Snow was falling lightly to the Yellowstone soil, on the 22nd of December. Buffalo were quietly roaming across the winter scene. Old faithful sat abandoned at its usual spot. Yellowstone seemed completely deserted.
Seemed completely deserted.
Suddenly, a large scream rang out through the woods, shattering the quiet evening.
"ALRIGHT, JACK!! I've found the perfect tree to slaughter!!"
"Please stop saying that," Jack begged, as he hiked through the snow up to where Dr Brainstorm was standing.
Brainstorm, instead of his usual attire, was wearing snow pants, a light jacket, a hat and scarf. For those who haven't been to Yellowstone in middle of winter, I can say that Brainstorm was obviously not dressed for the occasion. Also for those not keeping track of the weather in Yellowstone, there was several feet of snow and arctic wind was blowing down onto them from the north.
Jack was simply wearing a green and red scarf, which is a little redundant when you think about it, and a red and white Santa Claus hat.
Jack stared at the fir pine tree Brainstorm was standing next to.
"Well, do you approve?" Brainstorm said, sarcastically.
"No," Jack replied. "It's too short and the limbs won't hold the lights or the heavy ornaments,"
"JACK!! I'M FREEZING, HERE! WOULD YOU PLEASE BE A LITTLE MORE AGREEABLE!!!"
"No," Jack said, simply. "I want a good tree. I don't want to rush through this, just because you're getting frostbite."
"MY HANDS ARE TURNING BLACK!!!"
"They are not!" Jack sighed.
"WELL, THEY SHOULD BE BY NOW!!!"
Jack eyes rolled skyward.
"Well, what about this tree?!" Brainstorm screeched, whipping around to another tree.
"Not full enough."
"THIS ONE?!?!"
"Too many branches."
"THIS ONE?!?"
"Can anyone say 'Charlie Brown Christmas'?"
"THIS ONE?!"
"There's a nest in that one!" Jack exclaimed, his brow furrowing.
"IT'S WINTER!!!" Brainstorm screeched so loudly that some of the trees shook. "THE BIRDS HAVE GONE SOUTH!!!"
"How do you know it's not an eagle's nest?" Jack said, crossing his arms. "Besides, this tree doesn't look very healthy."
"RRRRRRRGH!!!"
"What is that, anyway? Cancer?" Jack inquired looking at the strange lumps on the tree's trunk.
After several more hours of looking for a tree, Brainstorm finally found a tree worth cutting down and bringing back to the lab.
After Brainstorm had set it up in the stand, Jack got to work on setting the lights up. Actually, to be a little more accurate, Brainstorm attempted to get it in the stand, injured himself in the process, gave up, and had Jack do it. Then he put the lights up.
"ARE ALL THE LIGHTS UP?!?!" Brainstorm demanded, after a few minutes.
"Yeah," Jack yawned.
"DOES IT LOOK COMMERCIAL?!"
"Nope."
"GOOD!!! PLUG IT IN!!!"
"Whatever," Jack yawned, taking the plug and sticking it into the wall.
BZZZT!!
There was a bright flash of light, and the entire lab was plunged into darkness.
There was a pause.
"You have that old heater going again, don't you?" Jack said, finally.
"Just go flip the breaker," Brainstorm growled, walking off to his bedroom to turn the heater off.
After that horrific incident was contained, Brainstorm and Jack started their annual Christmas argument.
"THEY MIGHT FORGET TO COME OVER, THIS YEAR!!!" Brainstorm wailed.
"They aren't," Jack sighed, rolling his eyes. "Your mom's already made arrangements, and you bought them their plane tickets."
"THEY MIGHT HAVE MISSED THE PLANE!"
"Just get there and start cooking the Christmas food!" Jack moaned. "They did not miss the plane!"
"CAN'T WE CALL THEM UP AND CANCEL CHRISTMAS?!?!" Brainstorm cried.
"Their plane's landing right now!!" Jack yelled. "They're going to be here in two hours!
"NOOOOO!!!!" Brainstorm screamed like a gut wrenched banshee, falling to his knees, and throwing his hands into the air.
