Chapter 11: Theatrical Climax/Showdown
As they neared the entrance to Play House 99, they could see a gremlin inside the lobby, gathering spilt popcorn into paper bag before returning to one of the theater rooms. "They're inside the theater," Jane said. "Excellent deduction," Daria said flatly as they slowly opened the main doors and crept inside the theater lobby. Daria looked around at the posters hanging on the walls and the promotional cardboard cutouts.
Jane noticed a large poster announcing the cinema's special Christmas double feature: John Carpenter's The Thing and Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. "Hmm, I think I can see why they came here. They've got good taste, sort of," Jane commented as she and Dara made their way over to one of the theaters showing The Thing.
"If it had had more time to finish, it would have looked, sounded, and acted just like Bennings," they could hear the voice of Kurt Russell say. "Do you think we can stay for a showing?" Jane asked quietly. "The movie was released on DVD just last year," Daria said. "I don't have a DVD player… yet," Jane said as they moved over to the theater doors for the showing of Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. "You are the laziest man on Mars! Why are you so lazy?" they heard someone say faintly.
"Oh, yeah, I remember this episode," Jane said with a grin. "Huh?" Daria asked her. "Daria, have you ever watched Mystery Science Theater 3000?" Jane asked her. "Mystery what?" Daria asked her. "You've… okay, after we finish up here, I'm going to introduce you to one of the greatest TV shows of all time," Jane said. "But first, we have to make sure that all of them are in here, or else we'll have a repeat fiasco," Jane finished.
Inside Theater # 4, over 150 gremlins were watching John Carpenter's terror-fest with sheer delight. One gremlin had two popcorn bags on his ears as he moved his head and laughed like Rob Schneider, before another gremlin bonked on the noggin with a mallet. Sitting in the front row, Stripe and Earl were watching the standoff between the men of Outpost 13 after discovering that someone had sabotaged the blood test.
"Are you guys gonna' listen to Gary? I mean, he could be one of those things!" Windows cried as he held his shotgun tightly. Stripe fished into his bucket for snacks, but found it empty. Earl leaned over and said but a simple and eloquent statement: "Milk Duds." Stripe nodded his head before getting out of his seat. Earl simply muttered Milk Duds to himself again as he looked around.
Stripe made his way into the lobby, searching for snacks but found only scattered bits of popcorn on the floor. His fellow gremlins had eaten just about everything else. "Yum-yum?" he asked as he looked around before sighing in frustration. As he began to feel defeat he looked out the lobby windows and saw a department store a little ways across the street. It had an advertisement for candy on it. "Yum-yum!" Stripe said with delight as he made his way out of the theater.
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After confirming that every single gremlin not already killed by its own stupidity or comrades was in the cinema. Daria and Jane quietly made their way to a staff entrance door. "Jane, what are we doing?" Daria asked her quietly. "We're going to cause a little destruction of our own," Jane said. "How so?" Daria asked her.
"Well, if the layout map of the building here is accurate, then we should be able to get into the boiler room from the stairwell behind that door over there," Jane said as she and Daria moved quietly. The room they were in was in front of the theater showing Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, and there were almost 200 hundred gremlins in those seats watching the film.
After reaching the boiler room, Jane quickly went over and found the gas valve. She grabbed a wrench lying on a cabinet and began to loosen it. Daria watched from a distance, keeping her eyes on Jane. With a grunt, Jane finally loosened the valve and released the gas. "Alright, let's go, and don't breathe any of the gas!" Jane exclaimed as she and Daria made their way back up the stairs.
Jane grabbed some toilet paper and a lighter from on the ground and set to work rolling it to meet the door, making sure that enough was on their side to give them a chance to escape. When she felt that the paper as long enough, she flicked the lighter and watched the paper burn. "Alright, let's go," Jane said as she and Daria made their way over to the other side of the room.
Unfortunately, at that moment, the gremlins in the projection booth had gotten into a fight and had knocked the tape reel out of the projector, leaving the screen blank and white. This allowed the gremlins to see the shadows of Daria and Jane. They quickly jumped from their seats with angy screeches and barks. Daria and Jane could see the shadows of the gremlins as they leapt onto the stage to reach the screen and began clawing at it to reach them. "Crap, run!" Jane exclaimed.
