing my very existence!" he sat down in his arm chair and ran his hands over his face in frustration. Val popped up behind him.
"Well, get a really big mouse trap. That outta do it!" she saw how distressed he looked and she frowned sadly. "Daddy…? Are you oka-"
"NO I am NOT! And for the LAST time, you will NOT call me daddy, or dad, or father, or pops, or old man!"
Val paused for a moment. "How about I call you daddy-O? I can work with that."
"GAH!" He grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and dragged her toward his basement, throwing open the door and storming down. Val blinked as she was suddenly swallowed by darkness.
"Is this a new game?" She gave him a small hopeful smile and looked down quickly as he ignored her, his face stony. The doctor walked across the room to a fairly large cage in the corner where he opened the door and stuffed her in before locking it tight. She instantly hopped up and tried to get out.
"You will stay!" he snapped at her and Val fell back, her ears flattening against her head.
"If that's w-what you w-want d-daddy…" Big tears welled up in her eyes, which were now the size of saucers.
Dr. Thorndill looked utterly sickened by her sad eyes and he stormed back up the stairs, slamming the door shut behind him. Val's sad expression went to one of frustration that he had not fallen for her tears.
"Well…I guess this can be fun." She looked around the cramped cage, complete with dirty newspaper in the corner. She gagged as she smelt how awful it was.
"I am NOT using that as a bathroom!"
Meanwhile, Dr. Thorndill was pacing his lab with utter hatred boiling inside him and burning in his eyes. Jenkins watched him carefully as he cleaned the lab up.
"Sir, why are you keeping her? I know it's not my place to question your decisions but well, she's driving you mad! Why don't you just start from scratch?" In truth, Jenkins was utterly thrilled that the doctor hadn't thrown the girl away. A young energetic child was far safer than a wretched beast. However, when the doctor was mad he had some of his most evil ideas and that scared Jenkins more than anything.
Dr. Thorndill looked up from his pacing and his eyes were wild, insane. "Did you not SEE what she did when I asked you to throw her in the furnace?! All of that rage I put into my precious creation was transferred to that little pest! She has all of this beautiful anger and hatred stored inside of her tiny little toon body and once I finally find the trigger to tap into it, she will be almost exactly like what I had been aiming for in the beginning! If I push her further and further and keep shoving the idea of annihilation down her throat, she shall succumb. It just takes patience." He left to set up the training area and Jenkins stood there and just shook his head in disgust.
"That poor little girl, she'd be better off thrown in the furnace."
Dr. Thorndill finished setting up the training facility and walked down into the basement, jumping back and nearly falling down the stairs at the sight he saw. The cage had been turned into a lovely little living room set; complete with bean bag chair and flat screen TV hung from the cage wall. Val was sprawled on a bright orange vibrating couch inside the cage, eating popcorn as she watched a movie. When she saw him come in she smiled.
"Hi daddy-O, I decided that your cage was kind of boring and a little smelly so I did some redecorating. I hope you don't mind." She ate some more popcorn and grinned.
Three minutes later, she was being dragged up the stairs by her neck again. Dr. Thorndill was apparently a very strong man for being so old because she wouldn't have been able to breathe even if she wanted to. He threw her to the floor and she blinked as she bounced from her butt up to her feet.
"What'd I d-"
"Shut up you stupid waste of ink!" Dr. Thorndill limped across the room to a closet. Val stepped back, hurt as her voice quivered slightly. "Y-you don't mean that…"
"Oh I mean it. I also mean quite a lot more but I have kept it retrained up until now. You are stupid and foolish and I hate you!" he was rummaging through things in the closet. Val started to cry as her eyes flickered with something hidden underneath.
"I-I am NOT stupid!" She stamped her foot in anger and the doctor simply continued to search.
"Oh you're stupid all right. You're also ignorant and not worth my time. I should have thrown you right away because you're nothing but a mistake on my part."
Val gritted her teeth. "I am NO ONE'S mistake! I'm perfect!"
