WORDGIRL; Tobey the Third

The Fifth

Tobey sat shotgun while Lady Redundant glowered in the back corner of the van. It only had two seats; the driver's and passenger's, so it was only obvious for her to grumble in the random pile of rope she was sitting on about how unsafe the whole experience was.

The trip was pretty quiet. Two Brains had one hand on the wheel and the other resting on the stick-shift. Tobey idly watched the passing streetlights, deep in thought. The only noise- apart from Lady Redundant's muttering- was the van itself. It sounded like it was going to conk out any second.

After a while, Tobey felt the air become awkward. He turned back in the old, dusty seat to catch a glimpse of the irritated cyborg.

"Lady Redundant Woman," he piped up, "what exactly have you been doing recently?"

"Putting an end to everything and everyone that irritates, aggravates and annoys me."

Tobey chuckled, "Does that include Doctor Two Brains?"

"Yes."

"Naaah," the scientist sneered.

"Yes. It does."

"How dare you!" Two Brains put a hand to his heart in mock offense, "All I did was help you!"

Tobey grinned at his goofiness. Lady Redundant rolled her eyes.

The van went silent.

Eventually, Two Brains broke it again. He turned his gaze to Tobey, "... are you going to ask me what I've been up to?"

"Psh, okay. What have you been up to, doctor?"

"Well actually, Theodore McCallister the third, my henchmen RETIRED on me and are on some lousy holiday- never to come back. So now I have to live and invent all by myself."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"Oh, sure it isn't... until you find out that I go what I call; 'rat mode'. It's when my stupid mouse brain takes control and I'm all OVER the place."

"That's kind of... weird..."

"Tell me about it."

The van went silent again.

And it stayed quiet for a lot longer.

Tobey opened his school bag and took out one of the exercise books. Back at the lair, he realised he wasn't prepared to draw sketches and schematics, so he used his science notebook instead.

Opening it up, he looked over the rushed work and sighed. They were just drafts, so there wasn't a whole heap of information on them. He knew he'd be able to get better, more accurate depictions the next he was to delve into her back... in the least weird way possible. And he was starting to get excited about that.

Stopping at a traffic light, Two Brains quickly looked down at him. A smile spread across his face. He was glad Tobey was interested. He was also glad to be able to get Lady Redundant the help she refused to ask for. It made the rat man feel like he achieved something- not that he didn't achieve something all the time. This just felt more meaningful.

The vehicle approached Tobey's street. He lived in a more lavish part of town and it was pretty evident by the increase of pristine, modern, three-story houses they were passing. Lady Redundant stood and came closer to the front, placing her hands on the shoulder of each seat to stabilize herself.

After taking in the surroundings, she flicked her head down to the teen, "Your residence is here? You live in this suburb?"

He closed his exercise book.

"Yeah."

"I used to dream of being wealthy enough- rich enough to reside in this area... Now look at me. No money, no luxuries, no prosperity."

"Awe, come on," Two Brains smirked, turning his head but keeping his eyes on the road, "You have money. How else do you keep your apartment?"

"You do not want to know or find out."

"Ominous."

Finally, they came to a stop in the middle of a cul de sac. Pulling up the handbrake with a rip, Two Brains leant against the door and faced Tobey.

"Heeere we are. Get out before anyone sees."

"Yes, of course," he shoved the book back in his bag and swung it over his shoulder. Halfway through slamming the door, he opened it again to ask a question, "... wait, you've never been to my house before. How did you know I lived here?"

"Like I said, kid. I have my ways."

The teen shook his head and shut the door. He watched Lady Redundant scramble into the front seat as they quickly drove off.

He had to admit. He really did miss the other villains-

As friends. Not as villains. He wasn't a villain anymore. He was just helping his friends.

... His late thirty, early forty friends.

It wasn't that weird.

Whatever. He shook off the feeling and quickly made his way to the front door. Unlocking it and going inside, he heard his mother working at the computer. She obviously didn't hear him enter, and he intended to keep it that way.

It didn't last long, however. He had to walk past the office door, and she spotted him very quickly.

"Did you stay back at school again?"

Hesitating, he flicked his head over to a large clock on the wall. It was six forty five. The school closed its doors for students at five thirty. He turned back to his mother, who never looked up.

"Uhm... Yes."

"That's good."

"Yeah..."

She continued to clack away at the keyboard. Tobey waited, unsure if she was going to continue or not.

She didn't.

With a deep breath, he left, going upstairs and into his room. He quickly rummaged around in his school bag and pulled out the exercise book again. Dumping his bag, he sat cross-legged on the bed and pulled out every page with a sketch, schematic and note. He spread them out and stared, resting his head in his hands. Visualizing her cybernetic parts was already very hard. It was very messy and very complex. He wished he took photos. But no, he had to be all high and mighty and only draw what he saw- which wasn't much. He needed to get hands deep, but not hurt her. In fact, he didn't know if she'd be able to feel it if he did do stuff. He also didn't know how lethal it would be if he were to break or tear something...

Technology was so easy for him. Biology and basic human feeling was not. This was a challenge he was way too motivated to delve further into.

It was already distracting him from school.

Tobey got off his bed, leaving the paper as it was. He took some more books from his bag and walked over to the large desk in the corner of the room. The books fell on the hard wood with heavy THUNK. He fell back into the chair in a similar fashion.

It took a moment, but he was able to start his homework. Not too much later, his head turned back to the drawings.