Chapter 23- Friday the 20th Part II
Ian let out a big sneeze as he and Brittany were led backstage by bodyguards. Brittany took one last glance to the chaos over by the audience before looking down at the ground. At first this solo gig was exciting (and she knew she did a knockout performance), but after bad mouthing the people closest to her, she felt rather guilty. She felt rather confused inside, so she turned to her new manager. "Uncle Ian" Brittany peeped, "I thought calling out my sisters would feel liberating, but… I feel kinda iffy about it."
Though she didn't see it, Ian rolled his eyes. "Oh it's completely normal to feel doubtful when standing for yourself, but they deserved it" Ian smiled as he patted the chipette on the head, "You have nothing to feel guilty about."
"Umm... okay.." Brittany answered softly. She didn't feel right, but she still trusted Ian. Afterall, he had done so much for her. After signing the contract, Ian offered to sleep in his fancy mansion for the night. Though she slept rather comfy in the guest room, she was woken up by Ian in 5 in the morning to immediately prepare for an introductory performance. She guessed that Ian was eager to show the new her to the world. Right before leaving through the exit, Crystal herself approached them.
"I couldn't thank you enough for being on the show" the hostess sang, "The rating were even bigger than the last time you came on."
"Really!" Brittany lit up.
"What did I tell you, Britt?!" Ian smirked, "Now that you're solo, there's nothing stopping you from becoming a huge star!"
Brittany was absolutely ecstatic to hear this. "Oh this is a dream come true!" she sang, "Take that, Alvin. I really am the girl of rock n' roll!"
"You sure are" Ian nodded, "Now if you don't mind, wait in the limo. Me and Crystal need to talk adult stuff." He then pointed to his limousine outside. A chauffeur was there holding the door open for the teen.
"Okay, Uncle Ian" Brittany nodded. She then skipped to the car.
"Feel free to watch TV" Ian called out to her. He then turned to Crystal, "Now that she's occupied, let's talk business." He then chuckled evilly.
"I really have to hand it to you, Mr. Hawke" Crystal complemented, "You're a real hustler. The plan was this close to falling apart and you saved it by snatching the girl instead."
"What can I say" Ian adjusted his suit arrogantly, "I know how to get what I want." He then looked both ways before he got closer. "Talking about the plan" he began to whisper, "Have you done your part."
Crystal smirked menacingly, "I don't know how they did it, but my idiot goons pulled it off."
"Excellent" Ian smiled, "I knew our partnership would be a force to be reckoned with. No one will be able to stop us now!"
"I can't wait to see the looks on those rats' faces" Crystal snickered, "We totally pulled the rug under them. I bet Mr. Seville wants to murder you right now."
Ian scoffed, "I don't need to worry about Dave, not anymore. For all I care, him and the rest of the brats can move back to the forest where they belong. But Brittany is all mine."
The aforementioned chipette was flipping through the channels of the limo's television. She couldn't find anything to watch as everyone seemed to be talking about her. She shut it off, and let out a big yawn. The pink teen realized that she was really tired for waking up so early and working all morning. So she decided to lie down and shut her eyes. The chipette let out a sigh of relief as she got comfortable.
But then Ian bursting in. "Wake up, Britt" He commanded, "We got more work to do."
"What?" she moaned as she sat up, "But I worked my butt off all morning practicing for my introduction."
"Well sorry, Brittany" Ian mocked her, "But you gotta work hard if you want to become the biggest star in the world. Chauffeur, take us to Jett Records." The limo started to move.
Brittany crossed her arms, "Can I atleast take off this outfit. I don't wear black."
"Well you're going to for now on" Ian stated, "Today's rockstars dress pretty, they dress like punks. Kids these days admire rebels, you know 'fight the system' types. So you're going to have to dress like one."
Brittany scoffed, "There's a reason why we have standards when it comes to fashion. I look more like a porcupine than a chipmunk."
"Hey, I'm your manager, and what I say goes" Ian grumbled, "And now we're heading to the studio to record your first solo album."
"An album!" Brittany squirmed, "I haven't even released my first solo single!"
"Well you technically already performed a song," Ian noted, "Hmm, we should probably record that one first." Brittany then let out another sigh, she's going to have a full day ahead of her.
Moments later, Dave is driving his car onto the street while the others watched. "David, promise you won't do anything daft" Ms. Miller pleaded, holding Theodore and Eleanor in her arms.
"I'll try not to" Dave sneered, "I wonder if I will even see Ian's face, let alone talk to him."
"Just get Brittany back!" Eleanor demanded. She was still upset over the whole thing.
"Of course I will, Eleanor" Dave assured, "I want everyone to stay inside, there will surely be at least one crazy fan to try to 'avenge' her."
