Notes: Here's the second act! Please note for the following scenes in this chapter to make even the slightest bit of sense and/or be a little funnier it helps to have seen the movie Black Swan as it parodies it quite a bit (because David Cage and I loved this movie so much). This is especially so of the "club scene"; for those of you who haven't seen it you can search for it on YouTube to get the gist. It may also be useful to view the slowed down versions of it to actually see all of Nina Sayers' hallucinations of which most of this fic is playing off of. It's awesome shit I tell yah!

Also I have estimated Jessica Fletcher's age from the earlier seasons of Murder She Wrote and transposed her into HR's current time for all you anally retentive crazies out there.

Now take some exstacy, hit the lights, and read!


Norman looked to his literary-acclaimed companion briefly, to which she nodded her head as though she were urging him to continue on with what he had to say to the Homicide Chief.

"I have somethin' I wanna say, Cap'tin Perry!", he said.

Perry sighed with much irritation in his voice, "Fine, fine. Just hurry up and spit it out so I can enjoy my week of genital freedom."

Norman took a deep breath and then let loose his rage that had built up, "Cap'tin Perry…I jus' want yah tuh know that I think yah'ah shithead! A big smell'ee-no good-pant'ee wairin' shithead! An' I fah one was reellie disah'pointed in how I had tah do practically ehvreethin' ahround here durin' mai time on thuh Origami Killah case; from takin' care'ah Chaleen's papuhwerk so she could look at porn all day tuh organizin' all yah Ann Hathuh'way moo'vees while still workin' on'thah case! In fact, I think one of thuh biggest reasons yah didn't like me was because I said thuh word 'origami' right! Beecause it's naht 'OR-RIG-GAME-EE', Perry! You an' Blake need'tah get that straight! An' jus' cuz I'm from Bahstin does naht mean I am less intelligent than you. We Bahstoneians are'ah vairy skilled people. Jus' take'ah look at Mah'k Wahllburg an' Dah'nee Wahllburg! An' I'm gonna tell mai suhperiuhs that yah ah big smell'ee shithead too! I hope yah stinkee-stink is all ovah yah sweaty bawlls so Cartuh can have'ah taste! An' you guys bettah naht get married in thuh Poconos, 'cuz I'm gonna get married there one day an' I don't want tuh know that you two puhlooted it with yah shithead ways!"

Leighton stared at him for a minute, then asked, "Is that all?"

A big smile formed on the face of the profiler, "Yeah that's prett'ee much it. T'anks fuh lettin' me get all that out. I feel ruh'freshed an' ready tuh do some more ree-enactin'!"

Mrs. Fletcher shook her head as she laughed, "Oh Norman I told you we are not doing anymore scenes from Aliens today! You made a wonderful Private Hudson but I believe we did enough damage in the mall after we used the machine gun rounds and the flamethrowers. Plus the girls are getting tired of crawling on the walls and making hissing noises and spitting sulfuric acid all over everyone."

(Jessica and Norman were fond of playing out various parts of their favorite movies in their spare time; a sort of odd street theatre-like performance except that they performed anywhere and preferred superb modern film classics over small works by playwrights no one ever heard of. Their re-enactments were quite good, almost too good some would say. If they both weren't famous public icons they both would have been locked up in a mental institution for all the insane stunts they pulled.)

"Sahrrie. I jus' reellie enjoyed yah portrayal of Ellen Ripl'ee an' thuh girls made reellie good zeenah'morphs! So…what should we do now?", he inquired.

The mystery writer's eyes drifted toward the ceiling as she pondered as to what movie they should take on next, "Hm…"

Her face lit up as soon as the answer struck her, looking at her friend with great interest as she suggested, "I think we should try our hand at…Black Swan…"

Jayden gasped like a child that had just been double-dog dared to lick a metal lamp post in the middle of a freezing winter, "Reellie? Oh Jessickah I think it's ah wondah'full idea!"

"Well I'm excited about it myself. I think I should play the part of Lily, after all I'm the one who'd be most experienced for the role…thanks to a few adventures in Vegas that nobody knows about!", she stated with a wink.

(Carter was especially curious about these "adventures"…)

Norman looked around the room, "So which one'uh thuh girls are gonna play Nee'nah Sayahz?"

"…Well Norman I was thinking that you'd be perfect for the role of Nina Sayers."

Like a surprised contestant that had just won a beauty pageant, Jayden covered his mouth with his hands briefly before saying, "Do yah reellie think so, Jessickah? Do yah reellie think I can do it?"

