Ambiguity-noun- the possibilty of interpretating an expression and/or subject in two different ways
Example: Phineas.
I've seen many a boy in my day. None, however, have ever came close to Phineas Ambiguity. He had surpassed all I've known in personality. He was the definition of extreme. From the highest of happies, to the lowest of melancholies, he was never one to take things lightly. Passion was his core, his very being. Whether a good day or bad day having, his emotions were intense and as strong as gale winds.
- - - - - - - - -
A woman on a hillside not to far from Ceville City screamed in terror. Alone at her ranch-style home, the sight she beheld affected her greater than it may have at other times. But in the arising dawn light, it reached into her very being and sought out her horror, plucking at it like a marionette puppet. She cried out, sobs wracking her body.
A pair of baby blues watched from the tree-line close to her home. A soft, sinister chuckle slipped from the overseer's smooth lips. The eyes peered at the woman, as she had to steady herself against the posts of her back porch, to keep from falling faint. The catalyst was satisfied, and was off, disappearing into the forest.
Moments later, a man nearby heard the sad cries of a lonely old woman, and knew he must help. Crime was his specialty, more than even he realized. Using powers that to some might be categorized as supernatural, he flew in to save the day for that poor old soul of a woman. Growing close, he could see smoke arising from her backyard. He quickly swooped down to analyze the situation, and detect any immediate danger. As he came down to land, he could see why her tears were so sorrowful. This poor old maid had lived alone with only her thirty-seven cats for company, and here in her yard, she was seeing them burn alive. Some pyromaniac had tied the cats together in sets of about three or four by their tails and set them on fire.
Thinking quickly, putting to use those superhuman powers of his, this hero brought together the moisture in the air, until it was a ball of swirling water about the size of his head being levitated in mid air. He thrust his hands forward shoving streams of water towards the frying felines. The "Agua" doused each of the burning friends of the woman, soaking them and extinguishing the torturing flames. The cats, though shook up, smoking, and missing patches of hair, were relatively unharmed. The hero released each of the animals from their bonds. The woman, now crying tears of utter joy, threw her arms around the neck of the man, thanking him over and over for saving her "precious family".
"You're a hero!" she exclaimed, letting go of him to pick up a wobbly cat stumbling past her. She stroked its remaining fur, kissing its wet little head. The critter snuggled against her bosom, relieved.
"I'm just doing my duty, ma'am," the man replied, nodding to her. "I must be going, but just call if you need anything at all." With a wink, he was off, soaring into the air over the trees, and back to Ceville City.
As this man, Phineas, flew to Water Wharf, his home-away-from home, he wondered what kind of evil person would set a poor woman's cats on fire. Little did he know, that very person was closer to him than even a brother.
- - - - - - - - - -
Slipping into the cool, crisp blue water of Water Wharf's largest pool, Phineas began to feel truly alive. Swimming was his passion, aside from his heroic duties. Some said he had water coursing through his veins as opposed to the crimson plasmatic goo that humans are birthed with naturally. If you believed in Greek gods, you might have wondered if he were a bastard child of Poseidon, or even Poseidon himself. In the still, clear shades of aquamarine, Phineas seemed to transform into a graceful sea creature. He could stay underwater longer than humanly possible, one of his many powers if my observations were correct. It was as if he had gills and flippers rather than nostrils and phalanges. He loved water. Period. I had sometimes caught him, while alone, sitting on the pool's bottom, pulling around the air bubbles underwater into pictures with his super-abilities, or even creating currents in the pool to make his swims more challenging. H2O was his home. Water was the center of his superpowers. Not only that, but the center of his adoration as well. That was just Phineas.
- - - - - - - - -
Sirens screamed. The town's west-side fire department belched smoke as fire licked its belly. The firefighters were doing all in their power to stop what they could, but mostly their hands were tied because all of their fire-fighting equipment was going up in flames before their eyes. The other Ceville City fire departments had been notified, and were on their way, but the building was burning fast. Gloom grew upon the firefighters, their hands bare of any hope. By the time the others came to the rescue, rescue was out of the question. The building was collapsing in on itself. The chief firefighter's eyes grew misty.he would've said it was from the smog, but in reality his heart broke as the building went down.
