Chapter Ten: An Imposter Among Us (Reprise)
"We can't let him get away! Let's go, let's go!" Betty yelled, as they all ran out of the police station and to Martha's car.
"Wait," Veronica said. "Did anybody see La Dola?"
"The Shredder took it," Betty replied. "And there's only one place he would take it to."
"Hey, RRRonica," Ram drunkenly said as he greeted "Veronica." "Where's that trench coat kid? I thought you guys were inseparable."
The Shredder just ignored him as he went to the back of the old mill, plotting the best ways to murder everyone here.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed his arm.
"So, you think you're popular now, huh?" Kurt said, also drunk.
"Yes," the Shredder replied.
Kurt chuckled at "Veronica's" new level of confidence. "Do you wanna..." he trailed off before pointing his head towards one of the private rooms.
The Shredder devilishly grinned at that.
The Shredder did not expect to see two other drunk football players in the private room.
"Well, well, well. It looks like we got a little party of our own, huh?" Ram said.
"Are you good at math, Veronica?" A football player named Peter asked, with a bottle of whiskey in his hands. "Because the way I see it, there are three of us and one of you."
The Shredder knew where this was going, and he wasn't going to have any part of it.
"Let me make things easier for you," The Shredder said, sounding inconspicuous. He grabbed the bottle of whiskey from Peter's hands and smashed it against his head, causing him to pass out. The Shredder still had the top half of the bottle, which had a huge glass shard.
A shard that he used to stab Peter in the heart.
Ram screamed, until the glass shard sliced his throat.
Kurt grabbed "Veronica's" torso and threw "her" into some empty boxes nearby.
"YOU KILLED MY BEST FRIENDS!" He yelled.
The Shredder smiled again as he pulled a chainsaw out from underneath the boxes. He always kept a weapon hidden in every room for instances like this.
Kurt's face turned pale for the second time that day. "Wh-What are you doing?"
The Shredder pulled the starting chord.
"Whoa, whoa, look," Kurt said, falling to his feet and backing up. "I-I should've listened to the Shredder! I'm sorry! Stop it, please! No, no, no. Please, please, please, no. I'm sorry, ok?! I'm sorry! Pl-"
And those were Kurt Kelly's last words.
"It's packed," JD said once he and the gang entered the old mill.
"Let's split up in pairs," Martha suggested. "Betty, you and I can go this way," she said, pointing to the left. "While you guys go that way," she said pointing in the opposite direction.
They all agreed to the plan. "And if you get any updates, text us," Betty said to JD and Veronica.
"Alright," Veronica said through her scary Aaron Rodgers mask. "Good luck out there."
"I'm not gonna make it," Veronica said as she noticed that there were thirteen minutes left until the swap became permanent.
"Hey, don't say that. There's still time," JD said.
Suddenly, they both noticed an awful stench of blood.
"I think it's coming from in here," JD said, moving to one of the doors in the hallway. He opened the door, and the two of them were beyond terrified of what they saw.
Peter with a stab to his heart. Ram with a bloody scar across his throat. But worst of all, was Kurt Kelly's body being split in half.
Needless to say, JD and Veronica threw up on the floor.
After that, a hook crashed through the wall on the other side.
"Go get the others! I've got this!" Veronica said as she shoved JD out of the room.
"You sure?" He asked.
"Go!" Veronica said.
While JD ran off, the Shredder entered the room.
"He's here! He killed the jocks!" JD said as he approached Betty and Martha.
"What?!" They said in unison.
"Where's Veronica?" Betty asked.
"She's fighting the Shredder."
Then, a police officer entered the loud dance room.
"Oh no," JD muttered.
The cop shot a bullet into the ceiling, making everyone run away.
Well, almost everyone.
"I want my body back," Veronica said to the Shredder.
"Come and get it," he said.
The Shredder rushed forward, swinging it towards Veronica's face, just barely missing it. Then, he stabbed her in the knee, causing Veronica to scream.
He then took it towards her face again, but she caught it.
The two of them struggled, trying to gain the hook for different reasons. Veronica was eventually able to toss the Shredder off to the side, before taking La Dola out of his (her?) sock. She then tried to stab him with it, but he grabbed the knife from the opposite end.
"Stop! I'm just trying to stab myself!" Veronica said.
Suddenly, the Shredder stopped his efforts. Veronica held the knife up high, ready to stab him.