"Why of course, Jayden! Don't be so modest!", she said to him and then turned her attention to a pair of girls standing near them, "Mi Young, you'll play the part of Andrew and Chae Rin you'll play the role of Tom! Everyone else is a dancer!"

After finishing giving directions her face turned back to Norman with a devious smirk, "I think you already know what scene I'm going for…"

Jayden could only respond with a sly grin of his own, "Well I jus' hope I can do thuh one I wanna do aftah this!"

By the look on Captain Perry's face, Carter saw that he was just as confused as he was. Even now both men seemed completely unsure of what was going on but simply kept quiet to see what the two comrades would do next.

Jessica joyously exclaimed, "Haha! Come on, Norman! Let's shake a tail feather!" She pointed to another girl standing off to the side, "Soo Yun, would you get the lights for us please?"

Soo Yun walked over to the lightswitch near the door, though before she could flick the switch, Norman stopped her, "Hang on'ah second! I gaht somethin' that'll reellie inspie'uh me since we're doin' this pahticulah scene!"

With that, the FBI agent disappeared out the door for only an instant. When he came back in the room he was shoving an empty plastic vial in his pocket. Jayden's eyes were practically bulging out of his skull and his hands were extremely shaky, as if he were excited beyond the point of excitement while he wiped his nose. His mouth spat out words like debris from a woodchipper as he stuttered, "A-A-Ah r-right! I-I-I'm reellie, reellie ready now! I'm jus' soooo ready tuh dance! More ready than ready! Yeah I came here tuh dance! Cuh'mon let's do this!"

The seemingly aloof college girl performed her designated duty; the lights went out for a moment, then she turned them on again. Everyone remained perfectly still. Soo Yun worked the switch again, the lights went out; and she'd turn them on again. It continued in this way for a few seconds.

"Whatever it is they're going to do it better be damn good because this is going to be hell on our electric bill…", Perry mumbled to Blake.

Soo Yun was turning the lights on and off faster now; the white overhead lights were becoming a grueling flash.

In all the years Carter Blake had been a police lieutenant he'd learned to sense when things were about to get heavy; and he was getting that feeling that now. Even the air in the office was now charged with some kind of potent, unseen energy. He could tell he was about to witness something magical.

Suddenly the flickering white of the bulbs turned into a downpour of passionate red-magentas, then to pitch blackness, then wild jungle greens, and fading back to black to repeat the process again; though it was not directly from the overhead lights themselves but it seemed to be coming from undetectable strobe lights. Loud electronic music began playing from unseen speakers. In between the flashes of red and green Blake saw the forms of the group beginning to dance. In mere seconds Perry's unwholesome office had went from a cramped workspace to a dancefloor for a high-octane rave. Now everything made sense to him – they were recreating the infamous club scene from the popular psychological-thriller Black Swan.

Carter had seen the film with Charlene when it first came out. He remembered talking to her at the watercooler almost a year before the movie was released when she started telling him about how she read on some internet forums that there was going to be a crazy ballet movie that was going to have a hot sex scene between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. Though he was disappointed Kate Hudson wasn't going to be in it, he was still extremely excited about getting the chance to see both of the stimulating actresses get down with each other.

(…Just like the other 90% of the global male population who went to see it).

Overall he felt the movie was fantastic and not just because of the sex; but for the many hidden themes contained within the movie. After seeing it he now had a slight appreciation for ballet and would turn on the classical radio stations every once in a while to listen to some grandiose orchestral music that sounded similar to what was featured in the film. As good as it was, the lieutenant never thought somebody would ever try to perform parts from it like some Shakespearian play, however, he was interested as to how this could go. He was especially keen on seeing Jessica play the role of Nina's flirty and promiscuous rival Lily; though he couldn't say the same about his own enemy trying to be Nina Sayers. Either way he intended to watch them as it saved him from having to perform oral sex on his boss.

As he watched the mad dancers he became more and more intrigued as they were already proving themselves to be more than just amateur actors. They had the entire set down to a 't' so far; with the infectious beat of the memorable techno song to the hypnotic and dizzying lighting effects. Carter noticed they all had changed their clothes somehow; the girls had exchanged their uniforms for various skimpy outfits that complimented their shapes (which Blake was very happy to see) with the exception of the two girls playing the respective parts of the two boys that Nina and Lily meet at the bar as they were dressed in plaid shirts and jeans with their hair tied up to look more masculine, Mrs. Fletcher had went from her white-and-pink floral dress to a sleek-low cut jet black tank top with matching black jeans (which Blake was extremely pleased with), Norman went from his annoying suit to a charcoal sheer tank top with a white tank top underneath and dark cargo pants that were similar in nature to Nina's (which Blake didn't care about except that it was amusing to find out that Norman Jaydens could live outside of their stuffy suits).

