Dr. Wilfred Whoticore's Arrest

(Note: An evil doctor is finally brought to justice, but not before he does everything he can to threaten, cause physical harm, terrorize and intimidate some Whoville citizens, and provoke the wrath of the police as well as Pippi Longstocking. Action packed scenes as Whoticore presents formidable challenges on a physical, mental, and emotional level for all present.)

Pippi had watched from a discreet distance as Whoticore had called Whocares while he was making his rounds of the fifth floor. She knew that now was the best, probably the only time to get to the admin office before he got the same idea. She ducked into an elevator, and thankfully it took her to the floor the office was on. There had been no stops in between.

Whoticore, though, didn't have as good a luck. He had to wait 45 seconds for his elevator, and it made several stops on different floors before finally reaching the one he wanted.

In her elevator, Pippi called Liza, letting her know what had just transpired, and that she was just on her way.

"What can I do to help out?" Liza asked.

"Well, that will depend on where Whoticore is by the time I get there. You might need to create some sort of diversion until I can get into his office...Or else, a distraction to keep him out of it once he arrives. With any luck, I'll manage to get in there before he even knows what's going on."

The elevator door opened, and Pippi walked out. She hurried for the office just down the hall.

There, she saw no sign of anyone else. Opening the door to the office quietly, just enough to peek inside, she determined the room was still empty. Heaving a quiet, relieved sigh at getting this far, Pippi got inside, and shut the door, tightly. The first thing she did was check the computer. It was still on, with the display exactly as Tora and Whoticore had carelessly left it in their earlier haste.

Pippi began working quickly, first, she pulled up all the files concerning Indianna and the others, the files Whoticore and Tora had tampered with and/or created. They were then copied onto a cd she brought along for that purpose, and she put away her own copy.

Next, she quickly worked on the computer program, setting it to freeze within one minute, prohibitting access to the database. The timer would not let the computer reboot until a full hour later, when Whoticore would be in custody.

Just as the system started shutting down, she ducked behind a shelf in the office as footsteps were heard coming down the hall outside.

The door opened and Dr. Whoticore came in.

Pippi turned off her cell phone, having no time to call Liza back to let her know she'd succeeded in getting the records and freezing the computer. All she could do now was wait, and couldn't take any chance on the cell phone ringing, giving her away before the security and police arrived.

The doctor took a seat at the computer and was about to log in when Liza came in.

"Ah, Nurse Liza," he said, concentrating on the screen. "Can I help you?"

He got as far as logging in when Pippi's commands kicked in, freezing the system. "Blast," he muttered, checking the keyboard for a lockup. He hadn't looked up yet.

"I don't think you can help me, but," she said, sitting down across from him, looking him squarely in the eye. "I am sure you can help my friends here."

Annoyed at the stubborn terminal and at Whocares's nurses's obscure comment, Wilfred looked up.

Three guards from hospital security were behind her, along with Officer Wholihan and two of his men.

A muscle on Whoticore's cheek twitched. He stood up. "That depends on what they require, nurse," he replied smoothly.

As he had his back turned to Pippi's hideaway, she came silently out and smiled to WLiza, holihan and the guards.

"Let's talk about it in the conference room, doctor," the hospital security head said, motioning Whoticore away from the terminal.

He stood his ground a moment. "I was just checking the whereabouts of a patient...one I believe could become very ill if not immediately located." He looked pointedly at the hospital guards. "You know that takes priority here, don't you?"

The guards looked at each other, hesitating.

"Which patient might that be, doctor?" Pippi asked, prepared to gauge his reaction and how quickly he could come up with a lie.

Liza crossed her arms. She couldn't wait to hear him lie his way out of this one.

He licked his lips. "You would have to ask Tora which one....she informed me that one of the patients had disappeared and to meet her here. Nothing more."

"Fine," Liza said, looking to the head hospital guard. "We can all wait in the conference room and I will have the head nurse paged to meet us there."