"Yes, perfectly stupid and worthless. Why would ANY creator want you?" his voice had a slight mocking tone. Val's eyes narrowed to slits, her tears long forgotten as the tips of her hair flickered with sparks.
"I CAN DO ANYTHING! ANY CREATOR WOULD BE LUCKY TO HAVE ME! I'M SPECIAL!"
"How special…? You do not have an intelligent thing to say." He had found what he was looking for in the closet.
"How's THIS for INTELLIGENT?!" Val's hair was lit instantly aflame and before she had a moment to think about what she was doing, the doctor threw something into her hand. She liked how it felt in her blurry rage-filled mind and she turned, seeing the mannequin propped against the wall. It didn't look silly anymore. It looked like it was making fun of her, laughing at her and her failure to be a good toon.
"GO TO HELL!" there was a loud crack and then her vision went black for a moment. When Val's mind had cleared, she looked down at the still smoking pistol in her hand and then at the mannequin, a hole in the target on its chest: a perfect shot.
She squeaked in fear and dropped the pistol to the floor, stumbling back. When she did, she bumped into something. Looking up behind her, Dr. Thorndill was grinning at her, every single one of his yellow teeth showing.
"Good job…"
Later on that night Val was curled up on her orange couch in her cage, hugging herself gently and sniffling. Her stomach growled and she curled tighter. Why doesn't Daddy feed me? I did what he wanted.
The basement door opened, bringing a bit of light into the basement for a moment. Val looked up, squinting at the large shadow making its way down to stairs. "Uncle Jenks…?"
Jenkins shushed her as he gave her a pad of paper and a pencil. There was something written on top in simple cursive: What would you like for supper?
Val blinked and a slow smile came onto her face. Jenkins waited as she sat cross-legged on her couch and wrote down what she wanted. When he took the note pad back, there was a drawing of a pink icing covered cupcake with green sprinkles. It was outlined in stars to emphasize the importance of the food.
Jenkins blinked and looked at her, starting to shake his head no. She hopped off the couch onto her knees and silently pleaded with a big pout on her face. Jenkins blinked at her pout and then looked down at the cupcake picture before sighing and nodding quietly.
"I have to go buy them though. The doctor doesn't allow sweets." He whispered very quietly and Val hopped up in joy, her tail wagging as she hugged him through the bars of her cage.
"Thank you…" She whispered back. Jenkins blinked in surprise at the sudden contact and he awkwardly patted her head before leaving with the cupcake picture.
After quietly and carefully sneaking past the doctor to get to the supermarket, Jenkins was welcomed by a brightly lit grocery store full of normal people. There were times when he could feel his own sanity slip when it was just him and the doctor so to see the lives of so many normal people out and about made him feel almost safe as he took his time shopping. He made sure to get the little toon her cupcakes but he wanted her to eat other things as well so he bought a few cans of chicken noodle soup and a couple of boxes of mac n' cheese that he would keep in his small apartment and make for her when the doctor was busy with his planning. God knows that she needed the energy when she was constantly being tormented by Dr. Thorndill. Jenkins had heard the doctor mutter some of his future plans for the child and it scared Jenkins to know what she was going to have to go through. Be strong Jenkins. You can't grow fond of something that won't live to see Christmas.
Pushing that sobering thought away, Jenkins turned to the bakery and what he saw there was an even more sobering sight than the previous thought. The Warners were behind the bakery counter, laughing and playing with the frosting and eating cakes at a dizzying pace. The baker was nowhere in sight.
"Oh god here we go…" He muttered as he made his way to the bakery and the chaos within. "Um….excuse me…?"
The oldest one with the weird-looking pants turned from watching the one with the hat eat an entire wedding cake in one bite.
"Helloooooo large man who eats well!" The older one somehow got his siblings to sing along in sync as if it was rehearsed perfectly. And knowing them, he wouldn't be surprised if that was exactly what they had done.
They jumped into his arms and Dot grinned, kissing his cheek. "I knew you'd come for me!"
Jenkins paled and set them down, feeling a tad shaky all of a sudden. "Um…do you know w-where the baker is?"
