Oh Holy Nightmare
Act I. Game Breakers
The room was dark; pitch dark, in fact. Two very familiar figures sat in front of a television monitor staring intently at the screen. Onscreen the image of a blue robot could be clearly seen. The individual on the left held what appeared to be a video game controller. The person spoke.
"Well, my lady," the male voice spoke, and one could tell immediately that it belonged to Dr. V, "the rendering is complete, and the atomic transfer case is fully operational. All I have to do is push one button, and Microman here will be unleashed to reek havoc on all the world's capitalistic ingrates! Since no one knows the true meaning and origin of Christmas, they must be taught a valuable lesson about what Christmas really means!"
"Indeed," the female voice, that of Lady Dragon, concurred, "since downloading people and things into games is not viable, perhaps a few quick uploads to reality are in order. After all, if the people won't go to the games, we shall bring the games to the people!" Both laughed sinisterly. Dr. V pushed the button he had spoken of. A beam of white light lanced from the monitor, and the next moment the blue cyborg stood before them, lifeless but ready for action.
"Microman," Dr. V barked, "fire your atomic disruptor at that wall."
"Order confirmed and compliance being initiated," the robot had a surprisingly human-sounding voice. The automaton turned in the direction V had pointed and raised its arm. A beam of blue light lanced from it, staving a hole the size of a basketball in the opposite wall.
"Yes!" V shouted exuberantly, "it works! My goodness, Lady Dragon, what in the world was I doing without you."
"Oh, you're forgiven, Dr.," she said coolly, "at least someone appreciates my insight and eye for innovation!" Both laughed again, louder than before this time.
Clover sat silently on a hard metal chair in front of the smallish grand piano. She had come to pick Alex up already. The two girls were going to go Christmas shopping. They had already bought each other's gifts, but wanted to buy gifts for Sam, David, and each of their mothers and fathers. Alex stood by the piano in the choral room as a young man spoke to her with a good deal of esteem. The young man would have struck most people as perfectly normal and, with a few minor exceptions, he was. Had people noticed the strange glaze over his eyes or the collapsible cane on the floor under the piano bench, they would have understood his situation, but then again, this didn't affect his appraisal of Alex's performance.
"Alex," the man said, "your voice is absolutely incredible! I just can't believe how beautifully you sing. Had you ever sung before? I mean, it almost seems like you've had a lot of experience or training."
"Well, no," Alex said, rather sheepishly, blushing as she did so, "I mean, I sometimes sing in the shower after a basketball game or track meet, but, well, I never really sung in front of anyone like this before."
"Well," the man observed, "it certainly seems like you have. I have to be honest, Alex. You have one of the best voices of anyone I know. You're going to sound wonderful this Sunday night, I guarantee it. We need more people in the world like you, Alex. You have a wonderful gift, and I applaud you for sharing it!"
"Well, thanks," Alex wasn't used to having praise heaped upon her in such a manner. Unfortunately for her, the young man was prone to heaping excessive praise on others and, truth be told, found he tended to thrive on some of it himself.
"Well," the man said, "that'll do it for tonight. Can you come back tomorrow night?"
"Well, sure, for a little while," Alex said, gathering her belongings, "thanks, Bryan. This is really kinda fun."
"Well, I'm enjoying it." He was enjoying it. Playing the piano along with someone like Alex was quite a thrill. Unfortunately, Clover didn't share in the girls exuberance. That would have been difficult. She was too busy staring dumbstruck at Alex. Was there no end to Alex's talents? She was athletic, nimble, and quite kind, if a bit sensitive. Clover had none of those things and she knew it. She'd spent much of her high school career chasing after every eligible bachelor at Beverly Hills High. She probably would have hit up the young man for a date, but he was a bit old for her at eighteen, and she knew, as did most other people, that blind people tended to be high maintenance. She didn't hold this against him, but it made things difficult on her, or it would have. Furthermore, Clover had gotten stuck driving Alex to the First Union Church almost everyday for the past two weeks, which not only took time out of her daily shopping sprees, but also reminded her of how much attention and praise Alex was receiving.
"Hey, Clover," Alex said, rousing Clover from her thoughts.
"Oh, hey Alex," Clover said, and Alex knew something was wrong.
"Hey, is everything alright, Clover?" Alex's eyes were filled with concern.
