Chapter 14- Mall Mayhem
DJ stomped right into the brand new mall. While everyone else was marveling at the many stores and shops, the maroon chipmunk was glaring at the ground. Ian just tried to sweet talk him into betraying his family. He even had the audacity of accusing DJ of impersonation. "At least he doesn't suspect that I'm actually from the future" the headphones wearing teen said to himself, trying to look for any brightsides between his sour exchange with the producer. "Wait a minute!" DJ realized "Ian is planning on framing Dave! I need to find Simon!"
He hurried along as he desperately tried to find his uncle in the packed mall. He spent too much time talking with Ian, that he completely lost track of his entire family. He looked high and low at hundreds of faces that surrounded him. Finally the teen lit up when he saw Ms. Miller, who seemed as lost as he was. "Ms. Miller!" DJ called out as he ran to the elderly woman.
"DJ!" Ms. Miller sang "There you are!"
The boy stopped in his tracks when he noticed that she was by herself. "Where's everyone else?"
"Oh we all got separated. The other kids just went running willy nilly" Ms. Miller said in an unhappy tone "My, this place is humongous, how are you supposed to find the thing you're looking for in a maze like this?"
"So you have no idea where Simon is?" DJ asked, feeling quite disappointed.
"Afraid not" Ms. Miller apologized "Are you alright, dear? You seem a little uneasy"
DJ blushed, he didn't realize how crazed he was acting. "I'm fine, but it's really important that I talk to Simon"
"I'm sure he hasn't gone that far, he has the easiest time standing in one place out of you kids" Ms. Miller assured "Why don't we go look for him together, I have a great sense of direction"
Though he doubted the woman's last claim, DJ didn't want to leave her all alone. Plus it would help to have a second pair of eyes. "Sounds fine with me" DJ exclaimed "come on, let's find a map"
Ms. Miller nodded as DJ lead her along by the hand, not wanting to be separated again. They walked around pretty aimlessly for a good couple of minutes until they were able to find a map. Once they did, they looked over the many stores. "Oh lord" Ms. Miller sighed, overwhelmed by the amount of places "That boy could be anywhere"
"Not exactly" DJ rebutted "If I know Simon, he would probably want to go somewhere with a lot of gadgets… Ah ha!". The teen then jabbed his finger onto a particular store "Crashcup's Gizmos!" DJ announced (60s cartoon reference) "He has to be here, sounds like his heaven"
"Well if you say so" Ms. Miller complied.
So that's where DJ and Ms. Miller headed, and after a few minutes they came across Crashcup's Gizmos. The sign had a real sci-fi aesthetic to it, and the inside looked like a laboratory. The two of them entered, and the place, needless to say, was filled with all sorts of nerds and geeks.
DJ glanced around, seeing various lab equipment, but no sign of his uncle. "I don't get it," he said "This should've been the first place Simon went, it has everything he ever wanted"
"Simon!" Ms. Miller called out "Are you here, Simon?!". DJ joined in as well, hoping that maybe the bespectacled chipmunk was present.
"Ms. Miller, DJ?" said a faint voice to the side of them. They turned to look at the person who called their names, and it was Jeanette.
"Oh there you are, sweetie" Ms. Miller smiled "Should've figured you would be here as well"
But the DJ quickly interjected "Jeanette, have you seen Simon anywhere?!"
"No, I'm surprised he's not here" Jeanette responded "Though this may sound wrong to confess, but I'm glad he isn't"
"Why's that, sugar?" Ms. Miller "You still don't feel guilty about yesterday, do you?"
DJ found this information intriguing, and wondered if it'll help locate his uncle.
"Yeah…" Jeanette admitted under her breath, "I'm hoping I can buy him a good present here, and hopefully it will be a good enough thanks"
DJ smiled a bit, finding it pretty heartwarming that his aunt wanted to show his uncle some gratitude. "So, do you have any idea where Simon could be?" he asked.
"Sorry, I don't" Jeanette said softly "But if you do find him, please don't mentioned that I was here; I want it to be a surprise"
"Sure thing, Jeanette" DJ nodded. Him and Ms. Miller were about to leave when suddenly Jeanette called out.
"Wait!" she yelled "DJ, I know I'm not supposed to know about the experiment you guys are doing, but is there anything you two need for it?"
DJ paused for a moment, he didn't see any harm with Jeanette helping a tiny bit, but he had to think of anything that would actually be useful for the time machine. "Well it runs on electricity, maybe you can find something that can assist in providing fuel"
Jeanette smiled a bit, feeling a bit satisfied with the answer "Okay, DJ. I'll find the perfect gadget for it!"
