Chapter 10: Super Badness

"The Mall?" Daria asked Jane as they made their way to the doors of a gigantic building. "Come on, it's far enough away," Jane explained. The girls had been on the run for at least an hour since they had found Pizza King to be occupied, trying to avoid as many wrecked vehicles and gremlins as possible. "How long have these things been running around now?" Jane asked Daria as they slowed down, noticing that the parking lot was only half-full. "Stripe reached the YMCA a little after seven fifteen or seven thirty," Daria said.

All of the cars in the parking lot seemed to be in decent shape, with no signs of having been tampered with or attacked. "See, no gremlins around here," Jane said. "Guess again," Daria said as she pointed to a gremlin breaking into someone's car. "Yeah, but see how far that car is from the mall entrance? He may be one of the first gremlins to get this far," Jane suggested in a hopeful tone.

"Meaning that the others will still find a way to get here at some point," Daria said. "Then let's get inside while we can," Jane said. "Sure, Dawn of the Gremlins," Daria muttered under her breath as they got closer to the main doors. "Gizmo, you may want to cover yourself with the lights being on," Daria said. Jane moved over and helped zip up the backpack to give Gizmo more darkness, but still leaving it open enough for him to peek out of it.

Daria and Jane pushed the doors open and went inside the entrance of the mall. The escalators that led to the main shopping floor were still working, although the lights were somewhat dimmed. "I've got a bad feeling about this," Daria said as they opted to take the stairs.

As they reached the top of the stairs, they could see an empty hall, with stores still open, but no one inside. They could, however, hear the sounds of people further inside. "You do realize that the chances of them already being here have just increased dramatically, right Jane?" Daria asked her friend.

"We won't know until we get closer," Jane said. "Come on, if we can get to a sporting goods store, we can get some bats or something to defend ourselves better. I think these flashlights are going to die soon," Jane said as they made their way over to a map.

"Hmm, you are here," Jane said. "Wow, that's helpful," Daria said sarcastically. "There; that's the closest sporting goods store," Jane said as she pointed to a colored block with the name Dan's Sporting Gear on it. "Let's go," Daria said.

Line Break

Mack and Jodie ducked inside the entrance of Chez Pierre as a convertible driven by some gremlins passed by. Mack kept his eyes on the outside, watching for any gremlins that approached the restaurant. "I think we'll be okay in here," Mack said before he turned to see Jodie staring ahead at the tables and booths of the restaurant with surprise. "Oh," Mack said as he saw a dozen gremlins sitting around, harassing a waiter and throwing drinks at each other.

"Huh, and they still have better manners than half of the football team. I'm impressed," Mack said quietly. Jodie had to struggle to hold in her laughter after she registered Mack's words. She looked around at the rest of the place. Two couples sitting in booths were shrinking away from a gremlin dressed up as a waiter, complete with a fake mustache.

Mack and Jodie made their way over to the kitchen, hoping that they could hide in there. Alas, they were not thinking straight, as the kitchen was the sight of pure disaster. One gremlin was shoving pots and pans into an oven, while another gremlin was having a fight with a cook, as both of them were throwing utensils and foodstuffs at each other. The cook had mashed potatoes dripping from his face, while the gremlin had a banana peel hanging from its left ear.

There were two other cooks, one of whom was tied up to a rack of plates with handkerchiefs, while the other was being force-fed some unholy concoction by two gremlins dressed up as cooks themselves. Jodie and Mack saw the door to the freezer and tried their luck, smiling as it opened up for them. When Jodie stepped inside, she frowned in dismay at the sight of three gremlins gorging themselves on ice cream and other desserts.

One gremlin had an empty tub on his head, while another was holding his head in pain after swallowing some ice cream too fast. His companions laughed at his brain freeze. "Is there any place where these things aren't?" Jodie asked. "The woods?" Mack suggested. "Why not?" Jodie asked rhetorically as the two of them ran out of the kitchen.

Line Break

"No gremlins?" Daria asked Jane as they ducked another book being thrown at them. They had tried to take a shortcut through a bookstore that had two entrances, but had found themselves ambushed. "Hey, the Kama Sutra," Jane said as she grabbed the book. "I think I'll keep this," she whispered as she tucked the book into Daria's backpack.

"Jane," Daria grumbled as a pop-up book smacked her in the face, knocking her glasses off. Jane quickly retrieved them and handed them back to her. "Thanks. I told you that they were probably already in here," Daria said. "Well, I thought that Cashman's being empty was a good sign!" Jane said defensively.

Another book sailed past them. "Come on, let's get out and find another way around," Daria said firmly as she grabbed a book and made a calculated throw at one of the gremlins on the other side of the room. The gremlin fell back after being hit in the head, and two of its companions laughed at it.

After making their way out of the bookstore, Daria and Jane found that more gremlins had managed to enter the mall. The whole place was now in utter chaos as some gremlins drove toy cars around and others splashed soda onto the floors. "Geronimo!" one gremlin shouted as it jumped from a ledge on the next floor up while using a blanket as a parachute. It didn't work very well. "Ooh," it groaned in pain.