Wakko belched and nodded, grinning. "He loved his cakes so much that we made him one!"
Jenkins smiled softly. "Oh that's nice."
Dot laughed. "Yep! He's chocolate!" Jenkins blinked, confused at her weird wording.
"Wait….he is chocolate? Don't you mean it is chocolate?"
Yakko smirked, clearly enjoying himself. "Oh no, we mean he." They nodded to a chocolate cake with two arms and two legs coming out of the side of it. They were flailing madly and Yakko smirked again.
"I'd say he's got about 2 minutes of air left so we'll have to make this fun little meeting short." He kissed Jenkins's cheek. "What would ya like?"
Jenkins shakily pulled out the drawing of the pink icing cupcake. "Can I have half a dozen p-pink icing cupcakes with g-green sprinkles?"
Wakko had already made the box while he was stuttering his way through the order and Yakko gave the man a sharp pat on the back.
"Enjoy. Although I don't think these'll help with that little weight problem…"He whispered the last part loudly and Jenkins blushed before Dot hugged him tight.
"Hey that's not very nice. There's more to love this way!"
Wakko grinned. "Yeah and more to jump on too!" he bounced onto Jenkins's head and tummy, making him nearly drop the cupcakes.
"Y-yes well….I must to go." He quickly left as they waved and blew him kisses goodbye.
"What a nice guy!" Yakko beamed. Wakko and Dot nodded in unison.
"Maybe we should schedule a play date with him. The chubby ones are always the most fun!" Dot grinned and Wakko nodded, his tongue sticking out.
"I bet he's got lots of food too!"
Yakko was about to say something when a timer went off on the stove and his face broke out in a happy grin. "Time to let our special friend out! Sibs, forks at the ready!" They each pulled out a fork and ran over to the baker-cake.
"Don't worry! We'll have you out in no time!" Yakko shouted as he dug his fork into the chocolate cake.
Wakko nodded as he ate handfuls. "YEAH! We're cake-eating professionals!"
…
Jenkins made it back across town, the guilt that had been bubbling up inside right at its brim. He had just bought nutrients from three toon-children which he would be giving to their future killer to help her build her strength. No….that's not fair. This girl doesn't want to hurt anyone. Just because Dr. Thorndill wants her to kill does not mean she is a monster.
"That can't stop her from becoming one though…" He sighed to himself as he slipped through the basement door and gave Val her cupcakes. The sheer childish bliss on her face was enough to make his heart want to break. She's just so….innocent. Why does she have to be a killer?!
Val was carefully licking icing off her fingers as she gently took the silvery paper off the cupcake, wanting to make it last. She looked up at him just as she was about to take a big bite.
"Do you wanna try it?" She smiled and held it out for him. Jenkins shook his head, a soft smile on his lips.
"I think I'll start that special diet you mentioned before. It might help me."
Val's smile broke out into a giant beam. "You'll look great Uncle Jenks. The ladies won't be able to stay away!"
Jenkins chuckled and ruffled her hair as she ate the cupcake. "We'll see about that. Goodnight….Val."
She looked up at him joyously. "You said my name."
"Yep." She deserves that much.
"Do you think Daddy will ever call me Val? He gets so mad sometimes…do you think it's because he's got so much hair in his nose but none on his head? Maybe I should tell him that his wig doesn't look right."
"I think that's a bad idea. Let's just keep that kind of thing quiet." Jenkins was terrified at what Dr. Thorndill would say to that.
Val smiled, pink icing smeared on her face. "Okay. Maybe tomorrow he'll be happier and we can play the board game I said earlier. You can be the banker! So long as you don't cheat…" She poked him through the bars with a teasing grin and he chuckled.
"We'll see. Now be very quiet. Goodnight." He turned and left, making sure that everything was in the same order as when he left.
Val yawned and pulled her couch out into a bed, cuddling up with a teddy bear she conjured up herself, and falling right to sleep.
And so ends chapter 5! Thanks for reading and unfortunately, I won't be able to update again until Sunday since I'm going out of town. I'm sorry. Here's a pink icing cupcake! *throws them to all*