"That's nice, sweetheart" Ms. Miller added, "Once you're done, please meet us at the entrance. Me and DJ are going to continue to look for Simon, but afterwards I want everyone together"
"Ok, Ms. Miller" Jeanette nodded.
DJ and Ms. Miller waved a brief farewell to the brunette, and exited the store. "Man, where can Simon be?" DJ sighed.
"I might have an idea" Ms. Miller slyly smirked "I happen to know that Simon wants to make it up to Jeanette as well"
DJ eyes widen, seeing where she was going, "If that's the case, then Simon is probably also buying a gift for her! Let's look at the map again"
Then the two of them walked over to another map. This time they were looking for stores that Jeanette might've wanted to go, and eventually they found just the place. "There!" DJ exclaimed "The book store, it's a safe bet Simon would want to buy Jeanette a book!"
It didn't take that long either to reach the bookstore, and once they entered, they were about to call out for Simon again before they remembered that they were supposed to stay quiet. So they decided to simply look around instead, and after passing by a couple of book shelves, they finally found the chipmunk they've been looking for. He was in the science fiction section, and examining various books.
"Simon!" DJ whispered, though loud enough for the blue teen to hear.
"DJ?" Simon looked over "Ms. Miller?!"
"We've been looking all over for you," Ms. Miller said in a scolding tone.
"Sorry, I didn't realize" Simon apologized "I've just been looking for a book to give to Jeanette. What do you need?"
Before DJ could answer, he need some privacy first "Excuse me, Ms. Miller. But me and Simon need to talk alone for a moment". The old woman nodded, allowing the two boys to head to a quiet corner, away from other ears.
"DJ, what is it?" Simon asked, "You seem worried"
DJ let out a big sigh before finally telling his uncle "Dave's in danger! Ian wants to frame him or something!"
"What?!" Simon accidentally yelled, which he was immediately met with lots of hushing.
DJ covered the blue chipmunk's mouth and looked around to see if anyone was watching. "Yes" he whispered some more "He thought I was trying to get money off you guys and tried to pursue me into helping sabotage Dave. Of course I declined, but now he knows that we know!"
"Oh man" Simon said, filled with dread "We're no longer on his good side. He'll probably go after us as well"
"But we're going to stop him!" DJ said boldly.
"DJ, I don't know if we should" Simon frowned "We could seriously change the future"
"You're still on about that?" DJ pestered "You're honestly going to let this bastard ruin our family"
"I don't know!" Simon cried. The bespectacled teen was cracking under the pressure, and he fell to his knees. He used to book he was currently holding to cover his face "I honestly don't know"
DJ frowned, feeling empathetic towards his uncle. Simon was right, it wasn't clear if they should stop Ian or not. In the future, it was clear that Ian would be successful in hurting their family in some way, and changing that had untold consequences. "Sigh, I'm sorry for bringing you into this situation" DJ admitted "But I don't think my conscience could handle knowing that I could've stopped Ian. So I'm going to stop him, with or without you"
Simon was silent for a moment until he spoke again. "You're right, DJ. I can't sit here and let destiny screw us over" he then stood up "It may be dangerous, but I theorize if we're careful enough, then maybe… maybe we can make a better future"
"Alright" DJ cheered, he then grabbed his uncle's arm "Let's go!"
"Wait!" Simon exclaimed as he pulled his arm free from his nephew "I still need to buy a book for Jeanette"
DJ let out a groan " Are you serious, Simon? We don't have time for this!"
"Hold your horses" Simon snapped "It'll only take a minute". The bespectacled chipmunk then continued to search the book shelves.
It was pretty clear to DJ that Simon was not going to take a minute. He decided to look for a book himself, and one quickly caught his eye. "Here" DJ said as he took out the book "Jurassic Park"
"Jurassic Park?" Simon questioned "Never heard of that one"
"Trust me it's good" DJ shoved to book into his uncle's arms "I literally got 2020 vision"
"As someone with poor eyesight, I take offense of that" Simon stated.
"Just buy the damn book!" DJ demanded. And Simon did just that, even getting the book wrapped. As they were leaving, Ms. Miller was waiting for them by the entrance.
"Have you boys resolve whatever needed resolving?" the woman asked.
"Sort of" DJ lied "Me and Simon still have a couple of things to do"
"Well alright" Ms. Miller shrugged "I'm going to meet Jeanette at the entrance, make sure to join us after you're done"
"Ok, Ms. Miller", the two teens answered simultaneously. They then went off, leaving the old woman behind.
