Control Is In The Beholder Of The Eye

Tick…

Tick…

Tick…

Come on…

Tick…

Tick…

Okay, I'm in math now, and Mr. Nueson's clock is only six seconds faster than the bell so

Tick…

Tick…

Tick…

Two…

Tick…

One-

"BBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRZZZZZZZZZZZZ"

At last, the freeing final bell! The door vultures were the first to go, and the teachers would be the last. Billy grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder as he made his way towards his locker. He thought inner farewells to the art on the walls and the outdated posters advertising the school events that had long past but no one had bothered to tear down. It worked out in the end, because a group of boys who had previously raided the lost and found and were now donning an array of winter gear and lost gym cloths, had been going around and tearing the posters up for paper airplanes. Large-boy-with-shorts-for-sleeves-and-a-girls-winter-pompom-toque threw an airplane at a light. It hit Balaclava-with-socks-for-hands in the face. Whoops ensued.

Their cheers, the cheers of children freed from stress and stern teachers, softened as Billy rounded the corner to his locker.

Where Mortimer McMire stood, waiting.

Billy, it's officially summer vacation. Once you leave, you wont see him for the next two months. At least try to have a false cheer.

"Hello Mortimer."

Mortimer looked Billy in the eye. There was a moment's silence, a moment's stillness, in which nothing moved or spoke. Suddenly, Billy found himself being pushed to the ground, and then quickly hauled to his feet. He looked around in time to see Mortimer walk out the door.

"Well, at least that's over for now." Billy sighed to himself, took his things, and caught his bus home.

The trees were green and lush as the bus sped past them. The occasional leaf fell to join the others that were pilling up in the gutter. There was a deep feeling of finality in every stop the bus took and in every "Have a nice summer" the children whished to the bus driver as they left. Before he fully knew it, Billy found himself saying the same farewell as he left. He began the walk home from the stop, excited for the coming two months of freedom. Two months and 11 days of goofing off and going camping…

Unless anything came up, which was likely.

Billy arrived at the door to his home. "I'm back! And you're stuck with me for two months so you'd better be prepared! And by prepared, I mean how much ice-cream do we have in the freezer?" He called as he opened the door and stepped inside.

"No way, not before dinner." Said his mother.

"What's for dinner anyway mom?" Billy's older brother asked.

"Lasagna, peas, and potatoes."

Billy made a face of mock disgust.

"Yes, there will be left over pie that you can have with ice-cream for desert. "

Billy gave a whoop and a jump. "Thanks mom! This is a great welcome back!"

He ran off to his room to put his books and backpack away.

"Why is it that my brother the genius is only ever interested in stuff he can eat?"

"Why is it that you never find the motivation to clean your room?"

"Not motivation, Hazmat squad. I swear there's a thing under my t-shirts that's alive."

"If you cleaned your room, that wouldn't be a problem."

This friendly banter between mother and son would go on for a few more minutes until Billy's older brothers friends would call him for their traditional Summer-Starts-With-A-Movie-Marathon Night.

Billy took his books from his backpack, clearing it out for any camping trips that may arise during the break. His family was fond of taking trips together, his parents being firm believers in the 'Family that plays together stays together' saying.

He stacked the books in descending order. Largest at the bottom, smallest at the top, then shoved the neat, tidy stacks under his bed to be forgotten, ignored, and to collect dust.

Billy flopped onto his bed, looking up at the way the light sat in a large rectangular panel on his wall and ceiling. Then he turned himself around to look out from his window and into the yard outside. The rope and tire swing swung slightly back and forth in the gentle summers breeze. Spot, the Yorp that had accompanied Billy back from mars, poked his eye out from behind the doghouse. Noticing Billy at the window, he started his cheerful way towards the door.

Then it occurred to Billy. Surely his parents would notice the small, green, one-eyed Martian trying to get in the house.

Billy raced from his room to the backyard, grabbed Spot, ran back inside, and launched himself into his room.

He stood with his back protectively holding the door closed as he began to catch his breath, while Spot smiled and nuzzled his leg. He seemed to be asking to go again, like this was some sort of game.

Billy, having regained his breath, sighed. "So it's not enough for you to have scared every cat, dog, rabbit, raccoon, squirrel, and toddler in the neighborhood, you have to frighten my family too?"

Spot gave a sort of cheep noise. Then he gave three more cheeping noises.

"Okay, I'll bring you some food. DON'T LEAVE MY ROOM, alright?"

More cheeps.

Billy slowly made his way to the laundry room. He grabbed the old dog food dish and brought it to the kitchen. His mother had gone to put some peels on the compost, so the kitchen was empty. Billy knew he didn't have a lot of time. He opened the fridge and grabbed one of the slices of ham, a small piece of cheese, and some leftover squash. All of these went into the dog food bowl. Then he carefully but hurriedly made his way back to his room.

"Why is it that yorps have to have such refined tastes? If you could just be content with dog food or cat food this wouldn't be so difficult. Mom is sure to notice the rapidly depleting ham in the fridge."