The police lieutenant wasn't sure how they had managed these amazing feats in so little time but he knew he'd probably never figure out the answer so he drew his attention to Jessica and "Tom". The two were dancing perfectly to the music as "Tom" wrapped her hands around her partner's waist from behind. Though Blake knew they were supposed to be acting and that the pretty Asian girl was pretending to be a man he still found the whole thing rather enticing. He was glad that he'd still get to see some girl-on-girl action despite the change in actors; watching Jessica's now smoky-shadowed eyelids close in ecstasy as her hips kept swinging to the insanely fast rhythm and let her arms reach behind her to land on the back of her partner's neck in a reversed embrace. This was proof that even a 58 year old lady could tear up a dancefloor just as easily as some girl in her 20's (though that didn't apply to Madison Paige who had the dancing skills of a flamingo). Carter appreciated that in a woman; in fact he'd always had a slight thing for mature women and cougars…perhaps even more than he did for the trashy blonde college girls most people expected him to be fond of. The notion that Jessica Fletcher was so refined and an expert in the field of criminal investigation made her even more appealing to him and admired her greatly. His ultimate fantasy was to have a three-way with the female sleuth and Blanche Devereaux off of The Golden Girls, but this situation was certainly shaping up to be just as good.

Out of curiosity, Blake glanced off to the side of the room to see what Norman was doing. The federal agent was trying to keep up with J.B. and her partner but unfortunately he and "Andrew/Jerry" were having slight difficulties. Though Jayden wasn't tripping over himself like Carter would have hoped, his movements still felt forced and robotic as the young man tried to dance along in the same style as his compatriot. This scene was a critical step to the liberation of Nina's character and the Bostonian was simply not cutting it. The lieutenant thought it was an insult to the role and if he knew the other man would have heard him he'd have booed him right then and there.

(Of course some would say that Carter was just jealous because Norman was dancing with a hot Korean schoolgirl and he wasn't).

In any case his gaze returned to "Lily" and "Tom"; watching them as they started to dance face-to-face with each other. The lieutenant was only able to observe them for so long when suddenly a man who was clearly not supposed to be there walked past them.

Blake couldn't make out much but he seemed to be pretty average in height and wore plain street clothes.

Though the man had went around Mrs. Fletcher and "Tom" successfully, it seemed he wouldn't be able to do the same for the other two dancers. As he neared Norman and "Andrew", the federal agent quickly tried shifting his dance technique to something a little more flashy by stepping backward and thus right into the random man.

The unknown man shouted, "Hey, watch it man!", then moved towards the other side of the room.

Carter could see that Norman was taken completely off guard and was looking a little nervous now but tried to ignore it and continued to dance.

However, the blunders would continue as yet another intruding stranger would bump into Norman as he tried to walk past; screaming in an unflattering effeminate voice, "Hey watch it!"

Though it was barely audible over the loud music, Blake heard the poor representation of Nina mumble, "…fuck it…goddamn déjà vu happenehn' all ovah again…" under his breath. Seeing his rival getting frustrated and failing miserably was putting a smile on his face.

Strangely enough, a small blue sedan appeared out of nowhere right behind Norman and before the young woman playing Andrew could warn him about it he backed right into the car; causing him to fall backward and barrel-roll over the hood of the vehicle. Blake didn't even have time to laugh at how the FBI profiler tumbled on the car like one of the Three Stooges before a short man wearing a white apron stepped out of the automotive yelling, "Hey what about my tomatoes?"

Though it wasn't clear how tomatoes had been damaged in this situation that was the least of Norman's worries as he landed on his back on the floor. When he attempted to stand up he instantly lost his balance and stumbled into another average joe who also didn't belong in the room.

"Hey man, what's your problem?", he shouted.

The song came to an abrupt stop and the lights returned to normal; Jessica and the girls were staring at the spectacle. Jayden backed away from the individual only to wind up running into a middle-aged soccer mom.

"Hey!", was the only thing her nasally voice could yell in surprise.

