Drabbles88 Conquered!
Jul. 18th, 2010 11:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickI've finally gotten under 500 words (497, to be exact) and into a form I like. So here it is for your reading pleasure (though let me remind you that there's the possibility of spoilerage -- I honestly don't remember discussing this particular bit in my LJ before):
62. Disease
Doc closed the door of the room with a sigh. Part of him said that he was doing something very stupid – Victor needed to be monitored carefully, to prevent further incidents. But the young man was freshly sedated. They could risk giving him a bit of privacy to sleep, he was sure.
He leaned his head against the door, wondering how the hell all this had happened. Victor Van Dort, a victim of Atypical Scientific Neural Disorder? It was almost beyond belief. The young man was the last person in a million years Doc would have suspected of having the disease. Victor was too quiet, too shy, too – mundane. Yet he’d been there when Victor had made his dramatic entrance, killed the Queen, then gone off on a rant worthy of a Frankenstein (or hell, maybe even a Heterodyne). He’d seen the fire in the young man’s eyes, heard the distinct change in tone that signaled Creativity. Not to mention what the boy had actually done to the Queen (and to Emily, though she had assured everyone multiple times she was really all right. . . .)
“Doc?”
Doc turned to see his assistant behind him. Marty was rather pale, and still disheveled from their earlier adventure. His blue eyes were wide with fright, his voice strained. “He’s – he’s gonna be okay, right?”
Doc studied Marty for a moment. The kid looked terrified. That was a change – he’d always seemed so at ease around the Touched before. But Marty had never seen anyone’s first time going Creative, he didn’t think. And the teenager simply couldn’t understand, being a Regular. Couldn’t understand the way the ideas built up in your head, churning and burning and spinning until one day you just snapped and all of them came pouring out of you, the wonders and the horrors of the universe opening up to your mind, making you–
He squeezed his eyes closed for a moment, getting a grip on himself. It wouldn’t do for Marty to see both his best friends break down in one day. “I--” he started, then stopped. How could he say he didn’t know? But neither did he want to give Marty false hope. New Touched were notoriously unstable – Victor could end up killing himself, or surrendering completely to the madness. And the young man was already so fragile, so unsure of himself. . . . It had taken Doc considerable time and willpower not to lose himself to the constant storm in his mind when he’d gone a bit Creative. What hope did Victor have?
But Victor has something you didn’t, a little voice suddenly said. He has people to look after him. People who can help. People who understand.
Doc considered that for a moment. Then he reached down and pulled Marty into a hug. “We’ll look after him,” he said softly. It would be hard, he knew, adjusting to their new situation. But he also knew that Victor was their friend. Maybe, together, they could keep Victor – Victor.
. . .Thinking about it, this really isn't too much of a spoiler though, is it? I mean, did you guys really think my main character was gonna remain sane?
-TTV: *STARES*-
-VDM: *similarly amazed* Whoa -- first the Narbonic version of me, then Victor?-
What can I say, I seem to enjoy making mad scientists out of Doc's best friends. On that note, my headcanon is definitely totally ruined, BTTF-wise.
-TTV: But why -- how -- how can you defend driving me mad?!-
-TD: It's the fun sort of mad, Victor!-
-TTV: It doesn't look like fun!-
The initial breakthrough isn't, I admit. . .
-TTV: *glaring* Should I go get my mallet?-
RIDING BUTTERFLY!
-TTV: . . . I beg your pardon?-
He gets -- well, makes himself -- a riding butterfly! Named Ferdinand!
-TTV: *conflicted*-
I know I'm kind of mean here, but it really does turn out all right in the wash. I promise.
Anyway, this drabbles88 would be set at the end of the climax of Secundus. My rough outline for the story involves a friend of Alice who secretly has a crush on her getting jealous of her relationship with Victor and trying to make his own Alice. It goes terribly wrong, and we get the Queen of Hearts, who naturally tries to take over all of Secundus. She kidnaps Victor, and while he's in her domain, he ends up "going a bit Creative," the local slang for a Touched (mad scientist) going mad. He ends up killing the Queen and saving everyone before getting ranty, as mentioned above. Ah -- don't ask me what he does, exactly, I haven't figured that out yet. ^^;
-VD: *surprised* How can you not know?-
I'm used to dealing with you -- you're all gadgets and physics. Victor's going to be a Mad Entomologist. I have no experience in biology matters!
-DW: Well, you've still got a couple of months to figure things out.-
-MF: Not to mention you'll probably never make the climax.-
*rolls eyes* I know. . . . Anyway, Alice calms him down enough for Richard/Hatter to sedate him, and they bring him back to the flat where he, Doc, and Marty live. As you can see, our boys are quite concerned. Especially Doc, who has a little personal experience with this.
-TTV: *quietly* You said in that he did something to Emily.-
*wince* Ah, yeah. I was thinking about things he could do during his breakthrough, and Emily's butterfly trick came to mind. . . He wasn't himself when he did it, you know. And Emily actually sort of volunteers, figuring it's better for a Reanimate to take the blow than a regular person. He's suitably horrified when he finally rejoins the world after waking up.
-OD: *tentacles giving me looks* Sparing no angst, are we?-
You know me, I live for this. It really DOES turn out okay -- Emily's already forgiven him, and she kind of likes butterflying. And there's happy wedding times at the end, just like in "The Solicitor's Ward."
So, yeah -- no in-jokes or anything in this one. The prompt's because I went with the idea of Mad Science behavior being a genetic disease in this setting, like in "Narbonic." I like the name I came up for it: Atypical Scientific Neural Disorder. Though most everyone uses the more casual term "Touched."
-RPD: Coming up with your own lexicon, are we?-
I want to be a LITTLE unique here. . . .
So yeah, hope you enjoy that. I gotta figure out something to do to keep Victor from at least bonking me one.