"Be careful Dave!" Theodore pleaded. Dave simply nodded as he drove off. DJ let out a huge sigh. He found that everything was messed up. His dad was missing, his family was out of the job, Simon and Jeanette weren't talk to each other, and his mother had betrayed them. What was he going to do? He felt pain in his stomach as he nearly fell. Luckily, Ms. Miller caught him.
"Heavens, DJ" Ms. Miller frowned, "You're sicker than a horse with a cold. Let's bring you inside." She then lead the maroon teen back inside. The small chipmunks followed behind, both with sad expressions. They watched as the old woman laid DJ down on the couch. She then found a blanket and tucked him in. "There you go, sweetheart" she smiled, "I know what'll cure ya. My trademark tomato soup! You just sit tight."
DJ let out a cough, "Thanks Ms. Miller." The old woman nodded as she left for the kitchen.
"Oh, Mr. Thanos" Eleanor frowned as she rubbed the 21st century teen's head, "If only we knew where Alvin was. Or else you're going to die."
Theodore tightened his fist. He suddenly felt a rush of determination. "That's it" he claimed, "We're just going to have to find my brother ourselves!" He then went over to the cabinet and pulled out some paper and crayons.
"What are you doing, Teddy?" Eleanor asked.
"I'm making missing posters of Alvin" Theodore answered, "I'm going to make millions of them. Then we're gonna go outside and look for him. I'll stop at nothing until Alvin and Brittany are together!"
"Wow, Theo" DJ chuckled weakly, "You're acting pretty tough right now."
"Yeah" Eleanor agreed as she got close to her boyfriend, "I like it." She then winked at him. Theodore blushed a bit. "Come on" Eleanor smiled as she took a crayon, "Let me help".
Meanwhile, Ian and Brittany were in the recording studio. "Alright, let's take it from the top" Ian commanded. The music started to play again. Brittany was quite exhausted from having to sing the same song over and over again. When she recorded with the others, it wasn't so bad, as she was able to take breathers when they sang. But she had to sing all the songs by herself now, and it wasn't nearly as fun. Especially with how needy Ian was. She had been singing so much that her voice started to strain. "Stop the music" Ian commanded the sound guy, "Brittany, come on kid, I know you can sing better than that."
"Sorry, Uncle Ian" Brittany wheezed, "I feel like I need to take a break."
"Fine" Ian snapped, "But only for 5 minutes. We got 12 songs to record."
Brittany then rested on the ground.
At that moment, Dave arrived to Jett Records in his car. He was shocked to see a huge crowd protesting by the entrance. It seemed like they were Chipmunk fans, and they were mad about Brittany going solo and the upcoming album being cancelled for the new solo one. Dave let out a groan, it was quite obvious that he wasn't able to go through the entrance. But then he noticed a truck sneak around from the side. The man got an idea as he parked his car and followed the truck. He managed to be unseen by the crowd and he snuck around back. He peeked around the corner and saw workers moving boxes of new 'Brittany the Chipette' merchandise into the building. There were dolls of Brittany in her new outfit, and brand new posters of her posing. There were even shirts and bedsheets. Dave then noticed realistic looking mannequins dressed like Brittany. So with quick thinking, Dave ran over and took off one of the mannequins' clothes and put them one (it even came with a wig). He then posed like the other mannequins.
One of the workers came over and cringed, "Whoa, that's one ugly looking mannequin. Why is there a man one?"
Another worker took a gander at Dave and shrugged, "I guess they want that chipmunk girl to have a wide appeal. Now let's get these suckers in." The two of them then grabbed Dave and another mannequin respectively.
"Jeez, this is even weighs like a man!" the first worker wheezed.
The second worker simply chuckled, "I admire their efforts to not do phony advertisement." The workers unknowing carried Dave into the building. Dave gulped as he tried to keep completely still. Once they arrived to the lobby, they propped Dave up by a merchandise stand, which was a few feet from the stairwell. "Later, ugly mannequin" the second worker jokingly waved. Once they were gone, Dave looked around. The person manned at the stand was obviously an intern. He was chewing bubble gum and reading MAD magazine. Dave looked over to the elevators, which were quite far away. He then looked over to the front desk. Behind the desk lady was a billboard of people who weren't allowed to go up. And of course, Dave and the other 6 chipmunks were among them. He knew he couldn't take the elevator, so he turned to the stairwell. It was the only way he could get to Brittany. So he slowly inched towards the door and entered, going completely unnoticed. Once the man took a look at the stairwell, he groaned to see how much he had to climb. He took off the high heels he was wearing (they were starting to hurt anyway), and started to head up.
