Cause, Effect, and Consequences

by Coltsguy

Don't Feel Quite Like Myself

I wasn't originally sure how long I was unconscious for after that brief time I was awake. I just knew that the beeping noise I heard meant that I wasn't asleep anymore. Again I opened my eyes, but this time there wasn't anyone hovering over me. With a grunt of effort, I pushed myself up to a sitting position and took a look around.

I wasn't in a hospital. The room I was in was barren minus the bed and heart monitor. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all a stale grey color. There was only a single door to the room that was a slightly darker grey than everything else. It took a bit before I realized something that should have been obvious.

I could see all of this. I could see without my glasses. For perspective, if I squint I can see clearly for about eight or nine inches away from my face. If I looked at a person from about ten feet away you could interchange them with another person in the same clothes and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them. That's how bad my myopia was. The fact that I could make out the handle on a door that was across the room about twenty feet away without my glasses was, to pardon the pun, a real eye opener. I had excellent vision for the first time in my life.

I barely had time to revel in it when the door opened to reveal Dexter walking in with a clipboard. He took note of me briefly before closing the door and walking up to the bed.

"Salutations my good man. It is good to see you awake."

"I'm just glad I'm not dead after that punch," I quipped; not fully grasping why I could suddenly see so well.

"I am quite astounded to see you awake so soon as well. It has only been forty hours and thirty seven minutes since your cranial trauma occurred."

"Shit," was my blunt reply.

"But of course. However, your recovery from the injuries you were inflicted with is most expeditious."

"It is?"

"Quite so. You received two simultaneous blows to your supraorbital processes which caused massive damage to your eyes, skull, and brain as well. I was informed that after you had been struck that you went flying into the street, clipped a vehicle, started tumbling end over end, crashed into a brick structure back first, and collapsed on the other side of the devastated area upon a pile of debris."

I heard him say that and was instantly glad that I lost consciousness so quickly after it happened.

"How am I not a bundle of bruises and pain right now then?" I asked looking myself over. I was thankful that I was still in my regular clothes even if they looked pretty ragged.

"I am quite curious over this situation myself. For some reason after the surgery I performed you do not have any marks on your person that would indicate that any of those events happened in the past two days."

"Wait, wait, wait, what surgery?" I said in quite the incredulous tone.

"After your injuries occurred Blossom brought you to me instead of a proper medical establishment out of... concern? Yes, concern and after an examination we determined that the frames and glass from your eyewear had done massive damage to your eyes. After determining the extent of the damage to the entire area of the head, we found we could reconstruct everything to its former state except for your eyes. The other tissues were easy to repair and any damage you received to your brain seemed to no longer appear after a second inspection. None of us wanted you to be blind and since growing you a new pair wasn't conceivable without a previous scan on file of your working eyes we came to the consensus that we would replace them with a synthetic pair instead.

"After coming to this conclusion we removed the foreign objects and the remains of your former eyes and began to attach your new ones to your optic nerves. As soon as they were in place and functioning properly, we finished restoring the rest of your damaged head areas and let you rest and recover. I was quite surprised when you momentarily regained consciousness. It had only been twelve minutes and eighteen seconds after the surgery was completed. It was much too soon for such a thing."

I sat there and listened to him as I tried to process what I had heard. The thing most on my mind was my eyes, obviously. I had lost the eyes I was born with. I knew I could see better with this pair, but having to need the other pair removed was still kind of a metaphorical kick to the gut. They were a part of me after all. I had lost them, and in such an inane manner too. I'd been punched blind. If I hadn't read a fanfiction where that had happened, I wouldn't have thought it was possible.

A hand on my shoulder brought me back to my senses.

"I... can get past this. I mean. I'm not blind anymore right? And I can see better with these eyes anyway."

Just hearing myself say that out loud made me feel better about it.

"I am glad you are feeling better."

"So... is it just a synthetic eye or do they do anything that a normal eye wouldn't?"

"I am Dexter, Boy Genius," he scoffed. "Of course they can do other things. However, most of the features it normally uses are inaccessible without other attachments or a proper power source."

"I can't do anything about the attachments, but I bet I can work out an alternative power supply."

"Ah yes. I remember Blossom stating that you had used some form of energy manipulation though she was not so forthcoming on the finer details."

"It's probably because it's magic."

Upon hearing that, Dexter let off a derisive sigh.

"There is no such thing as magic. Only science can explain the mysteries of the cosmos."

"In this universe, I can accept that as a possibility. However, alternative universes can exist on a fundamentally different level so as to create an environment where magic is an accepted form of one's daily life in much the same manner as Newtonian physics are a staple of the universe here. For example-"

I lifted my hand up and encompassed Dexter's glasses with magic before pulling them off of his face.

"That is merely a trick using anti-gravitons."

"If you feel like being skeptical, that's fine. I don't have to validate magic to do what I came to do. Though in that regard I bet you would believe the issue of a rip in space that could destroy the universe to be real. I'm pretty sure that's scientifically possible."

Dexter moved into a classic thinking man pose as he processed that info.

