Doctored Chance #NaNoWriMo2019

- | "Not a Chapter"

A/N: Technically a chapter

As a perceptive person, you have likely noticed that this memoir is comprised of chapters told primarily from the perspective of Dr. Tobias MacClain, in a chronological order. Though I may interject at moments, and occasionally spice things up with a few assuredly interesting notes on a few other interesting characters, the chapters thus far—and following—all revolved—and will continue to revolve—around Dr. MacClain.

Taking the aforementioned rules into consideration, I must declare outright that this portion of reading material is not a chapter. It takes place outside of the eyes our antihero, and turns back the clock to when he still thought fate was on his side; back in the volcano, after Team Defiance was locked in.

My client, Tobias MacClain, had no part in the information that I reveal in this chapter of his story.

I shall begin where it began.

One elevator shaft below his feet, a red-eyed teenager had her reading glasses pushed all the way up her nose and was typing furiously at a monitor. Her phone buzzed relentlessly on the desk beside the mouse, lighting up with each new message from her foster siblings, abusing the group chat.

Busy, Dizzy mostly ignored the unhelpful barrage.

Milk: Was Doc mad? _/10?

Hiccup: Where's your broadcast at, Ditz?

Milk: Did Doc find our note?

Hiccup: Hey, we're here. Open gate pls.

Dizzy hit a button on the remote in her pocket, then flipped the phone over. Eyes on the monitor, she pressed the EXECUTE key, then sat back in her chair and held the keyboard in her lap like a guitar. Her fingers hovered over the keys, dancing to an upbeat thinking jam from the classic rock band on her t-shirt.

The green process bar on the screen bounced in her eyeline as she bobbed her head. She lifted her boots to the desk and pushed herself off, flicking the keyboard back to the desk before she repelled to the monitors opposite the main computer.

Dull black and white screens filled her visions, music pumped through her headphones, and her finger tapped rhythmically over the corresponding keyboard and its right arrow key. Security feeds flashed past.

The kitchen feed was nothing but static. The bedroom was empty, she waved at herself in the control room. She turned these feeds off to save memory and compiled those remaining in a grid on the screen. The doctor was holding his head in the top corner, experiencing what looked like agony. Dizzy pursed her lips.

The hero lair feed, with two angles, took up two more squares of the grid, showing a meek-looking Mr. Might and Vine Voodoo from both their glorious backsides and pleasant fronts. The final screen, at the bottom right, displayed the secret entrance to the lair, where the old aluminum boat bobbed beside a skiff. Two girls clambered around the little dingy, one fussing with an unconscious person, the other holding on to the dock.

Dizzy pushed back her chair, took out her earphones, and traipsed to the door, poking her head out. Hand cupped around her mouth, she called, "Hey losers, did you bring my soda?"

Milk Chocolate stuck out her tongue and lifted a six-pack up to Hiccup, who grabbed it from the dock, then helped her sister up. Hiccup raised the soda over her head and the two younger sisters swaggered over to Dizzy, quite pleased with themselves after managing to commandeer a vessel all on their own.

At the time that Dr. MacClain was forcing the lawyer to drive him around Central Benediction, three clever young girls had been illegally driving the van that he had left with them and staying on his tail. Hiccup had stolen his powers during their early breakfast and stayed in range of him for as long as possible; long enough to get the girls to the dock and figure out a hasty plan. While Dr. MacClain reasoned with his hostage, coaxing her out of her sedan, Hiccup told Dizzy to jump on the boat. The chances of him looking over were high, so Hiccup and Milk Chocolate dove onto a nearby vessel to hide, and Hiccup made the next decision as quickly as she could... before Dr. MacClain could leave her range.