Little did he know was Theodore and Eleanor were currently going against his order by sneaking out of the house. Each of them were holding stacks of poorly drawn pictures of Alvin labeled 'Missing'. They left DJ behind as he was too weak to move. "Where should we head first?" Eleanor asked.
Theodore thought for a moment, "How about we head to the supermarket, there are always missing posters there."
"Great idea!" Eleanor agreed. The two of them then headed for the market.
Over nextdoor, Jeanette continued to sulk. She still felt upset over Simon rejecting her and Brittany berating her on live television. She tried to read more of Jurassic Park on her bed to keep her mind off things but it didn't help. The purple chipette moaned as she covered the book with her face. And to add insult to injury, she fell to the floor through her clumsiness. Jeanette let out a whimper as she got up. Despite everything, she was still wearing the amethyst around her neck. She grasped it somberly into her hand. "I wish I could somehow go back in time and stop myself from confessing to Simon" the bespectacled teen said to herself. She also felt a little off from staying indoors all day, but she didn't feel like facing the world. She thought back to the morning where Eleanor and Theodore tried to make her go outside. She appreciated their concern, but she was a little annoyed at them for seeing her and Simon's relationship in a simple light. She didn't want to sound arrogant, but it was much more complex than their relationship. It was so confusing that she wasn't even sure Simon liked her anymore. He had been acting strange all week and keeping secrets from her. And that machine in the garage was still driving her insane. What in the world was that thing? She was quite annoyed with everything at this point. She wondered what was the cause of all the insanity. Everything was fine a week ago. But then she realized, it was DJ's fault. He showed up out of nowhere, and suddenly Alvin and Brittany hate each other to the core. The machine then appeared, and him and Simon started to have private conversations. He then started meddling with Alvin and Brittany's relationship, ultimately causing it to fall apart. And he had the audacity of tricking Eleanor and Theodore into thinking he was an alien for some reason and neg them to meddle with her and Simon's relationship. And why, is he some sort of evil manipulator who took pleasure of ruining their lives. "That's it" Jeanette snapped as she stood up, "DJ has been toying with us for too long. I'm going to give him a piece of my mind." She tried to storm out but she slipped on her bed sheet, causing her to break her glasses. "Right after I find my spare glasses" she groaned.
Dave panted as he walked up the stairs. To be totally honest, he wasn't even sure if Ian and Brittany were in Jett Records. He decided to rest once he finished climbing another flight of stairs when he heard music on the floor he was currently on. It sounded like a weird high pitch cover of 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody'. He then gasped, "Brittany!" He opened the door, finding himself at the recording studios. He followed the sound of the music and burst into the room. There he found Ian and the sound guy recording Brittany, and they were all quite startled from his sudden appearance.
"Dave?!" Brittany cried, "What are you doing here?!"
"Yeah" Ian interjected, "You're supposed to be banned!"
"I got a bone to pick with you Ian!" Dave snapped as he began to approach the bald man.
"Go get security!" Ian commanded the sound guy, who simply nodded and rushed out of the room. Dave was to set on Ian to notice him. He then grabbed Ian by the collar and shoved him against the window of the booth. Brittany was quite scared.
"I trusted you" Dave spat, "The children loved you, and this is what you do to them?!"
"Dave calm down" Ian stammered, "Lets not do anything we might regret."
"Don't tell me to calm down!" Dave roared, "Thanks to you my family is in the middle of a social war between the fans! And you manipulated Brittany to do whatever you say! You're turning her into some sort of monster like you! Do you have any idea how much you screwed us over?!"
"Dave stop!" Brittany demanded as she exited the booth.
Dave was speechless, "What?!"
"I said stop, let go of Ian!" the chipette repeated.
Dave reluctantly did as Brittany say. "Brittany" he spoke softly, "Listen, you have to come home… Your family misses you, we miss you…"
"And what?" Brittany glared, "Give up my dream of being a musical star?"
"Britt" Dave stammered, "This is your family we're talking about. Are you seriously going to throw us under the bus just so you can become more popular?"
"Shut up!" Brittany snapped, "You don't care about me, none of you do! All you do is boss me around and call me selfish! Ian is the only one who cares about me!"
"Brittany" Dave tried to respond, "That isn't true…" But then a couple of security guards came bursting in.
"Shows over, Mr. Seville" one of the guard spat as they each grabbed hold of him.
"No, wait!" Dave struggled to break free, but the security guards were too strong. They started to drag him out.
"Bye Dave" Ian waved with a cheeky smirk, "It was nice seeing you. By the way, I don't think you look good in leather."
"Brittany, don't listen to a word Ian says" Dave called out, "I love you, Ms. Miller loves you, your sister loves you, the boys love you! Alvin loves you!"