It was at that point that something very interesting happened. Brainstorm seemed to unlock something in his vocal chords, and without any warning, he began screaming in two different voices. And all at once his gut wrenched banshee impression got just that much better.
"Doing a little Tuvan throat singing, are we Frank?" Jack asked, totally unfazed, by the unexpected change.
"DR BRAINSTORM!!!" Brainstorm screeched. His original insane voice guiding his second much higher voice.
Jack, having won the argument another year, picked up his Dr Pepper and walked out of the room sipping on it, while Brainstorm tried to figure out what the heck had just happened to his voice.
After that, things proceeded as normal. Brainstorm and Jack whipped up a huge feast (mostly for Mother Brainstorm), and decorated the rest of the lab.
Jack was in the middle of hanging some garlands over the monitor when the doorbell rang out through the lab. Why on earth Dr Brainstorm's advanced laboratory simply had a doorbell, I couldn't imagine.
"JACK GO GET THAT!!!" Brainstorm screamed, who was raising another garland to put up.
"Whatever," Jack yawned, pushing a button on the console.
There was a sound of an elevator moving, and suddenly, the sliding metal doors opened, and Jacqueline came walking into the lab. She too was wearing a Santa hat as well as a red and white Santa coat. She was carrying a plate of red and green Christmas cookies.
"Hi Jack," She said cheerfully. "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas back at ya, Jackie. How goes it?" Jack inquired.
"Great! Sheila and Mother Brainstorm are on their way down. So, how have you been?" Jacqueline asked, setting the cookies on the table by the door.
"Not too bad," Jack shrugged.
"Hey, Frank, how are you?" Jacqueline asked, looking up at Brainstorm.
"DR BRAINSTORM!!! AND I'M DOING QUITE WELL!!!" Brainstorm screeched in two different pitches at once.
"That's grea..." Jacqueline paused. She turned to Jack. "What's wrong with his voice?" She whispered.
"He was screaming at me, today and apparently activated a second pair of vocal chords." Jack explained. "He can't get it to stop, either."
"Oh, poor Frank," Jacqueline said, sympathetically.
"I personally think it's hilarious." Jack grinned. "All these vocal injuries he's sustained so far, screaming at me are nothing compared to this!"
"JACK!! THE GARLANDS JUST EXPLODED, AGAIN!!! GET THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER!!!" Brainstorm screamed.
"I have to admit, it is a lot harder to take him seriously, now," Jacqueline considered.
"Yeah, sure is. So did you watch David Letterman, last night?" Jack continued.
"YOU CALL THIS LAB DECORATED FOR CHRISTMAS?!?!" Mother Brainstorm screamed, rampaging across the lab. "HOW LONG DID YOU SPEND DOING THIS?!? FIFTEEN MINUTES?!? AND WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOUR VOICE?!?"
"I..." Brainstorm started.
"AND DON'T GO TELLING ME THAT YOU'VE BEEN POSSESSED!! I HEAR THAT EVERY OTHER TIME I HEAR PEOPLE TALKING IN TWO VOICES AND I'M NOT BUYING IT!!!"
"It..."
"Enough of your excuses!" Mrs Brainstorm screamed. "Where's the food?! I'm famished!!"
"It's in the kitchen," Brainstorm grumbled.
"DON'T YOU TAKE THOSE TONES OF VOICES WITH ME, YOUNG MAN!!!" Mrs Brainstorm roared.
"Sorry, mommy," Brainstorm whimpered.
"GOOD!!" And with that, Mrs Brainstorm stormed off to the kitchen.
"FRANK!! HOW COME YOU HAVEN'T TAKEN MY COAT, YET?!?" Sheila exclaimed, motioning towards the large coat she was wearing.
"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO!!" Brainstorm hollered back, not afraid to start screaming once his mother was out of the room.
"I ORDER YOU TO TAKE MY COAT OFF, BECAUSE I'M A LADY!!!" Sheila shrieked.
Jack and Jacqueline exchanged glances.