Pippi nodded at Liza, approvingly, but turning to Whoticore, she feigned confusion. "That's interesting...I'd think your employee would be more specific than that. Not telling you which patient, well - " Pippi put on a rather disgusted air, "That would be rather sloppy, especially since it is a life at stake."

The doctor turned around, eyeing the investigator. "This is a restricted area of the hospital, Miss. You are not allowed in here without authorization." He smiled. "I could have the Officer arrest *you* for tresspassing."

"Oh, but I have been authorized to enter this area...by another doctor, and Officer Wholihan himself," she replied coolly.

The officer nodded, confirming what she had said to be true.

"It is in the best interest of the patients," she added.

Wilfred eyed all of them darkly.

At that moment, Dr. Whocares came to the door. "Liza, there you are. Did you make certain that good Dr. Whoticore got Indianna Who checked out properly in the system?"

"I was just about to do that," Liza replied, turning back to Whoticore. "but I think he was rather busy trying to alter Serena Whoot-of-a-Time's records instead - "

"Not true!" Wilfred snarled. "You didn't give me enough time to - "

" - 'time', Wilfred?" Whocares repeated. Whoticore's eyes betrayed his realization at his mistake, but only for a moment. "What an odd turn of phrase! Not correct her and say, 'change' it to reflect her checking out?"

" - time to log onto the system," he recovered, a smile crossing his face. "You think you're very clever, William, whatever it is you're playing at."

Pippi shot him a look as if to say, 'Don't play innocent with us.'

The two powerful doctors glared at each other. They could have continued this sparring match all night, Liza realized, as slick as their nemesis was.

At that point, Wickersham1 and Rocket came into the already crowded room. Wickersham1 moved past the guards and stood next to William, between him and Liza, who was still sitting down in the chair in front of the desk.

Wilfred smiled, turning to Pippi behind him. His face was an impassive skull. "And these are the kinds of 'witnesses' you get for your case, woman? You insult my status with his - presence," he spat out the last contemptuously. Obviously Wickersham1 was not high up on his Whoville socialite's list.

"I wouldn't make crass comments about status if I was you, Mr. Whoticore," Pippi replied, narrowing her eyes at him.

The doctor had a sharp retort ready for the investigator, but then, of all people to come in, Tora burst through the door.

She glared at Whoticore with a look of unveiled hatred. "You BASTARD!" she snarled. "If I am getting roped into this mess, then you are coming down with me! - "

Wilfred's eyes blazed with anger, and everyone saw it - the submerged part of his true nature. "Shut up, woman - "

"It was YOUR idea to let that punk Wickersham1 take the fall for you, - " Tora blurted.

Wickersham1 snarled, moving forward, but Liza held him back. "You both are dead!" he yelled.

- but I won't do the same!" Tora finished.

" - I said, 'shut up'," Whoticore commanded Tora, raising a hand to slap her across the face.

"That's enough, Whoticore!" Pippi snapped sharply.

He looked back at her, a complete lack of fear in his raving eyes, taunting her to stop him.

Pippi reached out and grabbed hold of him at the same time William did.

"It's all right, Pippi, I've got him," William said.

Pippi released her grip on Whoticore's upper arm only after William reassured her he had him for sure. Even when she let him go, the expression on her face indicated she'd like to tear him apart.

Tora looked like she could kill her boss as much as Pippi did. She suddenly moved to stand in front of Wilfred, putting herself between William and Pippi. Tora turned around. Pippi could see her eyes were glazed and fevered and she was deathly pale, but she started having trouble breathing.

"Oh my goodness, Tora..." Pippi reached out to try and help her.

Tora shoved her hand away.

"Tora," Whocares said, feeling a twinge of alarm. "Did he give you a tetanus shot for the ankle?"

"I THOUGHT he did," she gasped. She staggered into Wilfred, who shoved her into Whocares, breaking the other doctor's grip on him.

Pippi lurched forward, put her arm around Tora, and began pulling her away. She felt Tora's fevered body as she did so. "William, she's burning up!" She tried to hold her in a position to keep her airway clear.