The profiler tried getting out of her way completely as he timidly apologized, "Sahrrie! I'm reellie sahrrie!"

As he stumbled into more ill-placed persons, a woman's blood curdling shriek filled the room. It was utter chaos now and Norman was crashing into the same people who in turn would give their same responses.

"HEY!"

"HEY MAN WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?"

"HEY WATCH IT!"

"HEY WATCH IT, MAN!"

"THE TOMATOES! MY GODDAMN TOMATOES!"

"HEY! YOU DIDN'T START YOUR SENTENCE WITH 'HEY'! DON'T BREAK THE FUCKIN' RULES, MAN!"

"OH HEY I'M SORRY! - HEY THE TOMATOES! MY GODDAMN TOMATOES!"

"HEY IT'S OKAY, MAN!"

"HEY!"

"AHHHHHH!"

The federal agent was bouncing off people like a pinball and it continued to be that way for a few minutes longer. Blake was enjoying every second of it. Eventually Jayden was able to make himself stand still, but just when it seemed that he was safe from harm, a flock of white chickens began swarming him; flapping their wings and pecking at him viciously.

Norman did his best to swat them away, "Ah'no naht again! Shit, I still hate these damn birds! Go on, shoo! This is Black Swan naht Black Chicken! Yah can't be Nee'nah Sayahz! Yah jus' chickens!"

Lieutenant Blake could not help but laugh hysterically at the situation despite not knowing how all these people got in here or how the room got bigger. His laughter reached the point where his face was red and little tears of joy were streaming down his face; resting his head on Captain Perry's knee from exhaustion.

Without warning, the vegetable merchant walked up to the hen-haggled investigator, "Nina Sayers would have never destroyed my tomatoes! See, now I'm worried about the next act. I'm just not sure you're feeling up to it." His voice became rather mischievous as he said, "How about I dance the Black Swan for you?"

Jayden's eyes were filled with terror at the tomato vendor's ghastly suggestion. Instantly he launched himself forward and tackled the shorter man hard. Thrashing around on the ground, the two men struck each other viciously; though it was only a moment later that the stocky vendor would get an advantage by getting both hands around Norman's throat. With a mean look in his gaze, the tomato seller shouted, "It's my turn! My turn! My turn!"

The profiler gasped for breath as he was nearly suffocated. Then with one quick burst of strength, he broke out of the man's hold and grabbed one of the pesky chickens that were still stirring around them. Norman snapped the poor bird's neck in one motion. His hand drove the animal downward beak first like a dagger, where it impaled the vegetable merchant in the chest. Jayden's eyes glazed over red; making him look like he had an eye infection from hell. His voice was hoarse and rather demonic as he spat, "It's mai turn!"

The tomato vendor was still for a second; his face frozen with shock as he saw the latter half of the feathered fiend sticking out of his own flesh. Blood shot out of the wound in torrents to where it covered his assailant and most of the floor. Carter almost thought he was watching a Quentin Tarantino film at that point, and now he was questioning if the vicious incident was intentionally part of the re-enactment or it was simply a mistake that ended up being eerily similar to the dressing room scene (and whether or not they'd have to arrest Norman for killing a man).

After the food seller gave out his last breath, Norman began grabbing the remaining flock of chickens as they were still pecking at him. In a violent fury wings were broken; heads were torn from writhing necks. If a member of PETA had been watching they'd have surely fainted by now.

As the bloodbath went on, all the random strangers who had interrupted the scene were now running for their lives screaming in pure horror. It didn't take them long to clear out altogether, and by the end of it the berserker was left standing in the middle of his fellow actors drenched in blood and feathers breathing heavily. They watched him intently; unsure of what to do.

"I'm tha fuckin' Swah'n Qween! This is mai stage! I'll show yah that I'm thuh onl'ee one who can play Nee'nah Sayahz!", he said with frightening determination, "Now let's do this shit again!"

Suddenly the lights began to flicker again, the wild strobe lights flared for a second time, and the dancers became entranced by the energetic tune once more. No longer was Norman covered in blood and feathers, and the bodies of the chickens and vegetable merchant had disappeared altogether.

Immediately Carter noticed a difference in the FBI agent as he watched him dance; Jayden's movements were uninhibited, perfect, and uniquely feminine; he had fully delved into the captivating role of Nina Sayers. Quickly the lieutenant tried to shift his attention back to Jessica and her partner as he felt weird watching Norman perform in such a way and enjoy it, but his blue eyes slowly drifted back to him. Blake was taken by the way Norman tossed his head with carefree attitude, the way his body moved to the rhythm, and the way his eyes emitted that wild gaze as he stared into "Andrew's".

