The Doctor Is In

"Well?"

Dave sighed and nodded closing the door. "Yeah, Harls. You're right about Casca... she... needs a reset to an earlier time. Pepper can you set up an appointment with Rein Corp? They're the best for this sort of thing."

(("Understood, Dave."))

Dave sighed and knocked on the door for Saki's room before entering. It was best to get this out of the way as well. He walked in. "Hello, Miss Yoshida. How are you?"

Saki Yoshida looked up at him. "I'm fine, Sir. Thank you for asking. A-Are you...?"

Dave nodded sitting down. "I'm David Stark and I'm your new owner- woah!"

Saki had immediately prostrated herself on the floor. "Thank you. Thank you for your kindness! Thank you for saving my baby and myself! I-I'm not worthy and I'll do anything! Just ask! Nothing is too degrad-"

"Ok stop, Saki!" Dave said loudly then regreted raising his voice as she trembled groveling. He sighed and got up to sit on the floor infront of her. He reached out slowly and touched her head, stroking her hair. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice. I'm your new owner and you've done nothing wrong, Saki. Ok? Just... please relax. I just want to talk with you for a bit."

Saki still trembles and nods her head. She starts to cry. It's been a longtime since anyone has treated her gently. "I-I'm S-Sorry. I-"

She feels him grab her and she's afraid for a moment but resigned for the worst... but when he puls her into his arms and hugs her she doesn't know what to do until he says, "You can cry if you want to, Saki. I'm sorry that so many bad things happened to you. I won't let anyone hurt you. Promise."

Saki sobs. She cries for a longtime in his arms.

Much later

"I see..." Saki said. "Yes that's fine with me."

Dave raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Saki nodded. "Yes. You can change me however you want... I-I know that must seem strange..."

Dave nodded a bit. "A little but not as strange as you might think. That's my business here and many times the characters my clients bring me are also willing. Can I ask... why?"

Saki smiled sadly. "I... I already changed myself so much from how I was..." she sighed. "Firstly for Hayato and then for the "clients"... I wanted to be popular... beautiful... but I... I-I'm kinda ugly now aren't I?"

Dave squeezed her in his arms and shook his head. "No... you're just damaged... I still think you're pretty. Do you... want to be reset? Made who you were before all of this? I'll still change you but we can undo some of the things that happened to you if you like?"

Saki is quiet a longtime. "The "me" now would be gone no matter what, right?"

Dave nodded. "Yes but she can be either a distant or a forgotten memory... that's your choice. Or Saki Yoshida can completely disappear if you want-"

"Yes!" She gripped him tightly. "I... I want her to "disappear" and just be a dream... can... is that... okay?"

Dave nodded and kissed the top of her head. "Okay. That's okay, Saki. I'd be happy to give you a "new" life. I can change you a lot if you like. What parts of "yourself " would you like to keep?"

Saki swallowed. "You're my owner so you get to pick right? Why...?"

Dave nodded. "Because I want to make you happy if I can. If you have requirements I will try to meet them."

Saki smiled. "You're a pretty nice devil to make a deal with you know that?"

Dave laughed. "I've actually heard that a few times before, belive it ir not!"

Saki actually smiled. A real, genuine smile. Even with her missing teeth Dave thought it was beautiful. "I believe it!" She blushed. "You're... ah... as my owner... how will you use me?"

Dave smiled and stroked her hair. "You'll be a maid."

Saki laughed. "Like at a cafe?"

He shook his head. "No. A real maid. I have a large home. A castle actually. I need maids."

Saki blinked. "Like a prince?" She shook her head. "But you could have your pick of maids from anywhere or anything, right? Why me?"

Dave nodded and shrugged. "Because you need a good home, Saki. You'll appreciate a good home and you should have one. One where you will be safe. Cared for. Looked after. Do you... does that sound appealing to you?"

Saki looked at him and nodded. "It does... but if it wasn't you could change that too, right?"

Dave nodded. "I could... but I want to know how you feel. I want good changes for you. If and when I make changes to you the closer they are to things you want for "yourself" the better they take. The more honest you are with me and Har- er, Dr Quinzel the better suited changes we can make for you. Understand?"

Saki nodded. "I understand... please call her in? I want to discuss it with you both openly." She blushed. "I think... I can be open with all my desires and make them work with yours."

Dave smiled and helped her up. "Alright. Harleen? Could you come in here please?"

"Well that was interesting!"

Dave nodded. "Ain't that the truth! What do you think, Harls?"

Harley grinned. "I think she's a very lucky girl! And I think you just got a very fun and sexy, maid who's going to be completely devoted to her master, you lucky dog! The look on her face when she asked to have her changes undone and you called her old look "cute"? Priceless! And the look on yours when she asked to have her sexdrive bumped even higher? Classic! Hahaha!"

Dave blushed but chuckled shaking his head. "That's what she asked for and I didn't get anything. We got lucky. Diamond in the rough, that one! Alright we need to work up a profile for this one. Let's make some dreams come true!"

"Already on it!" Harley said tapping away at her tablet. "Who's next?"