"It wasn't for tetanus. It gave her grabies...." William realized aloud. "Careful, Pippi!"

Pippi uttered a horrified gasp, and made sure to hold Tora in such a way so she wouldn't be bitten by her.

Tora struggled, kicking Pippi, and wriggling and writhing in her arms. Pippi was willing to put up with that, keeping her head still so she couldn't bite her way to freedom and give Pippi grabies as well...was what mattered along with keeping the airway clear.

William moved forward to help Pippi, but Wilfred grabbed Whocares and flung him hard against the wall with enough force to momentarily stun the younger doctor.

Rocket snarled, seeing her brother brutalized so, and surged forward to take on Whoticore.

He shoved her back, then pushed Liza backwards in the chair, spilling her into the security guards and police.

Several outcries from all present were heard.

The evil doctor was looking for an escape route amidst the chaos, but there were too many people between him and the doorway.

William recovered and tried to reach for the phone on the desk to call a respiratory team for Tora. He had his hand on it, when Wilfred's clasped over it, squeezing hard. He wrenched the phone out of Whocares hand and held it tauntingly out of reach.

"Hand it over, man!" William said, annoyed.

"And let you save her? Why, I wouldn't think of it!" Whoticore laughed.

"We got a confession, folks!" Officer Wholihan stated.

"And several assault charges to lay in addition." said one of the security guards.

William grabbed the phone out of Wilfred's hands and paged for an emergency respiration team to come up to the admin office. He nursed his hurt hand while talking hastily. Whoticore had scratched him hard enough to draw blood, most of the room observed.

Pippi tried to hustle Tora out of the tumult as much as possible.

"Get Miss Tora some air - take her into the hallway, Pippi."

"Yes, as soon as..." A space in the doorway cleared, "Ah, that's a little better," she said as she managed to get Tora out into the hall. Tora thrashed in Pippi's grip, but she couldn't break free.

William and his nurses, as well as everyone else, poured out into the hallway. The head of hospital security conferred with his people, then they moved back into the admin office to secure the computer.

Pippi tried to calm Tora the way she had done for Indy, but she didn't expect the same success. Tora had grabies after all. "Liza," she called back to the nurse.

"Yes?"

"Can you get the serum for Tora?" she asked urgently.

"We have some left, but she needs the respiratory team first to stabilize her," she replied.

Just then the elevator nearby opened and the team rushed out onto the floor.

"We'll take her from here, ma'am," they told Pippi.

She nodded, and let them take over.

Wholihan and his guards kept a tight circle around Whoticore in the hallway, watching the respiratory team work.

The evil doctor shook his head slowly, tsking at their efforts.

Pippi looked at Whoticore. "I thought the grabies threat was past...So why did she catch it now, after all the others have recovered? Perhaps you can tell us about that, doctor..." she said pointedly. "As for the missing serum, Mr. Whoticore, If the police haven't searched your home, they will. You were the last one, who reportedly had access to the supply..."

William and his staff watched the exchange with interest. Rocket put her arm around her brother's waist, squeezing him, so afraid after seeing him in danger. He smiled, appearing again, to relax after such extreme stress. His heart was hardly above a normal beat, she noticed, amazed.

Wilfred eyed William, then smiled and turned back to Pippi. "If I had taken the grabies serum, I wouldn't have it in my home, you stupid girl," he muttered, annoyed at the ill thought-out accusation.

"Oh, he's going t' get an earful for that remark," Wickersham1 said to Liza.

"Mr. Whoticore, please..." Pippi replied in a low tone, "Don't make an even bigger fool of yourself by calling insults...Your residence is just one of many places they can and will search."

"All right," Officer Wholihan said, taking Wilfred in tow. "I've heard plenty and enough. You can make all the excuses you want - in the conference room and to your directory board."

William sighed, feeling a great relief that was physically palatable that this was nearly over.

"Amen to that, William," Liza agreed.

Pippi nodded, still looking very stern.

Wholihan turned to the small group. "We'll need your presence in the conference room as well, I'm afraid."