"Yes, Alex," Clover said, slightly annoyed despite herself, "everything's fine. Now are we gonna go Christmas shopping or what?" Alex made no answer, but started walking away ahead of Clover. Bryan found himself a bit flustered. He'd known Alex for the past couple of weeks and had taken to enjoying his time with her. Clover, on the other hand, was someone he didn't know, and found himself not entirely liking what he had heard. Nevertheless he managed to call "goodbye" after them. Alex returned the parting word jovially, while Clover grunted something nondescript and waved her hand half-heartedly at him. I wonder what her problem is, Bryan thought to himself, then dismissed the affair pretty much out-of-hand.
Alex and Clover strolled through Beverly Park Mall as Christmas music played in the background.
"And he's really good at the piano!" Alex was saying, "I never knew how much fun music could be! Have you ever sung before Clover? Well, I guess that'd be kind of hard, what with your voice changing and all that…not that you couldn't but…" At that moment "Oh Holy Night" as sung by Martina McBride began playing over the Muzak system in the mall.
"Oh my gosh!" Alex nearly shouted, "that's the song Bryan's teaching me. I totally love this song now. I never thought I could love Christmas music, Clover, but I love this!"
"Ow, Alex," Clover was becoming edgy now, "could you puh-lease not yell in my ear? And, for the love of goodness, could we puh-lease talk about something else?" Alex was taken aback, as she probably ought to have been.
"Fine, Clover, but would you please tell me what's bothering you? Something's obviously bothering you."
"Nothing's bothering me, Alex!" Clover repeated exasperatedly, "look, you wanna go get a latte or something?"
"Sure," Alex jumped at the chance to take some of the edge off of things with a nice hot latte. The three spies hadn't said anything for quite sometime. Sam had joined them just a few moments ago, having bought her mother a new pair of ruby teardrop earrings at Zalea's at a very reasonable price. Across the way from them, an artist calling herself Liv Cummins, whom the spies had never heard of, was singing a Christmas carol.
"o/ Sleighbells ring, are you listening/In the lane, snow is glistening/A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight/Walkin' in a winter wonderland. o/" At that moment, however, as Alex and Sam sang along to the quirky yet very likable voice, the bench they were sitting on toppled forward of its own accord and sent the spies hurdling through another of WOOHP's routing tunnels.
"Winter wonderland?" Clover screamed over the rush of air, "more like a freezing cold nightmare!"
"Yeah, just like our next mission, I'll wager!" Sam agreed loudly.
As always, the three young ladies landed bottom-first on the comfort in front of Jerry's desk. This time, however, he was decked out in white dress shirt, red sport coat, and red tie.
"Gee, Jerry," Alex grinned, "let me guess, you're Santa at a North Pole board of directors' meeting, right?"
"Ho ho ho," Jerry said, "and have yourself a merry little Christmas, too, Alex! I'm just trying to get into the spirit around here."
"Just…don't start with the eggnog, 'kay Jerr?" Clover said sarcastically.
"I promise I won't do anything ludicrous if you girls will listen as I give you your mission for today. It appears that Lady Dragon's getting a bit of a hot temper lately, and she's got help this time."
"So who needs to have a merry little Christmas?" Alex asked.
"Anyway," Jerry continued, "now Lady Dragon, with the help of Dr. V, is uploading video game characters to reality. Yes, you could call it a complete reversal of her last attempt to take over the world. She's unleashed a very dangerous blue robot called Microman."
"Oh yeah," Alex said with recognition, "isn't he in that series of games by Castcom?"
"That's right, Alex. Your job will, therefore, be twofold. You'll have to find out where Lady Dragon and Dr. V are hiding out, apprehend them, and then destroy Microman."
"Any idea where V and Lady Dragon are?" Sam asked.
"Well," Jerry said, raising his eyebrows, "we don't know if this is where they're hiding, but we've received reports of high levels of atomic energy detected at a specific location on the floor of the Arctic ocean. But don't worry. A sub will be waiting when you arrive to take you down to check things out. As for your gadgets, some anesthetic hairspray, spiked inline skates, thermal analysis sunglasses, and some RADSs.
"Gee, Jerry," Clover quipped, "I woulda gone for narlies or tubulosos if you had 'em."