Dave nodded. "Like you said Midna's gonna be alright... but I need to talk to Sci-Twi."

She patted his shoulder. "Alright I'll work on the write up for Casca and Saki. Good luck, Puddin'!"

He knocked on the door and went in.

"H-Hello?"

Dave smiled. "Hello, Twilight Sparkle. May I call you, Twilight?"

The young woman in the glasses nodded nervously. "Oh uhm okay. A-and you are?"

Dave nodded. "Actually I'm your new owner. My name is David Stark but you can call me Dave if you like, Twilight."

Her eyes get wide. "Y-you're t-t-the one who w-w-wants to ch-ch-"

"Change you, yes," he smiled. "Dr Quinzel has already noted your **** and understandbly so which is why-"

"Y-you changed your mind?" She asked hopefully leaning forward.

Dave patted her hand gently. "Not yet. But I wanted to talk to you about it... I uh, understand you're afraid of becoming Midnight Sparkle."

Twilight Sparkle nodded staring at his hand. "I-I-I d-don... Mmmmm... I..."

Dave smiled. "Let's go slow. Do you want me to let go of your hand?"

Twilight blushed and nodded. Dave slowly nodded too. "Alright. But as your owner I reserve the right to change my mind. Understand?" When she nodded he slowly let go of her hand.

Twilight was surprised that he actually did what she asked. "Why?"

Dave smiled. "Believe it or not I want to be a friend to you. My family does as well... you suffer a bit from social anxiety don't you Twilight? Being captured and brought to Prime must be difficult for you. I apologize."

"Wait? What?" Twilight asked. "How? You do?"

Dave smiled. "I want to be a friend to you as well as your owner." He pressed a button on his phone and a window between the two rooms appeared and there was Midnight Sparkle. "I actually want to be a friend to both of you."

Twilight shrank back from the glaring Midnight. Dave shook his head. "Don't worry. She can see and hear us but well, as you see." Sure enough Midnight was shouting something but they couldn't hear her. Dave smiled. I figured she'd just be disruptive at this point in time. It's more important that she can hear our conversation for now anyway."

Twilight adjust her glasses interested. "That's not a standard window, is it? Not glass. It's-" she caught herself blushing.

Dave smiled. "Don't stop on my account! Please go on."

Twilight shook her head. "No, that's alright. I really shouldn't-"

"It's Solid light or what's referred to as Hard Light in some scources," he said.

"Really?" She asked excitedly. "But that's impossible. How?"

Dave smiled. "The tech is extremely costly but simple to use and enables the creation of solid photonic matter or molecules by inducing strong interaction between photons. It's got a lot of extremely practical applications. In this case the creation of permeable walls into seperate work or confinement areas as necessary. I, and many on Prime, find it's useful for the holding of particularly troublesome subjects. It gets used a lot in both incarceration but also laboratory and experimental research test areas. But it's high cost makes it rather impractical for other uses as well."

"Extraordinary!" She said looking at a true science fiction miracle come to reality. "Sorry but I love this stuff!" She looked at him narrowing her eyes a bit. "That's why you showed it to me, isn't it?"

Dave smiled and shook his head. "Actually I did know that but it isn't why. I meant what I said earlier. It's important to have Midnight present or at least cognizant of what we're going to be discussing."

"Which is?" She asked.

"You, Twilight." He nodded at Midnight. "It's important that we talk about you."

"I... I don't understand what that has to do with her," she said.

Dave sighed. "Yeah that's what I was afraid of... you're afraid of Midnight. To you she represents power unleashed and out of control as well as a desire for more of the same."

Twilight nodded. "Because that's who she is! She's dangerous and a threat to others and-"

"And she's you," Dave said.

Twilight shook her head. "N-No. She's someone else. S-She's..."

"She's you," Dave said. "She's a lart if you inside that you fear. That's why she doesn't just "go away". Fear of a thing makes it more powerful. You understand that with your social anxiety. You're not as afraid of me now that we've started talking as you were before. You try to accept and overcome that problem... so why can't you try to face this one too?"

Twilight stares at him, then at Midnight and just shakes her head. "I... I can't. That can't be-"

"Twilight," he said. "She is a shadow of your true innerself. She's a part of you. The more you deny and shun that, the stronger you make her by being afraid of her and the weaker you become. You're smart. You know this. Power and knowledge aren't necessarily bad. They can be used that way but the decision is yours to make."

He looked at his phone. "I could make a blade of solid light right now that would decapitate her in an instant."

They both stared at him. "Or you. Or any of the subjects in the area. That power is right here at my fingertips... I could brute **** the changes I want upon you. As your owner I have your powers on lockdown. I could make you fight each other for my amusement. Or toy with you in innumerable ways... but I chose to do things this way. I exercise my power and knowledge to try to make the choices and outcomes I decide upon to be beneficial because I want them to be. My choice."

He smiled. "I choose to build comfortable and safe rooms for housing subjects. I choose to try to help them while I work towards my own goals. I choose to extend the hand of friendship instead of the dominating hand of a harsh master. I choose to try to build and create rather than destroy. My choice. Understand?"