"NO!! I REFUSE!!" Brainstorm screamed, the two pitches in his voice becoming more and more apparent the louder he screamed.
"THAT DOES IT, BROTHER!! NOW IT SHALL END THE WAY IT ALWAYS SHOULD HAVE!! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A FIGHT TO THE DEATH!!!!"
"I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE, AND MAY YOU....."
"SHUT U-U-U-UP!!!!" Mother Brainstorm's petrifying screech echoed from the kitchen.
Brainstorm and Sheila quickly quieted down and Sheila took her own coat off.
"Darn, that was going to end interestingly." Jack said.
Jacqueline nodded.
It was soon after that that the annual Brainstorm Christmas dinner began.
Brainstorm hurriedly seated his mother and deliberately let Sheila seat herself. She didn't do this quietly, however.
"WHY AREN'T PULLING THE CHAIR OUT FOR ME?!?!" Sheila screeched.
"FRANK!!! PULL THE CHAIR OUT FOR YOUR SISTER!!!!" Mrs Brainstorm squealed.
"But mom, I've already sat down." Brainstorm started.
"NOW!!!!!" Mrs Brainstorm roared, her eyes bulging and her nostrils flaring.
Jack and Jacqueline quietly watched all this unfold, as Brainstorm grumpily stood up and seated Sheila, who stuck her tongue out at him as she sat.
As Brainstorm sat down, again, Mrs Brainstorm screamed out, "FRANK, LEAD US IN SAYING GRACE!!!"
Silence filled the land.
Everyone stared at Mrs Brainstorm in shock.
"You people say grace?" Jack demanded.
"DO IT!!!!" Mother Brainstorm howled.
"Yes, Mommy!" Brainstorm said, in sheer terror, putting his hands together, and lowering his head.
"Lord," He began, his second voice seeming to get higher in pitch with every word. "We thank you for the food, and our good health and that we're all here for Christmas dinner, except for Dad who's out looking for Mom's Christmas tree, at the moment. Aaaand... please let us all seize the Earth's defense systems next year and become the ultimate rulers of the planet."
"AMEN!!!!" Mrs Brainstorm cried out at the top of her lungs, cutting through the rather touching moment causing everyone to jump in horror. And without a moment to spare, she began shoving food into her now gaping mouth.
Brainstorm, Sheila, Jack and Jacqueline all eyed her, uncertainly, before beginning to eat themselves.
"So," Jacqueline said, trying to strike up conversation. "What do you have planned for the New Year?"
"I'm going to destroy Calvin and his robotic tiger, take over the world, declare my birthday a national holiday, and then have America disown New Mexico!" Brainstorm declared.
Jacqueline stared at him.
"How come?" She asked.
"He doesn't like people from New Mexico," Jack said, taking a plate of beef. "He was verbally attacked by one last week,"
"Ah," Jacqueline nodded.
"Wait a minute!" Sheila started. "That's what I'm going to do next year!"
"Well too bad, I put dibs on it first!" Brainstorm shot back.
"I was born first!" Sheila stated.
"You were not!" Brainstorm growled.
"SHUT UP OR I'LL RIP BOTH YOUR ARMS OFF!!" Mother Brainstorm screeched, a little muffled due to the large amount of food that her mouth and esophagus was struggling to force down.
Brainstorm and Sheila quickly bowed their heads humbly, and resumed eating.
Jack and Jacqueline exchanged glances.
After dinner, the Brainstorm family sat down for their second yearly Christmas tradition: Gift exchange. This proved to be more trouble than it was really worth.
"Alright, Frank, here's your gift." Jack said, handing Brainstorm a wrapped up box.
"Oh, Jack you shouldn't have," Brainstorm said, clearly touched. He paused. His head came up. "My name is doctor BRAINSTORM!" He screeched, causing his voice to crack and for a third pitch to work it's way into his voice.
"SHUT UP, FRANK!!!" Mrs Brainstorm screeched for the third time that day for those not keeping track.
Brainstorm followed his mother's request, and shut up, albeit not without acquiring another voice.
Jack's eyebrows jumped.