"That scenario is a possibility. Such an instance has never been documented before."

"We both know that just because something hasn't been seen before that doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"It just hasn't been recorded for proper study."

"Just like magic."

I held up my hand before he started to dispute me again.

"I'm just messing with you a little. Now, let's talk about these new eyes while we get moving."

"Indeed," he began as I slipped out of the bed onto, to my surprised, a heated floor which was an interesting feeling on my bare feet. "The eyes you were given were originally designed for an observation-type synthetic humanoid."

He said that and I immediately thought Terminator.

"As you have a normal body, you would be incapable of using the accelerated processing functions. That leaves the functions that the eyes themselves are capable of. The foremost of them, and the easiest to access, is changing their color. Every color possible under the rainbow can be set in both your iris and sclera. It requires no energy expenditure since it merely changes how the light is refracted through them."

That's pretty neat.

"The next function generated an electric current from a proper power supply and ran it through the artificial nervous system and would form a concentrated release point from the eyes that, depending on how long it was charged, could release anywhere from one hundred and fifty volts to twenty five thousand volts. Your body's nervous system should work as a suitable replacement in that regard, though I would reconsider using it in that manner as you have no insulation nor any form of grounding to mediate the current."

Oh well, maybe I could figure out a work-around for it. In the meantime...

"Hey Dexter?"

"What is the matter?"

"Are you going to stand there all day?" I asked standing by the door.

"You did not wish to change into a different set of clothing?"

"Where would I be hiding those? Up my ass?"

Dexter gave me an irritable look and pointed towards the machine that I thought was a heart monitor. Underneath the readout machine on top were two shelves. One shelf held my shoes and socks while the other had a new shirt and a pair of pants that were similar in appearance to what I was wearing.

"Yeah, I guess I should've paid more attention," I said as I walked back to the bed.

"Indeed. Now, the eyes were part of a larger information collection system so the eyes themselves needed to be able to collect information in a variety of methods which required a small amount of power to utilize properly."

"What do you mean 'a variety of methods' exactly?" I asked while pulling up my new pants.

"The methods, which were used for data collection and threat assessment in case you were to ask, were varied to see in infrared, ultraviolet, and in x-ray format to get full visual detail."

...I had x-ray vision? I had fucking x-ray vision?! These eyes are awesome!!! I was suddenly not sad at all about losing my old eyes. Dexter still had his back turned to me so he didn't see any of my odd reactions to hearing that.

"Are there any other functions that they're capable of?" I asked as calmly as I could given the information I received.

"Nothing that would work without supplementing it with other items. Are you finished? We need to make haste to this rift that you speak of in order to determine it's danger, if any, to the world."

"Just need to put on my shoes," I replied slipping the other sock on.

"Well please expedite the process as your animal friend is most concerned about you."

Heh, it was funny how similar this was to when I first arrived in a Equestria a year ago. Well, kind of similar as that instance was just Rainbow Dash barreling into me and this time was me getting socked in the face due to shenanigans. Still, in both cases I was knocked unconscious with Fluttershy keeping a concerned watch over me. Would this turn into a long term pattern? I certainly hoped not. It felt a bit too soon to make that leap in logic anyway.

After putting on my shoes, the two of us exited the room. I was astounded at what I walked into. It was Dexter's Laboratory. It was massive. It was impressive. It was beyond my ability to describe properly. The sights, like the light boards, test tubes, and arcing electricity, the sounds, like the multi-tonal beeps, sliding equipment, and engine noise, and even the smells, such as ammonia, bleach, and a bit of a musty animal tinge, were so overwhelming that I froze in place just to take it all in.

"It is most impressive is it not? I welcome you to Dexter's Laboratory!"

Nice. He even said it like he did in the show.

"Now that you've seen it we must be going," he said in a rush and started walking in front of me. Basically he was leading me out in a hurry. "Normally I would be keeping you here for observation, but my sister, Deedee, is visiting soon and I must prepare for her properly."

"Wait, weren't you going to come with me to see the rift in space-time?"

"My sister's visit requires much more of my attention. Blossom said something about how you would understand and I value her judgement on matters of the human psyche."

Yeah, I think I do. It just isn't for the reason you think. I get the feeling that he either hasn't heard the narrator before or is living in a state of denial. It was kind of making things weird in my head so I let it drop without saying a word. If things made sense here for them, then pointing it out may do things I'd rather not be responsible for.

It took us a few minutes at our brisk pace to walk through that scientist's wet dream. After we did, we exited not through his room like I though we would but onto a small metal balcony hanging off the back of the house. It felt like some Looney Toons, misdirection type craziness. Of course, thinking back on it was not a wise course of action. Dexter's room in the show was on the second floor, yet just like now there wasn't any visual evidence of anything the size of that lab on the exterior of the house. All I could think of was either he had access to portals, which I doubted since I didn't see any, he got hooked up with time lord technology, how he would have I just don't know, or he's using Hanna-Barbara, this-doesn't-fit-here-but-I-made-it-fit-anyway, laws of reality-bending bullshit that no one thinks about and just accepts it anyway. My money was on number three.