"Damn! Where's all this coming from? He's really doing it! I never knew how fit he was underneath that suit! Actually for a guy he's pretty good looking… Wait a minute, why I am thinking this about Norman Jayden?", Carter thought.

Ignoring his feelings, he watched as "Nina's" visions began to physically manifest – as Jayden danced with "Andrew/Jerry" in the blaze of the red lights, there were two more of the federal agent dancing amongst the crowd behind them. Then after a flash of black, a statue of Joseph Stalin suddenly appeared in the middle of the room of dancers; it was similar to the one that once stood in Gori's central square, except this one depicted the former leader of the Soviet Union reading a newspaper as he sat on a toilet with a proud but subtle smile upon his face. Carter deduced that this was supposed to be simulating the Icarus statue that Nina saw at the opening season party but was confused as to what Joseph Stalin had to do with the situation (perhaps it was all they could get…?). The monument shifted around the room; one minute it was on the left side, then on the right like the swirling bodies around it. Nothing in the room seemed to stay in one place for very long under the cover of the strobe lights.

As Norman and his Asian partner continued to dance, another Norman in what looked to be a white tutu was dancing behind them. Carter's interest peaked and he found himself straining his eyes to try and take in the full image of the Norman doppelganger prancing around in the white swan costume but the myriad of dancers obscured his view. Thus, the lieutenant was given only a brief glance at a pale shape of a man in the white swan, Odette's, form. Though there was another shape trailing not far behind the Norman-Odette; it was a ghastly black shape that stood just a little higher than the FBI agent did. Blake assumed it was Von Rothbart, the main antagonist of Swan Lake and one of the many horrific hallucinations that haunted Nina in Black Swan; appearing as a strange reptilian-birdlike creature. Though something about the dark figure was suspicious, Carter knew there was something different of this Rothbart, but he would not yet get the chance to see what it was as both the illusionary figures disappeared like fragile dreams they were.

After the short delusion, it was now nothing but the regular scene of Norman and Jessica grooving to the music with their partners. They were excelling in their roles as young people living in a carefree moment; the four laughing it up as they danced wildly, even sensuously with each other. Yet the world around seemed to be blurring and twisting like rippling glass as they went on. Every once in a while Blake would spy a silhouette of ballerina or that dark shape that he'd seen earlier, but it made no difference to the dancers or to even Norman; he simply lost himself in the energy of the room like Nina had.

However, the eerie hallucinations would not stop there – as Norman participated in a bit of "bump 'n' grind" dancing with "Andrew", the young Korean girl would transform into an old man. It only took a few seconds for Blake to register that Norman was now dancing with Captain Perry (who was apparently selected to represent the sleezy geezer Nina is confronted with on the train; and to Blake there wasn't any old timer that he knew that was better suited for the part). The lieutenant didn't know whether to laugh or be disturbed by the sight of his boss frisking his rival on a dancefloor but it was definitely an interesting sight to behold as he watched Perry's face become overrun with surprised joy. In another flash of green Leighton would be transported back to his chair next to Carter.

He was still panting from the spontaneous excursion as he said to his subordinate, "Wow! That was really something! I've got to admit that little Boston homo has got an ass you could bounce a quarter off of!"

Again Blake was left speechless by the comment, and he was now curious to know if Norman's ass was indeed as perky and enticing as his captain said, but the thought was instantly blown away as he saw "Andrew/Jerry's" face warp into an abominable mess. He could make out a strange bird-like visage, so it was safe to assume that it was their version of Von Rothbart but he couldn't make out the full details other than that it was definitely different than the evil villain in the movie.

As the dancing went on more Norman Jaydens would appear randomly in the room; each one in his own outfit and moving independently of each other. It had gone from girl-on-girl action to Norman-on-Norman action. The police lieutenant was both mortified and fascinated by the idea. The spiraling swirls and wavy textures in the air were growing more frequent now, distorting the real Norman Jayden's face like mirrors in a funhouse. The Asian schoolgirls returned thereafter, but now something was moving with "Nina". Blake could see the black shape more clearly now – it was indeed Von Rothbart but the creature was being played by Big Bird, the oversized canary from the children's show Sesame Street. Though the form of Big Bird was the same, it was apparent that he was supposed to represent a more twisted version of itself to better suit the role of Rothbart; being covered in black and emerald green feathers with menacing red eyes that stared deep into Norman's own as they waltzed across the dance floor.

