A/N: Been busy. Not a very long chapter, but hey, I'm saving all the good stuff for later. =)

Cloudy with a Chance of Gremlins

Brent McHale sat at the top of his staircase, fingering the slingshot his parents had bought him for Christmas. On his way home from the school, he had stopped by a drug store and bought a few packs of those little popper fireworks that explode when they hit the ground. Perfect ammunition.

Brent's parents were at the base of the stairs, decorating the Christmas tree. They didn't know about the fireworks, so they were in for a shock when one of the ornaments exploded. The look on their faces caused Brent to burst into laughter, and just as his mother opened her mouth to unleash hell, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," laughed Mr. McHale, who made his way to the door all tangled up in tinsel. However, his laughter was cut short when he opened the door. Flint stood with an arm wrapped around his mother's shoulders. Fran was wrapped in a blanked, shivering and pale, holding a bloody rag to a large cut on her face. Flint was equally pale, and a deep cut on his hand was bleeding through the bandage wrapped around it.

"Mr. McHale, can we come in?" gasped Flint. With a quick nod, Mr. McHale opened the door all the way and Flint practically carried his mother in. She was shaking so hard that she could barely walk straight. They led Fran over to the couch, and Mrs. McHale ran to get her another blanket.

Brent quickly skidded down the stairs. "Flint, what happened?"

"I found out what was in those cocoons," whispered Flint.

Brent's eyes widened. By the way Flint said that, whatever they were can't be good. "Is that how..." Brent pointed at Flint's hand. The bandage was now soaked all the way through and blood was seeping out around the edge.

Flint nodded gravely. "Keep that slingshot loaded." He quickly walked over to Fran and kissed her on the cheek before heading for the door.

"Flint, be careful!" she exclaimed, nearly in tears.

"And put on a thicker jacket!" exclaimed Mrs. McHale as she laid another blanket across Fran's shoulders.

Flint smiled a bit and rushed through the door, back into the shadowy grips of the icy cold night.

Note to self, never destroy Mom's kitchen... Flint thought as he burst through the door and saw the kitchen, all covered in green Gremlin blood and guts. And the Gremlin pinned to the counter with a knife in it's stomach. Upon seeing that, Flint felt kinda dizzy and nauseous.

That was when he heard it. Gizmo.

"Giz?" called Flint, looking around for where the noise came from. He stumbled towards where the sound came from, and Gizmo, still hidden, started chirping. Flint opened the door to the laundry chute, where he had followed the sound to, and opened it, revealing Gizmo sitting on a few of his dirty shirts.

"Gizmo, did they do this to you?" gasped Flint, picking Gizmo up. The poor guy was shaking, his eyes wide. Flint slowly set him down on a pile of blankets. He started to say something to calm Gizmo down, but he was overcome with a wave of dizziness. He had to grip the table to keep from falling. A look of concern came over Gizmo's face, and he cautiously crawled forward and tugged at the bandages on Flint's hand. Flint looked at him and then took them off himself. The three cuts immediately started to ooze blood. Gizmo, with wide, sympathetic eyes, reached into the laundry chute and pulled out a wash cloth. He laid it on Flint's hand, trying to help soak up the blood.

Flint smiled and rubbed Gizmo on the head. "Wait here for a minute." He quickly made his way into the bathroom, where he found another roll of gauze and rewrapped his hand. It immediately felt a lot better, and he didn't feel quite so dizzy any more. He turned and went back to Gizmo. "We've gotta stop him, Giz."

Gizmo smiled and nodded. Flint quickly glanced around the room and spotted the backpack he used to carry tools sometimes. He grabbed it and turned it upside-down, emptying all the sharp objects that could poke Gizmo. Then, after shoving a bunch of blankets and towels into the bag, he picked Gizmo up and put him in there too. He picked up the backpack and the bike piece, holding it like a sword.

With Gizmo in the bag on his back and his hand not losing blood anymore, Flint felt ultimately better. He could focus on the task at hand now: to stop Stripe from getting to any water. Which would be a huge task, seeing as Swallow Falls was on an island!

Flint grabbed a flashlight and a couple of his inventions before running out the door. He never even bothered to put on a thicker jacket, and even though the one he was wearing now was about as thick as his lab coat, he didn't feel the cold. If anything, he was kind of overheated. The snow stung his eyes and face, but he could barely feel it.

"Are you warm enough Gizmo?" Flint asked as he jogged through the knee-deep snow towards the harbor.