"Drop the knife!" A police officer said.
"Shoot him!" The Shredder said, trying to sound like an innocent teenager.
Veronica felt immense pain as a bullet went through her (the Shredder's?) hand, causing her to drop the knife. The Shredder grabbed it before running out of the room.
"Hands up, n-" the police officer started to say, before a thud was heard.
Veronica turned around and saw Martha on top of the cop. "Go, I've got this," she said.
"Thanks, Martha," Veronica said, before running out of the room.
"Come back with my body!" Veronica yelled once she saw the Shredder running outside. She tried to catch him, but it was hard to do so after being stabbed in the knee and shot in the hand.
Luckily, JD and Betty were there to help her.
JD tackled the Shredder to the ground and grabbed La Dola. "Catch!" He said, throwing the knife to Veronica, who caught it.
"Hold him down!" She said to Betty once she noticed how hard the Shredder was squirming.
After Betty helped JD with the Shredder, Veronica stood above him with La Dola.
"No! No! No! No!" The Shredder yelled as the knife came down towards him.
Veronica stabbed him in the shoulder, causing both of them to feel the same pain. They both screamed in agony as thunder crashed and distorted voices spoke in their heads.
Suddenly, it all stopped when Veronica and the Shredder passed out.
"Veronica?" JD asked as he and Betty woke her up.
At least, that's what they were hoping for.
Veronica woke up the same time as the Shredder.
"What's your favorite movie?" Betty asked.
"I tell everybody it's Titanic, but it's really Mean Girls," Veronica replied, her own voice coming from her body.
Betty and JD were thrilled by this.
Unfortunately, that was short-lived, as the Shredder stood above them.
"Freeze!" A manly voice said, before shooting the Shredder multiple times.
And with that, the Sherwood Shredder was dead.
Veronica sat in the back of an ambulance, with a blanket around her shoulders.
"Um, what just happened?" She asked Betty and Martha, who were sitting on both sides.
The three of them just laughed at the weird situation they were just in.
"Hey," JD said as he approached them. "Sorry to interrupt-"
Betty and Martha knew what he meant. "Time to land that plane, girl," Betty quietly told Veronica, as she walked off with Martha.
JD sat down next to her, both unsure of what to say.
"How's the hand?" JD asked.
Veronica looked at her bandaged hand. "Not broken," she said. "Just badly bruised.
"And the shoulder?"
"Honestly, it's the best pain I've ever felt."
They both chuckled at that.
"So, what are you gonna tell the cops?" JD asked.
"A version of the truth, I guess. I know it's wrong, but who would believe the whole thing?"
"Anybody who's ever messed with that," JD replied, looking at an officer who had La Dola in a plastic bag.
"So," JD said a few seconds later, "Beanie Deanie, huh?"
Veronica's cheeks turned red.
"Betty told me about it in the car," JD said.
"Sorry, it was honestly a stupid nic-"
"No, no, no!" JD said. "I like it. I actually didn't wear beanie hats all that much until you complimented me on that first day in the cafeteria. I used them as a way to get you to notice me."
"I guess I'm not the only shy one," Veronica said. "For example, I wish I did this on the day we met."
Then, she pulled him to her by his collar, kissing him on the lips.
And it was the best first kiss either of them could ever ask for.
"Yeah! Go Ronnie!" Martha yelled as she and Betty celebrated, watching their friends from a few feet away.
Needless to say, Veronica was embarrassed by this, until her parents came into view. "Mom? Dad?" She said as they approached her.
Carol and Charlie wrapped their daughter into a big hug. "Oh, Ronnie, you're okay," Charlie said.
"We thought we lost you too," Carol said.
"It's ok, I'm here," Veronica said, hugging her parents even tighter.
Meanwhile, another ambulance was on its way to the hospital.
"His pulse is weak. I don't think he's going to make it," a nurse said, referring to the Shredder's body.
Then, his pulse stopped.
"Good," the doctor said.
"How empathetic," the nurse sarcastically replied.
"If you'd seen the carnage, you'd be glad too."
But what they didn't know, was that the Shredder discreetly took his oximeter off.
A/N: Alright folks, we've got one chapter left, that will serve as an epilogue (kind of).
Anyway, thoughts? Any constructive criticism is welcome!
And thanks to inkyfrosting3217 for beta reading as always!