(…Everybody needs a breakout role now and then, even Big Bird.)

In another flash of blackness, Norman was dancing with "Tom" instead of "Andrew". The two embraced each other for a passionate kiss amongst the crowd of wild dancers as the dancefloor went on swirling and reeling around them.

Carter thought to himself, "Hot damn, this role really has Norman gettin' around. Asian girls, Captain Perry, and now Big Bird!"

It was then that Norman pulled away from "Tom", she had sprouted odd feathers all over her body as she watched the frightened "Nina" with an intense gaze; then vanished into the crowd. Norman was left to dance by himself amongst the mob of moving shapes. Jayden's movements were now half-hearted and full of uncertainty; he was lost and confused. He briefly bumped into the back of another dancer behind him (this time on purpose to reflect the scene) and began looking around as if he were in a trance.

Suddenly the techno music stopped – it was replaced with the chilling strings of eerie violins that hypnotized and intimidated the listener.

A male voice began to call out amongst the nerve wracking tones of the instruments; saying one thing in maddening repetition, "Sherbet… Sherbet… Sherbet… Sherbet…"

Upon hearing the voice, Blake perked up a bit, "Hey, that voice sounds familiar… I swear I should know who that is. And what the hell does ice cream have to do this? I thought it was supposed to be a woman saying 'sweet girl, sweet girl'. Man I wish I knew the reason for these damn change ups."

Ignoring the slight change in the scene, he watched as the strobe lights flickered even more now.

In the glaring red light he saw Norman's face overcome with fright and shock; in a flash the FBI agent's visage was decorated with grandiose opera-like makeup. The persona of Odile, the Black Swan, had been released from within. Carter wanted to write off that face like as if it belonged to a crazed drag queen roaming the street corner (which it did slightly) but he could not deny the alluring nature that it created for his rival. Like everything else thus far it had vanished in another flash of electric green. Now amongst the flashes of red the lieutenant saw his nemesis' face spiral into many; it was like seeing the world through a twisted kaleidoscope; the music intensifying the situation. When the visions cleared Jayden stood in the crowd looking like a timid fawn in a daunting forest; searching for a familiar face. The Big Bird-Von Rothbart moved past him in the red, and disappeared in the green.

Keeping in step with the film, Jessica's voice cut in amongst the maniacal Sherbet chants and deranged instruments, shouting, "Hey!", as she ran up beside Norman playfully yelling again, "Nina!"

The weird violins stopped and the electronic music returned, briefly breaking the spell of Nina's delusion. Norman turned and smiled to his friend as she gave him a gentle nudge in his side.

In the next flash of crimson, their bodies would be pressed against each other in the heat of a passionate dance. Blake's eyes widened with excitement as realized what part of the club scene they had reached – the erotically-charged dance between Lily and Nina.

Each wave of Jessica's hand or tossing of Norman's head was filled with the exact same energy that the movie reflected. It had to have been one of the sexiest things the lieutenant had ever seen in his life; his rival and his hero working the dancefloor in a wild trance.

Soon they were spinning each other in and out; completely being absorbed into the magic of the event.

At one point Norman spun Jessica into his arms, letting one hand glide through her sandy brown hair. The room began to swirl again as the two played off each other's movements sensuously. When the room cleared there was nothing but ecstasy and happiness upon their faces. In the lieutenant's eyes their performance was almost as sexy and vivacious as Natalie Portman's and Mila Kunis' original portrayal of the scene. As they went on, an aura of pink silhouetted Finch-like birds (Blake's understanding of ornithology was lacking and thereby could not properly identify what birds they were) surrounded them for a brief second. At first it seemed rather fitting, until Blake realized they were all dead and withered; then it just became confusing and morbid.

"What the hell was wrong with the butterflies? A bunch of dead birds seems like a strange choice for a replacement.", Carter thought.

(Just because Merlin is dead does not mean he doesn't deserve a place in a Black Swan reenactment. It's not his fault his owners were a bunch of morons who let him suffer a shitty death by starvation.)

