Doki Doki: My Life With Monika

Chapter 10: I'm Introduced to A.B.E.

"What makes you so sure Craig is behind this?" Mikey asked me. "We haven't seen him in months, not since he went to run for governor of Idaho." It was five days after I'd visited Nathan. He was still in the hospital, recovering. Maverick, Mikey, Monika, and I had gathered at a lake he liked to hang out at. No surprise, Monika was on my side about Craig being the mastermind behind this, and Maverick found the idea possible, but Mikey was still unconvinced. Nathan's evidence, which was actually Craig ranting about his favorite subject: Communism, was not very convincing for him.

"Abe-y and I found some very convincing evidence," she told him. "This is what I found when those two other guys broke into our house last Monday." She handed him the Vote for Craig pamphlet. Mikey read it, then looked at Maverick.

"Strange, isn't it?" Maverick asked. Mikey still looked unsure.

"I don't know," he said. "It could just be coincidence." I shook my head, and remembered something.

"There's another thing," I said out loud. "When Monika and I went clothes shopping two weeks ago, Craig was holding a rally there. When he saw Monika, he seemed to recognize her, but didn't seem surprised to see her up and about, unlike you guys, who recognized her, or at least thought she looked a lot like Monika."

"Almost as if he's seen things like that happen before," Monika realized.

"I still don't..." Mikey started to say, but just then, a limousine pulled up almost right next to us. Two men in tuxedos came out of the front, and opened the back left passenger door. And out stepped Craig, two more tuxedo men behind him.

"I heard about Nathan," he said casually. "I'm sorry to hear he's hurt." Mikey looked at Craig in surprise.

"What're you doing here?" he asked. Craig smirked.

"I was going down to my office here, and saw you guys on the highway. I've come to give my condolences." He looked at Monika. "Nice to see you again, Monika." He turned. "Tell Nathan I give him my regards." Monika spoke up.

"Wait, how do you know my name? I've never met you before." Craig stopped.

"What are you hiding, Craig?" I demanded. Craig sighed.

"I guess I can't hide from the truth anymore," he said. "To be truthful, I sent those two associates to Abe's house to 'collect' you for a partner of mine. Now, I have another chance. Take them." The four men surrounding him moved for us. One tried to grab me, but I blocked his arms, then snapped his neck. Sparks flew out of his throat as the endoskeleton malfunctioned. One swung at Mav, and received a book to the head, twice, short-circuiting his brain. Mikey went full on Mortal Combat and thrust his hands through a third's. The last managed to grab Monika, but she head-butted him, allowing me to trip him up, and crush his chest.

"Looks like you're out of henchmen, Craig," I said, as Maverick and Mikey backed me up, ready for more fighting.

"Yeah, got anymore guys?" Mikey asked. Craig smiled again.

"Why yes, I do," he smiled. He snapped his fingers, and I stepped out of the car.

At least, it looked like me. He wore a black trench coat, and sunglasses, behind which a red light seemed to radiate. He wore his long, shaggy hair smoothed back, and his face was quite calm, like a mask.

"Abe, meet the Assassinating Bionic Entity, or A.B.E. for short. I based his design off you, and he's the latest in 3D printing and robotic technology: actual skin over an advanced animatronic system. He has built in damage assessors, split-second decision mechanisms, and is virtually indestructible, with his endoskeleton being made out of titanium. He even has emotions, to some extent. Luckily, being a boy genius makes you rich, so I had plenty of money to hire guys to steal it for me." Mikey looked at the robot in surprise, then snorted.

"Two Abes? Things have gotten too weird for me. Screw this!" Then he just walked away. Well, never let be said that you can count on Mikey in a pinch. Craig turned to evil me.

"Grab the girl. Those other two guys are my friends, so just mess them up a little."

"It will be as you say, Sir," A.B.E. said.

"Not without a fight!" I shouted. I rushed forward and punched evil me in the face. All that accomplished was jamming my fingers. "OW!" I cried. Craig looked at me like I was stupid, which I admit, I was feeling pretty dumb right then.

"Did you not hear me?" he asked. "I just said he's made out of titanium!" A.B.E. backhanded me, and I fell to the ground hard. Even with his weakest attack, it was like getting hit by a pro boxer. Mav attacked next, slamming his book into the robot's gut. To his credit, it let out a loud clang, but other than that, nothing else happened. A.B.E. kicked Mav full force in the stomach. The only reason that didn't kill him was because his book was in the foot's way. Still, it launched Mav halfway across the lake, screaming all the way.

"Please stand down," A.B.E. stated. "There is only a 4% chance that you can damage me even remotely, rounded up."

"I'll take that chance before I let you get your hands on Monika!" I shouted. I grabbed a heavy tree branch off the ground, and hit him hard across the face with it. He didn't react immediately, so I hit him in the face again, this time managing to smash his sunglasses. They fell away from his face, revealing glowing red eyes. The fact he shared my face only made that creepier. I swung at his head a third time, but he caught the stick in hand and broke it, with no effort. Then he sent my fist swinging towards my head. I just barely managed to duck as it sailed over me, and slammed into a small tree, knocking it to the ground. Quickly thinking, I grabbed a large rock, and slammed it into his knee, it managed to off-balance him, so I hit him in the side of the head. His neck bent in a 90 degree angle. Monika covered her mouth. The robot shot me a genuine smile.

"Impressive," he said. "You managed to land an actual hit in. Damage assessment: vitality has dropped 0.014 percent." Right after he said this, his neck popped back into place. He kicked me in the shin, and I collapsed, clutching my leg. Craig laughed.

"Well, as entertaining as it is to watch Abe fail to defeat himself, I have places to be, and a girl to hand over to my associate. A.B.E., get out the 'problem-solver.'"

"As you command," he stated. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a pistol. Before I could even blink, Monika was in his clutches, the pistol shoved against her chest.

"Now," Craig said, "we're getting out of here. Don't try anything, or Monika will be lifeless once again. Right, A.B.E.?"

"Indubitably." Craig and A.B.E. dragged Monika back to the limo. They shoved her inside. Craig got back in the passenger seat, where A.B.E. handed him the pistol. Then A.B.E. got in the limousine, and they drove off. Shortly afterwords, Mav had swam back to shore. He got out of the lake, and joined my side in time to see the tail end of the limo disappear over a hill.

"Well," Mav wheezed. "That could've gone better." I thought that summed it up in a nutshell.