"Gee, Frank, three pitches at once? You could get on Oprah for that!" He said.
"Shut up," Brainstorm growled.
"Does it hurt your vocal chords at all?" Jacqueline asked.
"I'm still trying to figure out how it's even possible," Jack said.
"Anyway Jack," Brainstorm said, trying to change the subject away from his voice. "How could afford to get me a present?"
"I've been stealing your plasma for the last few weeks," Jack said, blandly.
Jacqueline snorted, desperately trying to hold back her laughter.
"You..... stole my plasma." Brainstorm said, quietly.
"Every night while you were asleep," Jack nodded. "They pay a lot for that stuff. I'm actually quite shocked."
"Jack, I'm going to be adding this to my report," Brainstorm grumbled under his breath.
"You do that," Jack yawned.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!?"
"I said, oh darn. I'll be sure never to do that, again," Jack said.
"Good," Brainstorm mumbled.
"Frank, I have decided to make the investment for you right here." Sheila said, handing Brainstorm another wrapped up box. This one had air holes poked in the top.
"Thanks, Sheila... What is it?" Brainstorm asked, suspiciously eyeing the box.
"It's a box of INSANE KILLER POISONOUS RATS!!! OPEN IT NOW!!!!! OPEN IT AND DIIIIEEE!!! BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!" Sheila shrieked, suddenly going berserk.
"Rats aren't poisonous." Jacqueline pointed out.
Sheila paused.
"They aren't?" She asked, turning to her companion.
The two robots shook their heads.
Brainstorm looked down at his gift for Sheila, which had air holes poked in the top.
"Drat," He muttered under his breath.
"Mrs Brainstorm, I bought this for you," Jacqueline said, sweetly, handing Mother Brainstorm a small gift.
"Thanks," Mrs Brainstorm said, gruffly. "Frank, this is for you!" She went on to say, shoving another present into Brainstorm' gut.
"OOF!!!" Brainstorm grunted, trying to catch his breath. "Thanks... COUGH... Mom... How did you get the money to buy me a present this year?"
"I had Jack steal your plasma for the last few weeks." Mrs Brainstorm replied.
Brainstorm paused.
"I wondered why I was feeling so faint in the mornings." He muttered under his breath.
The gift exchange went on for another few minutes. Finally, all the gifts had been given and, having eaten him about house and lab, Mother Brainstorm decided to buy more food for Brainstorm. More specifically, for her on the way back to Brainstorm's lab.
"I DON'T WANT YOU CHILDREN FIGHTING WHILE I'M GONE!!!" Mrs Brainstorm threatened.
"We'll tell you if they did," Jack said, who was sitting on the couch with Jacqueline reading Robot's Weekly.
"GOOD!!! I'LL BE BACK IN A COUPLE OF HOURS!!!"
And with that, she marched into the elevator and jammed her finger into the buttons.
The doors closed, and the elevator started raising.
"WHY DOESN'T THIS THING GO ANY FASTER?!?!"
Jack rolled his eyes.
Brainstorm and Sheila were sitting on opposite ends of a card table, pretending to read magazines.
Sheila looked up and glared at Brainstorm to see what he was doing. She looked in time to see Brainstorm's glare dart back to the magazine in his hands.
Sheila's eyes narrowed.
Seconds past.
"I am going to destroy Calvin and Hobbes first, you know." She suddenly muttered, quietly.
Brainstorm's head shot up.
"What makes you say that, sister dearest?!" He said, through gritted teeth.
"BECAUSE MY VOICE IS NORMAL!!!" Sheila screeched, clearly wanting to fight with Brainstorm.
"WELL THEN YOU NEED TO RECORD AND LISTEN TO IT!!!" Brainstorm screamed.
"HE'S AN ALIEN TRANSMITTER!!!"
"NO HE ISN'T!!!!"
"Well they lasted a good fifteen seconds," Jack said, looking at his watch.
"YEAH, WELL YOUR NOSE IS LOOKS WEIRD!!!" Sheila cried.