When the tiny lifeless cloud of birds disappeared the two began dancing with an intense gaze upon one another. The techno beat was sputtering into an intense rhythm as the lights flashed even faster; all that the lieutenant could see now was split second images of "Nina" and "Lily" as they danced with untamed sexuality and improvised grace. It was certainly a sight to behold, from the sheen of light perspiration on their bodies to the uninhibited movements that they left in their wake. Though it was becoming troubling to keep sight of them on the phantasmal dancefloor; the pair was shifting every which way around the room and more doubles of the two were constantly appearing here and there.

Then something different caught Blake's attention – he saw Ash being accompanied by a trio of giant stuffed penguins; man-sized versions of his favorite Beanie Baby (its name was something like "Puffin" or "Puffer", Blake had a tendency to zone out when his partner would rant on about his creepy hobby) and they were performing some sort of coordinated dance in unison with him. From the looks of their disturbing charade they were doing that infamous dance from the 90's, the Macarena. Of course Carter hated that particular dance along with the popular one-hit wonder that went along with it; and although it did not belong anywhere in the scene, Ash seemed to be greatly enjoying himself. Upon witnessing the odd sight, Blake though, "Dear god, Ash, you really need to get a new hobby…"

Then his longtime partner disappeared with his Beanie friends and Jessica and Norman teleported back to that side of the room in the next flash. On the other side something strange and pointless was going on again; this time it was Charlene, but a more unsettling version of the secretary. She had been transformed into a kind of octopus-woman hybrid; the top half of her body was normal but her arms and legs were nothing but the tentacles of a sea monster. The slimly appendages lashed out at the schoolgirl dancers surrounding her, and slipped into the deep recesses of their clothing for obvious purposes. After a few moments of watching the secretarial monstrosity tease the North Korean girls in a carnal fashion the dancefloor returned to "normal" for another few split seconds.

The police lieutenant was dumbstruck by these two "hallucinations"; fully knowing that they had no possible equivalent to something that happened in the movie, but as he had already done a million times today he simply went along with it.

When Mrs. Fletcher and Agent Jayden had switched back to the left side of the room, another development was taking place across from them once again. Amongst the dancers, a small and skinny shape was bounding through the throng of people at a furious pace, and another form was apparently riding the smaller one. Blake's right eyebrow rose up slightly at the realization that it was that reporter, Madison Paige, running around on all fours trying to mimic a horse, and Ethan Mars was riding her. The once seemingly inconsolable victim of the Origami Killer was now dressed in a cowboy outfit as he was yelling something but the music drowned most of it out. Blake was able to read his lips somewhat and Mars was either saying something like, "My chucks have Ida's gallstone!" or "Fuck yeah, I'm John Marston!"

Either way the two looked more ridiculous together than Ash's and Charlene's little episodes combined.

Carter grunted as he said to himself, "Hope the bitch breaks a hoof and sends the whiny trouble making pussy into a wall."

Unfortunately for Blake, the "bitch" seemed to be doing quite well as her back legs kicked out furiously like a true bucking bronco; like an untamable mare of some secret plain, and all the while Ethan was holding onto the back of her shirt with one hand as he waved the other in the air with overzealous pride.

Soon they too evaporated and the mystery writer and the FBI agent overtook their place on the floor; though their phase would be short as well. "Nina" and "Lily" ended up disappearing only moments into their return, and this time a bathtub took their spot on the dancefloor. Despite the fact that all the previous intrusions were wild and unexplainable, this one was even crazier – inside the white porcelain Victorian-style bathtub was Scott Shelby, a man who by all rights was supposed to be carrying out his life-in-prison sentence after being branded the Origami Killer. As if the situation couldn't get any more unusual, the ex-private investigator was not lying in a tub full of water but rather a tub full of what appeared to be Sherbet ice cream; and he was rubbing it all over his blubbery body as if it were a gift from the heavens. Suddenly the earlier incident with the mysterious voice repeating 'Sherbet, sherbet, sherbet' made sense, though Blake never knew his former partner was one of those types obsessed with food sex. It was then that a woman approached Shelby's sherbet bath in the midst of the dancers, she had long dark hair with sharp facial features which were filled with anxiety and annoyance. From what Blake could see, she appeared to be wearing a green waitress' uniform with a small black apron that had a Denny's logo across the top. Her pale hands were holding a large plastic carton of orange Sherbet ice cream; dumping it into the bathtub with a scooper. When the strange woman noticed that eyes were watching her, she looked at Perry and Blake, and held up a sign that read in bold black letters:

"HEY IT BEATS BEING A HOOKER!"