The gremlins soon tore through and began chasing the girls through the back hallways, quickly gaining on them. Jane looked back to see the gremlins getting closer. "Run faster!" she cried to Daria, who was having trouble keeping up. Jane saw a back exit as they turned a corner.
"Come on, move!" she yelled. "I-I'm trying!" Daria yelled. One gremlin almost managed to reach her, but staggered back when Gizmo spat in his fac. "Gremlin no-no," Gizmo muttered to himself as Daria soon caught up with Jane, who was holding the door open.
"Move, Daria, move!" Jane shouted as Daria ran out the door. Jane quickly tried to close the door, but the arms and hands of dozens of gremlins got in the way. "Dammit!" Jane grunted as she tried to push the door closed on them.
Meanwhile, the lit toilet paper was getting closer to the boiler room door.
"Jane!" Daria cried as she rushed over and helped Jane push the door closed. One gremlin managed to grab Jane's jacket and refused to let go. Daria quickly grabbed the arm and bit it, forcing the gremlin to let go with a painful screech. The gremlins quickly withdrew their hands for a few seconds, giving the girls a chance to shut the door and block it with some bricks lying around.
The flame got closer to the door.
"There, now come on!" Jane said as she placed the last brick in front of the door. The clanging and scraping sounds of the gremlins banging and clawing at the door were getting more intense with each passing second. Jane grabbed Daria's arm and pulled her along as they ran away from the door, soon passing over to the parking lot and running into the street. The girls found a turned over car to hide behind as they watched the front of the building with trepidation.
The flame reached under the door.
Daria and Jane's eyes widened as the cinema exploded, before ducking as debris flew outward into the sky. Inside, several gremlins were running around screaming like howler monkeys and parrots, with one gremlin holding a knife and wearing a surgeon mask with a crazed look in his eyes as he laughed maniacally at his predicament. One gremlin wearing an usher uniform screamed that he wanted his money back, just before white hot flame engulfed everything.
A second explosion engulfed the cinema, this one just as ferocious as the first, lighting up the sky and streets around it. Daria and Jane covered their ears and ducked again as shrapnel and debris flew around, breaking windows and littering the streets.
Over at the broken window of a department store, Stripe looked out at the explosion, recognizing its location with surprise and a gasp. He soon dropped some of the candy in his arms as he realized that all of his progeny had perished. With a faint sense of remorse, Stripe looked around before seeing Daria and Jane huddling behind a car. His eyes narrowed in anger as he saw the culprits of his brethren's demise.
Daria and Jane stood up after the debris had lightened and looked over at the burning and smoldering remains of Play House 99. "Do you think we can get a refund for that?" Jane asked with a relieved smile. Daria formed a small smile of her own in response before chuckling.
Gizmo looked over at the destroyed building with a sense of relief and remorse, before he turned his head and saw a familiar figure in a broken department store window. "Oh no!" Gizmo cried as he recognized the figure. Daria and Jane turned around after hearing Gizmo's exclamation, before looking over to see Stripe. Stripe backed up at seeing them face him.
"Stripe," Daria said. Stripe gasped and backed away from the window, disappearing into the darkened store. "Dammit, I thought we'd gotten all of them," Jane said as they ran over to the department store entrance. Daria tried to open the doors, but they were locked. She quickly jogged over to the broken window and carefully reached in to grab a folded stool.
Daria took off her backpack before handing it to Jane. "Hold him, please," she requested as Jane took the backpack. "Daria, what are you-" Jane was interrupted as Daria smashed the stool against the window breaking more of the glass before there was a hole large enough for them to fit through. Jane looked up at the sky and saw a tint of light blue, signaling the arrival of dawn.
She quickly covered up Gizmo before following Daria into the department store, searching for lights. She saw Daria over at the entrance trying to flip some switches. "They aren't working," Daria said frustrated. "We'll have to find the master controls or something," Jane said.
"Maser controls?" Daria asked her. "Come on, this is one of those old stores from the seventies and eighties," Jane said. "They have a room with master controls for everything, including lights and air conditioning and whatnot," Jane explained as they searched for an employee-only sign above a door. "They're usually near the bathrooms," Jane said.