A satisfied sigh oozed from the arsonist's mouth. He was close enough to the scene to not only see the smoke, but to inhale; taste it. Close enough to roast marshmallows over the smoldering remains. He'd remember to bring the ingredients for s'mores next time around, he told himself. He saw all the firefighters begin to clean the chaotic mess he had fabricated. A smug grin crept on his face. He was pleased with himself. With that, he headed home, his pyromania fix done for the night.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Now, I had had the opportunity to see both of these men in action. I knew that they were polar opposites, yes, but they were much closer than even twins. You see, Phin and Blaze(as he liked to call himself) were the same person. Phineas Ambiguity was an ambiguity. Though never clinically diagnosed with a personality disorder, I had never seen a more textbook case of the bi-polar disorder in all my lifetime. No one, aside from myself, seemed to know of his condition. Heck, even Phineas didn't realize that he was two people all packaged up in one. But I did. And it got my inventor side good and riled up. So, for years I had been making a large, glorious invention, just for my pal Phin. After all those years in retirement, my scientist self had never really died.
Finally, after years and years of tinkering, fixing glitches, and doing some fine-tuning, my project was complete. I had never felt so accomplished, not even after all my decades of research and development at a psych lab. Why? Perhaps, it was because the entirety of it was all my labor with no help but my own two hands.
"Now, to test it out." I said, rubbing my hands together. I fetched my keys and was on my way to bring my guinea pig back to my lab. Good, ole Phin.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"Dr. C, I don't know about this," Phin uttered, worry tugging at his words.
"Oh, come come, Phinny, my boy. I wouldn't let you near it if I thought it might hurt you," I explained, trying to sooth his nerves.
"Tell me one more time exactly what's going to happen," he requested, nausea seeming to swim in his large, blue eyes.
After more explaining, convincing, and a little bribery, I finally got him talked into it. He wasn't thrilled, but he trusted me. I wasn't about to break that bond. Instead, I hoped to strengthen it, by separating him from his evil side that held nothing but animosity for an old geezer like me.
We sauntered into my lab. The second Phineas saw my contraption, his jaw dropped.
"Now, it will just take a few minutes to get this baby fired up." I patted the side of my pride and joy, then went around back to punch in the start-up codes and such.
As I fiddled with the right levers and buttons, Phineas eyed up my machine. He touched the hinges, fidgeted with the handle. "You're sure I won't get hurt." it was a statement, but his uncertainty made it a question.
"I'm so positive, you might as well call me a cation," I chuckled, even though i was the only one that understood my chemistry humor. "Are you ready?"
Phin nodded. I beckoned him into the chamber of my invention. He was hesitant, yet he marched on in like a trooper, as I shut the door to it, I heard him gulp. "Don't worry, Phinny. It will be over in just a minute."
I entered the last code, and then my personality-splitter hummed with life. The splicing process began with a series of flashing lights and shrill noises. Phineas was quiet, which worried me.
"You ok in there, Phineas?" I inquired, concern drenching my tone.
I received a grunt in reply.
The machine began to wind down, finishing up its splice.
As it let off a hiss of completion, I opened the chamber door. There stood two Phineas's. I ushered them out, then went to enter the shutdown code. As I did, I watched the two mirror each other. Looking at one another in disbelief. They each had fiery red hair and sea-blue eyes, though one had a menacing look about him.
The evil looking one, Blaze, reached out to grab his twins hands. I thought in an endearing act. As he held them, he ignited fire in his palms, burning Phineas. Without thought, Phin doused him with water, his water manipulation skills handy. This sparked Blaze's anger.
Before I could even get my invention put up in the closet, I had a full-out battle on my hands. Fire burned; water sloshed. With Blaze's every fireball, Phin, had a swirling sphere of water to counteract with.
I came up closer, tranced by the intensity of the fight. It seemed to me that it would result in a stalemate. But while I waited for that to happen, I inched closer, drawn in by the waterworks and fireworks show.
"Doc, not so close!" Phin warned.
Blaze beamed. "So, that's your weakness, eh?" Blaze shot fireballs at me. I dodged a few, but one caught me straight in the gut. Not only was I hurt by the sheer impact, but also by the suffocating heat. The flames tickled my stomach, devouring my shirt. Stop, drop, and roll were the only things my brain could compute. So I obeyed.
"Nooooo!" Phin shrieked. He shot a watery circle my way, soaking me wholly, but putting out the flames. I was singed a little here and there, but overall OK.
Phineas was infuriated. He went after Blaze, and he went hard. He knocked Blaze to the ground, extinguishing any of Blaze's attempts to fight back. Then he began sending streams and streams of water down Blaze's throat, drowning him. Blaze coughed and sputtered, trying to keep the inevitable from happening. But Phin wouldn't have it. He had became angry and was now in it to win. Water gushed out of Blaze's nose, and his mouth was overflowing. Blaze came to quit fighting back.