Ian then slammed the door, wiping his hands clean. "That should be the last we see of him," he remarked. Brittany was shaken, everything Dave said pierced her heart. He said everyone loved her, even Alvin. She wasn't sure what to make of it. Who should she trust, Dave or Ian? But before she could think more, Ian snapped at her, "Earth to Brittany! We still got songs to record, remember? Get your but back in the recording booth!"
"But" Brittany tried to speak up.
"Now!" Ian demanded. The chipette let out a sigh as she dragged her feet back into the recording booth.
The security guards dragged Dave all the way outside and threw him out. "You better not let me catch you around here again!" one of the guards snapped before slamming the door behind him. Dave sighed as he stood back up and dusted himself. "I really need to get out of this ridiculous outfit" he thought to himself as he looked down to his feminine attire. A bunch of flashes then blinded him. After a couple of seconds, he realized that the paparazzi were taking pictures of him. "Ooooh" he muttered in annoyance.
Over at the supermarket, Theodore and Eleanor were passing out flyers to everyone they came across. "Have you seen this munk?" Eleanor called across the building.
A tall teen boy approached the pair. "Are you talking about Buddhist monks?" he asked.
"No" Theodore shook his head, "Chip-munk! He's about this tall, wears red."
"A chipmunk that wears red" the boy scratched his chin, "Oh I know! I think I saw him over by the butcher's!"
They both lit up. "Thank you sir!" Eleanor exclaimed.
"No problem" the boy shrugged. Theodore and Eleanor then rushed over to the butcher's.
"Alvin?!" they both called out. But instead, they found a tiny chipmunk in a red Hawaiian shirt sitting on a peanut barrel by the butcher's. He was gnawing on a peanut with his bucked teeth. "I'm not Alvin," the tiny chipmunk giggled, "I'm Dale!"
"Sorry" Theodore muttered awkwardly, "Wrong chipmunk in red." The two of them let out a sigh. "Where is he?" Theodore whined.
"Wherever he is, he must be in the last place we expect" Eleanor remarked. Just then they noticed a familiar face getting meat from the butcher. It was Principal Talbot!
"Here's your 4 pounder" The butcher said as he passed a lot of bloody meat to the man.
"Thank you, my good sir" Talbot nodded. He then placed the meat into his shopping cart and continued on by. But the chipmunks were shocked when they saw Alvin's red cap hanging out of Talbot's bag.
"Principal Talbot kidnapped Alvin!" Eleanor proclaimed, "Come on, Teddy!" The two of them then followed the stoic man all around the market. After he finished buying his groceries, Theodore and Eleanor followed him home, and the sun was beginning to set. They were quite spooked once they saw Talbot's house, because it pretty much looked haunted. Once he entered the house, the two of them snuck around the side, looking through the window. They were shocked when they saw Alvin's clothes hanging on the wall. "Alvin's here!" Eleanor exclaimed.
"B-but, what is he doing here?" Theodore shook with fear.
"I don't know, Teddy" Eleanor responded as she opened the window, "but we have to find him. Now come on!" She then climbed inside.
"Okay…" Theodore gulped. Once they were both inside, they were creeped out by the decorations. Everything was schooled theme. It was like they were inside some sort of small private school. continued to look around until they came across a strange room. It looked just like a 19th century classroom. They then gasped when they saw a familiar figure writing on the chalkboard. It was Alvin! He was now in a red vest and tie with his hair combed back, and on the board he was doing Algebra?
They both looked inward confused.
"Hello children" said a deep voice behind them. The two small chipmunks jumped in fear. They turned around and saw that Principal Talbot had spotted him.
"H-hey Principal Talbot" Eleanor greeted nervously.
"W-we were just looking for my brother" Theodore stammered.
Talbot simply nodded. "Well he has been with me all day" he answered seriously, he then looked onward to the red chipmunk, "Alvin suddenly showed up at my doorstep last night and requested that I 'school' him. His reasoning was that he wanted to punish himself and learning is the worst punishment he could think of. He even asked me to take his red cap. A little over dramatic, but I obliged. After all, it's my duty to provide education to those who want to learn."
"Can we talk to him?" Theodore asked.
"Well he is currently doing his Allegra test" Talbot noted.
Eleanor shook her head. "Sorry Principal Talbot, but we need Alvin!" She then walked over to the red teen, "Alvin, stop screwing around. You need to talk to Brittany right now!"
Alvin turned to the blonde, but with a blank expression. "Greetings Eleanor, I'm sorry but I'm currently doing my Algebra rest. It is vital that I get a good grade on it" he stated in a lifeless tone.
Theodore then decided to approach his brother, "Alvin you're scaring me. You're not acting like yourself."