Twilight was quiet a long moment. "You're trying to build me up as well as change me," she looks at Midnight. "No... us."

Dave nodded. "I am," he said and pressed a button and the wall separating the two vanished. "Neither of you can harm the other here. Neither of you has the means to do so. So while you have this opportunity..."

"Why..." Twilight said. "Why woyld you hurt my friends?"

"They weren't your friends at the time," Midnight said. "I... we wanted power! We had power! They were getting in our way! And then you! You gave it all up because of what? Friendship?"

"Yes," Twilight said. "Don't you understand how important that is to us?"

"Don't you understand how important not being weak anymore is to us?" Midnight asked causing her to blink. "You gave it up... gave up on us... to be "weak" because your friends needed us to be weak? Why couldn't they accept us as strong? Why couldn't we be both?"

Twilight blinked. "I... I don't know. I... never thought about it that way before. They were afraid... so I was afraid. It was with good reason... we were doing terrible things... but now that you ask that I don't know why we couldn't have found a way to be both." She shook her head. "No... that's not true..."

Twilight stood up and walked over to stand infront of Midnight. "It was because I was afraid. I was so afraid of what we were doing and becoming because I let their fear control me... and so I shunned you... a part of myself. A part that might be a bit selfish but because she wanted to know and become strong for a change for our own sake... and that wasn't fair to you... or to us. I'm sorry." She looked at Midnight. "You are a part of me. A part I should accept and make friends with... because that's my real power. I'm not afraid of you now... and not because we're both powerless at the moment. I know you're just a part of me." She hugged Midnight. "A part of myself."

Midnight rolled her eyes but didn't try to get away from Twilight. Dave nodded. The whole Twilight/Midnight thing was pretty inconsistent in what he'd read and seen. It didn't quite vibe right with the usual message of the show. This? This made more sense. That's what a dark persona was. If it wasn't a corruption, then it was a unresolved part of persons personality. He saw Harleen giving him a thumbs-up and he mimed tipping a hat. "Should I give you ladies some alone time to talk?"

Twilight nodded saying, "I think that might be for the best. Thank you, Dave."

Midnight nodded as well. Dave noted she wasn't speaking but she also wasn't pushing Twilight away either. Two different parts of "her" trying to accept each other. The one who wanted power and the one who feared it trying to bridge the gap. Trying to become friends with herself. That was Twilight's real power after all.

"Good job, Doctor!"

Dave chuckled as Harleen gave him a shoulder rub. "Thanks, Doctor. I learned from the best, you know."

She grinned. "You certainly did."

Dave nodded. "She's a very different Twilight from the I know but still similar. Fascinating."

Harley nodded. "I think she's going to be a very interesting fusion. We'll want to pay close attentiontoher during her adjustment period as she settles in. I actually think she'll be ok but let's not take any chances." She showed him on the tablet. The projected outcomes were looking much more favorable and increasing by the moment.

Dave nodded. "Agreed. She deserves the attention anyway. They all do. One more to go then we'll setup the start up process." His phone gave an alert and he checked. "Damn."

"Something wrong?" Harley asked.

Dave nodded. "We've been here too long. Hilda's on her way home already."

Harley nodded. "We can do Midna's tomorrow. Though she's going to be the easiest by my estimates."

Dave nodded. "And she should be the one we do first because she'll have the easiest adjustment most likely... we really are on a roll. It's hard to stop when we're getting somewhere now."

Harley shrugged. "Why don't you go home, meet Hilda, get her settled then come back. I can work on the profiles for our two special projects that way."

Dave thought about it... and nodded his head. "No. You're right. It's important I be there to welcome her home properly. Just incase you've git your ID?"

Harleen nodded and after a moment pulled out her ID that said who she was, whose character she was and have her permission to be out as well. "Don't leave home without it! You take the van and I'll call a taxi-"

"No," Dave said shaking his head. "I'll leave you the van and I'll have Pepper call a cab for myself. Have whoevers got weekend duty give you hand!"

He gave her a extra long kiss. "Oh Mistah S! What about keeping it professional at work?"

Dave smirked. "I did. I'm off the clock now and the office is technically closed, so the only one being unprofessional is you." He winked. "I'll try to keep it secret from the boss."

(("Too late. I know everything. I called you a cab. ETA 10 minutes. This isn't your first recent slip up. We'll discuss your behavior at your next proformance review."))

Harleen giggled as Dave sighed. "Thanks, Pepper." It was important that he got performance evaluations too and who better than Pepper. "Well since I'm already in "trouble" for PDA in the workplace..." he kissed Harleen again. "I love you, Harls!"

Harleen grinned. "I love yah too, Puddin'! Go on now and get that princess!"

Dave ran to his office and then out the building and grinned seeing the familiar cab pull up. He got in and told the driver, "Good to see yah, my friend! Number 7 Highland Way and I'm in a rush, Wan Li!"

Wan "Short Round" Li grinned and turned his ballcap. "Okey dokey, Dr. Stark! Hold on to your potatoes!"

[David Stark Pepper Tinker Bell Harley Quinn and Melfina VSD02C

Will Return In

Hilda

Coming Soon]