Whocares and Pippi nodded. They watched them for a moment, then followed Officer Wholihan, as they escorted Whoticore away.

Liza came and walked by her boss. Pippi was on his other side. "It's amazing, isn't it," Liza said.

"What's that, Liza?" he asked.

"That after all that woman did to you, you still cared more for her life than her own boss who didn't lift a finger to save her just now." She shook her head in disgust.

Pippi nodded in agreement with Liza.

Whocares jammed his hands in his pockets and looked at Pippi. "Yes, well I suppose Pippi could tell you that's the criminal mind at work for you, and I for one am glad I do not understand it." He felt slightly off balance and pulled his hands back out of his pockets.

Pippi heaved a sigh, and dabbed at her forehead with a tissue.

"Wow, I can't wait to get back to Serena's and tell the others about all this," Rocket laughed.

The conference room was on the same floor as the administrative offices, so they bypassed the elevators and continued down the hallway. They came to a set of security doors that needed to be unlocked. Liza had the access key, and she opened the doors to let everyone through. Those doors had to be unlocked to open on both sides. The police passed through with Whoticore, and the others followed. The conference room was the first door on the left, and it also required unlocking from the outside.

William tripped, but regained his footing quickly.

His sister laughed. "You really have been clumsy of late, dear brother."

"Are you all right, William?" Pippi asked quietly.

"Uh huh," he sighed. He looked at her and smiled. They approached the conference room. "Just a bit bruised on the hand from where Wilfred grabbed the phone." He smoothed his hair down, and Pippi could see the scratch marks the mad doctor had left.

"We're just waiting for you," Wholihan said. "You have the conference room key, doctor?"

"Hmmm...?" William said distantly. "Oh....yes...."

He fumbled in his pockets for the keys, having difficulty finding them.

Pippi could see Whoticore smiling at the doctor out of the corner of her eye.

William stopped searching, annoyed at his inability to find the keys, but then got a hold of them. He pulled them out but then dropped them onto the floor.

"I'll get them," Liza offered, picking them up.

"You're not all right, William," Pippi said darkly.

Whocares looked at Whoticore curiously, wondering why he was smiling. "How strange...." he sighed. "You are clever, aren't you..." he waved a hand in the air, Wilfred's name escaping his mind for the moment.

Pippi frowned.

"Wilfred, dear boy," the evil man offered helpfully. "Feeling good, are we?"

Wickersham1 glared at Wilfred.

Liza and Rocket looked at each other in alarm. They touched William's arm.

"Oh....yes...." Whocares said softly, closing his eyes, a flush of euphoria dampening his senses.

He staggered.

"Oh, my god!" Rocket cried, buckling under the weight of her brother as he dropped to his knees.

Pippi quickly bent to help him up.

Whocares felt like a dead weight in her hands, unable to help them.

"Liza, get a gurney, Wickersham1, you call the ER!" Pippi said urgently.

"Sure I will," Wickersham1 snarled. "After I sort this bastard out," he said, making a grab for Wilfred.

"Now, Wickersham1!" Pippi said sharply, "This man's seriously ill!"

Surprised, the police were momentarily scattered as Wickersham1 pinned the doctor hard against the wall.

"Somebody!" Pippi appealed.

Rocket, knowing it would waste time trying to reason with Wickersham1, sprinted down the hall to call ER.

William looked at his hand in wonder. He had none of the symptoms of having contracted grabies, he noticed calmly, and could not understand why he was on the floor. But it didn't seem to matter too much to him. He had been under so much stress lately, the warm, relaxing feeling was a great relief he was gladly giving in to. Closing his eyes, he relaxed.

Pippi held William, waiting for the gurney and help to come.

Liza came with the gurney, which she and Pippi strapped William into.

Nothing seemed to phase Whoticore. He looked pointedly at first Wickersham1, then Pippi. "I wouldn't waste time with me son because, you see, your beloved doctor doesn't have any."

The officers recovered quickly and dragged the enraged Wickersham off the mad doctor.