Alvin shook his head, "You mean how I used to act, Brother? I put away my bad side for good. I hurt the person who means the most to me, and now I lost her."
"Stop talking crazy!" Eleanor snapped, "Brittany is not lost, she's in trouble right now and we need your help!"
Alvin shook his head once more, "She doesn't need my help. No one does. I need to stay here and change myself."
Eleanor then slapped him in the face. "Snap out of it!" Eleanor demanded, "You're actually hurting us more staying here!"
Alvin felt his cheek, it stung. "You don't think I saw what happened on TV" he began to talk more straight, "How she started a solo career, saying those mean things about us. I saw all of it. It's all my fault… you don't need my help."
"No Alvin" Theodore pleaded, "You don't understand. You need to get together with Brittany."
"She's better off without me!" Alvin yelled, which shocked everyone in the room. He sighed, "If you want to save her, you can't involve me… Please allow me to discipline myself."
They all stood silent for a moment. "Yeah no" Eleanor muttered as she started to pull Alvin by the ears.
"Ow ow ow!", Alvin winced, "Come on!"
"Sorry Alvin" Theodore said as he followed behind, "But we're leaving."
"Bye Principal Talbot" Theodore and Eleanor waved as they headed out the door (Theodore made sure to grab Alvin's clothes and cap).
"Bye children" Talbot waved, "See you all in September."
Once Jeanette finally finally found her spare glasses, she headed over next door. "Oh, I'm really going to tell him" she mumbled. She walked up to the front door. She decided not to knock, as she already knew about the spare key under the doormat. She entered the house slowly. She could see DJ watching TV while eating some tomato soup. The chipette was about to confront him when she heard the door of the garage creek. She gulped, realizing that there was nothing stopping her from unveiling the strange machine in there. But she shook that thought out of her head, she promised Simon that she wouldn't go snooping. She set her mind on DJ decided towards him. But when she saw DJ turn his head, she panicked. She hid around the corner in the last second. She took a peek at him, and he had continued watching TV. Jeanette let out a sigh of relief. But then the door to the garage had somehow opened wider. She couldn't take it anymore, she had to have some clue to what was going on with Simon. So she zoomed into the garage and closed the door behind her.
There stood the mysterious machine, concealed in a white tarp. She slowly inched towards it. Each step she took, the faster her heartbeat. She clenched the tarp. She stood there for a moment, sweating bullets. Was she really about to break a promise with her best friend? But she thought about, she felt that her and Simon weren't best friends anymore. After the rejection, they couldn't be more of strangers to each other. A little tear seeped out of her eye. She yanked off the tarp and saw it was… a strange looking car? She scratched her head, this was what Simon was hiding this whole time, a car? And it was a strange looking one at that. It was curvier than any automobile she had seen, and it was covered in all sorts of gadgets. She recognized that the gadgets were electrical based. What is this strange contraption? She decided to investigate further by opening the door. She jumped when the door unexpectedly opened upwards. She reluctantly climbed in and the first thing that caught her eye was the Y-shaped light on the back. It was labeled the 'Flux Capacitor'. The name of the gadget implies that it manipulated matter in some fashion, but how is the question.
Jeanette then noticed the weird black screen wear the radio would be. She gave it a gentle tap, and it suddenly came on. It seemed to work similarly to the other device Simon possessed. She saw she had two options, GPS and TPS. She assumed that GPS meant something about guiding system, but she wondered what TPS meant. She tapped TPS and to her surprise, 3 dates showed up. The first, labeled 'DESTINATION TIME' read 'JUL 14 1990'. "That's the day DJ first appeared!" she realized. She looked at the next date, 'PRESENT TIME'. It read 'JUL 20 1990'. But what made her speechless was the final date, labeled 'LAST TIME DEPARTED'. She read the date out loud, "June 13th….. 2020!"
Jeanette immediately got out the car. Is this…. It can't be…. Impossible! She then tripped over something on the floor. She landed on her rear in pain. The purple chipette looked down at what she tripped on, it was a green textbook. When she picked it up and read the title, she gasped harder. it said '100 years of West Eastman High, 1920-2020'! (Simon forgot to put the book back in the Tesla).
DJ heard a thud coming from the garage. He got a little nervous and he wasn't sure who was in there. "Simon!" he called out, "Was that you?!" When he didn't get an answer, he stood up to check the garage himself.