"Where are we going now?" Simon asked, still feeling dreadful.
"We finding Dave, that's what" DJ answered, "You know what store he would want to visit?"
"I don't know" Simon denied "If you ask me, I say he's probably looking for us as well. We did leave him in the dust"
DJ sighed in annoyance "Guess we have to look for the others if we hope to find him"
Simon nodded "Yep. In fact, I see the first place we can check". The tall chipmunk then pointed at the JC Penny "I'm positive that a certain pink chipette is browsing though there"
The two of them then headed right in, seeing if they could locate Brittney, and hopefully Dave as well. DJ would be lying if he said that he wasn't put off by all current fashion, or to him, heavily dated fashion. "Yeesh, is this what you guys really wear in 1990?" he winced "Don't all those bright colors give you headaches"
Simon rolled his eyes "I doubt fashion in the 2020s will be any better judging by the fact that you dress like a lumberjack"
"Hey!" DJ fired back "Flannels are cool!"
His uncle chuckled at DJ's overreaction "Calm down, I was only joking. Trust me, when you have kids, they'll think your clothes was bad too"
"As if" DJ crossed his arms. The two boys did feel a little awkward walking around the girls section, with all the flower patterns and pink all around. "Where's mom?" DJ asked "She would totally kill to pink herself up with these dresses"
"Good question" Simon remarked "In fact, she would be loud as well, shrieking at every pretty dress she sees, or fighting over one with another customer"
And right on cue, a high pitched feminine voice was yelling across the store. But the curious thing was that it was coming from the boys section. "That sounds like mom!" DJ proclaimed. Then the two boys hurried over to the other side of the store.
Once they reached the boys section, they found Brittney playing tug-o-war with another customer, but it was over a red and white varsity jacket, and with a little boy (who was about the same height as her). "I saw it first!" Brittney spat.
"Why do you want this anyway?" the boy snapped "You're a girl"
"None of your business, brat!" Brittney grunted, pulling even harder. And even though she wasn't the strongest, she was able to successfully yanked the jacket out of the boys hand, who fell to the ground.
He then started to cry "Fine, keep it. It's a dumb jacket anyway. '' He then ran off, continuing to cry.
Brittney humphed and folded the jacket up nicely. DJ and Simon saw the whole thing and was a little mortified by the auburn haired teen's actions.
"Brittney!" Simon scolded "How could you do that to a little boy?"
The pink chipette was surprised to see them here, but she still gave off an attitude "This jacket is rightfully mine, he just couldn't accept it"
DJ rolled his eyes, embarrassed to how childish his mother was "Why do you want it anyway?"
Brittney than froze, it seemed like she didn't want to answer his question. She began to sweat a bit and tried to come up with a good enough excuse "I just wanted to switch things up, you know? I heard wearing boy clothes is the new hot thing". The two boys were not buying it, and glared at the girl to try to get the truth out. Eventually it worked, and Brittney gave in "Alright, it's for Alvin. Do you think he'll like this?". She then showed the red varsity jacket to Simon and DJ.
"It's certainly his style," Simon remarked "But I doubt he would wear anything without a big A present. Anyone with a big ego like his would want to be distinguished by their outfit".
Brittney than madly blushed, covering the sparkly B pin on her dress with her hand. Simon felt awkward, having accidentally offending his friend like that. "I know" she responded as she rolled her eyes "That's why I came prepared". She then took out a yellow A patch. DJ and Simon then nodded, understanding what the chipette was planning to do. "What do you want, anyway?" she asked in a snarky tone.
"We were hoping if you have seen Dave" DJ answered.
"No, sorry" Brittney shook her head "Though I bet he would be keeping a close eye on Alvin. That boy sure loves to get into trouble"
DJ and Simon looked at each other, both agreeing with Brittney's statement. Of course Dave would want to find Alvin before anyone. "Thanks, Britt" Simon said "We'll leave you alone now"
The two boys started to leave, but not before Brittney yelled out "If you tell Alvin about the jacket, I'll kill you"
"Okay!" DJ yelled back. He then turned to his uncle "Jeez, my mom is such a diva. Can't believe she was able to stand being pregnant with twins"
"Please don't make me dread for the future more than you already had" Simon replied. The two of them looked around some more, not sure where to look next. But surprisingly enough, they didn't need to search high and low for Alvin, as they spotted him by the movie theater.
"Alvin!" DJ called to his father. Alvin seemed to have flinched, and after looking at them for a moment, he started to look around for a hiding spot. "Alvin, wait!" DJ called out again, not wanting to lose sight of the red capped teen. Alvin then decided it was a good idea to hide under a table, which already had an adult couple sitting by it. He ducked right under there, and it freaked out the adults.