"RADSs," Jerry said, slightly annoyed at Clover's flippancy, "are radioactive deflector swimsuits. Yes, their made of enhanced spandex. But believe me, girls, they deflect radioactive material better than many of the radiation suits out there. Now then girls…" He pushed a button, and the spies were gone as quickly as they had arrived.
"Happy holidays, girls," he finished with a grin.
Act II. Northern Exposed
"So what happens now?" Clover wondered aloud. The mini-sub the girls sat in was perched atop the ice in the middle of the frigid Arctic ocean.
"Oh, that's easy," a man sitting at a control panel said unconcerned, "we crank up the engines to full!"
"Look, pal," Clover retorted, "I really like ice-skating, but…"
"Naw," the man said, "once the engines get hot enough, they'll melt straight through this sheet of ice. You'll see."
"Um, but it's three feet thick," Sam observed.
"Not to worry," the man said. He was reasonably attractive, with sandy-blond hair, blue eyes, a nicely rounded jaw, and reasonably well-built, though by no means torqued, limbs.
"Say," Clover said suggestively, "if we make it through this alive, maybe you can come to Beverly Hills's Christmas party. There's plenty of mistletoe to go around, y'know!" She grinned stupidly at him, but he seemed not to take notice.
"Clover," Sam said reproachfully, "focus? We do have a mission."
"Yeah, Clov," Alex put in, "sometimes even spies have working holidays."
The submarine was at full power now, and the girls could feel the engines burning underneath them. It took a surprisingly short twenty minutes for all the ice to be melted away. The spies felt the submarine lowering itself into the water, and soon they were completely submerged.
"I'm picking up high levels of radiation from that location," the helmsman said, pointing at a red marker that was flashing on a visual display in front of him.
"Well, girls," Sam said, "what do you say we suit up and have ourselves a look down there?" The girls donned their RADSs and prepared to land on the floor of the ocean. They exited through an airlock and circled the white palatial structure.
"So," Clover said, "how do we get in there?"
"Um," Alex chuckled, pointing, "through the front door, silly." She pulled on the door, but it would not budge.
"Yeah, silly," Clover responded indignantly, "the door's locked!"
"The water pressure's probably holding it closed," Sam noted, "maybe there's an airlock or something around here. Let's have a look around."
The spies indeed found an airlock on the northern side of the structure. As they approached it, a panel slid aside to allow them access, and all three girls swam through. The panel slammed shut behind them. As it did so, a black box mounted on the left wall of the passage hummed to life, and a moment later an alarm klaxon began to wail.
"DANGER! DANGER! SECURITY BREACH IN SECTOR 3-N! REPEAT! SECURITY BREACH IN SECTOR 3-N!"
"Oh, great," Clover grumbled, "now we have to dispatch some dumber-than-dirt security guard. Look, can one of you wake me up when this is over?"
"Um, wakey, wakey, Clover," Sam warned, "look!" A powerful-looking creature all in green was advancing rapidly down the passage towards them.
"Ew," Clover said, "that thing looks slimy and ickey and disgusting! Besides, aren't characters from the same TV channel supposed to be friendly to one another?"
"I don't think he knows that, Clover," Sam replied.
"Look out!" Alex shouted, and knocked Clover away as a pointed metal star flew past both girls, missing Alex's head by about eighteen inches.
"Hey," Clover complained, "what's the big idea, Alex! I could have handled that myself!"
"Clover!" Sam said sternly.
"Sorry, Clover," Alex said subdued, "I only wanted to help."
"Just let the master handle this!" she lunged for the reptilian mutant and grabbed it by the throat. The two wrestled on the floor, exchanging blows, until, finally, Clover rendered the being unconscious with a kick to the neck.
"Now that," she said as she got up and dusted herself off, "is the true meaning of rad!" Unfortunately, Clover had sustained a small cut just under her left eye.
"Hey, let me help with that," Alex offered, taking a length of gauze from her backpack.
"I can take care of that, thank you," Clover retorted, too quickly. She whipped out some gauze of her own and began patching up her injury. Alex turned away. She didn't want Clover to see the pain that was building in her eyes.
"Well then," Sam said, "let's see what in the world's going on around here. Something tells me that turtle creature was no accident." The girls proceeded through the facility until they came to what looked at first glance like a prison cell block. In each cage, however, was a character from a popular video game.
"Okay," Clover said, "this is really starting to creep me out. How did they get like that? I mean, I've heard of wanting to meet your favorite TV characters in real life, but this is just ridiculous!"