Jeanette stood there motionless for a moment. The bespectacled teen decided against her better judgement to open up the book. She already knew a lot about her highschool's history and everything so far in the book was accurate. She decided to skip ahead to her class, the class of 1993. Indeed her and the other chipmunk's photos were there in alphabetical order. And despite being the latest class, she could clearly see the book didn't stop there. She contemplated to turn further, what will she see? To stay absolutely safe, she turned to the very last class recorded in the book. She gulped when it saw it was the class of 2023, and it was filled to the brim with high resolution pictures of students she didn't recognize. "Oh boy" she thought, "I think this book really is from the future…" Her eyes widen when her they fell on a certain student. It was a chipmunk who looked exactly like Alvin, but wearing different clothes, similar his cousin wore last week. Jeanette looked at the name of the student, "David Jonathan 'DJ' Seville II".
"Jeanette!" a voice behind her gasped. She turned around and it was DJ.
The purple chipette stood up sporadically. "You're…. You're" she stammered ,"You're from the future!"
DJ immediately covered her mouth before she could yell any loud. "Quiet" he hushed, "I don't want more people to find out!" He then slowly removed his hand from Jeanette's lips. She didn't speak, but she looked absolutely crazed.
"Your name… it's the same as Dave's" she shook.
DJ cringed, this situation was certainly not good. "Jeanette" he spoke softly, "How about you take a seat?" He then pulled a chair and helped his aunt sit down. "Okay the cat's out of the bag" he sighed, "I'm going to explain who I am and you must promise you won't freak out, okay?" Jeanette silently nodded. "Good" DJ nodded, he exhaled again before he explained carefully, "Yes, I'm from the future. 30 years into the future to be exact. I came to your time in that car over there, which actually a time machine built by Simon in the future. You understand?" Jeanette nodded again. "Present Simon is helping me fix the time machine, but there is still one problem. I accidentally stopped my parents from falling in love and so I might be erased from existence."
"A-and your parents are?" Jeanette reluctantly asked.
"My parents" DJ nervously answered, "Are Alvin and Brittany… I am your… nephew…"
Jeanette sank into the chair in disbelief, "Oh… my… stars!"
DJ went over to comfort the chipette, "Alright alright. Y-you good, Auntie Jeanette?" Jeanette collapsed into his arms. "Sorry sorry!" he cringed, "Bad judgement on my part." They then heard the door open. They turned to see Simon, who dropped his toolbox in surprise.
"Jeanette!" he panicked. He quickly slammed the door as he ran over to the other teens, "Oh god don't tell me… did she?..."
"Yes, Uncle Simon" DJ answered softly, "Jeanette knows." The aforementioned chipette then looked directly at the blue teen.
"S-Simon?" she peeped.
"J-Jeanette?" Simon gulped. The both of them then looked at each other for a moment. Jeanette was about to faint again, but this time Simon caught her. "Jeanette, are you alright?!" he frantically asked.
"DJ is my nephew" Jeanette stammered, "He's Brittany and Alvin's son… he's your nephew too!"
Simon just nodded, "Yes Jeanette, he is."
"You also built a time machine!" Jeanette gasped, "That's why you been keeping this a secret." She then frown, "I broke my promise, I snooped around… I looked at the machine… I'm sorry."
"No, Jeanette!" Simon started to tear up, "I'm sorry for keeping secrets from you!"
"No, I'm sorry for not trusting you!" Jeanette sobbed, 'Oh I missed you, Simon!"
"I missed you too, Jeanette!" Simon cried as well. They both then continued to sob as they hold each other tight.
In contrast, DJ watched his uncle and aunt with the biggest grin on his face. "Aww!" he cooed.
But the touching moment was quickly interrupted when a lot of noise came out from the front door. The three chipmunks went over to see what was going on. It was Dave, who was dressed like Brittany. He seemed quite exhausted. Ms. Miller then showed up, and she frowned. "Sorry, Ms. Miller" Dave sighed, "I wasn't able to get Brittany back."
Jeanette gasped as she put two and two together. She was immediately shushed by Simon and DJ. "Oh lord" Ms. Miller covered her face. Dave then went over to comfort her.
"There there, I'm heartbroken too" Dave claimed, "But I did make sure to tell Brittany that we still love her."
"Oh David" Ms. Miller shook her head, "I just my baby back!" Everyone was quiet for a moment until another surprise return.
"We found Alvin!" Eleanor announced as she dragged the red chipmunk inside with the ear, Theodore not to far behind.
"Ow, can you let go now!" Alvin snapped. The blond then finally let go of his ear. Alvin rubbed his ear in pain.
"Where the hell has he been?" Dave asked.
"He was at Principal Talbot's house" Theodore answered.
"Yeah" Alvin spat, "And Eleanor dragged me by the ear from all the way there!" He then turned around, "Now if you'll excuse me, I must return to be punished."
"Oh you'll be punished, alright" Dave snapped as he grabbed his lost son by the collar. He then dragged Alvin to his room while berating him, "Do you have any idea how worried sick we were?!" The man then slammed the door behind him.