DJ and Simon clearly saw where the band leader was hiding and approached him. "Alvin" Simon said in a pestering tone "Get out of under the table, you're disturbing these people's lunch time"
"Who's Alvin" Alvin answered back, trying to make his voice sound different "I'm just a talking table"
The couple were quite fed up with Alvin's tomfoolery, and decided to move somewhere else, walking away in annoyance. This gave Simon the chance to drag his brother out from under "More like a nitwitted talking chipmunk" the bespectacled teen sarcastically remarked.
"Aw man" Alvin sighed in disappointment.
"Now do you mind telling us why you were trying to hide from us?" Simon asked blankly.
Alvin sweated for a bit, but after analyzing that he couldn't get away, he gave in "Fine, I was trying to buy movie tickets for me and Brittney"
DJ was quite surprised "Wow, look who's trying to swoon all on his own"
Alvin glared at his 'cousin' "First off, I can already sweep any girl I want off her feet. Second, I'm only doing this because I don't want my brain melted, if you had forgotten"
DJ and Simon groaned to themselves, of course Alvin still believed he was actually visited by an alien. "Oh yeah" DJ pretended as he sweat a bit "But that isn't all there's to it, right?"
"Yes!" Alvin snapped, crossing his arms.
"Alvin" Simon pestered his brother more, knowing that he wasn't being honest.
Alvin rolled his eyes at him, but compiled all the same "Alright it's not completely true, I also feel bad about tricking Brittney. I want to take her on a real date this time, for no other reason than to hang out"
DJ and Simon gave the red chipmunk a teasing smirk and went "Awww"
Alvin then started to feel both annoyed and embarrassment "Yeah yeah. It's not like I have a choice anyway, with the alien and all. You better not tell anyone else, especially Brittney"
"Don't worry Al" DJ said "I'm the keeper of many secrets". Simon rolled his eyes at his nephew's bashfulness. "So what movie do you want to take her to see anyway?" DJ asked curiously.
"Um… I actually haven't decided yet" Alvin admitted "Do you….?"
Before the red teen could finish, DJ was one step ahead "Alright, I'll help you pick"
The three chipmunks went over to the theater and looked at the posters of the movies that were showing. DJ chuckled at all the 'classic' movies that were showing. It was neat to see them being actually played at a theater. He even considered seeing one of them himself. There was Die Hard 2, Total Recall, Robot Cop 2, and Back to the what now Part III (though he did cringe when he saw that Ghost Dad was playing).
Alvin then gasped "That's the one!" He then ran up to the poster of the movie he decided "Gremlins 2!"
DJ and Simon gave him a weird look. "Alvin" Simon faced palm "How in anyway is that a good date movie?"
"Oh come on" Alvin rebutted "Gremlins are cool! They're monsters that love to party and cause mayhem"
"I can see why you like them so much" Simon replied sarcastically.
"Alvin" DJ then interjected "There's no way Brittney will want to watch Gremlins 2! Pick something more romantic, like…" He then to look at the movie posters some more, and spotted a good pick "Pretty Woman!"
"Eww!" Alvin stuck out his tongue "That movie seems too sappy. Gremlins 2 on the other hand…"
"ALVINNN!" DJ screamed. The two other chipmunks looked at him with shock. He was even shocked to, finding it ironic that he had yelled his father's name and not the other way around. The headphones wearing teen then calmed down a little "Look Alvin, I promise that you need to take Brittney to see a romantic movie"
"Sigh, but I don't like romance" Alvin complained "Is there anything else I can take her to see"
DJ rolled his eyes as he looked for another option. And at that moment he spotted a movie that was being advertised as brand new, and it was perfect. "Hey Alvin, do you like thrillers?" DJ asked all smug.
"Oh do I!" Alvin answered enthusiastically.
"Then you should see Ghost!" DJ proclaimed. He then pointed at the poster to the poster, which Alvin ran up to.
"Whoa, is it like Ghostbusters?!" Alvin asked, feeling quite ecstatic.
"Sort of" DJ lied.
Simon, however, was a little confused by the choice "DJ, are you sure? The movie has only been out for a few days"
"Trust me, I'm sure" DJ whispered to Simon, who just shrugged. And before either of them had to say anything, Alvin went up to the ticket booth.
"Two tickets to Ghost please" Alvin requested to the employee staffed in the booth.
