A/N: I thought for a moment while starting this chapter "How can I put across the Narrator's next speech when I've been putting everything in a character's POV?" But I think I've figured it out. Tell me what you think!
Chapter 16
Chloe could feel herself being tilted back in what could only be one of those hand trucks used during moving. Where in the world were they taking her? Were they ever going to unfreeze her? And where were the guys? Could Clark break out of this trap? She would have shaken herself if she hadn't been totally stuck. She saw a light further down the hall and then she heard Martha Kent's voice.
"By hook or crook, fate it seemed had decided that Pete and Chloe needed to meet up with Jonathan Kent… but in a situation none of them had ever imagined in their worst nightmares. And just a few short minutes before Clark and Chloe had discovered their mutual attraction, even Pete had tasted 'forbidden' fruit. And all they had suffered was proof positive that their host was a man of little morals and some perversion. But what further indignities were they to be subjected to? And what of the floor show? What the heck is that? From what had gone on before, it was clear it would be no picnic!"
Chloe mentally groaned as Martha's light faded from her peripheral view. Great… It was going to be more of the same? But then a thought occurred to her. If Clark's going to be there, it shouldn't be "all" bad… She allowed that thought and memories of their "close encounter" to consume until she was tilted forward into her previous standing position. She wanted to gather as much information as she could but she was unable to move her eyes or body and could only stare at a sumptuous red velvet curtain.
Lois, Lex and Lionel kept flitting in front of her, enabling her to look at them. Sometimes they draped or attached bits of clothing and fluff over her or she could hear them muttering over one of the others. When Lionel came to apply her make-up with what looked like a freakin' paint brush, she wished she could scream. She wasn't really the frou frou type and felt that make-up should be subtle and stylish… but he was putting on baby blue eye shadow… Baby Blue!
What really shocked her was when she felt the prick of a needle entering her arm. Were they poisoning her? Had she caused them so much trouble that they decided it would just be easier if they killed her off? And then she was left alone… but it didn't take long before the results of the drug became very obvious to a very small portion of her brain that was beingshoved into the corner and ignored by the rest of her consciousness. Her view looked like one of the old fashioned movie lenses that were used to make older actresses look younger had been fitted over her eyes. She thought it was rather pretty actually.
She could hear activity happening on the other side of the curtain and she wondered what could possibly happen next. It didn't take long for her fuzzy mind to get the answer that she almost didn't even care about. The stage lights came up and she could barely feel the heat on her skin. She heard a switch get flipped and the curtain suddenly whisked away. Before her she could see a crowd of people and she suspected that most of the Smallville residents were in attendance. She sniffed a little and realized she could smell the odor of a fog machine starting in the background. When the music started, she would have smiled… if she could.
Lionel flipped a switch that had a timer attached and suddenly Lana was out of her suspended animation. "It was great when it all began," she crooned, causing tone sensitive people in the audience to flinch slightly, but her burlesque dance stopped any actual complaining dead in their throats. Her black and red bustier with matching bikini panties, a red and black feather boa, thigh high fishnet stockings and high heeled shoes showed her figure off to perfection. However, the harlequin make-up that had been applied made her look like a caricature of her usual self. "I was a regular Jason fan. But it was over when he had the plan to start a searchin' for a mystic gem." She was shaking her groove thing for all she was worth and the audience was lapping it up as if it was water. "Now the only thing that gives me hope is the love of a sappy dope! Rose tints my world… keeps me safe from my trouble and pain…" She stopped all movement on the other side of the stage, posing at her most seductive.
With a zap, Clark was unfrozen. He was dressed the same as Lana, including make-up. Anyone else may have found that amusing, but the audience was enthralled. "I've been out seven hours now… I really wish I knew how… Lionel's a sneaky cow… I wish I knew what to do now…" Clark moved across the stage with an innate grace that he had never shown to his friends before. "But I've got some friends that I really trust. Being friends with Lex is now dust. Rose don't tint my world to keep me safe from my trouble and pain." He was held motionless on the other side of the stage, muscle man pose at the ready.
Another zap could be heard and Pete started moving, but the grace Clark and Lana had shown was noticeably absent in his beginning moves. "It's beyond me… Help me, Chloe!" he moaned. Hearing that, Chloe's submerged snarky side wondered what exactly he expected her to do… and why he thought she would want to help him considering what he'd done with Lana. "I'll be good, you'll see… I wish I could escape!" When the song took him over, everyone could see it. It was as if all of the good boy image that he'd developed over the years was just stripped away in a second. "What's this? Let's see… Lana's sexy… What's come over me? Wooo! Here I go again!" Pete landed at Lana's feet, confusion etched on his every feature.
When it was Chloe's turn, she felt as if she was totally out of control. She felt sexy and desirable… more so than she'd ever felt in her life. She hazily wondered why she hadn't let herself break free from the constraints of society earlier. And to have all the people staring at her was such a pleasure. However, the real Chloe was shrieking in dismay. How was she ever supposed to be a respectable journalist now? "I feel released. Bad times decreased. My confidence has increased. The Clark I love is here!" She strutted over to Clark and rubbed her body up and down his, her eyes burning with desire. "Lana's out of the picture! I wish I could just hit her… It's a gas that Petey's snagged her. Their lust is so bizarre!" And she froze as well, draped within Clark's strong arms.