Jane and Daria eventually made their way to the food court. Jane gasped after a gremlin splashed her with some Orange Julius. "Ahahaha!" it laughed at her. "Come here!" Jane yelled as she grabbed the gremlin and tossed it into the air, watching as it crashed into a Chinese food booth. "Yum-yum," said one gremlin as it consumed an entire plate or orange chicken and rice, ignoring the crash landing of the other gremlin.

Daria had opened her mouth to speak when a slice of pizza flew into her hair from the side. She looked over and saw two gremlins having a food fight at a Three Dude's Pizza booth. They were laughing their heads off as their shoveled pizza into their mouths and at each other, tossing spices and ingredients into the air and onto the floor, causing one gremlin walking by to trip and fall on his face before a metal pan fell over and conked him on his head.

"Geez, it's already ten thirty," Jane said as she looked at a clock hanging above the wrecked pizza booth. "I didn't think that the mall would still be open this late," Daria quipped. "Look around; special holiday season hours," Jane said as they exited the food court and made their way over to Dan's Sporting Gear, grabbing an abandoned plate of pizza slices on their way out.

Dara and Jane were almost to their destination when several gremlins riding bicycles came rushing at them, throwing tennis balls at the girls. Jane kicked one bicycle over as it came near, sending the two gremlins on it tumbling off. "Overboard," one cried.

Soon, three gremlins riding small tricycles came up to them, with the gremlins shooting confetti at the girls and throwing basketballs at them. One gremlin ended up hitting another gremlin with a basketball and sent it crashing into a party-store window. Jane kicked another gremlin off of its trike before lifting the machine and throwing it at the creature.

Daria grabbed Jane by the shoulder and ushered her to resume their trek as more gremlins ran by them. Daria and Jane kept dodging the gremlins and eventually made their way to the entrance of Dan's Sporting Gear. Unfortunately, the store had already been plundered by the gremlins, which were all busy running around attacking each other and other mall patrons with various sports equipment.

"Oh, look," Daria said dryly, "A plastic baseball bat. We should be able to kill one of them after hitting it on the head for three hours straight, provided it stays still." "I've always admired your enthusiasm," Jane quipped as she searched for something, anything that could still be used to defend themselves.

"Dammit," Jane muttered after ten minutes of searching the store, "They cleaned the place out completely." "Aside from the useless plastic toys, you mean," Daria stated as Gizmo poked his head out of her backpack to look around.

Meanwhile, throughout the rest of the mall, the gremlins were living up and partying to their devious little hearts' desires. "Here, just take it all!" the operator of a snack stand shouted as he threw the last three boxes of Slim-Jims at a group of gremlins harassing him before running off.

In a toy store, several gremlins were busy hitting each other with toy lightsabers and throwing Lego blocks at each other. One pair of gremlins was smacking each other in the face with plush toys and beanie babies.

In a video store, a handful of gremlins were busy throwing video tapes and expensive DVDs at each other, catching the DVDs as though they were Frisbees. Some gremlins were taking the tape out of the cassettes and decorating themselves with it. One gremlin was busy looking at an advertisement for a late night theater showing of John Carpenter's The Thing and Santa Claus Conquers The Martians at Play House 99. "Ooh," the gremlin said as it looked at the poster. It quickly grabbed the attention of several other gremlins.

In the pet store, several gremlins were leaving in frustration because not a single animal had shied away from them. There was no fun to be had after posing with the large boa constrictor became boring and it was returned to its cage.

In a Wine & Spirits Shoppe, several gremlins were getting drunk off of copious amounts of wine, splashing each other and drinking straight from the bottle. "Yum… yum!" one gremlins said before letting out a loud belch. Two of its companions laughed at it before smashing a half-empty bottle of wine over its head.

In the mall's arcade, dozens of gremlins were doing exactly what anyone does in an arcade, with the one change that the gremlins were tearing out cords and cables from various machines and reconnecting them to make the various games work without needing coins. One gremlin was bouncing along on a water-ski racing game, before another gremlin covered its eyes with its hands and caused the gremlin to crash in the game.

Another gremlin used one of its brethren as a ball for one of those skee-ball games. Two other gremlins were using one of their comrades as a puck in an air-hockey game, with the puck yelling with raucous laughter as it spun around on the table.

In the center of the mall, several gremlins were making a sporting good circus, with many of them hitting each other with baseball bats and using toys and dining ware for their batting practice. The sound of breaking glass and pottery could be heard as the gremlins laughed and carried on merrily with their destruction.

"Great, so where's the nearest exit?" Daria asked Jane as they came across another map. "The nearest-" Jane was cut off as a pellet from a B.B. Gun hit the map. Both girls turned around to see Stripe holding a small Uzi-shaped bb gun aimed at them. His lips curled into a snarl and his eyes sparked narrowed with malice. "Daria caca!" he spat as he took aim. "Stripe," Daria said worriedly. "At least it isn't a gun that uses bullets," Jane quipped as the girls quickly ducked behind the map as Stripe fired at them again.