He grabbed the doctor's pocket as they pulled him off, tearing it open.

The noise of metal hitting the floor drew everyone's attention to the floor in front of Whoticore. Something fingersized and metallic had fallen out of Whoticore's torn pocket. Rocket, who had come back, picked up the fallen object.

"Hey....that's Luna's!" Wickersham1 exclaimed, taking the strange metal object from Rocket and going over to Pippi. "Luna lost this the day Whoticore and Tora had visited her and tried to restitch her arm up," he told Pippi.

The object was a finger ring, designed to rest on the tip of a finger. It appeared very old and had the elaborate carvings of the head of an owl on it. An owl with a needle-sharp beak.

"We were wondering where it went," he muttered, but then looked over at William.

"Oh, good lord," Pippi responded, more than a little appalled. She knew this was an ideal if antiquated means of introducing such things as poisons into the body. With Luna being so into herbs, and Whoticore's apparent unhealthy interest in her back when the girls were both so sick, it made a sort of bizarre sense. Whoticore must've stolen it in order to use for the purpose of harm, maybe even murder.

"He must have slipped it on in the admin office and scratched William with it when they struggled with the phone," Liza summized as she took the key to the conference room and opened it for everyone to file in.

"Yes," Pippi agreed with that theory. "None of us saw the device then because the room was in such an uproar." She added darkly, "No doubt that's what he was counting on."

"Wickersham1, do you know what Luna was carrying in it when she came into the hospital?" Rocket asked, her voice shaking.

"Do I?" he laughed. "She used it on me out at the factory when we - well," he said, more subdued. "It was loaded with NeverWake. She was paranoid the nurses would going to try to stitch her arm up when we got here and kept it ready to use in self defense."

Rocket looked over at her brother. She could tell he was still breathing and appeared only to be peacefully drifting in and out of consciousness on the gurney.

Pippi didn't relax, however. Not only unfamiliar with NeverWake, she wasn't sure Whoticore hadn't replaced it with something else or put in a lethal dose.

They looked over at Whoticore. He appeared to be thoroughly enjoying their agony over their friend's possible fatal condition.

Once everyone was securely inside, Liza shut the conference room door.

Pippi strode over to Dr. Whoticore, blue/green eyes gleaming with suppressed anger. "The games stop here, Wilfred," she hissed in his face."

"Hardly, dear girl," he laughed. "Because I am not going to tell you whether it was still loaded with NeverWake.....or one of those poisonous herbs Old Jim snuck in under our quarantine and gave to Serena while they were here." He thought about it, then added, "and it would take you way too much time to discover *which* herb AND the cure...yes, I think I like that....that SERENA can have it on her conscience that SHE was the instrument of his death." He smiled.

Incensed, Pippi gave him such a burning glare that, if looks could kill, Dr. Whoticore would've withered to dust in a second. "'Doctor' Whoticore..." she said in low, clipped tones, spitting out the title of 'doctor' with contempt. "It might take your rather inept staff a century what it takes William's staff to figure out in a blink of an eye..."

Wickersham1 snickered. Liza and Rocket chuckled. Wilfred only looked bored.

Pippi continued. "But...After you are officially arrested and keel-hauled off to the big house, Whoville and surrounding area will be much safer...The sigh of relief at your vanquishment will be felt and heard all the way to the top of Mt. Crumpit, I'm sure..."

Liza clapped. "That'll be the day!"

Pippi continued, her voice becoming more frigid and clipped. "And, if by chance, you don't know what hard time is like, allow me to give you a small taste of it...Because people like you, are generally not well liked in prison, even among the other inmates." Turning to the others, she requested, "Stand back a moment, please."

With that, she suddenly picked him up by the hair, using her right arm. She put her left hand under his back as a support, lifting his body off the ground, hoisting it up so that it was positioned a bit above her head.She whirled around a few times.

Wilfred roared at her to put him down, his arms and legs flailing wildly.