After finding a door with a sign that said, "Employees Only," Daria and Jane pushed through, making their way up a flight of stairs. "In here," Jane said as they walked into a room with control panels and monitors.
"Okay, can we turn on the security cameras to find Stripe?" Daria asked as she looked at the controls. "We can try, but we can't let Stripe get out of here," Jane said firmly. "If he can get to water, this whole thing will start all over again. I'm not blowing up another movie theater," Jane added as she looked at a directory map on the wall. "Huh, they sell just about everything here," Jane said as she looked at the different departments.
"Except for produce and deli," Daria said. "Eh, can't have everything," Jane said as she turned toward the stairs. "Jane, where are you going?" Daria asked her. "I'm going to find Stripe," she said. "Shouldn't you wait until we have the surveillance system turned on?" Daria asked her.
"I should, but given how clever Stripe is, we need to act as quickly as possible. Besides," Jane said, remembering Stripe's attempts to kill her and Daria before at the mall and at the YMCA, "I have a score to settle with him." Daria glanced over at the controls before looking back at Jane.
"As soon as you have the speaker system and the cameras working, try to let me know if you can see Stripe. But keep an eye on your back, in case he finds his way up here," Jane said, handing her flashlight to Daria. "The battery is almost dead, but there should be enough juice in it to scare him away so that you can close the door on him if he does manage to get up here," Jane said before she pulled her friend into a hug.
"Be careful, Jane," Daria said to Jane, slightly bewildered by the hug, as she pulled away and walked back over to the exit. "Don't worry, I intend to," Jane said with a grin as she made her way down the stairs. Daria set her backpack down and began looking for an instruction manual. Gizmo peeked out of the backpack and slowly began to unzip it.
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Stripe carefully peeked out from behind a shelf to see if either of the girls had managed to follow him. The lights were still off, but he could see hints of daylight beginning to break through the windows at the front of the store. He had to hurry if he was to find water or a place to hide.
He unwrapped a candy bar and took a bite out of it as he began to formulate a plan. He stopped chewing when he head footsteps coming from a department on the other side of the store. He glanced around the side of another shelf as he saw Jane in the distance, grabbing a baseball bat off of a rack. "Jane," Stripe growled quietly. He looked up at the stuffed animals on the shelf above him, before looking over to see Jane slowly approaching his position.
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Jane walked slowly past a shelf of plush toys and stuffed animals, her baseball bat at the ready, constantly looking from side to side and up and down as she scanned for Stripe. After passing by the plush shelf, she turned to her left, not noticing Stripe's head poking out from behind a stuffed bear and walrus.
Jane turned around as soon as she found the wall, catching a quick glimpse of white hair rushing behind a shelf. She began running forward. She heard the sound of a tricycle as she reached the end of the aisle and saw Stripe riding away, huffing and puffing as he tried to eat some candy while doing so. "Yumyumyumyum," she heard him muttering as he turned a corner.
"Get back here, Stripe!" Jane called angrily as she rounded the corner, hearing a crashing sound and finding Stripe's tricycle lying on its side. Her eyes darted back and forth as she looked for any sign of Stripe. She carefully backed up against a shelf, scanning for Stripe.
She turned her head as she heard footsteps to her right. She didn't see Stripe, but she could hear his breathing as she slowly moved forward. She had just reached the middle of the aisle when the breathing sound stopped. Jane cautiously looked around.
She began to back up again, when she felt a weight fall onto her and clawed hands reached around her throat. "Gaah!" she screamed as Stripe tried to choke her. She waved her bat around and dropped it before slamming her back against a shelf in a bid to force Stripe off of her.
Stripe held on tighter and Jane rolled forward and reached back to grab Stripe, shrieking when he bit one her hands. She grabbed him again and managed to pull him off before throwing him at another shelf, which he crashed into. Stripe fell to the ground and grabbed a boxed up toy truck, throwing it at Jane before scurrying away. Jane blocked the throw with her arm as she leaned against a shelf, trying to catch her breath. She looked around and grabbed her baseball bat before resuming her pursuit of Stripe.
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"Dammit, why doesn't anything here have a label!?" Daria muttered under her breath as she accidentally opened shutters for the control room, which was overlooking a clothing department. "I hate my luck," Daria said angrily. Okay, maybe if I try to think of everything in a categorized manner, I can make some sense out of these controls, Daria thought to herself as she grabbed ahold of the control panel in frustration.