"What was Alvin doing at Principal Talbot's house?" Simon questioned. To him, that was the last place he expected Alvin to be, being the school hating troublemaker he is.
Theodore frowned, "I think the whole 'Brittany' thing is really getting at him. I never seen him so… lost before." Eleanor added on by doing the 'coo coo' gesture.
"Poor thing" Ms. Miller frowned, "Hey, how about we make him a cake to cheer him up?"
"Yay!" the small chipmunks cheered. Then the three of them headed for the kitchen.
"Jumping gigawatts" Jeanette shook her head, "This is really bad. DJ, you're in big trouble."
"Don't remind me" DJ groaned, "God, we only have one day to fix everything!"
"Really?" Jeanette raised an eyebrow. She then felt Simon's hand touched her shoulder.
"I'll explain later, Jeanette" Simon answered, "But basically tomorrow night is DJ's only chance of returning home."
"Oh dear" the purple chipette gasped. Her face then became more serious, "Don't worry DJ, you can count on me to help! I am your aunt after all!"
Simon smiled, "We're both on your side, DJ! We'll get you back home safe and sound."
DJ chuckled, he maybe in big danger, but he couldn't ask for better allies. He hugged the two tall chipmunks, "Thanks guys, you're the best uncle and aunt a guy could ask for!" Simon and Jeanette smiled warmly as they hugged their nephew back. But then DJ felt a painful sensation stronger than he had ever felt before. He collapsed to his knees again and he cried.
"DJ!" Simon and Jeanette yelled. They bent down to help DJ. The maroon chipmunk looked at his right arm, and to his horror, he could see right through it. He then fell unconscious again.
It was already dark when Brittany finally returned to Ian's house. She felt like she was going to collapse. After Ian made her record 12 songs in a row, he then forced her to go to various photo shoots and sign a bunch of brand deal. She would complain about how her hair looked like a mess, but her mind was a mess all on it's own. She collapsed on the nearest couch she could find. "Good work today, Brittany" Ian smiled, "Robinson, go make us dinner. Remember, no meat!"
Brittany let out groaned, "Ian, can I just go to bed?"
"Bed?" Ian asked, "But it's only 9:30!"
"Well maybe if you didn't force me to do all the crap, I would feel more energized" Brittany spat.
"Are you talking back at me?!" Ian sneered, "I just did you the biggest favor you'll ever get! How about stop acting like a brat and listen to what I say. Or do I need to explain to you what a manager is?"
"Dave never treated me this way!" Brittany fought back, "He would give me breaks and treat me with respect!"
"Respect!" Ian snarled, "I just spent millions of dollars on you Today alone! What has Dave ever done for you?!"
"He cares about me!" Brittany roared, she then calmed down for a bit, "He loves me, like a daughter. So does my sister, Ms. Miller, and the chipmunks… And if there is anything I learned Today, is that you don't."
Ian bit his lip, but he soon got his confidence back as he approached the chipette with a smirk, "Of course I…" he struggled to say the next word, "L-love you… It's just that I'm trying to stay professional. You understand…" He tried to put a hand on her, but she slapped it away.
"I'm going home" Brittany muttered as she stood up. She then headed for the door.
"This is your home!" Ian remarked, "That's what you agreed to when signing the contract." He then took out the contract and pointed where it said that.
"Well you can shove that contract up your rear" Brittany snapped, "Because I rather give up on my dreams then to spend another moment with you!" Suddenly she bumped into something unexpected. She looked up and saw two men were blocking the door. Though she didn't know them, it was Fred and Gary! "What the?..." she stammered nervously as the two men started down at her with menacing grins, "Who are you?..." She then screamed once she saw who was on her left. It was Dr. Frankenstein!
"Hallo little Fräulein" the evil scientist greeted (he is still stuck in the Sammy costume).
Brittany started to panic as she slowly backed away from the sinister group. But then she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw it was Crystal Cameron, who came out of the shadow smoking and wearing a fancy blue dress. "How about you take a seat, superstar" Crystal smirked. Brittany sat back down on the couch, feeling terrified.
Ian then sat down next to her. "Britt, I want to introduce you to some friends of mine" the bald man smirked, "Well you already know Crystal. These are her goons, Fred and Gary, they have been keeping close tabs on you." He then pointed to the goons, who chuckled devilishly at the chipette. "And here's your old pal Dr. Frankenstein! Or at least some guy who believes he's Dr. Frankenstein."
"I am Dr. Frankenstein!" the scientist snapped.
"Whatever man" Ian shrugged as he turned back to the teen, "You see, we've been doing some work behind the scenes, to assure that you'll be a star forever"
Brittany decided to stand up for herself, "Well boo hoo! There's nothing you can do to keep me working for you!"