"But how did they get here," Alex wondered.
"That's what I just asked, Einstein!" Clover said, becoming more annoyed.
"But how's she doing it?" Sam asked no one in particular.
"Well," Clover said, "we could ask that over-dressed exotic dancer chick over there." She pointed at one cage in particular in which a young girl sat weeping.
"What's wrong, miss," Alex said with genuine concern when they reached the girl.
"I…I won't do it!" the girl spat the words out with finality.
"Won't do what?" Sam asked.
"H…h…hurt people!" the girl said, "she can't make me!"
"How can she do that?" Alex wondered.
"She…she said…" (sniff) "…she said that if I didn't do her bidding, she'd…she'd…leave this garment sphere on me until I did!" The girl wept harder.
"Who did this?" Sam asked.
"I dunno," the girl said, "someone calling herself…Lady Dragon!"
"Well, that settles that!" Sam said, "now we know who's behind this mess!"
"That little virus," Alex said, "now she's gone too far! Uploading characters so she can use them for her twisted little plan…whatever it is!"
"Duh," Clover said, "she wants to take over the world, dipstick!"
"Listen, miss," Sam said to the girl, ignoring Clover's retort, "how would you like to help us get Lady Dragon?"
"I…I don't wanna get anyone," the girl said, "I just want her to stop doing this to me!"
"R…right, right," Sam agreed quickly, "that's what we're gonna do. We'll make her stop manipulating people to do what she wants."
"Well, I can try," the girl said.
"But you'll do nothing of the kind," a voice said fiercely. The girls turned to see Lady Dragon and Dr. V standing in the doorway of the cell block.
"You!" Alex jabbed a finger at Lady Dragon, "you…you…twisted, manipulative, conniving little…aaaarrrrgggghhhh!" She lunged at Lady Dragon, but Lady Dragon raised her right hand and a beam of red light lanced out and caught Alex, freezing her in midair. Lady Dragon moved her hand around and Alex's body flopped about helplessly.
"Let her go, lady!" Sam barked at the rogue game designer.
"Oh, alright," Lady Dragon released her hold on Alex, who promptly crashed to the floor in a stunned heap.
"Does she even know what a dumb move that was?" Clover thought aloud.
"Oh, not nearly as dumb as you think, my dear," Lady Dragon said, "I've got you three twerps right where I want you! I only released your bratty friend because I want to see you three maggots thrash about helplessly inside my game world."
"So now'd be a bad time to ask you why you're doing this, then?" Sam asked, not expecting a response.
"Oh, but it's not quite as bad as you think, dear Sam," Lady Dragon replied, "I'm merely helping Dr. V here. Mind you, I believe wholeheartedly in his plan, but still, I'm just the accomplice. You can't blame me for helping a friend, can you? You girls are always shoveling your capitalist middle-class moralistic drivel at the rest of us, so you can deal with a bit of it yourself, I think."
"Even if you can't!" Sam said defiantly.
"Silence," Dr. V shouted, "you will not speak to me that way when you know how right I am. No one ever loved me. My parents tossed me in an orphanage and no one ever came to comfort me when I cried, or do anything nice for me. People are selfish, and Christmas is the perfect example of how out-of-touch human beings are with the feelings of others."
"Hypocritical much?" Alex sneered.
"I said be quiet!" V screamed, "now then. Since you girls like toys and games so much, what better way to play with them than by getting up close and personal with the characters you know and love! Roper, come forth!" A nasty-looking brute of a man burst through a door at the far end of the room and stomped menacingly toward the girls. When he was ten feet away, he raised a machine gun and aimed it directly at Clover's head.
Act III. You've Gotta Fight
"Look out!" Alex yelled, again pushing Clover out of the way.
"Look," Clover gritted her teeth as she turned on Alex, "will you just knock it off? I don't need your help, okay? Just…just stay out of the way, will you?"
"Fine, Clover!" Alex shouted, "just forget it! I…I don't even know why I was nice to you in the first place!" Alex turned and ran off, sobbing.
"Real smooth, Clover," Sam glared at Clover, "real smooth! I dunno know what's gotten into you!"
"Look," Clover said, "do you mind staying out of this? Who's side are you on, anyway?"
"I'm not on anyone's side, Clover!" Sam nearly shouted back.