Spot, however, didn't seem to care. He simply sat himself down next to the food dish and started chewing the ham vigorously.

But that's what summer vacation is about, right? Having a carefree demeanor, and to use this free time for fun and relaxation.

Billy figured he'd fine-tune the Photachyon Transceiver. It could use better speakers. Maybe his older brother had some lying about. If not, he could always make the trip to the electronics store. It wasn't too far from his house, but he'd have to decide soon if he could make it there before closing.

The clock on the wall said 3:46. Nah, he could go tomorrow. That was just it; he had loads of time for his inventions now. Still, he didn't feel right sitting around and not doing anything.

Wouldn't it be so much more useful if his Computer Wrist had a webcam? He did still have the camera parts from that old cell phone, and the spare connection wires.

Billy went about collecting the supplies and set to work at the desk in his room.

He sat working there for at least an hour before his mother called him for dinner. He sat there for twenty minutes afterwards until his mother began to nock on the door repeatedly.

"Five more minutes mom. Then I'll be at a point were I can stop."

"Alright, I'll put your dinner in the fridge."

"Huh?" But Billy's mother had already gone back to the dinner table.

It wasn't until yet another twenty minutes had past before he'd gotten to a good stopping point. That point being that he'd finished the installation and was ready to test it. Of course, now he had time to do so after dinner.

"Sorry I'm late, I was in the middle of something I had to finish."

Of course by now everyone had finished eating and were off doing they're own things.

Which meant that no one would be watching when Billy helped himself to two extra servings of dessert!

/\/\/\/\Skipping, what a lazy author/\/\/\/\

"Goodnight!" Billy called to his family as he climbed into bed for a peaceful sleep. He settled himself in amongst the blankets and pillows. He stared into the clock, watching the minute hand tick by until he started to drift off.

He'd closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep, when he was awoken by the unmistakable sound of the window being opened and someone coming inside.

Billy sat up. "Who's there?" He asked the shadows.

"Who else?" Mortimer stepped into a panel of moonlight.

"Lots. My mom, my dad, a psycho killer, my sister, my brother, Page, an alien of any occupation, a messenger sent to summon me to find something or save someone or-"

"Yes, I get it."

"So why are you here? Are you trying to kill me in my sleep because that seems too mundane for you, there's usually explosions or aliens, so unless you have either under your rain jacket I'm out of ideas."

"I'm here to request your help."

"With what? I'm not going to help you blow up the universe if that's what you had planned-"

"Would you let that go? We were eight.

Look, I really need to get your help."

"Why?"

"So you haven't read my note" Mortimer said under his breath. Speaking in a normal volume he asked, "This story will take a bit, do you mind if I sit down?"

"Go ahead."

"Thanks." Mortimer sat himself down at the foot of Billy's bed.

"There's a … well I can only call it a bomb but it isn't technically a bomb. It was built solely for its aftermath. Upon detonation it will send a massive shockwave of poison gas through almost the entire universe, killing everything in its path. On top of that, it has an 84.97 % chance of opening up a rip. If anything is left to see it, god knows what could come through or what it could do to the fabric of space."

Mortimer began to pick away absent-mindedly at a hole in the knee of his jeans.

"The leader of whoever put this 'bomb' out there has threatened to detonate it unless he gets 'The Eye'. So they want you and I to work together to find and disable the bomb. You were given a note, but you haven't read it."

"How do you know if I got a note and how would you know if I hadn't read it?"

"I gave it to you, earlier today, when I pushed you down then picked you up by your pockets. I slipped the note into your back left. If you'd read the note, you'd know that I was going to come over and explain."

Billy jumped out of bed and to a corner of his room currently populated by three pairs of jeans, a sweater his aunt gave him last Christmas that he still has yet to try on, and a deflated soccer ball. He searched the pockets of the jeans he'd worn yesterday. Sure enough, there was a folded note in the back left pocket.

It read as follows:

Dear Billy

I know that in the past we've not always been on the same page, but it's time to put all that behind us. If we don't, we, and by we I mean matter (Everything that's anything, 4.) is doomed. And not just your normal, everyday kind of doomed. Massive-Universe-Whiteout-Industrial-Extra-Strength-Doom. I'll explain later. Please don't mind that the later in question will involve me breaking into your house. This needs to be secret. TELL NO ONE.

Mortimer.

Billy looked up from the note and back to Mortimer. Then did a double take from the note in his hands to Mortimer sitting at the foot of his bed.

"And 'The Eye' is special because… What, does it see the future?"

Mortimer's face took on a slightly darker shade of grim.

"It can make the future. It can change the past. 'The Eye' controls." He said solemnly. "People, destinies, fate, the weather, time, life, everything. It can create physical changes. Create objects from thin air. There is no limit."

No wonder people want to steal it. With that kind of power… No wonder it must be destroyed.

