Author's Note: Quantum Leap and Rocky Horror Picture Show are not mine. I do not make any money writing about it - this is purely for entertainment purposes, and not intended to infringe on anyone's copyrights.
"Here
it comes again..." Sam's voice
trailed off. As the blue glow of the
Leap faded, Sam was momentarily blinded by lights overhead. Then the spotlight was turned toward someone
else, and he saw that he was standing in front of the curtains of a dimly-lit
stage. A quick glance around revealed
that he was one of four people on the stage - two women, one of whom was
singing, and one other man.
At least, I'm pretty sure that's a
man, he thought. The
lighting makes it hard to tell.
Wondering
about his identity this time around, Sam looked at himself. And looked. He found himself in a black sequined merry widow, thigh-high fishnet
hose and black high heels. The fact
that the others on the stage, the man included, were similarly dressed did
nothing to quell his unease.
As
Sam stood there, torn between wanting Al there to help him and relief that he
wasn't there to see Sam like this, the curtains opened behind him, revealing a
dark-haired man spotlighted at rear center stage. He was also in a merry widow, but his was red, and he wore a
long, black feather boa and two long gloves, one fishnet, the other
gold-sequined. Also, from what Sam
could see, his make-up was different from the rest. Theirs (and, he assumed, his own) was mask-like, while the newcomer's
looked like he was trying to pass for a woman, albeit an extremely overly
made-up one.
I don't know what kind of show this
is, Sam thought fervently, but I hope it's over soon.
There
was a misty area between the newcomer and the rest of the cast, too thick for
Sam to see the rest of the stage clearly. The man at center stage had started singing, and was walking to the
front of the stage, when suddenly he jumped into the mist, which cleared away
to reveal an elaborate swimming pool. Clueless as to what to do next, Sam watched the others for cues and
hoped that he didn't look as stupid as he felt. One of the women noticed him watching her, and returned his gaze
lustily, licking her lips. Sam blushed
furiously and tried to ignore her, glad that the heavy make-up hid his
reaction.
Maybe having Al here wouldn't be so
bad after all, he thought. At
least then I'd know something about why I'm here. And who I am. And how I
was supposed to react to that.
As
if on cue, the Imaging Chamber door whooshed open, and Al stepped through. He looked stunned for a moment by Sam's
appearance, then grinned suggestively.
"Nice
legs, Sam. And you say my wardrobe is
over the top."
Sam
glared at the hologram, his embarrassment at the way he looked fueling his
frustration. Something of what he was
feeling must have gotten through to Al. He stopped pretending to leer, but couldn't contain his merriment at
seeing his straight-laced friend in this situation.
"Okay
Sam, I know you can't talk now, but try to listen. Your name is Brad Majors - yeah, you're a guy under all that
stuff. It's 1975, and you're in the
castle of a Dr. Frank" He hit the
hand-link. "N. Furter." He snorted derisively. "What a name." He looked around for a moment, then pointed
toward the man Sam had assumed to be the star of this bizarre production.
"That's
the guy. We don't really have anything
on him, but considering that a name like that can't be for real, it's no big
surprise."
Sam
started following the others toward the swimming pool, and Al tagged along.
"Anyway,
what we do know is that sometime in the next 24 hours Brad, his fiancee Janet
Weiss," again he pointed, "and the rest of the people on stage are
found dead in the woods near here. Cause of death seems to have been some kind of massive shock."
Sam
had been about to join the rest of the cast in the water, but Al's words
stopped him. Seeing Sam's hesitation,
Al waved his friend on.
"It's
okay, Sam, go ahead and take a dip. According to the autopsies, it wasn't an electrical shock that caused
the deaths."
Sam
reluctantly jumped in, and immediately became enmeshed in a kind of water-born
lovefest - the others were caressing and kissing each other without
regard. The whole ordeal was making Sam
even more uncomfortable, which he hadn't thought was possible. He floated from person to person, trying to
make as little contact as possible while still playing his part. The one positive thing so far was that he
shouldn't have to be here more than a day.
"Don't
dream it, be it," he sang with the others. Suddenly, the song went from a quiet, almost lilting melody to a
fast rock beat. A small kickline was
formed as everyone quickly climbed up the stairs and out of the pool, and Sam
found himself trying to not only stand in his uncomfortable shoes, but dance as
well. This was getting to be too much!
Then
the singing began again, a chorus of what the lead player had been singing as
they had left the water. Sam had been
listening, so at least now he could do more than just pretend to be singing
along. At this point another person
came onto the stage - a man in a wheelchair. He too was wearing the seemingly obligatory hose and heels, and was
kicking up a storm, making Sam wonder why he was in a wheelchair in the first
place. One thing did make Sam feel
better - from what he could tell, the whole production was pretty makeshift, so
he shouldn't look totally out of place.
A
loud sound and flood of light from the back of the small theater stopped the
show. Squinting to see past the stage
lights, Sam could vaguely make out two figures, one male, one female, and, if
this were possible, they were dressed even more strangely than anyone on
stage. The male, pale and balding, was
pointing what had to be some kind of weapon at them, and talking to Frank. Sam listened intently, hoping to figure out
what was going on.
"Frank
N. Furter, it's all over. Your mission
is a failure - your lifestyle's too extreme. I'm your new commander -"
Mission? Commander? Sam looked at Al for help. The hologram shrugged.
"Ziggy's
no help on this one, Sam. I'm gonna go
to the Waiting Room and see if Brad can shed any light on - well, on any of
this." There was a whoosh as the
Door opened, and Al looked back at his friend encouragingly.
"I'll
be back soon either way, Sam, I promise." His look became mischievous. "I'd hate to miss any more of your act." Before Sam could make even a visual
response, Al was gone.
Sam
focused again on the situation, but if anything, it had become more confusing.
Transylvania? Transit beam? Oh boy, I hope Al can figure out what I'm here to do - this is
getting too surreal for me.
Now
Frank was trying to explain something to the two people offstage, and for some
reason he had decided that the best way to do so was through song. Surprisingly, he was actually moved by
Frank's song. Unfortunately, the
"new commander" and his companion were not as sympathetic. As they told Frank that they were about to
kill him, the man in the wheelchair chimed in, identifying the weapon as some
sort of laser. Sam couldn't stand by
and wait for Al any longer.
"You
mean you're going to kill him?" He
asked the man with the laser. "What's his crime?"
It
was the wheelchair-bound Dr. Scott who answered. "You saw what happened to Eddie - society must be
protected."
Sam
was about to object when Al suddenly reappeared, waving his hands to get Sam's
attention..
"Don't
say anything, Sam." He said
urgently. "I think that's what got
Brad into trouble the first time around. I wasn't able to get much more from him than I could from Ziggy, but
from what I can tell, he's the type to mouth off and get everyone killed. Anyhow, just keep quiet, let somebody else
do the talking, and everything should be okay."
Sam
tried to take his friend's advice, but the situation made it impossible. He couldn't just stand by and watch someone
be executed! He was about to speak up
when the woman at one of the spotlights beat him to it. As soon as she started talking, he felt the
inner signal that meant he was about to Leap.
I guess Al was right - this time I
was here to do nothing.
He
gave the Observer a meaningful look to let him know their time here was
mercifully over, then sent out a brief prayer as he welcomed the flash of blue.
If I can't Leap home, could I at
least Leap somewhere normal?