Chapter 12

Later that day, Clyde stepped out of Pixel's house and started along the sidewalk when the gizmo guy called out to him. "Hey, don't worry about it! Next time we play, I'll be sure to beat you!"

"Sure you will." Clyde egged him on. "There's not a video game out there I can't spank you with!"

"I'm here whenever you want to go at it again, pretty boy!"

"See ya, Pixel."

"All right, man. Later."

As Pixel waved goodbye, Stingy, Ziggy and Trixie walked up behind their friend and waved as well. Pixel shut the door and headed back for his room with the others close behind. As they entered, Pixel noticed the screen on his computer displaying a series of streams blinking several random colors.

"Okay, guys." He said. "The analysis is ready."

Pixel sat down and examined the readings on his screen then pointed out the strange anomaly forming down the middle of the line.

"There it is." He pointed. "Right there."

"What are we looking at?" Trixie asked.

"Last night at exactly 9:01 pm at the Lazy Rock Café, my wristband sensors picked up a strange substance floating in the air."

"What kind of substance?"

"A pheromone of some kind. And at 9:01 and 35 seconds, that's when Clyde started to act funny."

"Yeah, singing to a girl who was obviously putting up a show for her audience. I can see he was acting like a real cornball, all right."

Pixel just frowned. "You don't believe me."

"I do." Ziggy raised his hand.

"Oh, Ziggy." Stingy shook his head. "You believed Robbie was an alien once."

"So did you!"

"Look!" Pixel regained control. "Don't you think it's a bit odd this new girl that neither of us have ever seen before shows up and starts making Clyde all goofy around the same time my sensors pick up on this pheromone that just happens to appear out of nowhere?"

"It's called being a man, Pixel! And if I remember correctly, you, Stingy and Ziggy were drooling all over her too!"

"Uh-oh! Somebody's jealous!" Stingy teased.

Without saying a word, Trixie grabbed Stingy by the neck and pinned him against the wall. "Don't even go there, Stingy."

"Y-yes ma'am." Stingy choked.

"Come on, Pixel." Trixie tried to reason with him. "Do you honestly think Remus would stoop as low as to sabotage Stephanie and Clyde's romance for his own personal gain? What sense would that make?"

"I don't know." Pixel shrugged. "Maybe… maybe he's after something that Stephanie has."

"Like what?"

There was a long and uncomfortable silence between the four friends until they realized what it was that Stephanie had that seemed so valuable.

"The amulet!" They all gasped in unison.

As Clyde walked along the sidewalks of the small town, he passed by a familiar corner and heard the music playing in the distance. Slowly he looked up to see the entrance to the Lazy Rock Café beckoning him inside. He rolled his eyes back and continued walking along the pavement until the eerie red mist found its way in through Clyde's nasal passages. The boy caught an enormous whiff unexpectedly and coughed at its intensity before succumbing to its power. In a trance, Clyde entered the café and stood still for a while before the stranger with the blue bow tie and shades greeted him.

"Hey, you're that guy from last night, right?" He asked.

"…Huh?" Clyde looked around, sniffing the air.

"Yeah, I thought I'd recognized you. If you're looking for Catalina, she's in the back."

"Oh, thank you. I was gonna go over there and--NO!" Clyde shook his head, breaking away from the spell. "No! No…"

Clyde headed back for the door but something inside him pulled him further inside the café. He walked along the bar and took a quick glimpse of Catalina, who was sitting at one of the tables in the very back of the room. Clenching his fists, Clyde turned his attention elsewhere and took a seat on one of the stools.

"So what'll it be?" The green-haired young man behind the counter asked.

After taking another glimpse, Clyde returned his attention to the counter. "Lemonade! Fast!"

"Coming up!"

The disguised Goggi turned around and filled a glass with the ice-cold beverage then took out a small vial of pink liquid. He slowly put a few drops into the drink and watched as the glass fizzed and emanated more of the mysterious red mist. When Clyde received his drink, he chugged it down fast and twitched at the strange bold flavor.

"Oh, God! What was that!?" He wiped his mouth.

"New recipe." Goggi shrugged, deceiving the boy.

"You should have the left the old one alone! This one's nasty! I hate it! It's revolting!"

"More?"

"Please!"

The trick was working. Clyde's judgment was beginning to impair and after several lemonades, he finally got up from the stool and joined Catalina in the back. The black-haired beauty noticed the red aura surrounding Clyde and grinned devilishly at him.

"Well hello there, stranger." She said as Clyde took a seat next to her.

"Hiya." He goofily smiled.

"I've been thinking about you, you know."

"Really?"

"Yes. And I'm sorry but what's your name?"

"C-C-Clyde…" The boy stammered as his subconscious tried to fight the spell.

"You're a good singer, Clyde. I've been thinking of changing my solo act into a duet for a while but I haven't found anyone to make sweet music with."

She then ran her hand along Clyde's smooth face and played with his dark hair for a little bit. Clyde just sat there, smiling yet shaking at the same time. It was obvious to her that he was fighting on the inside but weakening on the outside.

"Tell me, Clyde." She continued. "Do you want to make sweet music together?"

"Y-y-N-n--" Clyde shifted between answers as his hands shook.