She didn't notice Gizmo slowly making his way over to the stairs, quietly looking back over his shoulder at her. Gizmo's gaze hardened as he looked back down the stairs. Jane was going to need help if she wanted to come out of this situation alive, he realized. He turned back to look at Daria once more before he resumed his journey down the stairs.
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Jane slowly made her way back over to the sporting goods department, having followed Stripe's trail of candy wrappers and half eaten bars. The health-bars had been left completely intact, she'd noticed. Then again, she reasoned, the gremlins did display an appreciation for good taste when it came to food and entertainment.
The sporting goods department was right next to the power tools and electronic equipment, Jane noticed with a slight sense of unease. Stripe would have access to plenty of makeshift weapons, if his intelligence were any indication of his abilities. Jane looked down at a series of unwrapped health bars, which lead directly into the area with baseball equipment. It was an obvious trap, but it still showed that Stripe was cunning.
Little bastard thinks he's smart, does he? Well, I'm smarter, Jane thought as she silently crept forward, keeping her baseball bat ready. When she reached a corner that held some stereo equipment and boom-boxes on a shelf, Jane thought about turning around, when a baseball came flying at her. She was hit right in the left shoulder as she turned to face her attacker, only to see that Stripe was using an automatic pitching machine. "Aha!" he cackled as he shot more baseballs at her. Jane tried to block them with her bat, but two of them hit her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her and she fell back against the wall.
Stripe fired again, hitting one of her kneecaps, and only let up the assault when the machine ran out of baseballs. He growled in displeasure before looking for something else to attack Jane with. Jane had finally managed to sit up when she saw a spinning metal blade flying straight at her. Her eyes widened in fear and she moved her head to the left just in time to avoid the saw blade as it embedded itself in the wall next to her.
"Die!" Jane heard Stripe rasp out at her as she saw him grab another blade. She reached over and grabbed a boom-box. Stripe threw the blade at her, his aim sure, only to growl in frustration as Jane blocked the attack with the boom-box. Jane mustered as much strength as she could to throw the boom-box at Stripe, who ducked and disappeared.
Jane tried to catch her breath before she heard a thwack sound. She looked to her left and saw an arrow sticking out of the wall next to her. She looked up at saw Stripe leaning over a rack of sports clothes while holding a hunting crossbow. Her eyes widened once more as she saw Stripe's lips curl in a snarl as he took aim at her.
Son of a bitch! Jane tried to maneuver her bat to defend herself, but Stripe had reloaded his crossbow and managed to fire an arrow straight into her left arm, just above her elbow. "Ah, fuck!" she cried in pain. "Ha-ha!" Stripe cackled again. "Bye-bye… Jane!" Stripe growled as he loaded another arrow into the crossbow, giving Jane enough time to grab a box and throw it at him, dislodging the arrow and sending Stripe falling to the floor. Jane kept her eyes open this time as she tried to catch her breath.
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"Come on, open already!" Daria grunted as she finally managed to pry open the power box in the control room. "Gotcha'," she said to herself as she began looking at the switches.
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Gizmo tore open the packaging from the box and began looking at the instructions and warning labels that came with it. He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the diagrams showing how to use the remote control car. He looked at the remote control and the batteries that came with it, along with the batteries for the car.
He carefully flipped the car over to find the lid for the battery compartment. "Ah," he purred as he managed to rip the batteries from their packaging with a small screwdriver that had been included. He glanced up and looked around him as he heard the telltale sounds of Stripe's laughter at the other end of the store, along with Jane's curses and yells.
Gizmo resumed his task as the sounds of battle became quiet before increasing once again. Of all of his progeny, Stripe was the most dangerous, and the most intelligent. There was no doubt that Stripe would do anything possible to keep himself alive, including murder. Gizmo was far too fond of Daria and Jane to let Stripe kill them or hurt them any more than he already had.
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Jane tried to sit up after catching her breath. She closed her eyes for a few seconds…before she heard the roar of an engine. Her eyes shot open as she saw Stripe underneath the clothing rack, holding a chainsaw and sporting a vicious grin. His red eyes almost glowed as he looked at her.