"Look, just forget it!" Clover said, "besides, bullet boy here's gotta a major butt-whooping comin' on!" She dove for Roper's legs. He fired a volley of shots that all sailed over her head. She got her hands around Roper's legs and sent him backward. As he went down, however, the gun went off again and grazed Clover's shoulder. She screamed in pain and went down herself.
"Clover!" Sam screamed, rushing to her friend's side.
"Clover, are you okay?" Sam said, kneeling down by her friend's side.
"Fine…" Clover fought to get the words out, "…just fine. Go…"
"What?" Sam was confused.
"Go…" Clover repeated, "…stop Lady Dragon!"
"I'm staying with you, Clover," Sam said resolutely.
"P…please…" Clover was shaking now.
"No, Clover!" Sam said, gritting her own teeth, "I'm staying with you and that's final! I'm calling for a WOOHP medicopter!" Sam took out her compowder and radioed Jerry's office. He informed her a chopper would be along reasonably soon, although he didn't know exactly when that would be.
Alex roamed about the palace, trying to blink away the tears that just didn't seem to want to leave her in peace. It wasn't just that Clover was being nasty towards her. She'd done something similar once before to Sam, but now it was Christmas! For crying out loud! Alex thought to herself, why did Clover have to act like this all the time? It wasn't fair! Alex admired Clover so much, but the latter wasn't really giving the former much to admire lately.
Alex was roused from her silent dialogue by an unearthly roar. She wheeled to see what she could have sworn was a giant bluish dragon advancing slowly and fiercely upon her. It glared down at her with beady black eyes.
"W…who are you!" she stammered.
"Me?" the creature snorted derisively at her, and a few rings of smoke curled from its nostrils, "oh, little girl! I can't believe you don't know who I am!"
"Look," Alex said, "does it look to you like I've met you?"
"Silence!" the dragon roared, and Alex thought for sure she was about to get flame-broiled, "you will not speak to the dragon king in that insolent tone if you value your life!" The dragon threw back its head, and Alex knew she had to act. In one motion, she spun and began running the other way. The dragon was fairly large, with rather long legs, but Alex was surprised to find that she had little trouble outdistancing the beast in the beginning. As time went on, however, she found herself beginning to tire somewhat. The dragon began to gain ground on her. Just when she thought she could run no further, a door appeared up ahead. She made a break for it, and came crashing through it, sailing past Sam and Clover as she came through.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" the dragon laughed derisively as it strode into the room, "I have all three of you right where I want you! I think I'm gonna cook me up some flame-grilled spies!"
"Clover," Sam said, "just…stay down! Whatever you do, stay down!"
"Does it…look to you…like I…have a choice?" The searing pain was beginning to make Clover nauseous. Sam simply ignored the remark and placed herself between Clover and the nasty dragon looming above them.
"Ha!" the dragon snorted again, "insolent little swine, all of you!" He lunged down and swatted Sam away like a cat swats away a worthless ball of yarn. Sam hit the far wall and slumped to the floor, a large red welt beginning to take shape on her left arm close to her shoulder. The dragon glared down at Clover.
"You know," he said flippantly, "I've always wanted to try flam, but I suppose an insignificant cream puff like you'll be a decent start!" The dragon again reared back its head, and Alex saw its huge belly pull in as though it were drawing a giant flaming breath. With mechanical speed and reflexes, Alex drew her anesthetic hairspray and fired. The foul-smelling mist covered the dragon's entire head, and it inhaled some of the ether-laced anesthetic.
"Alex!" Sam yelled, and winced as soon as she had done so.
"Sam?" Alex looked over at her friend.
"Ether…highly..flammable…explosive!" Alex looked around, then her eyes widened in horror.
"Oh no!" she cried, "I have to get you guys out of here! Clover, do you think you can move at all?"
"What?" Clover stared in shock at Alex, "in case you haven't noticed, I've been hit by a bullet!"
"It's only about twenty feet, Clover," Alex encouraged, "just out of the blast radius. You have to!"
"I…I…" Clover looked quite hesitant, "I'll be alright."
"Clover!" Alex cried, and rushed over to her friend. Very carefully, she lifted her off the ground, making sure not to put any pressure near Clover's wound. Clover winced nonetheless.