"What's wrong, Clyde?"

"SHPADOINKLE!" He answered in a petrified yell.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I… I have no idea."

While Catalina continued to seduce Clyde, Stephanie poked her head inside the café and looked around for her boyfriend.

"You're with that guy, right?" The disguised Hodge pointed at Clyde and Catalina in the back.

Stephanie turned and was surprised to see him sitting with a raven-haired stranger. "Yeah, that's him. Who's that girl he's talking to?"

"Oh her? That's Catalina."

"Catalina?" A worried look slowly spread across her face. "How long have they been back there?"

"Not too long."

"…Uhh… excuse me…" Stephanie turned around and started to walk away as Hodge smiled.

"It's working." He said to himself. "She's not even going to try and break them apart."

Goggi walked up to his companion and nodded. "It's so sad, really."

"Hey."

"What?"

"You wanna mess with her?"

"…Okay."

The two quickly caught up to Stephanie and walked with her, trying to play with her head. Goggi offered a drink but the girl shook her head and continued walking.

"It's a shame, really." Hodge began. "You two seemed like such a nice couple?"

"What are you talking about?" Stephanie asked suspiciously. "He's just talking to her. That's all."

"Oh, that's so cute." Goggi teased. "You have faith in him!"

"Of course I do. That's what you do with someone you love. You trust them."

"Yeah, I can see he loves you a lot!"

"Look, I don't mean to sound rude but it's really none of your business."

"Hey, we're just looking out for one of our own, is all!" Hodge said defensively.

"One of your own?"

"Oh, uhh… well, I mean--"

Goggi shoved his friend away and finished his sentence. "What he's trying to say is that we're just looking out for our fellow high school chum."

"High school chum?" Stephanie repeated the words with an almost repulsed look on her face. "I've never seen either of you before."

"Face it, cutie." Hodge continued. "I'd open my eyes and see what's really going on between those two!"

"Nothing is going on!"

"Oh really?" Goggi asked before he tried to spell it out to her:

Taking your time. Choosing your lines.

Trying to decide what to do.

Looks like your stop. You don't want to get off.

Got yourself hung up on him.

Soon Halla and Sweetchuck, heavily disguised, joined Hodge and Goggi to gang up on the pink-haired girl:

(Seems to me!)

You don't want to talk about it.

(Seems to me!)

You just turn your pretty head and walk away.

Yup. Walk away.

As they continued walking, Stephanie turned the other way and returned to the café where she could see Clyde and Catalina through the window. Soon the negative thoughts she tried so hard to fight back were starting to surface as she thought aloud to herself:

Places I've known. Things that I'm growing.

Don't seem the same without you.

I got myself in the worst mess I've been.

And I find myself starting to doubt you.

"Uh-oh!" The doppelgangers gasped as they helped Steph sing:

(Comes today!)

Talk all night, here comes the morning.

(Come what may!)

You just forget what we said and greet the day.

Walk away!

Walk away

Walk away!

I've got to cool myself down.

Stomping around!

Thinking some words I can't name ya!

If it's okay. I got nothing to say.

Still I don't suppose I can blame ya!

Saddened and distraught, Stephanie continued on home while the doppelgangers remained at their post, waving goodbye to the girl and laughing maniacally.

"Bye-bye, Pinky!" Goggi giggled.

"That was too easy!" Halla exclaimed.

"Yes it was, Halla!"

(Seems to me!)

You don't want to talk about it.

(Seems to me!)

You just turn your pretty head and walk away!

Ohhh!

Walk away!

Walk! Walk! Walk!

Walk away!

As Stephanie vanished from their sights, Goggi and his friends looked back into the window where Catalina clung on to Clyde's arm.

"And now…" Goggi looked at his wrist monitor. "…Time for Step 2."

That very night, Robbie slept like a baby on his fuzzy orange chair only to be awaken by a leather-gloved hand placed firmly around his mouth. Robbie struggled to scream and get up but the three individuals in night suits prevented him from doing so. A fourth member stood directly in front of Robbie and took out a blade from its boot strap.

"Uh-oh." Robbie was able to mouth.

The ringleader slowly approached Robbie and raised the blade up to his face. Wincing and fearing for the worst, Robbie took a deep breath and prepared to meet his maker. That's when the unexpected happened. Opening one eye, Robbie could see a segment of his greasy hair being cut off by the blade and placed into a small plastic baggie.

When the job was done, the three strangers let go of Robbie and headed back up to the surface. Confused and angry, Robbie pulled out a mallet from under his seat and swung around the room, demanding answers.

"Okay, who are you people and what do you want!?"

"We mean you no harm." The leader's distorted voice said. "This is merely for an experiment of ours."

"Liar!"

Robbie took a swing but the execution greatly backfired, seeing as how the giant hammer weighed too much for him. Out of breath, Robbie fell back into his chair as the stranger in black extended one of its arms.

"Sleep now, Rotten. For tomorrow this will only have been a dream."

"What are you talking ab--"

"Sleep."

And with that, a small stream of white odorless gas sprayed from the stranger's hand and onto Robbie's face, knocking him out cold for the rest of the night. And for the morning that would soon follow, the stranger's words will ring true. It will all have been a dream.