"You gotta' be fucking kidding me!" Jane exclaimed before Stripe bounded forward. He laughed maniacally as he raised the saw into the air and brought it down. Jane managed to grab her baseball bat by both ends and raised it up just in time to block the saw. Sawdust began to fly as Stripe pressed forward, sneering and cackling at Jane.
Jane held the bat up as far as she could without giving Stripe room to maneuver the saw. She began to feel panic well up inside of her as she noticed that the saw was cutting through the bat at a dangerous pace. Come on, Daria! Turn on those lights; do something, Amiga!
Jane pushed the bat back against Stripe's saw. She had to blink her eyes to keep the sawdust from getting in. She saw out of the corner of her eyes that Stripe's saw had a power cord attached to it. He could keep up his assault as long he pleased, while her bat would only last for another minute or two. This is it… I'm going to die!
Tears began rolling down Jane's face as she realized that Stripe had the upper hand. His facial expression became a mixture of psychotic and gleeful as he pressed forward before cackling at Jane once again. Neither of them noticed the lights turning on in various department sections.
Jane's bat was almost split in half when the lights came on in the sporting goods department, forcing Stripe to raise his saw and cover his eyes with one hand. "Raaargh!" he cried as he fell back onto the floor. The chainsaw began cutting into the floor and moving on its own path, pulling Stripe along with it, his body weight shifting enough to affect its path before the plug was pulled out of the wall socket.
Stripe shook his head to get rid of the dizziness caused by his little trip. He slowly got up and looked around. Over to his right was the gardening section, in its own greenhouse room with blinds and curtains and potted plants. In the center of it was an elaborate water fountain, which Stripe could see was turning on. "Glub-glub," he muttered before saying the true word.
"Water," he said as he turned around and looked over to his left, seeing a glass case holding a revolver and ammunition. "Gun!" he exclaimed before breaking the glass. Jane was going to find him soon, but when she did, he would be ready. He was going to put an end to those girls and their interference with his plans once and for all.
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Daria looked at the lights shining throughout the store. "I did it," she said quietly. "Gizmo, I… Gizmo?" Daria asked as she looked down and saw that her backpack was unzipped and Gizmo was nowhere to be found. Daria grabbed her backpack and cautiously walked over to the stairs, looking for Gizmo.
She scanned the ground looking for him as she noticed the overturned shelves and opened boxes strewn about the store. "Gizmo? Jane?" she whispered as she continued her search. She looked down and grabbed a yellow plastic baseball bat. She rolled her eyes at her own actions, but continued her search.
Daria looked over to see light coming in through one of the store windows. Morning had arrived. "A bit late to the party, though," Daria muttered as she kept walking.
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Jane slowly stood up as she made her way through the store, stopping only to lean on a shelf and catch her breath. I am never getting another pet as long as I live, she thought as she carefully limped over to the rack of baseball bats and grabbed another one, this time settling for aluminum. She soon resumed her search for Stripe.
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Daria looked at the chainsaw on the floor as she slowly walked over to the gardening area, her view of the center blocked by two aisles of shelfs with plants and pottery. There were hanging baskets of plants as well, obscuring some of her vision. Daria walked over to stand just at the side of a shelf as she looked at the curtains of the room. [i]I could open those and prevent Stripe from getting in here,[/i] she thought.
She did notice the figure hanging onto one of the ledges of the layered water fountain. "Daria!" Stripe growled as he aimed his revolver at her. Daria quickly turned her head to see Stripe with the gun in his hand. He laughed before he fired a round at her as she ducked behind a table with pottery next to the shelf.
Stripe cackled again before firing another shot, destroying a potted plant bowl as Daria moved over. Daria reached over and grabbed a hand-sized rock before throwing it at Stripe. He maneuvered himself out of the way and the rock sailed past him. His lips curled into a snarl as he took aim again.
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Jane heard the gunshots and quickly began limping over to the gardening section. She stopped when she heard what sounded like a small whirring noise. She turned back just in time to see Gizmo driving a small toy car under her legs and towards the gardening department. "Gizmo?" Jane asked incredulously before she started to follow him.