"Up until now it's been kept in a secret temple hidden at the core of a large, abandoned and deeply shadowed planet surrounded by a thousand moons somewhere in the Oxen nebula. Thanks to a first attempt by a thief who somehow lost it while making his escape in a TrashPaxter pod, it's floating somewhere in our area. We've got to find 'The Eye', use it to deactivate the bomb, and then destroy it."

"How do you know this?"

"Thursday my computer was hacked, and all that was left on the hard drive was a document with more or less everything I've just explained to you on it."

What a way to start the summer vacation. What a surprisingly normal way for ME to start my summer vacation.

"Well Four? Are you done with the questions and are you going to help?"

Billy really didn't know what to say. This wasn't really anything new, but…

Was this a set up? Could he really trust Mortimer, who had on multiple occasions attempted to annihilate him and the rest of the world, heck, the universe even, with large robot mechas, alien armies, and even arranging for his older sister (Who was Billy's babysitter at the time) to be kidnapped by aliens? Not to mention the regular schoolyard bullying Mortimer had mercilessly inflicted over the past several years. These events hadn't exactly formed a trust between the two.

"Four… is this a no? Are you actually choosing to NOT help save the universe?"

For all Billy knew, this could be another well-laid trap. Mortimer didn't seem to be above much of anything when it came to plans.

"Is it because I'm calling you Four? I won't call you that if you'd prefer…Billy."

Calling him by name, was Mortimer really willing to acknowledge Billy as an equal? This HAD to be a trap.

"… Is this about the mecha? Or the Vorticons? … You're still pissed about my having had my sister abducted, aren't you?"

Nope. He was not falling for this. Although he had to admit, Mortimer was a good actor.

"Billy, I'm serious. I may be one point higher than you, but that doesn't mean I can do this alone. You need to come to a decision. We don't have a lot of time."

Billy thought. The more Mortimer said, the more it seemed like he was telling the truth, and yet it seemed almost too genuine. Could he really be trusted?

Mortimer paused, sighed, swallowed, and hesitated again before finally he asked, "…Please?" With such sincerity, such a pure and real sense of desperation, that Billy almost choked on air. Few things, VERY FEW THINGS, could get Mortimer this close to begging. Whatever was going on, it was SERIOUS.

"When do we leave?"

Mortimer let out a sigh of relief. "When can you be ready?"

"Not long, in 5-10 minutes at the most, and I have nothing planned for the next week and a half. Will that work?"

"I wouldn't care if it didn't, but this works nicely. I'm going to go take some pens and pencils to construct your alibi."

"What about yours?"

"Oh Four, don't you remember? We've had this camping trip planned for weeks now."

"What camping- Ah. Never mind. I'll remember to hide my camp gear."

"Good. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Mortimer got up off the bed and calmly made his way out the door and into the rest of the house. Billy got up after him and shut the door. He looked around his room, still slightly unsure about if he should do this or not…

Oh well, it was too late to change his mind. And it wasn't like this kind of thing was new anyway.

Billy grabbed himself some underwear and a pair of jeans, then took a long look in his dresser for that shirt he'd gotten to replace the old one, which was small on him now. Finding it, he changed into the clothes and a pair of socks. His brother's helmet was with his Neutral Stunner in a locked cupboard in his clubhouse in the backyard. Now his shoes, he'd kicked them off by the door, hadn't he? Billy went to check.

He saw Mortimer writing something on the calendar.

"What are you doing?"

"Penciling in the camping trip you and I are supposedly taking into your calendar after analyzing the hand writing of your parents."

Billy was about to simply nod and agree, but Mortimer felt the need to explain this further.

"When your parents see it, their simple little minds will simply fill the blanks in with imaginary phone calls and such. If they do call my parents, they'll be told that they must have forgotten since it's all I've been going on about for a few days now."

"Okay." Billy acknowledged as he slipped his runners on. "I'm ready. Let's go."

"Good."

Mortimer followed Billy as he slipped out the door and out to his clubhouse. Billy grabbed his helmet and neutral stunner, and then he began pulling at a rain tarp that was draped over the Beans With Bacon mega rocket. Mortimer wandered over to the tree in Billy's yard and took his own helmet and ray gun out from behind it where they'd been stashed earlier, since he wouldn't have been able to fit through Billy's window with them.

With the tarp thrown off, folded, and put under a rock next to the garage, the Beans With Bacon mega rocket was ready to go. Billy put the helmet on, opened the door, and Mortimer followed him inside.

Should I end the chapter here? Okay, I will, and then in the next one just skip on ahead to them already in flight. Which means they've warmed the engine and hidden the camp gear, Got that? You understand? COMPRENDEZ VOUS?

If yes, continue,

If no, troll and spam,

If "OMG MY EYES MY EYES AAAAAHHHH!" Best to close the window now. It's for your own health.

And BTW, The Tab- - Special Effects I had died when I uploaded it here. The Ticking of the clock moves across the page with tabs, without it really isn't the same but I said I'm lazy, didn't I?