"Whoa, Alvin Seville!" the worker exclaimed in excitement "My pleasure!" He then looked through all the available times and seats, and frowned. "Oh sorry, but we're all sold out for today. Understand that it's the grand opening" he explained sadly.
"No sweat" Alvin replied confidently "How about tomorrow?"
"Let me check" the worker said as he looked through the seating again "Ah! We got two seats available for the 2 o'clock showing tomorrow afternoon"
"Sounds fine to me" the red teen answered happily. After paying the employee for the tickets, he stuffed them into his jeans pocket and walked over to DJ and Simon. "Thanks as always DJ" Alvin said.
"You're welcome" DJ said, and just then he remembered why he looked for his dad in the first place "By the way, have you Dave. It's really urgent that we find him"
"Okay?" the red capped teen responded "No. But don't worry, I know what to do"
Meanwhile, Dave was a bit far away, looking around for any of his companions. "Alvin, Simon, Theodore!" he cried out "Chipettes, Ms. Miller, DJ?!". He let out a big sigh, he had been walking around for an hour trying to find the others, yet he couldn't find any of them. He leaned on the railing in exhaustion "Where is everyone?"
Just then he heard two guys having an intriguing conversation. "Have you heard about that orphanage on the other side of town, the Olivia Orphanage?" asked the rather short one.
"You mean the one that's going to be shut down?" the other, rather tall one asked back.
"Yeah" the short one nodded "apparently their low on money. They're doing a fundraiser, but it looks like no one is going to attend"
"Oh that's sad" the tall one responded "if only they had some sort of celebrity appearance at their fundraiser; that would really draw a crowd"
Dave was heartbroken about the news, and being to bighearted man he was, he had to do something. "Excuse me, gentlemen" Dave said as he approached the men who he eavesdropped "Where exactly is this orphanage you speak of?"
The short one smirked in a way that was off putting "Here, take a look at this". He then showed Dave a flier of the orphanage, which was on the other side of town. There was even a phone number.
"Mind if I take this off your hands" Dave asked.
"Sure, no thing" the short man then handed the manager the flier.
Dave examined it a bit more before folding it and placing it in his pocket "Thank you"
Just then the PDA turned one, and out came a voice that sounded like a familiar red capped rockstar "Good afternoon, we are sorry to inform that we are low on rock n roll at the moment. Fortunately the next shipment of rock n roll shall come in about 5...4...3...2...1!". Then the speakers started to blast loud electric guitar riffs. All of the teens in the malls started to rock out as well, causing chaos all over.
Dave was getting quite red, before he completely blew up, he turned to the men in spoke softly "I shall be leaving now, I have to go find my son". He promptly speed walked away and left so quickly that he didn't catch the two men shaking hands.
Over that the PDA room, Alvin continued to riff on his guitar while DJ and Simon watched, feeling worried about what sort of trouble they'll get into. "Alvin, was this serious your best idea?" Simon snapped.
"Observe, dear brother" Alvin smirked as he began to count down on his left hand "3...2...1"
"ALVINNN!" Dave yelled as he burst through the door.
Alvin finally stopped playing his guitar. "Dave!" the red teen cheered.
In contrast of the son's warm welcome, Dave stomped over and pulled his ear "Alvin, why must you always cause trouble?!"
"Dave!" DJ and Simon cried as they ran up to the man.
"Did you come across Ian?" DJ frantically asked.
"Uh no" Dave answered, feeling a bit weird about the two chipmunks mannerisms "I haven't seen him since before the performance"
"Oh good" Simon sighed in relief.
"Fellas, is everything alright?" Dave asked.
Before either of them could answer, a security guard came bursting in. "What's going on here?!" he demanded.
"Sorry, Alvin was messing with the PDA" Dave answered shamefully.
The security guard then stomped over to the red chipmunk "Look who we have here, a rockstar that thinks that he can do whatever he pleases. Well NOT in my mall! It maybe my first day, but I take this job very seriously!"
"Chill out, man" Alvin said in a relaxed tone "I was just having fun"
This was the wrong thing to say, as the security guard got really mad "That's it! You are hereby banned from the Bagdasarian Mall for a week!"
"What?!" Alvin cried, "You can't do that! I have tickets to the movie theater here!"
"I can and I will!" spat the security guard "Now leave this building at once!"
Before Alvin could fight back anymore, he was grabbed by his father and was dragged out of the room, with Simon and DJ following in tow.
Okay I'm breaking another chapter in half. So what are the other's up to? Will DJ and Simon stop Ian from blackmailing Dave? And will Everyone find the perfect gift? Find out next time, in part 2!