Log:Imaginary Friends, Scene 6

Imaginary Friends 2009/01/13 	 Imaginary Girl Mr. Wumbles 6

Way up high in the sky, where it's quiet and she can be uninterrupted, Imaginary Girl pulls Wumbles' imaginary cellphone out of 'storage' in her cleavage. For a while, she just looks at it... then finally just hits the 'talk' button and puts it to her ear.

The sun shines down with it's brilliant light, echoes of yellow off the stratocumulus as you put the phone to your ear. "Oh...is this Imaginary Girl?" The same voice, echoing like the rumble of the ocean against sand, hits your ear. "This is Mr. Wumbles. I probably should have identified myself before, but we have so much to talk about, you and I." There's some moaning in the background, and a little sobbing. "Now, now, Lisa. It's not that bad."

Imaginary Girl closes her eyes at the sound of the girl crying. "Wumbles", she says into the phone after a pause to collect her wits. "Tell what Doctor Ingersoll did to Toby that made you and him the way you both are. I just want to help. What did the doctor do to him?"

Mr. Wumbles sighs. "You...want to help me?" He makes a low chuckle. "Doctor Ingersoll didn't do anything. Toby made me." He chuckles. "He just made me old, wise, powerful and evil, so I could teach him what to do. It's sort of like being born full grown, only smarter, because you have years of experience. I'm two and a half, but I'm really, at least Toby made me two and a half thousand." His voice turns low. "Lisa...would you like a cookie? You told me what your favorite cookies were." His voice purrs. "Imaginary Girl, you know I'd never hurt a real child, yes? Adults are fair game, but even I, as twisted and vile as I am, would never do the things that I do to a living child. People have to grow up."

"Wumbles, what did Doctor Ingersoll do to Toby?", Imaginary Girl repeats, keeping her voice soft. She's not angry right now... she wants to help Toby. He's a child, after all, and this desire to help, despite whatever Wumbles has done, plans to do, and will do - it's clear in her voice that she wants to help.

There's some thumping and a spitting sound, and more sobbing. "Oh, I've tied her up, and made her watch some truly horrible things, but it's...necessary."

"Wumbles, what did Doctor Ingersoll do to Toby?", Imaginary Girl repeats, again, forcing herself to not react to what she's hearing. Lisa's alive. Wumbles has said that he's not going to hurt her. Her best bet at helping Lisa is to help Toby. She hopes.

"Doctor Ingersoll? Other than the typical psychotheraputic things, nothing..." Mr. Wumbles purrs. "He did drug Toby, and sedate Toby, but as you can see, those things really don't affect me. And they should, right? After all, I've read Doctor Ingersoll's notes." He purrs with satisfaction. "Doctor Ingersoll knows what buttons to push, though..." He cackles with satisfaction. "Have you actually taken a look at the Institute? How it's made, what it's made of? The people inside?" He purrs. "I can't even see his secretary, that Doris. She's as imaginary to me as I am to most people. How could that be, unless she has no imagination? Doris scares me." He purrs.

"What did Doctor Ingersoll do to Toby?", Imaginary Girl again asks. "I can't help Toby if I don't know what was done to him."

"Doctor Ingersoll didn't do anything to Toby." Wumbles purrs. "Toby is evil, and so am I. He can't tell right from wrong, poor child. But I can. I know what I'm doing is wrong." He sighs. "Would you like another cookie, Lisa?"

"I hate YOU! I HATE YOU MR. WUMBLES!" Lisa weeps over the phone.

"Sacrifices have to be made...." Mr. Wumbles chortles a little bit. "Don't worry, Imaginary Girl. I'm almost done here. Lisa has to make a choice. She can end Georgie's suffering and put him out of his misery, or she can live with him like this forever. Soon I'll be real. As real as you. Then we'll see who's the best Imaginary Friend..."

"It's not a matter of who's the best imaginary friend, Wumbles. It's about being a friend", Imaginary Girl says. "Why are you doing this to these children? Why are you hurting /children/?", she asks. "Is it because of what Doctor Ingersoll did to Toby? Did the doctor hurt Toby's mind, somehow?"