"Alex!" she cried in protest, "let me…let me…aaahhh!" Despite Clover's protests, however, Alex carefully moved her to a safe spot and gently laid her on the ground once more so that she favored her good shoulder. Alex then ran back to Sam, but she was standing.
"I'll grab onto your arm for support," Sam said, and together they made their way to where Clover was now lying.
Sam had barely gotten herself comfortable again when the three girls heard a horrific explosion. Alex turned to see a giant fireball in the area where all of them had been just moments ago. Clover simply closed her eyes. She refused steadfastly to look at Alex.
"Alex!" Sam said, "you…you have to stop Lady Dragon."
"Me?" Alex looked incredulously at her friend, "how am I supposed to do that?"
"You have to, Alex!" Sam said, "we don't have any other choice, I'm afraid."
"But…but what do I do?"
"Find Lady Dragon and stop her!"
"Great!" Alex grumbled as she left, "this oughtta be fun."
Alex retraced the group's steps back to where they had first confronted Lady Dragon. As she walked down the center of the hallway, a solitary tear squirted from her eye. All of these characters had become real. They had emotions and thoughts just like anyone else, and Lady Dragon was using them for her own sick little games. Alex couldn't help but chuckle at her own pun. It was a bitter sort of chuckle.
"I promise I'm going to get you all out of here," she said resolutely to no one in particular.
"Thank you," was all some of them said, but it was enough. Alex exited the room at the other end, and found herself in a large but dimly lit room. No one seemed to be around. All she could make out was a strange machine in one corner with a rocker switch and a large red button in the middle of it. An electric eye peered down at her ominously from atop the device. She walked hesitantly up to it and examined it more carefully. The red button was marked with the word TRANSFER. The rocker switch read simply, REVERSE TRANSLOCATOR. What in the world does that mean? She wondered, and continued to search the device. A sign was taped to one side of it. It read: USE THIS DEVICE TO INITIATE THE MOLECULAR TRANSFER OF LIFE FORMS IN BOTH PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL SPACE. USE THE ROCKER SWITCH TO REVERSE THE TRANSFER DIRECTION FROM DOWNLOAD TO UPLOAD AND VICE VERSA. Download…upload? Alex thought for a moment. She'd had some computer training at one point before. Taking on a rogue computer geek made computers a lot easier to operate. Imagine plugging people's brains into a computer! It appears Lady Dragon's gone a step further, Alex thought, and chuckled again. Well, let's see what we've got. She circled around to the front of the machine and examined the rocker switch. The machine appeared to be set to download, so she flipped the switch. Now we can send all the characters back where they came from, she thought grinning.
"Step away from the device!" a menacing robotic voice shattered the almost serene silence. Alex whipped her head around and saw a giant blue robot advancing upon her.
"No, you step away!" she said with confidence that didn't seem her own. She reached for the switch at the same time the robot raised a nasty-looking rifle to eye level. She quickly hit the button, but a laser beam had lanced out already. To her surprise, it merely knocked the wind out of her. Must have been set to stun or something, she thought as she lie a few paces from the machine. Meanwhile, the blue robot was emitting strange sounds as its body seemed to be sucked into a monitor on the back wall. After a moment Alex could have sworn she saw the blue robot trying to crawl back through the screen. You see, she thought, this is why that Nick Arcade show never hit the big time. Hmmm, she wondered. I wonder if this thing has long range capability. She pushed the button again, but the beam from the eye didn't seem to travel far. She tried holding it in and the beam traveled farther this time. She held it in for a long moment, felt it become quite hot, and released it. Then she stood back. To her utter amazement, strange creatures and oddly dressed and strange-looking humans began flying through the room and into the monitor. Yes! She cried, go back! Go back home where you came from!
Bringing up the rear, unfortunately, were Lady Dragon and Dr. V.
"Oh, smashing good show!" Lady Dragon clapped her hands in mock approval, "very nice. It's too bad you won't be around to do much more than you have! Once I dispose of you and your cretin friends, I'll re-upload the character files to physical space. Don't you get it? You can't win, girls!" She raised a gun and tightened her finger on the trigger, but Alex had reached for the red button again.
"Back off!" she yelled, "get away or I'll download both of you right now!"
"You're bluffing!" Lady Dragon shouted, temporarily loosening her grip around the trigger.
"Try me!" Alex challenged. Lady Dragon did exactly as Alex told her, but Alex's finger jammed down on the button hard at the same time. Two identical but oppositely configured beams lanced out and struck each other. The two beams began to struggle against one another as if battling for supremacy.
