Chapter Seven

"The Good Kind of Abnormal"

Even with the water only about knee high, Freakazoid found he was unable to shake free from the tightening grasp of Audrey's new pet python. His head breeched the surface and filled with water as he attempted to catch a quick breath. Audrey grinned from ear to ear, her eyes glowing with satisfaction. She laughed as he struggled, inching away from the edge of the platform.

"Poor. Poor. Freakazoid", she swooned, cupping her face with her slender hands. "He'sss going to drown in knee high water. Ssso sssad. Ssso sssad", her eyes sharpened as she snatched her silk sheet from the ground and covered her body. "Should have sssaid yess. Should have sssaid yesss"

While Audrey sulked at the idea of her foe's imminent defeat, Freakazoid was directing his strength to wedging his forearm in between the snake and his throat. It was however, a losing battle. There was no way to free himself when he could barely breathe, could not advert his strength from preventing the creature from crushing his windpipe; the ordeal came down to life and death and instinct. Freakazoid wanted to live.

A bright light emanated from his core, shot out and lit the cave. Audrey was too late to shield her eyes and only saw bits of things as most of her vision was covered by splotches of white. She recoiled onto her bed covering her ears and pulling the silken fabric tightly to her as her pet wailed in pain, thrashing about in the water. Dilated eyes snapped open at the sound of a sopping wet hand slamming down on the concrete edge; Dexter trembled as he hoisted himself up and rolled onto his back sputtering water from his lungs.

Audrey watched him lye there, hoarsely taking in breath after breath, hoping he would not open his eyes. The weak creature housed that someone she knew by name, nearly the only name that remained in her memory since the transformation. How she hated him, but oh, did she need him. She required his presence.

"-bapples…" Dexter sputtered as he caught his breath. "...I don't think I like snakes", rubbing his aching head as he forced himself into a sitting position, Dexter nearly fell back down as his world swirled into unfocused shapes. "Audrey…please listen to me…"

Her harsh hiss cut him off, "You lisssten! Little Dexxxter Douglasss", she leaned over him, reaching out to lightly brush the brown hair matted to his face; as his brown eyes stared up at her, she looked back into them and smiled. "I will end Warner"

"…Don't…" Dexter breathed out.

"Ssstay here…ssstay out of my way", she warned softly.

And like she had no legs at all she drifted off into the night and was gone. Dexter searched for her afterwards, but even her python had slithered off and he was left utterly alone in the dark, damp sewer. He eventually found his way back home. It was a hazy journey back to his room and when he finally rested his head on his pillow Dexter wasn't quite sure how he'd gotten there at all. His head felt heavy.

…

School seemed the last place Dexter wanted to be, but found himself anyway. He leaned over his tray of lunch slop, picked at it with his fork and wondered how he was supposed to sort this whole mess out. Audrey wanted to kill Warner and Warner- well; he wanted to tear him apart molecule by molecule. What a tangled mess his life had become.

A soft sound startled timid Dexter Douglas. He looked up and saw baby blue eyes looking back at him. "Hello", they said.

"Um…" it took him a second to find his voice; it came out a little shaky. "Hello Steff"

"Hello Dexter", she said timidly as she adjusted her school tray and settled into her seat. "How are things?" her eyes darted off a little at the look he gave her. "I just…I was wondering…"

Steff shook her head, feeling silly and motioned to stand. Something timid latched onto her wrist and she froze. Dexter's eyes were wide like brown saucers as he held onto her pale delicate wrist. She smiled timidly and sat back down.

"What are you doing after school?"

He couldn't hide his surprise. "What?"

"I'd like to ask a little favor?" her voice was sweet like honey. "I need a little help with something technical…"

"Oh, I don't believe it", Dexter blurted out, deterred by the odd glance Steff sent his way. "I mean…you're so…so smart"

He looked down at his lunch when saw her cheeks flush a light pink. His inner guest rose to the surface and nudged him till he looked back up her; Steff smiled sweetly. Dexter sipped his milk to quench his parched throat.

"I'm flattered that you think so highly of me Dexter", Steff brushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. "But I have to point out that you're probably the smartest kid in school and very good with computers"

"Computers", Dexter laughed inwardly at exactly how much he knew about the devices; he'd been reborn in a computer and knew the devices forward and backward. "I know…a few things", he offered.

"Don't short change yourself, Dex. Would you consider, if you're not too busy helping me? The computers in the library are acting very strange and as student body president everyone expects me to be able to fix it, but I don't know what to do about it", she leaned her chin into the back of her hand and pouted. "Please say you'll look at the computers?"

How could he tell her no?

…

"Can you understand all that stuff?" she asked him idly, sitting backwards in a rogue library chair. "The numbers and dashes, it looks like a cat jumped on the keyboard to me"

"I…can…" Dexter admitted as he stifled a chuckle. "Script is less difficult than most people think"

"Well…" Steff tilted her head and fiddled her fingers together, nibbling lightly on her bottom lip as she snapped her blue eyes over at him. "Maybe a genius like you, not normal folk like me"

Dexter blushed. He looked at her reflection in the monitor screen and smiled. "I'm flattered that you think so highly of me, but I'm no genius"

The playful sarcasm that seeped into his voice sparked a smile from Steff. She leaned over the back of her chair and wagged her finger in his direction.

"Dexter Douglas", Steff scolded playfully. "Are you trying to be funny?"

"I've never thought myself comical"

"Good, cause you're not", she laughed.

"Yeah, I know"

Steff realized how little Dexter smiled when she saw him in high spirits. Dexter was such a nice boy and she found that his company was enjoyable. She sat with him in the library the whole while he worked. It was difficult to figure a solution to the infection with her looking over his shoulder. He hacked into the encrypted programming codes and viewed them intently. Dexter cleared the computers of the bugs and earned a beaming smile from Steff.

"Wow Dex", she exclaimed. "Just wow. I owe you one"

"You don't owe me anything", he said softly while hoisting his backpack into place; his smile was boyish and familiar to her. "It was nice, um…the…hanging out- it was fun"

He tripped over his words and rubbed the back of his neck. Looking him over Steff wondered why she felt a sudden rush of déjà vu; her pace quickened so she would beat him to the door. As he fumbled to pull it open for her she turned on her heel, the braids dangling from her head whipping to one side.

"This was fun", she quirked. "We should hang out again sometime, before the computers need repairing again"

Dexter nodded quietly.

Steff disappeared down the hall. Dexter wandered out to the back of the school in a daze. In the distance he saw the brim of the sun's rays touch the earth. For the moment he felt his heart flutter with a happiness he hadn't know for a long time. He forgot about Warner and Audrey and all the troubles that came with being Washington's hero.

Then he heard a sound in the distance and the feeling washed away. It was the sound of sirens he heard. Freakazoid stretched in his subconscious like a cat, ready to assume control. But Dexter hardly felt like saving the day and considered going home, resting and calling it a day.

Dexter's life wasn't meant to be serine.

((Author's Note))

Sorry guys, i've been reeeeeeeeeeeally busy with all my freelance projects lately and haven't had time to sit down and work on this story, plus I have another (top secret) Freakazoid project i'm putting together. But don't worry I haven't forgotten about it! Expect more updates because I really want to wrap up this book and get to the next one, which I want to top my current story. Maybe three or four more chapters guys, five tops.

Again, I apologize that this is more of a filler, but I did develop a little more Dex/Steff