"Oh really?" Ian smirked, "I don't suppose you had heard the news." He then slammed a newspaper on the table in front of them. Brittany screamed once she laid her eyes on it. Ian chuckled a bit until he saw what the girl was actually screaming at, which were the paparazzi pictures of Dave. "Sorry, not that" Ian muttered as he turned the newspaper around. Brittany was shocked when she saw the headliner saying that the Olivia Orphanage was robbed of their earnings at the fundraiser.
"What?!" Brittany cried, "Who could do such a thing?!"
"I don't know, Brittany" Ian shook his head, "Maybe it was… you!" He then slammed some photographs onto the table. It showed her and the other chipmunks finding the money in the ally and returning it, but the picture looked like they were stealing it!
"What?!" she cried once more, "We didn't steal it, we returned it!"
"Good luck trying to explain that to the cops, as these are the only evidence to the crime" Ian laughed evilly, "But don't worry, I won't show them… unless you try to get away!" Brittany gasped hardest she ever could. Ian had her wrapped between his fingers. "So hold it with the sass, missy" Ian snickered, "Unless you want your life and everyone you care about to be ruined forever." All of the bad guys then laughed maniacally.
Brittany was shivering with fear, "Y-you're bad…"
"That's right, Britt" Ian stood up triumphantly, "Unless I didn't get my message across, how about I sing it! You're not the only one who can perform you know. Hit it, Robinson!" Music started to play around the house as Ian and the others started to move weird.
"What the heck?" Brittany felt weird herself. To make things weirder, Ian ripped off his clothes to reveal a leather jacket. He then started to sing:
Your butt is mine
Gonna tell you right
Just show your face
In broad daylight
I'm telling you
On how I feel
Gonna hurt your mind
Don't shoot to kill
Come on
Ian and the bad guys then started to dance in sync.
Come on
Lay it on me
All right
I'm giving you
On count of three
To show your stuff
Or let it be
I'm telling you
Just watch your mouth
I know your game
What you're about
Brittany couldn't take it anymore so she tried to get away.
Well they say the sky's the limit
And to me that's really true
But my friend you have seen nothin'
Just wait 'til I get through
Brittany stopped running when the bad guys cornered her again.
Because I'm bad, I'm bad come on
You know I'm bad, I'm bad come on, you know
You know I'm bad, I'm bad come on, you know
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
Who's bad
Fred and Gary walked over and grabbed hold of Brittany's arms. As much as she struggled she couldn't break free. The bad guys then led her through out the mansion.
The word is out
You're doin' wrong
Gonna lock you up
Before too long
Your lyin' eyes
Gonna tell you right
So listen up
Don't make a fight
Your talk is cheap
You're not a man
You're throwin' stones
To hide your hands
Ian got straight up into Brittany's face. The chipette spat on him in response.
But they say the sky's the limit
And to me that's really true
And my friends you have seen nothin'
Just wait 'til I get through
Ian then jumped onto a thrown with wheels as Robinson pushed him.
Because I'm bad, I'm bad come on
You know I'm bad, I'm bad come on, you know
You know I'm bad, I'm bad come on, you know
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
Who's bad
The bad guys moves then became more sporadic.
If you wanna see tomorrow
Then you better not haste
Just listen to what I'm saying
Or else I'll slap your face
Because I'm bad, I'm bad come on
You know I'm bad, I'm bad come on, you know
You know I'm bad, I'm bad come on, you know
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
Who's bad
The music number ended and the goons through Brittany into the guest room. "You better get enough shut eye" Ian snickered, "Because tomorrow's your big show!"
Brittany glared, "what are you talking about?"
"I manage to snag your first concert at the Hollywood Bowl!" Ian proclaimed, "And it's going to air across the nation!"
"What?!" Brittany cried, "Are you crazy?! I can't perform a venue as big as that by myself!"
"Sure you can" Ian smiled, "Because I say so!" He ten slammed the door and locked it. Brittany was furious for a couple of more minutes before she broke down crying. This has to be the worst thing to ever happen to her! She wished she never signed that contract. She walked over to the window to clear her mind. The stars were already out, and there wasn't in sight. She sighed as she was away tomorrow was going to be the complete opposite. A storm was coming.
The final day is upon us. Jeanette managed to find out the truth before it all ends but will she and Simon manage to save DJ? They have to get Alvin and Brittany together and send him back to the year 2020 before he disappears. All in one day. And let me tell you, Ian and the bad guys are not going to make it easy. I assume that there's only about 2-3 chapters left (I know that it must make you feel sad, Munkfeavor76), but I need to do what 90% of fanfic writers don't do, and that's finishing the DAMN story. So I hope to see you next time, for the final day in 1990.