In the backyard, the Powerpuff Girls were sitting around a wooden picnic table with Fluttershy and a couple of people I didn't recognize. One was a brown haired boy sitting next to Bubbles. He was wearing a red plaid sweater vest over a white shirt with some blue jeans and white sneakers. The other woman was a blonde with twin pigtails eyeing Fluttershy with what I could only describe as 'hungry eyes'. She was wearing a pink t-shirt and pink jeans with some open toed white and pink shoes.

"It seems I am too late. Though your friend seems to be occupying her attention."

"I guess that must bee Deedee then. Who's the guy?"

"That is Bubbles' boyfriend Mac."

"From Foster's place right?"

"Correct."

A hand was placed on Dexter's shoulder and I teleported the two of us down to the side of the picnic table where they could see us. As I did, I adjusted the volume of my voice for a quick prank. An ironic echo if you would.

"HI DEEDEE!!!"

The effect was perfect. She rocketed out of her seat in a curve that took her over the picnic table where she landed face first in the grass. Everyone was a bit disheveled from it despite how it was aimed at Deedee. Still, they all recovered pretty quickly; even Fluttershy to my surprise.

"Turnabout is fair play," I said at my normal voice level.

"I haven't done that to him in a while," Deedee said back on her feet looking like nothing had happened.

"It was overdue then."

She responded with a huff and simply looked away.

"Are you feeling better?" Fluttershy quietly asked.

"I'm about as good as I can be, which is actually better than before since I don't need glasses anymore!"

"That sounds nice," she said a bit more comfortably than before. "I was really worried about you when, well, you know."

"We're really sorry about that," Buttercup said.

"We let our emotions get the better of us," Blossom continued. "We should never let that happen."

"In the thick of battle I can agree with that. That wasn't battle, though. That was us walking down the street and a perverted comedy gag went off. Having emotions are not a bad thing. As people we should treasure them. Just think about using appropriate force. A slap would've been more on that level than a full-on punch. Just saying."

"We understand. Our grandfather has scolded us and on his recommendation, we will offer any reasonable recompense."

"Wow. Jack has really stressed the importance of the code of honor into you."

"Yes, he has," Blossom answered slowly.

"Don't worry about recompense or anything. Dexter gave me new eyes and they work immensely better than my old ones. If I was still blind I'd probably be bitter about it and take you up on your offer."

Still, when I go back home and see my optometrist I'm going to be having an interesting conversation. Even more so considering he's my uncle. There's no way that wouldn't get to the rest of my family. Rich would tell Susan, Susan would tell my dad, and my dad would be looking into this within twenty fours hours. Well, in that regard it would be good enough proof to tell my family about what's going on. I care enough about them that I've been wanting to tell them, but without proof I'd just be getting the psychiatric care treatment. Not to mention that I've always walked a fine line with my dad about anything unconventional. I doubt it would go over well with him no matter what. I'd have to think about all of that later in better detail.

"I didn't want to ask this," Blossom began, "but it's something that was bugging me from when you attacked Mojo Jojo's robot. That sword you were using... It looked exactly like our grandfather's sword. It even had the same aura."

"It probably was. Chaos magic remember?"

Surprisingly, everyone there except Fluttershy gave me an astonished look. To my amazement, it was Mac who spoke to me first.

"But Bubbles' grandfather's sword is never let out of his sight! She told me that he may not use it all the time, and almost never when he spars with them, but it's always nearby him. How could you have possibly wielded his sword?"

"Why is chaos magic not a good enough answer for anybody here? I mean, I can literally warp reality with it! Seriously, chaos magic is basically where I tell the laws of physics to go fuck themselves. Then, those laws turn into a couple of animals, get turned on by each other, and proceed to have sex with each other. Thus my statement becomes literal. Magic!" I finished while shaking my hands in a goofy flailing manner.

Facepalms. Facepalms everywhere.

"Let's just ask our grandfather," Blossom said. "He might have better answers for us."

"As cool as it would be for me to see Samurai Jack, I've got to close up that rift. I still have four more to go after that one and being out of it for a couple of days certainly isn't a helpful measure. Where's Eris?"

Blossom dug into a pocket and pulled her out. She looked like the color had been drained from the surface and was now several shades of grey. I picked her up out of Blossom's hand and stared for a moment with concern. Then, I realized why, closed my hand around her, and held her up to my forehead.

"Don't worry about it. You didn't know what would happen. I forgive you."

There was a warm glow that led me to open my hand. As I watched, Eris' normal color returned and the glowing ceased soon afterwards. Yeah, the thing was temperamental, but she was mine. I'd have to deal with anything that came from it.

"We decided after you got hurt to find that rift of yours and we think we know where it is," Blossom stated. "Now that you're awake, we can take you there."

"Sounds good. Let's head out."

Well, the eye thing was interesting, but the rift is why I came. Time to go finish up.

Comments

[D48]

Dude, those eyes sound awesome. I want a pair.

[Lucien Chance]

I see what you did there...