"Yes!" Gizmo chirped in response.

Good, thought Flint. Now let's go catch a Gremlin!

After jogging for 15 minutes, Flint slowed to a walk. The snow had stopped, leaving a thick layer of ice on the ground. The ice was slippery, but it also clearly showed Stripe's foot prints. Flint was right. They were heading towards the harbor.

A minute later, they reached a gate that lead to the harbor. It was open.

Flint slowly crept through the gate, taking the backpack off of his shoulder and holding it in his left hand. He held the blade in his right hand, which had started throbbing again. Blood had soaked through the bandages too.

The harbor was eerily still. The water was covered in a thin layer of ice all the way out to the end of the docks.

So where was Stripe?

"Stay here, Giz," whispered Flint, setting the backpack down next to the gate. He didn't need Gizmo getting wet right now.

Flint cautiously crept towards the dock. That was when he heard something moving in the shed behind him. He whipped around, his blade at the ready. Inside the shack, he heard something that sounded like a sneeze. He wasn't ready at all when the door exploded open and Stripe practically flew out. Shocked, Flint stumbled back and slipped on the ice, landing on the dock. The impact knocked the wind out of him, and he lay there for a second, trying to catch his breath. That was when Stripe appeared right next to him. Before Flint could react, Stripe raked his razor-sharp claws across Flint's chest, leaving three long gashes.

Flint yelped and curled up on his side, grabbing his chest. That was when he heard Gizmo scream. Looking up, Flint saw Stripe sprinting for the end of the dock, where the ice was thin enough for a Gremlin to break through.

Stumbling to his feet, Flint sprinted down the dock after Stripe. He was a lot faster, but he was hurt, losing blood, and Stripe had gotten a head start.

As they both neared the end of the dock, Flint gained on Stripe. He could almost grab him! And then...

He slipped. His Spray-On shoes had basically no traction, and when he stepped on an especially thick patch of ice, and at the speed he was going, he couldn't stay upright. He went down hard right at the end of the dock, landing right on his chest. He was lucky he didn't impale himself with the blade.

Stripe jumped off the dock.

Flint lunged for him, trying to grab him. He missed and slid a little bit further on the ice.

Both Flint and Stripe fell into the water.

The water was so cold that Flint almost passed out cold. He couldn't see Stripe in the dark water; actually, he couldn't see anything! All he knew was that he was sinking. He didn't know which way was up or down, and he could barely keep his eyes open. His lungs were burning and his body was going numb. He felt the blade slip out of his hand.

Just when he though he was going to die, the light started to bubble, and a green light came from below Flint. The light let him see the bubbles floating past, and he used all of his remaining will power to follow them to the surface.

The second Flint broke the surface, gasping for breath and shaking to the point of convulsions, he grabbed the freezing metal ladder. It was so cold that he actually screamed, but he ignored the pain and started climbing. Something from under the water grabbed his ankle, but Flint yanked his leg loose, getting his calf cut by whatever grabbed him in the process.

Just as he got his ankles out of the water, something else grabbed him on his other leg. That was when his frozen mind realized what was happening: Stripe was under water. He was spawning! The things that were grabbing him were...

Gremlins!

A jolt of adrenaline shot through Flint's frozen body and he heaved himself up onto the icy dock. Gizmo, still by the gate, made a sound that was a mix between joy at seeing Flint alive and fear about what was spawning in the water below.

Flint shoved himself to his knees, and then his feet. He stumbled, but used that stumble to start running.

"G-G-G-Gizmo!" he shouted. "Z-z-zip up t-t-the b-b-b-bag!" He was still soaking wet, and he still couldn't feel anything below his elbows or knees, let along his fingers! And they needed to make a quick escape. Flint knew that if he looked back, he would see green scaly hands clawing their way onto the dock.

Without a moment's hesitation, Gizmo zipped up the bag from the inside. Flint didn't stop running as he scooped up the bag and took off running through the gate, back towards town. Behind him, he heard laughter.

The invasion had begun.

A/N: I know the main character in the movie didn't fall into the water, but I though, what the heck, why not. They ARE on an island after all! And I'm sure that Gremlin from the beginning (Sparky) cut a vein or something, because that bandage was covered in blood! Plus it gave Flint and Gizmo a cute little bonding moment. And the way the Gremlins almost got Flint at this part reminded me of the near ending of Harry Potter 6! Ha ha, now go drink some hot chocolate! I'm sure that made all you readers cold! I can barely feel my hands!