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"Ha-ha!" Stripe laughed after unloading another round at Daria. He quickly took out the circular bullet chamber and replaced it with another one, quickly reloading his revolver before firing at the floor in an attempt to scare Daria into revealing herself for a better shot.
Daria tried to hold back a whimper as Stripe fired again, this time nicking her right knee as she huddled against the shelf, using the table to hide. Stripe heard the muffled sound of a sob and smiled. Now he had her injured. He fired at another potted plant on the table, revealing Daria's head. She looked at him, eyes wide with fear as she realized that she couldn't hide anymore.
"A-ha-ha-ha!" Stripe cackled as he took aim. He licked his lips as he prepared to fire. He was going to enjoy watching her brains splatter against the wall and floor. Stripe saw Jane running towards him out of the corner of his eyes. Even better, he realized, he could kill one of the girls in front the other to make them suffer before finishing off the remaining girl. This was going to be the best day of his life.
Stripe had inadvertently aimed his revolver at Jane, though, and had opened fire at the entrance of the gardening room. Jane managed to duck behind a wall. Stripe, hyped up on adrenaline, climbed up to the top of the fountain where the water was coming out and placed one of his fingers in the water. The water began to glow around his finger and his back began to pulse.
Small growths began to form along Stripes back as the process began. He hissed in slight pain, but tried to ignore it, using his revolver to keep the two girls at bay. When Daria moved, he opened fire at the ground near her.
"Bye-Bye… Daria!" Stripe growled as he took aim at her head. Game over. He has me dead to rights, Daria realized as Stripe smiled cruelly before placing his finger on the trigger of the revolver. Both girls were so focused on Stripe that neither one noticed the increasingly loud whirring sound as a small toy car drove toward them.
Gizmo tried his best to keep the car going straight, having gotten himself turned around twice already before getting back on track. He saw the curtains in the garden and Stripe on the fountain. His eyebrows furrowed as he drove forward, seeing a shovel leaning against a few blocks of concrete. Gizmo drove forward and rode up the makeshift ramp before flying into the air. He cried out in surprise as the car crashed into a cluster of potted plants.
Dari and Jane both looked over at Gizmo's crash site, as did Stripe. Gizmo quickly got up out of the toy car's wreckage and looked up at the blinds. "Bright light!" he chirped. The string to open them was just low enough for him to grab it.
"Gizmo!" he heard Stripe growl as he turned to face his last surviving offspring. Stripe cackled at aimed his revolver at his new target. Now today was his best day ever.
Gizmo squeaked in fear before turning around. "Bright light! Bright light!" he chirped as he quickly rushed toward the string. "Ha-ha-ha! Gizmo caca!" Stripe hissed as he took aim an fired, hitting the wall where Gizmo had been just milliseconds beforehand. Gizmo had grabbed the string and tugged just hard enough for it to pull him upward. Gizmo hit the top of the curtain and fell back down into a mess of potted plants in the shade.
"Bye-Bye Giz-moooaaah!" Stripe screamed as the sunlight poured in from the open windows, landing directly on him. He dropped his revolver and tried to shield his eyes from the light. Jane rushed over to Daria's side and helped her up off the floor. The two girls watched in horror and fascination as Stripe's body began to decay and melt.
The skin and muscle tissue began to peel away and drip off of his bones, staring on his arm and face. His green blood began oozing into the fountain as his breathing became labored. All of his flesh began to drip and melt off of his body. His signature hair began to fall out as the tissue holding it together began dissolving.
Soon, Stripe was a skeleton with patches of flesh and organs that hung limply from the fountain, before finally dropping into the bottom basin of the fountain, where the water bubbled and churned for a minute with smoke and steam rising with flashes of color before dissipating. Daria gently grabbed Gizmo and held him before taking off her backpack to place him inside.
Jane slowly limped over to the bottom pool of bubbling water, watching for any signs of life, before Stripe's skeleton, imbued with the last bits of life, jumped out and tried to attack her.
Jane managed to step back as the remains of Stripe's skeleton began deflating on the floor, quickly turning into a pile of goo. "So, that's what happens," Jane said. "Daria, is Gizmo safe?" Jane asked her. "Yeah," Daria said, still somewhat overwhelmed by everything that had happened. "Come on, let's go home," Jane said tiredly as the two girls began limping out of the store.