"YOUR CHIN'S REALLY BIG!!!" Brainstorm shot back.
"YOU HAVE A ZIT UNDER YOUR NOSE!!!"
"THAT'S A MOLE, YOU LITTLE REPTILE!!!"
"I'M GOING TO DESTROY THEM FIRST AND TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!!!" Sheila shrilled.
"NOT IF I GET TO THEM FIRST!!!! JACK!!!!" Brainstorm whipped around, his two additional pitches getting higher.
"Yo?" Jack said, looking up.
"GET IN THE ROCKET!! WE'RE GOING TO GO DESTROY CALVIN AND HOBBES!"
"I suspected as much." Jack sighed, getting up.
"JACQUELINE!!!!" Sheila screeched, turning to Jacqueline with a half insane expression.
"Yes?" Jacqueline asked.
"TO THE SHEILA ROCKET!!"
"WHICH I BUILT FOR YOU!!!" Brainstorm screamed at her.
"Sure then, Sheila," Jacqueline sighed, standing up, and following Sheila out of the room.
"Because I'm an expert on Christmas cookies, that's why!" Hobbes shouted into the telephone, who was sitting on Calvin's bed with a giant book in front of him. "I have the encyclopedia entry up right here! Yeah, I did look it up! You try doing this, some time!"
Suddenly, Calvin came walking into the room.
"I don't know how much more of this I can take Hobbes," He groaned.
"Ssshh! I'm on the phone." Hobbes shushed Calvin holding his paw up.
Calvin stared at Hobbes in disbelief.
"Who are you talking to?" He demanded.
"The super market's bakery! They're doing a survey. Now hush!" Hobbes said. "What's that? No I wasn't talking to you. Now, how many times do we have to go over this? People won't eat anything without sprinkles on it! Can't you comprehend that?"
Calvin walked up to Hobbes, and grabbed the phone from him.
"Excuse sir?" He said into the phone. "Hello yes, I'm the owner of this house. Uh huh. Listen, I need to vent. Desperately. It's either going to be you or my friend. What's it gonna be?"
CLICK
"I thought as much." Calvin said, hanging the phone up.
"Well great, Calvin, now that moron's going to go and make Christmas cookies without sprinkles on them and put them out into the public." Hobbes moaned. "I think that's actually illegal in some states."
"Tough. Anyway, I need your advice." Calvin said, getting onto the bed with Hobbes.
"Sure, what do you need?"
"I'm not sure how much longer I can be good for Santa. Christmas is still two days away, and I'm about to go totally insane!"
Hobbes blinked.
"Just now, I saw Susie making a snowman in her backyard.... It was a perfect shot! The snow was nice and wet and I could've gotten a good hit right upside her head with a slushball! But, I remembered that Santa was watching, and I had to pass up that perfect opportunity! How fair is that?!"
"Uum..."
"My point exactly. So what I want to know is when do you think Santa takes a lunch break from spying on innocent children?"
There was a pause.
"I really couldn't imagine, Calvin," Hobbes said.
"I mean really! That's what it is! The man is spying on us! Don't you think that's a little creepy? And you know chances are he's eavesdropping on us at this very moment!"
"Yeah, probably." Hobbes nodded.
"So what do you think I should do?"
Hobbes stared at Calvin for a long moment.
"I don't know, Calvin," Hobbes said, slowly.
"Well, you're no help!" Calvin said, his brow furrowing.
Hobbes shrugged.
"Alright, so I think my next plan of action should be to wait Santa out. If I just stay in my bedroom for the next two days, I'll be home free and get everything on my list!"
"You do that, Calvin," Hobbes said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, hey, Calvin," MTM suddenly called from the desk.
"What is it, MTM?" Calvin asked, turning around.
"I'm receiving two audio messages from an unknown source." MTM said. "Should I play them back?"
"Sure," Calvin said. "Put in playback mix command number 6845."
Hobbes stared at Calvin in disbelief.
Calvin looked around.
"What?" He asked.
"How do you remember this stuff?" He demanded.
"Now playing back," MTM said.