A fanfare sounded and it became clear to all who watched and who had been participating that the "real star" of the show was coming. The panel behind the quartet of teens rose up and revealed an exotic stage set. On top of an impossible staircase posed Lionel wearing a gauzy number that somehow didn't seem out of place on his frame. A long silk scarf was twined around his neck and blew theatrically behind him with the cunning use of a wind machine in the wings.
"What ever happened to Howard Hughes? That masculine velvet-draped frame…" He began to croon as he started down the stairs. "As girls clung to his side how I started to cry… for I wanted to be worshipped… just the same…" The floor of the stage couldn't be seen with all the fog that had been created but machinery could be heard in the background. "I've given over to absolute pleasure. I swim within warm waters of sins of the law… Erotic nightmares give me great pleasure and sensual daydreams… I'll treasure… forever… Can't you just see it? Whoa-ho-ho!" With the last note, he jumped from a great height and a gasp could be heard from the audience. But numerous wind machines focused on the stage began to clear the fog while a mirror lowered from the ceiling. A wet Lionel floating in a marine lifesaver could be seen floating in a large pool of water.
Chloe felt herself forced to turn toward Lionel and start walking to the pool while he laughed, "Don't fight it… Go with it… Don't fight it… Go with it…" Her eyes finally obeyed her own personal directives and a quick glance around her showed the others were also moving with her. She was glad to see that Clark's movements were as jerky as hers as he tried to fight free from the drug-induced spell they were under. But the song wasn't going to be denied. As they all jumped in the pool, they swum around singing Lionel's refrain.
"Crap," Chloe heard Jonathan say and she felt a thrill of hope. Maybe he hadn't been drugged. While Lionel kissed her, her eyes kept looking for any sign that the blonde farmer was going to help them. "We've got to get out of this trap before this silliness saps our wills. I've got to be strong and try to hang on… or else my mind may well snap," and Chloe's hopes dropped as she could hear the shrill tone of his voice, "and my life will be lived, for the thri-i-i-i-ill…"
But then she could feel herself coming out of the trance. Sure the music still played, but she felt that she could protect herself if she eventually found herself in some sort of weird danger… Maybe it was the effect of the chlorinated water... Pete popped to the surface of the pool. "It's beyond me… Help me, Chloe!"
Lionel dunked her under the water to do heaven knows what, but Clark managed to snag her and drag her away from the multi-billionaire. "God bless young Clarky Kent!" she sang triumphantly, throwing her arms around him and kissing him deeply.
Lionel's eyes narrowed at the display, but apparently considered that it was just part of the drug and the song. He hopped out of the pool and started dancing in front of it while the rest of them did a water Rockettes splash behind him. "I'm a mean, vindictive thing. I'm a bee with a deadly sting." He slapped his own butt and Chloe wondered briefly if he was a closet masochist as well as a transvestite. "Get hit and my mind will ring. Your heart'll pump and your blood will sing. So let the party and the sounds rock on. Gonna' shake it 'til the law has gone. Rose tints my world and keeps me safe from all trouble and pain."
Chloe was now feeling almost back to normal… or at least as normal as she'd felt most of that day. Now it was just the song that had a hold of her instead of Lionel's drug. Everyone got out of the pool to sing and prance about. "He's a mean, vindictive thing. He's a bee with a deadly sting. Get a hit and his mind will ring. Our hearts'll pump and our blood will sing." They all linked arms and started kicking a la early century French dancers. "So let the party and the sounds rock on. Gonna' shake it 'til the law has gone. Rose tints his world to keep him safe from all trouble and pain."
Chloe rolled her eyes at Clark who looked like he might have laughed had he not been singing. Jonathan rolling around in his rollerblades and their crazy uniforms was enough to break her down entirely. "He's a mean, vindictive thing. He's a bee with a deadly sting. Get a hit and his mind will ring. Our hearts'll pump and our blood will sing. So let the party and the sounds rock on. Gonna' shake it 'til the law has gone. Rose tints his world to keep him safe from all trouble and pain!"
Their hands were raised in celebration of the finale. Chloe sidled toward Clark. "How're you doing?" she muttered from the side of her mouth.
"I'm good." He glanced at her and smiled. "But how did we break free?"
"I think there's a couple of things to consider. First he injected us while we were still in suspended animation which probably made it so he didn't give us as much as he'd intended and then the chemical reaction of our face paint or the chlorine could have sped the break-down process." She glanced at the other two teens. "And we were fighting it harder than Pete and Lana. Maybe Pete has some performance dreams that neither of us knew about. Heaven knows he's been dancing his little heart out…" They both ducked their heads slightly and tried to fight back the giggles that would have definitely given them away.
A/N: Well, that's most of the floor show. Can you believe that I'm almost done? I can't! I wonder what I'll write about next… Boy, that'll be a tough one! Maybe I'll write my script and if it's not accepted (which it probably won't be… Let's get real!) then I'll make it into a fan fic… :D
SnowBunny3: I debated. It was real touch and go and while Clark, Jonathan and Chloe didn't eat anything anyway, I didn't think I really wanted to go there with poor Pete… even if he has been whining a lot more than I prefer…
MarkMark261: I couldn't help it! The thought of them actually eating Jason…? -shudder- A "sport's first-string" is actually applicable to any sport. It is the set of players that start out the game normally. The first people you go to…
I will say that this chapter is not really "plot" forwarded, but I just like the idea of some of them dressed up in those outfits… not Lionel, of course, but still!
I have fixed the repeat paragraph and it is totally bizarre! It didn't even copy the formatting! I guess I could have just typed it twice, but I'm choosing to blame the software... :D