Next, Pippi tossed him up in the air, catching him by his middle. Each time she caught him, she'd reposition him just before tossing him again so that he couldn't get his barings. Wilfred was being hurled and whirled about as if in a vicious wind storm.

"Aaaaaaaaahh!" he screamed. It felt like his insides were threatening to come out. "Stop! STOP!" But she continued to bat him around like a cat playing with a mouse. Scream all he might, it fell on deaf ears. And Pippi wasn't through yet.

She took him over to the conference room window, opened it, then dangled him out the window by his feet. She moved him up and down, pretending to almost let go several times.

"AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!! HELP! HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLPPPP!!!" Wilfred yelled helplessly to the wind outside.

Wickersham1 turned away, grabbing Rocket by the shoulders, reminded of the time at the Factory when the Grinch threatened to do the same thing to him.

Next, Pippi drew Whoticore back inside, put him on the floor and pinned him underneath her. "Have you had enough excitement yet, Doctor?" she asked, slightly out of breath, but still in an unruffled tone.

Wilfred, stunned by the physical attack and disoriented, watched her, his eyes white with fear.

"Since you are so fond of fear and suffering, I thought you might enjoy the experience from the...closest...perspective..." She paused a moment, considering, and then spoke up again. "Wickersham1...You wanted a go at this...man? And I use the term very loosely in his case..." she hissed.

"No..." he said, badly shaken by the parallel to his own previous experience. He looked up at the police. "Well....what the hell are you waiting for, dammit! Take that bastard away before he kills someone!!!"

"Yes, he's all yours now, officers," Pippi agreed.

Shaken out of their shock at what Pippi had been enboldened to do, they swarmed around Whoticore as Pippi released him to their custody. The others took William out to the hall, through the security doors. Liza opened the doors with the access key and trembling hands. Wickersham1 knelt and examined William. Rocket joined him. His sister caressed his cheek with gentle fingers. William's eyes fluttered open. "Hello..." he said, woozy.

"How do you feel, Doctor?" Wickersham1 asked him.

He sighed and smiled, "Fine...relaxed...so glad it is over. I was so tired of cleaning up after Whoticore and Tora's messes...."

Rocket smiled back. "You won't have to anymore," she choked.

Wickersham1 looked up at Pippi. "I think 'es all right, Pippi. I can tell...the symptoms of that drug, well, I know 'em pretty well."

"It's just NeverWake," Rocket agreed. "Not poison."

Pippi was relieved about that, but she narrowed her eyes, still enraged at Whoticore. "Whoticore probably had several motives for drugging William...One, to divert all our attention away from him and onto William, so he'd have a better chance at escaping. Two, to put William out of commission for a while, and - because Wilfred is a power-junky who thrives on making people cringe and panic."

Liza had her arms wrapped tightly around herself. "Whoticore just wanted to scare the hell out of us!" she snapped. "He knows how much William means to his staff - he's just insanely jealous of that."

"Yes, that's the evil reprobate mind hard at work," Pippi said darkly.

Whocares tried to focus. "Pippi?" he said.

"Yes, I'm here, William," she replied, drawing nearer to him.

"Don't tell Serena about this....she is so troubled already. Tell Luna, give her back her ring. Make sure she doesn't blame herself for this."

"Serena won't hear about it from me...And I'll try my best with Luna," she replied.

"Oh, and don't tell Indy....let her think Whoticore is away for good. Don't frighten her with this, please."

"I'll tell her that he is in custody of the police." she responded. She put a hand on his cheek and smiled warmly down at him.

"I hope you don't mind...." he said, his eyes drooping again. "...if I...just sleep this off...." As if he were merely settling down in his own bed to get comfortable, he adjusted his position and sighed.

"Go ahead." she replied.

Satisfied that William was safe, and Indy being taken care of back at Serena's, Pippi said to the others, "I should return to the conference room in case I'm needed.

Liza and Rocket gave Pippi the keys to the security doors and the conference room, and waited for her to come back to tell them if they would also be needed there.

Pippi started back down the hall, disappearing behind the security doors.