The Maad Doctor [The Maad Series #1]

|8| Barbie.

Barbie's ears buzzed after she had regained consciousness. It was like the engines of airships were roaring an inch away from her. Though she usually had no problem with such a thing, at that moment, it gave her a headache.

They had cuffed her hands to a metal pipe connected to the ceiling and floor. "Somebody, help me, please!" She tugged her hands back with so much force; she almost broke her wrists.

"Barbie, calm down."

Was dat Sky? She turned and saw her best friend bound to a chair. "Sky, where-where are we?"

"Ya don't remember?" Sky furrowed.

Barbie paused, then she laughed it off. "Ah remember. Ma thoughts were all over the place for a moment. Ah am fine now." If only that were true.

Barbie suffered from short-term memory loss, but she hadn't told Sky. John had warned her that if Sky knew, the mercenary wouldn't want anything to do with her. And Barbie was afraid of losing her best friend. She took pills known as Pew Pew to deal with the memory problems–and other things.

The last time Barbie had taken Pew Pew was before John had flown to Virtue City with Sky. She had run out, and he was to buy her a new pack after he had returned. But he never did. Barbie had hoped it would take less than forty minutes to get the wings fixed. She wanted to go to Modish to buy a packet.

Something stopped us from leaving. Wait, it was someone. No. Two people. Barbie looked at the desk and saw the wings. Her memories were returning, but they wouldn't last long. Pew Pew had a twisted effect where it would give you one final high before it drained from your system.

Ah am in Pipi and the thief's apartment.

She sighed in relief.

Yes, ah remembered.

She heard Pipi and the thief arguing:

"I thought you said Shocker A made people unconscious for five minutes."

"Pipi did."

"Then why has it been thirty minutes, and Barbie hasn't woken up?"

"There must be something wrong with her. Pipi's calculations are never wrong."

Thirty minutes have passed? Barbie gasped. She had less than twenty minutes before the effects of complete withdrawal kicked in. Ah have to go.

The thief and Pipi walked into the room and were startled at finding Barbie staring at them.

"Mr. Repairman, can ah please leave now?" She looked at Pipi and pouted.

The thief stepped in front of her, blocking Pipi from her view. "Not until you tell me where my gauntlets are," he said.

Pipi cleared his throat. "You mean Pipi's gauntlets?"

Don glanced at him. "No, I meant mine. I'm the one who uses them."

"But Pipi is the one who made them."

"So?"

"So Pipi owns them."

"Who owns an airship? The one who makes it or the one who uses it?"

"The one who buys it."

"Ah am traumatized listening to ya two argue like little boys," Sky remarked, then looked at Pipi. "Why do ya talk like that ya freak? Pipi does this. Pipi does that. Talk like a normal person or shut up!" She groaned in frustration. "And ya, thief, die!"

The thief looked at Pipi. "She called you a freak."

"And she called you a thief," Pipi said.

"It is who I am."

"Pipi too."

The thief pulled a chair and sat down. Pipi did the same. "What should we do with Sky?" he asked.

"We should sell her to the men in Wonderland City. They'll teach her how to act like a lady," Pipi replied.

The thief glanced at Sky, who rolled her eyes, then back at Pipi. "You think so? She doesn't have what it takes to be a lady."

"We could say she's a wench and get a lot of silver coins for her in Slave City. Freckled faces are in demand," Pipi claimed. "But I doubt it would be possible to sell her with her attitude. Slave City men want to be with a woman who can cook, clean, and provide sex whenever they are required. Not someone who would talk back to them like their equal."

"Selling women is ya part-time job, eh?" Sky scoffed.

"No, but Pipi has been around long enough to know how the trading world works."

"What about her?" the thief referred to Barbie, who had pressed her head against the water pipe.

Pipi shook his head. "No."

"Why not?"

"The money we will get from selling the wings and Sky will be enough. We need Barbie to tell us where the gauntlets are."

"You like her." the thief smiled, nudging Pipi's arm with his elbow.

"No."

"You want to get sexual with her."

"No."

"You want to mix your organs with her hers."

Pipi grimaced. "Who talks like that?"

"Stop lying, Pipi. Look at her. She dresses like the prostitutes you constantly bring here. I bet she sleeps with anyone who shows an interest in her."

"Don't say such words about a woman you don't know, Don." Pipi smacked the back of Don's head. The thief squealed while rubbing the pain away from his head.

"I was making a joke."

"You're bad at jokes."

Don rolled his eyes.

Barbie looked at Pipi, and he smiled at her. She smiled back. Sky was glaring at the two. Knowing her best friend well, Barbie assumed Sky was plotting on how to kill Don and Pipi after she escaped.

That was the thing with Sky; she hated when someone made her feel powerless and trapped. And the longer they cuffed her, the more she would hold a grudge against them.

Barbie's vision blurred, but it didn't last long. She gazed at the clock and saw ten minutes had remained before the effects kicked in. She had to act fast before her body parts shut down. No one was to know her secret.

She collapsed on the floor and convulsed.

"Barbie, what's wrong?" Sky asked. She couldn't move because they had bound her hands and legs to a chair. All she could do was watch.

Barbie started choking.

"Don, get the keys!" Pipi exclaimed, rushing to Barbie's side. He held her in his arms. "You'll be fine."

"Ah won't," Barbie had replied in an inaudible voice before she had a coughing fit.

"You will." Pipi turned around. "Don, hurry. She's dying!"

Don crouched next to Pipi and grabbed Barbie's wrists. He had removed the handcuffs before he stepped away from the two.

"Barbie, wake up." Pipi gently slapped her face.

Barbie opened her eyes and looked at Pipi. "Mr. Repairman, ya saved ma life." She placed her hands around his neck and planted a warm kiss on his lips. "Thank ya." She got up, her hands on Pipi's cheeks as she caressed them. "Mr. Repairman. My hero." She kissed him again.

Pipi's cheeks flushed red as he looked away. "It-It was nothing."

"It was something to me." She grabbed his hand and placed it on her chest. "Can ya feel dat? That's ma heart saying thank ya."

Pipi remained silent. He was blushing so hard; his entire face turned red.

"Can ya do something for me?" Barbie asked.

"Anything."

"Can ya please... get away from me!" Barbie pushed him, and Pipi fell flat on the floor. She then got up, ran towards the open window, and jumped outside.