"Let…go…you…creep!" Lady Dragon set her jaw and continued focusing the gun on Alex, but it was no use. Unfortunately for Alex, however, the machine was getting hot…very hot…in fact. She set her own teeth and held the button. Fortunately it was slightly insulated so as not to burn the user's finger if the machine overheated, but the machine's heat was becoming unbearable, and Alex felt her finger beginning to sting with the painful burning. To her amazement, Dr. V became impatient and reached for the gun in Lady Dragon's hand.
"Give me that gun!" he snarled, apparently annoyed at Lady Dragon's incompetence.
"What…what are you doing!" she said, becoming panicked, "you'll…you'll…" Lady Dragon lost focus for just a moment. This was all Alex needed. With Lady Dragon's gun pointed away, the beam from the machine struck Lady Dragon squarely in the chest.
"Nooooooo!" Lady Dragon shrieked in agony, "no, you can't! It…it…it's not fair! I can't lose! I won't let you…aaaaaiiiiieeee!" Her entire body seemed to travel the length of the beam until it reached the monitor on the back wall. She was trapped…forever. Alex repeated the process with Dr. V.
"Well," Alex said with a smirk, "how's it feel to get a taste of your own medicine, hmm?" At that moment, Jerry appeared in the doorway to the room.
"Excellent work, Alex!" Jerry smiled warmly at her, then chuckled, "why, Alex, I do believe that's the most unique method by which one of my agents has ever found for capturing a villain."
"Yeah," Alex said, smiling herself, "and now you don't even have to arrest anyone…n…not that it's bad when you do, but…"
"I'm proud of you, Alex!" Jerry said, walking over and patting his star employee on the back, "I'd have to say you're having one very merry Christmas. You're going to knock them dead this Sunday, you know."
"You…knew about that?" Alex wasn't sure why she was surprised.
"Oh, now, Alex," Jerry said, "you think we don't keep our eye on you…from a safe distance, of course?"
"Are you…gonna come to the show?" Alex was pleading more than posing a question.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Alex," Jerry hugged his spy. Unfortunately, that brought tears to Alex's eyes.
Act IV. Faithful Friends
"What's wrong, Alex?" Jerry was suddenly concerned, "did I make you uncomfortable?" He withdrew quickly.
"No…" Alex said through her tears, "No, it's not that, sir."
"Well then," Jerry said, "what could possibly be troubling you at a time like this."
"Well, sir," Alex said, "it's…it's just that…well…Clover's seen me practicing my song and…well…I think she's mad at me about it! I don't know why; she just got annoyed or something. I don't think she wants to come to the show this Sunday. M…maybe…" Alex didn't want to say the words that came out next, "…maybe I should just bow out. I mean, Christmas is a time to put aside our differences, right? It's not a time for us to be fighting or anything, and, well, I don't wanna fight with Clover. I've always admired her, y'know? If I bow out, she won't be mad at me." To her surprise, Jerry grasped her shoulders.
"You'll do nothing of the kind, young lady. You're going to perform this Sunday, Clover's going to be there, and you're both going to like it!"
Clover sat in her room sulking. Yet again, Alex had shown off her "abilities". Clover created quote marks in the air with her hands. She couldn't just leave well enough alone! She had to constantly prove to Clover how wonderful she was. Perfect little Alex! What kind of a scrooge was Alex, anyway? It was like she was proud of their differences or something! Well, Clover thought stubbornly, I'll show her. She can forget about me coming to her stupid little Star Search knock-off! Her compowder's call signal roused Clover from her thoughts. She took it and answered it. Jerry's face appeared on the screen.
"Hey, Clover," he said, "listen, are you up for a surprise?" Clover was dumbfounded. A surprise? She wondered, what was Jerry playhing at? Was it a new convertible? A mink stole? A gift certificate to Zalea's Jewelers? Dinner at the Beverly Wilscher?
"Sure, Jerr," she said, "what do I do?" Perhaps things wouldn't be so bad, and she could tell Alex how much personalized attention Jerry had been giving her.
"I'll be there to pick you up in a few moments."
Clover waited outside her front door for only a few moments before a limousine arrived with Jerry at the wheel.
"Hop in, Clover," he said cordially. When she was seated comfortably, Jerry handed her a pair of blindfolds.