"Those pellets may not hurt us, but Gizmo might be vulnerable," Daria said as she heard Stripe fire more pellets at the map. "Hahaha!" they heard Stripe cackle with glee. Another gremlin quickly came up to him and spoke to him excitedly.

Stripe growled at the other gremlin before pushing him away and firing at the map and floor around the girls until it ran dry. They soon heard him toss the gun away after grumbling something. Carefully peeking out, they saw Stripe joining several other gremlins as they marched to the food court.

"Cashman's?" Jane asked Daria. "Cashman's," Daria replied as they got up and quietly made their way over to the mostly untouched clothing store. It was their best spot to hide.

Back near the center of town, a dumpster lid was slowly raised as Upchuck peeked out at the wreckage of Lawndale. Several gremlins were busy consuming bottles of beer and smashing them against each other with laughter, while some were busy breaking into cars and tampering with the internal equipment.

"Are they still out there?" asked Andrea Hecuba, who was currently hiding in the dumpster with Upchuck, along with some kid who looked a lot like Shaggy from Scooby Doo. "Yes, and they're still getting drunk and breaking things," Upchuck whispered. "At least they know how to have a good time," Andrea commented wryly. "I'm hungry," Shaggy said flatly.

Line Break

Daria and Jane huddled quietly together in one of the changing booths in Cashman's. They'd been hiding there for over two hours now, only venturing out to use the bathroom while waiting for the chaos occupying the rest of the mall to wind down. "So… I guess we'll be stuck here until morning," Daria said with a sigh. "Who knows? Things have been getting kind of quiet for the last thirty minutes," Jane replied.

It was true, Daria realized, things had indeed quieted down. "Should we risk going out there?" Daria asked Jane. "Can't hurt," Jane replied, putting her jacket back on. "I just don't wanna' keep taking off my jacket from overheating. I've spent more time in this clothing store willingly than I ever want to again," Jane added.

After carefully making their way out of Cashman's, Daria and Jane, with Gizmo watching their backs from Daria's backpack, found the mall to be mostly deserted. There were a few gremlins making their way to the exit, riding tricycles and firing nerf darts at each other while laughing, but otherwise it seemed that the little monsters had had their fill of extravagant capitalist monuments. At least, that's what Daria thought as she saw the carnage left behind.

There was broken glass surrounding many store windows and doors, along with food and boxes and wrappers and packages of all kinds strewn about the place. Marbles and candy littered the floor, causing the girls to watch each step they took. An eerie silence permeated the building as the previously loud and chaotic mayhem that had engulfed it was now gone.

The dilapidated posters and banners that hung from various stands and store entrances were limp and inert as the girls silently walked past each store without saying a word. They soon reached an open area near one end of the mall, with a mess of various toys, equipment, clothing, food, and other paraphernalia strewn about. Jane looked over at what appeared to be a pileup of Barbie cars, with a lone gremlin lying dead underneath, its neck twisted in an unnatural manner alongside a broken bottle of spirits.

"Hmm, I thought drinking and driving only applied to humans with real cars," Daria said as she saw the sight. "Well, live and learn…well, learn anyway," Jane quipped as they walked over to an escalator that led to an exit. "Just to be safe, we should still take the stairs," Daria said.

Forty minutes of walking later, Jane and Daria reached the center of town, looking at the wreckage and carnage that the gremlins had left behind. "Where are they?" Jane asked nervously. The town was far too quiet for what had been a center of destruction only an hour earlier. "What time is it?" Daria asked her. "I don't have a watch on me," Jane said.

"Well, it looks like it might be getting light sometime soon. They're probably all hiding someplace dark," Daria guessed. "Are you sure?" Jane asked her. "No, but it seems likely, given what we've seen of their behavior so far," Daria replied.

The trio walked silently through the street, searching for any clues that could help them find the gremlins. "Daria, just what are we going to do once we find them?" Jane asked, breaking the silence. "I don't know yet, but we have to do… something," Daria replied. "Your conscience has broken out of its cage again, I see," Jane quipped with a smile.

"Despite my preference for not getting involved in things, this is something that I just can't ignore," Daria said as they saw the Play House 99 in the distance. The lights were still on and it was mostly intact, although the parking lot was a major disaster zone. "I've been involved in this from the start, ever since Dad brought Gizmo home. I couldn't ignore this even if I wanted to," Daria finished resolutely.

"Well, I was kind of involved at the start, too," Jane said. "I'm aware," Daria replied. "So, we both have to clean up this mess. Wait, what about Quinn? She was the one who got Gizmo wet in the first place," Jane said. "True, but we'll deal with that issue later. Right now, we have some pests to take care of… permanently," Daria said.