"AH HA!!!" screamed a voice from the MTM. "IT IS I!! DOCTOR BRAINSTORM!! COME TO DESTROY YOU'RE CHRISTMAS!!! AND YOU WITH IT!!!"
"Oh, hey, Frank," Hobbes said. "Merry Christmas."
"DR BRAINSTORM!!!AND SAME TO YOU, SUCKERS!! PREPARE TO BE DESTROYED!!!"
"NOT IF I GET THERE AND DESTROY THEM FIRST!!!" Came the second voice of Sheila Brainstorm.
"HEY!!! THIS IS MY RADIO WAVE CONTACT!! GET OFF THE LINE!!!" Brainstorm shouted.
"MAKE ME!!!!"
"I ORDER YOU TO GET OFF THE LINE!!!" Brainstorm screamed hysterically.
"NEVER!!!!"
"I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!!!!!"
"YOU ALL WILL DIIIIEEEEEE!!!!"
And with that the message died out.
There was a moment of silence.
"What's wrong with Frank's voice?" Calvin asked.
"Sounded like he was doing some Tuvan throat singing." Hobbes said.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Well, we'll ask out it when he gets here." Calvin shrugged. "Let's go meet him at the front gate."
"Yes, lets." Hobbes nodded.
And with that, Calvin picked up the MTM and the two walked out the door.
After dressing up for the brutal cold outside, Calvin and Hobbes exited their house, walked up to the front gate and waited for Brainstorm and Sheila's arrival.
It wasn't long before Brainstorm crashed his jet in Calvin's front yard.
Brainstorm leaped out, and pointed his Servant Ray at Calvin.
"AH!! CALVIN! I CAN SEE YOU'RE COMPLETELY PETRIFIED WITH FEAR!!!" He screamed.
"Yeah sure," Calvin said, rolling his eyes. "Say, Frank? What's wrong with you're voice?"
"DOCTOR BRAINSTORM!!! AND THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH MY VOICE!!!"
"Yes, there is, your talking in three different pitches at once!" Hobbes said.
"I WILL NEVER TELL YOU!! YOU MIGHT USE IT AGAINST ME WHEN I'M KING OF THE UNIVERSE!!!"
At that moment Jack came out of the rocket.
"Hey, Calvin. Hobbes." He said, holding a hand up in greeting.
"Hey, Jack." Calvin said, waving. "What's wrong with Frank's voice?"
"He was screaming at me and it got stuck like that." Jack said.
"JACK!!! YOU'VE GIVEN INSIDE INFORMATION AWAY TO THE ENEMY!!! HOW COULD YOU?!?!"
Before Jack could answer, another object of interest came into view.
CRASH!!!
There was a loud explosion of snow and ice, as Sheila crash landed her jet on the ground next to Brainstorm's.
She quickly leaped out, with her own pink Servant Ray along with Jacqueline.
"ALIEN TRANSMITTER BOY!!! PREPARE TO BE VAPORIZED BY MY AMAZING DO-WHATEVER-I-TELL-IT-TO-DO RAY!!!" She screamed.
"Hi Jacqueline, merry Christmas." Hobbes said.
"Merry Christmas, boys," Jacqueline smiled, waving at them.
"STOP INTERACTING WITH THE ENEMY, JACQUELINE!!!"
"SHEILA!!! YOU CAN'T DESTROY THEM!! ONLY I GET TO!!" Brainstorm cut in.
"YEAH, WELL TOO BAD FOR YOU!!! I'M GONNA DESTROY THEM!! AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!!"
"IF YOU DESTROY THEM, I'LL TELL MOTHER!!!" Brainstorm announced.
"IF YOU DESTROY THEM, I'LL TELL MOTHER!!!!" Sheila screamed even louder.
"THEN I'LL STOP MAKING YOUR STUFF!!!" Brainstorm shouted, topping Sheila with his three extremely loud voices.
"THEN I'LL TELL MOTHER THAT YOU STOPPED!!!" Sheila screamed at him.
Brainstorm and Sheila glared icicles at each other for a solid thirty seconds, growling at each other.