"Put these on," he instructed, "I want this to be perfect." She stared at him confused for a moment, then donned the folds as requested. The duo drove for several blocks, taking a number of turns. Clover wasn't sure where they were going, but knew it couldn't be bad, especially if it was a surprise from WOOHP!
Finally, they arrived and Jerry cut the engine.
"Come with me," he said, exiting the limo. She stepped out and closed the door. He offered her his elbow. She took it and he led her into an odd-smelling room that seemed to Clover to be quite expansive.
"Jerry," Clover said nervously, "where are we?"
"Sssshhh!" Jerry warned, "lower your voice, Clover."
"Jerry, what is going on here?" Clover was becoming mildly agitated.
"Go ahead and remove the blindfolds," Jerry said. Clover did so, and her jaw dropped. They were in the large sanctuary of a church. Filled pews lined both sides, and a piano stood at the front near the altar.
"Jerry, what the…" Clover's voice trailed off in utter shock. Alex appeared from a side passage, escorting her friend Bryan as she came. She led him to the piano and placed his hand on the bench that sat in front of it.
"You…you…uggggghhhh!" Clover was furious.
"Sit down, Clover," Jerry said, and the finality in his voice told Clover all she needed to know.
"Hhmmph!" she plunked down into a pew next to an elderly gentleman.
"So, what brings you here, kid," the man said, regarding her with interest.
"My ex-friend," Clover jabbed a finger at Alex, "is showing off tonight. What're you doing here?"
"Uh, my old lady dragged me here," the man said, "don't know why? Never liked church." The conversation was cut off as the young man began to play "Oh Holy Night". Clover was surprised. It had a very pleasant sound. She found herself beginning to inwardly hum the tune to herself. No! she thought resolutely, don't do it! Alex betrayed you. But her mind did not obey.
"Oh holy night/The stars are brightly shining/It is the night/…" Clover was singing along to herself. Alex had an absolutely angelic voice. Clover couldn't comprehend it to save her life. She really was showing off. Clover again tried to restrain herself, but couldn't. The spirit of it all, and the gentle softness in Alex's voice, was just too overwhelming.
"The thrill of hope/The weary world rejoices/For yonder breaks/A new and glorious morn/…" Clover was no longer resisting. She sang a long to Alex's melodic sweetness. When the song ended, Clover's throat felt tight. The audience clapped, but Alex did not move. When it died down, she spoke.
"Thank you. I want to thank, and wish a merry Christmas, and to extend my love, to my family, my classmates, and to my best friends, Sam…" She paused, and Clover lowered her eyes.
"…and Clover," Alex's eyes began to swim with tears. Clover, on the other hand, reacted differently. The shell shattered, and she broke down and wept without restraint where she sat. Instinctively and without knowing why, and put an arm around the man next to her, who did not resist.
When the show ended, Clover stood up and walked toward the exit. Before she got there, however, she felt someone tugging at her sleeve. She turned to see Alex standing there in a strapless red evening gown and black spike heels. An emerald necklace hung loosely about her neck.
"Listen, Clover," Alex began, but didn't get to finish. Clover buried her head in Alex's chest.
"Oh, Alex!" she sobbed, "I…I…I don't deserve you!"
"Clover…" Alex said.
"What kinda lowdown, dirty rotten scrooge am I!" Clover wailed. She didn't care that several members of the congregation were staring in wonder at her emotional outburst.
"Clover, stop," Alex demanded it, and wrapped her arms around her friend. Sam stood by, regarding the entire scene with her own brand of compassion, singularly undifferent from theirs.
"Merry Christmas, Clover," Alex said.
"Do…do you mean that?" Clover asked, looking up at Alex through her teary eyes.
"Of course," she turned slightly toward Sam, "come here, Sammy." Sammy obeyed, and the three came into a group embrace. The three exchanged "Merry Christmas"es.
"So," Alex said, "how 'bout we get ourselves some sugar-free punch."
"Can…can I make you some?" Clover asked hesitantly.
"Only if I can make you some," Alex said, and Clover smiled. Without quite knowing why she did, Clover leaned down and kissed Alex on the cheek.
"Peace be with you, Alex."
"And with you, Clover, my…friend," Alex kissed Clover on her cheek. Sam watched the exchange, and a tear trickled from her own eye.