"Oh...you're going to be my friend?" Mr. Wumbles weeps. "Imaginary Girl, you do understand that I need to replicate the process that made you real, yes?" He chuckles. "Fortunately, Toby's will is very strong and I only need to kill a few times more. Then I'll be free to live as other creatures live." He says. "But you know, I very much like killing people. The looks on their faces...the sad resignation as they know they're going to die, the screaming, it's so delicious, really." He murmurs thoughtfully. "I'm not hurting children, Imaginary Girl. I'm making them grow up." You hear a whuffle. "Gods, I hate it when I wrinkle my nose. Why couldn't Toby have made me a predator, like a Cheetah, a Lion, or a Spider? But no, he had to make me warm and cuddly. He said the best fear comes from warm and cuddly packages. Now, I'm afraid I'm stuck with it. These cookies are delicious."

"Wait... I don't know how I became real", Imaginary Girl says. "How do /you/ know?", she asks.

"It's in Doctor Ingersolls notes." Wumbles murmurs thoughtfully. "You don't think Ingersoll gave Yolanda a copy of everything he did, did you? Yes, I know all your names. I despise killing women, especially when they can see me, but you know, it's twice as thrilling when they can see you. All those homeless people. All that practice. What a shame. It took me fifteen tries to get the bunjee cords right."

"The best part is that even when I'm real, I'll be able to walk through walls." Wumbles chuckles. "Sometimes, I break and enter anyway, because it scares people, but once you folks brought the police into the picture, I didn't have time for pleasantries anymore. You can always kill me by killing Toby, but I might become real if you do that. Sadly, he's even more damaged than I am. I don't want to be this way, but I am what I am."

"Why are you forcing children to grow up?", Imaginary Girl asks, quietly. "What does that get you? And... you don't have to become real. You already /are/... can't you see that?"

"It's all right, Lisa..." He purrs quietly, so you can hear him. "Imaginary Girl will be here soon. She'll save you. You have to decide. You're a big girl, Lisa..." His voice echoes quietly. "You're nine. You can do it. I'll be nice, Imaginary Girl. I'll give you a clue. Where automation makes it's name, that's where Lisa cries with shame. It's not very good, I'll admit. Toby made me old, but he didn't exactly give me the chance to study Shakespeare, Proust, and Cervantes. Good old Cervantes. Don Quijote only had Imaginary Armor, but you know...he was just like us in some ways."

Mr. Wumbles murmurs. "I actually felt that." He chuckles. "You are very powerful, Imaginary Girl. I felt a little real-er there. God, I despise using words that aren't in the language. It's childish. I hate it."

"No, Wumbles. He wasn't like us, because I'm nothing like you. I only want to help, not hurt. You're hurting Lisa right now, even if you won't admit it. You're not anyone's friend, you're not even Toby's friend. You're Ingersoll's friend, if you're anyone's friend, 'cause you're doing his job for him, forcing children to grow up by taking away their imaginations!", Imaginary Girl says, finally starting to sound angry with Wumbles and what she's hearing him do to the girl. "You're not an imaginary friend. You're a doctor. You make imaginary friends disappear"

"Oh. Doctor Wumbles." He says. "It certainly does make one seem more villainous." He chuckles. "I could wear a lab coat, and carry an ID. But I really don't think I could deal with wearing a speculum on my head all the time." He chortles. "I love that "How to Be A Villain" book. I left it for Toby. I am an Imaginary Friend, after all.

"I took it away from Toby. I gave it to the doctor", Imaginary Girl says about the book... then says, "If you really want to be real, Wumbles... take Lisa home. You don't need her to make you real, if /I/ can do it... I wonder... if I can make you not real, too. Maybe you're just a figment of my imagination. Maybe I'm the one who needs to grow up... You know what, Wumbles? I don't need you. There's plenty of other bad guys out there to fight", she says. "I don't need you."

"I'll go to Toby and be his friend... then he won't need you anymore, either", Imaginary Girl adds.

"Do you want to know what the difference is between you and me, Imaginary Girl?" He says. "You don't need anyone. But when I'm real enough to kill people, you will regret that decision every time. You see, what I really need to become real is psychic energy. I need imagination, and I need a lot of it. That's in Ingersoll's notes, too. Only I don't have a powerful psychic willing to create a global burst, so I have to do it bit by bit. Ask yourself, Imaginary Girl. How does Ingersoll know this? Just what's in that house of his, hmmm?" His voice coos. "All you have to do is pull the trigger, Lisa. All you have to do is pull the trigger, and Georgie's suffering will be over."

"I'm going to go be Toby's friend. Then he won't need you anymore, either", Imaginary Girls says, hanging up the cellphone. She tucks it back away into 'storage', and flies down towards the institute.