Phineas came to check on me, leaving Blaze to die. But as Blaze died, so did Phineas. Because, although he and Blaze were separated, Blaze was still part of Phineas, and if even a part of a person dies, the rest of the body usually follows suit. Seeing Phineas suffering made me realize what I had to do.
I grabbed Phin and Blaze and hurried them to my contraption that was peeking out of the closet. I shoved both of them into it, and shut the door, rushing to enter the startup code. As it started up, I racked my brain for the reverse code. I was still trying to remember it once startup was complete. I couldn't think, so I rushed to my desk. I knew I had to have a reverse-splice code somewhere. I had to be very careful with the papers on my desk because they were all wet and some soggy ashy remains from the battle of the boys. I was running out of time though. Phin and Blaze were dying and unless I acted fast there would be no reversing that.
I was growing desperate. I flung drawers open, pawing through them, leafing through files. I couldn't find anything useful at all. I, furious that I couldn't find what I needed, grabbed the desk and flipped it. Papers skittered every which way, some landing in puddles, others in burn areas of my lab floor. I was about to give up all hope of saving Phineas and Blaze when a blue Post-it note caught my eye. I snatched it from the ground, a small edge tore off, from being slightly soppy.
I nearly wept with joy. It was the reverse code! I sped to enter it in before it was too late. I jammed the code onto the panel, relief sweeping over me. But as I finished the code, it wouldn't let me enter it because I was two characters short of a complete code. Nooooo!
I dove to the ground to search for the small section missing. I shoved my rolly chair out of the way, and swept papers to and fro in quest of getting that last little slip of paper. I stood up and looked all around, desperate for that sliver of blue. I stepped back. And there it was! It had been beneath my shoe. I bolted to my machine, paper in hand. I went to enter the last two characters in, but my shoe print made it difficult to decipher. I made my best guess at what the characters were and entered it immediately, praying it was right and that I wasn't too late to save them. My invention hummed with life as it reversed its personality splicing.
It was the longest two minutes of my entire life. I stood there hoping that this worked. That they would become one again. That they could be saved. That they weren't too far gone. That together again, they could be made whole. Whole as in, healthy. But what if they didn't? Would I be charged with murder? A double homicide? Would I do jail time? Or even be sent to death row? Would I be able to live with the guilt of killing my very good friend, Phin? I could hardly bare the thought of Phin not being among the living, the very idea of him giving up the ghost saddened deep down in my soul.
The machine shuddered, ready for the shutdown code. It was complete. Whatever "it" happened to be.
I nervously eased open the chamber door. There sat one person. "Phineas? Blaze?"
He coughed. Wiping his mouth, he said, "I think Blaze is gone for good. One-hundred percent Phineas from now on." His voice was quiet and sounded raw as if he had been screaming.
"What makes you so sure?" I questioned, as doubt was my default mode.
"When we were becoming one, he tried to fight me, but I realized something. If i can beat him physically, then I can do the same mentally and emotionally. I know I may still have him try to rear his ugly head now and again, but it will keep me sane. I know that doesn't make much sense, but it will help me remember why I am who I am, and why I do what I do. Why I choose to save people with my powers, instead of hurt them."
I nodded. "I'm proud of you, Phinny."
He smiled. He seemed tired and a smidgeon weak at the moment, but he got up and came to hug me. "Thanks Dr. C."
"Now, how about we go get you some rest?" I suggested.
"Or we could go to Water Wharf..."
I felt a grin coming on. That was the Phineas I knew.
"Ok, but no currents, because remember last time? I burped chlorine for weeks."
Phineas laughed. "Aw. C'mon Dr. C! That's what makes it fun!"
- - - - - - - - -
From that day forward, Blaze never returned. Phineas stayed Phineas, and Phineas alone, 24/7. Arson dwindled with Blaze gone. Crime still existed in Ceville City, but there was a superhero there to stop it. Phineas fought crime, and made Ceville City a better place to live. Phin told me that he would feel Blaze's craving for fire and destruction every now and again, but he would just hit the pools at Water Wharf, and drown the feelings. Not only did he become a better hero, but a better Phin as well. He fought evil, and remained good for the rest of his life. He was a hero that managed to not only save other people, but he also saved himself. He overcame, and he proved victorious.
Victorious-adjective- having achieved a victory; triumphant
Example: Phineas