-TTV: You can't say you don't deserve it.-
I probably do, but if I can use bribery to get myself off. . . .
62. Disease
Doc closed the door of the room with a sigh. Part of him said that he was doing something very stupid – Victor needed to be monitored carefully, to prevent further incidents. But the young man was freshly sedated. They could risk giving him a bit of privacy to sleep, he was sure.
He leaned his head against the door, wondering how the hell all this had happened. Victor Van Dort, a victim of Atypical Scientific Neural Disorder? It was almost beyond belief. The young man was the last person in a million years Doc would have suspected of having the disease. Victor was too quiet, too shy, too – mundane. Yet he’d been there when Victor had made his dramatic entrance, killed the Queen, then gone off on a rant worthy of a Frankenstein (or hell, maybe even a Heterodyne). He’d seen the fire in the young man’s eyes, heard the distinct change in tone that signaled Creativity. Not to mention what the boy had actually done to the Queen (and to Emily, though she had assured everyone multiple times she was really all right. . . .)
“Doc?”
Doc turned to see his assistant behind him. Marty was rather pale, and still disheveled from their earlier adventure. His blue eyes were wide with fright, his voice strained. “He’s – he’s gonna be okay, right?”
Doc studied Marty for a moment. The kid looked terrified. That was a change – he’d always seemed so at ease around the Touched before. But Marty had never seen anyone’s first time going Creative, he didn’t think. And the teenager simply couldn’t understand, being a Regular. Couldn’t understand the way the ideas built up in your head, churning and burning and spinning until one day you just snapped and all of them came pouring out of you, the wonders and the horrors of the universe opening up to your mind, making you–
He squeezed his eyes closed for a moment, getting a grip on himself. It wouldn’t do for Marty to see both his best friends break down in one day. “I--” he started, then stopped. How could he say he didn’t know? But neither did he want to give Marty false hope. New Touched were notoriously unstable – Victor could end up killing himself, or surrendering completely to the madness. And the young man was already so fragile, so unsure of himself. . . . It had taken Doc considerable time and willpower not to lose himself to the constant storm in his mind when he’d gone a bit Creative. What hope did Victor have?
But Victor has something you didn’t, a little voice suddenly said. He has people to look after him. People who can help. People who understand.
Doc considered that for a moment. Then he reached down and pulled Marty into a hug. “We’ll look after him,” he said softly. It would be hard, he knew, adjusting to their new situation. But he also knew that Victor was their friend. Maybe, together, they could keep Victor – Victor.
. . .Thinking about it, this really isn't too much of a spoiler though, is it? I mean, did you guys really think my main character was gonna remain sane?
-TTV: *STARES*-
-VDM: *similarly amazed* Whoa -- first the Narbonic version of me, then Victor?-
What can I say, I seem to enjoy making mad scientists out of Doc's best friends. On that note, my headcanon is definitely totally ruined, BTTF-wise.
-TTV: But why -- how -- how can you defend driving me mad?!-
-TD: It's the fun sort of mad, Victor!-
-TTV: It doesn't look like fun!-
The initial breakthrough isn't, I admit. . .
-TTV: *glaring* Should I go get my mallet?-
RIDING BUTTERFLY!
-TTV: . . . I beg your pardon?-
He gets -- well, makes himself -- a riding butterfly! Named Ferdinand!
-TTV: *conflicted*-
I know I'm kind of mean here, but it really does turn out all right in the wash. I promise.
Anyway, this drabbles88 would be set at the end of the climax of Secundus. My rough outline for the story involves a friend of Alice who secretly has a crush on her getting jealous of her relationship with Victor and trying to make his own Alice. It goes terribly wrong, and we get the Queen of Hearts, who naturally tries to take over all of Secundus. She kidnaps Victor, and while he's in her domain, he ends up "going a bit Creative," the local slang for a Touched (mad scientist) going mad. He ends up killing the Queen and saving everyone before getting ranty, as mentioned above. Ah -- don't ask me what he does, exactly, I haven't figured that out yet. ^^;
-VD: *surprised* How can you not know?-
I'm used to dealing with you -- you're all gadgets and physics. Victor's going to be a Mad Entomologist. I have no experience in biology matters!
-DW: Well, you've still got a couple of months to figure things out.-
-MF: Not to mention you'll probably never make the climax.-
*rolls eyes* I know. . . . Anyway, Alice calms him down enough for Richard/Hatter to sedate him, and they bring him back to the flat where he, Doc, and Marty live. As you can see, our boys are quite concerned. Especially Doc, who has a little personal experience with this.
-TTV: *quietly* You said in that he did something to Emily.-
*wince* Ah, yeah. I was thinking about things he could do during his breakthrough, and Emily's butterfly trick came to mind. . . He wasn't himself when he did it, you know. And Emily actually sort of volunteers, figuring it's better for a Reanimate to take the blow than a regular person. He's suitably horrified when he finally rejoins the world after waking up.
-OD: *tentacles giving me looks* Sparing no angst, are we?-
You know me, I live for this. It really DOES turn out okay -- Emily's already forgiven him, and she kind of likes butterflying. And there's happy wedding times at the end, just like in "The Solicitor's Ward."
So, yeah -- no in-jokes or anything in this one. The prompt's because I went with the idea of Mad Science behavior being a genetic disease in this setting, like in "Narbonic." I like the name I came up for it: Atypical Scientific Neural Disorder. Though most everyone uses the more casual term "Touched."
-RPD: Coming up with your own lexicon, are we?-
I want to be a LITTLE unique here. . . .
So yeah, hope you enjoy that. I gotta figure out something to do to keep Victor from at least bonking me one.
-TTV: You can't say you don't deserve it.-
I probably do, but if I can use bribery to get myself off. . . .