(Oh yeah, Lauren gave up on the stigma of being a waitress and realized she was a woman with goals…)

The thin, dark-haired woman then went about her business, and eventually both Shelby and the former prostitute disappeared from the scene to be replaced with Norman and Jessica once again.

Once again Blake was swept away by a myriad of split second flashes of "Nina" and "Lily" dancing together; tossing their heads with carefree attitude, bodies moving vivaciously with the intense techno beat. The two seemed to anticipate what the other would do next to complete the scene. At one point Jessica rested her hands on Norman's chest; letting them glide sensuously down his chest as he leaned his head backward as if spellbound from her gentle touch.

Then the world around them was a blur again and Norman was now surrounded by more Norman Jaydens. In and amongst the spiraling red swirls the FBI replicants danced as if they were truly the only Norman Jayden in existence; their movement dazzling and chaotic.

In another flash of green light Jessica Fletcher and the North Korean schoolgirls returned.

"Lily" was throwing her hands behind her back as she moved her hips. "Nina" in turn began doing the same. They both did this for quite some time. It was becoming quite difficult for Blake to keep track of what each was doing as they appeared at different points on the dancefloor and dancing with different partners.

After so long something seemed to be overtaking Norman, the rush, the high, the climax of the experience was taking its toll exactly how it did on Nina Sayers in the film.

The FBI agent's movements were becoming slightly slower. He ran a few fingers through his hair; wiping away some perspiration that lingered there. He turned around; and there was the crime novelist right beside him. He reached out for her, and she reached out for him. In between the flashes of crimson and emerald, Blake saw a pair of unnerving yellow eyes staring at them. Both "Nina" and "Lily" had almost touched when suddenly Jessica briefly turned into another Norman. In the light of flaring green she returned to normal and their bodies collided. The two shared a wavy embrace with each other's arms around the other; their forms moving in circles from the exhaustion brought on by it all.

Suddenly the electronica music was beginning to skip and sputter; the lights began flashing faster. By now the police lieutenant could make out almost nothing, once second he though he saw a mass of hands and the next it was the wispy forms of "Lily" and "Nina" still embracing each other. In the din of the seizure-inducing lights he saw the two bring each other's faces close together. A spring of excitement was in Blake's throat as he squinted; not sure if they were simply bumping heads or sharing an actual kiss but the flashing was obscuring things greatly.

"Goddamn! This is exactly why I hated this part of the movie! I just wanted to see them make out! Fuck I'm amazed I haven't become epileptic from all these strobe lights!", Carter thought.

It was then that everything in view became one big smear of red or green with nothing discernable to make out of the smudge of swirls. By now even the music was nothing but a bunch of distorted beats.

Then there was nothing but blackness…

Blake couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face. It was the darkest black he'd ever seen in his life.

His moved his hand out a little bit to where Perry should have been; immediately feeling the man's kneecaps once again.

"That you, Perry?", he asked the unseen form.

"Yeah! Who the hell did you think was sitting here? Or were you hoping for the pantywaist from Boston?", Perry mocked.

Annoyed, Blake immediately fired back, "Shut up! I can't see a damn thing!"

"I knew I should have put a stop to this before it started! That FBI prick and his pals just killed the power to the city's finest police department!", Leighton groaned.

"Oh give me a fuckin' break! You were out there havin' the time of your pathetic life out there! I could tell you were getting a stiffie while you were dancing up on Norm's ass!"

Captain Perry responded gingerly, "W-W-Well I thought it was one of those nice little Japs at first! …Speaking of stiffies I still got one. Perhaps you could oblige me while we're in the dark?"

"Forget about your dick, Perry. Right now we've got to figure out how to get out of the dark, not how to fuck around in it.", Blake spoke bluntly.

"Fine. Even though I think you're just dodging your duties I'll let it go until we get this all straightened out. But you better keep your lips moist for me Blake because by God that blowjob is happening!"


Ending Notes: I know exactly what you're thinking, "OMG if David Cage would have actually released this HR Chronicle my eyes would be rolled up into my sockets and I'd have jizz in my pants from all the intense beauty!" Yes fellow fanfic readers I indeed thought the same thing when he and I discussed this particular scene. I must say the idea of Jessica Fletcher skank-dancing with Norman Jayden is breathtaking; almost as much as when Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis did it in the movie, but no matter how sexually amazing it is if you're reading this in a public area please keep your hands away from your genitals. Don't be a Charlene and play with yourself out in the open where everyone can see your business! Or else you'll have a Carter Blake after you!