Calvin, Hobbes, MTM, Jack and Jacqueline watched for a moment.
"Never gets boring, does it?" Calvin asked.
Jack and Jacqueline shook their heads in unison.
Suddenly, Brainstorm whipped back around to Calvin.
"ALRIGHT, CALLY!! YOU'VE WON THIS ROUND!!!"
Calvin stared at Brainstorm.
"You haven't even done anything, yet!" He yelled, in disbelief.
"Yeah well, neither one of us can destroy you or the other will tell Mother." Sheila growled.
"It does kind of limit their list of options." Hobbes said.
"BUT KNOW THAT I WILL BE BACK!!!" Brainstorm screeched. "WHEN SHEILA ISN'T HERE TO BUG ME!!!"
"I WILL BE BACK, FIRST!!!" Sheila screamed. "AND I'LL HAVE ALREADY DESTROYED THEM!!! SO THERE!"
"NO YOU WON'T!!" Brainstorm screamed at her. "JACK!!! GET IN THE ROCKET!!! WE'RE GOING HOME!!"
Brainstorm and Sheila both leaped into their rockets and waited for robot companions to follow them.
Jack heaved a deep sigh.
"I'm amazed we manage to pay for the gas for these stupid trips across the country." He said, shaking his head.
"Ditto," Jacqueline agreed.
Calvin and Hobbes exchanged glances.
"Well, even though it was brief, it was good to see you two, again," Hobbes said.
"Same here," Jack said. "And if we don't see you before the year ends, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year."
"Same here," Calvin grinned.
Jack and Jacqueline then said their goodbyes, and climbed into their respective rockets with Brainstorm and Sheila.
"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!?!" Brainstorm screeched, as Jack came in.
"I was saying goodbye," Jack said, as he sat down and buckled up.
"LIAR!!!" Brainstorm shouted. "YOU WERE GIVING MORE TOP SECRET INFORMATION AWAY TO THEM!!! OUT WITH IT, JACK!!!"
"You know the novelty of those three voices of yours are really starting to wear off," Jack considered. "It's actually getting pretty annoying."
"WELL, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT, BECAUSE I CAN'T GET IT TO STOP!!!" Brainstorm shrieked. "SO JUST LIVE WITH... OUCH!!!"
Suddenly, Jack reached forward, and thumped Brainstorm on his back. His voice cracked, slightly, and then returned to normal.
There was a moment of silence
"How did you do that?" He demanded, finally in only one voice.
Jack stared at Brainstorm for a long moment.
"Being totally truthful," He said. "I have no idea why that worked."
Brainstorm put his index and middle finger on his throat, and felt his vocal chords as he spoke.
"Whatever, let's just go get the rest of this stupid visit over."
Brainstorm then started the rocket, and lifted it off the ground.
Calvin and Hobbes watched as the two rockets, which both miraculously still worked, rose from the ground, and shot off towards Yellowstone.
There was a silence as they watched them go.
"Well.." Hobbes said at last. "That was weird,"
"Well, it's good we're in those people's lives, or they'd probably end up killing each other," Calvin shrugged. "Want to go watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas?"
"Ooo, the king of all Christmas specials!" Hobbes said.
"I'm rather disappointed at the anticlimactic ending, here." MTM said.
Calvin and Hobbes shrugged, and went inside to watch the movie.
Meanwhile in the Brainstorm rocket, Brainstorm was grumpily flying the jet back towards his lab.
Jack was sitting beside him, sipping on a bottle of Coka Cola.
For a while nothing was said. Finally, Jack
"Say, Frank?" Jack began, looking over at Brainstorm.
"DOCTOR BRAINSTORM!!!"
"Merry Christmas," Jack said, leaning forward and getting another bottle of Cola.
Brainstorm looked over at Jack.
"Merry Christmas, Jack," He said, finally. "You know, I never really tell you this too often, but... you're really not a bad guy."
"Yeah, I know," Jack said, taking another big sip from his soda.
Brainstorm glared at him.
Meanwhile, as Sheila drove her rocket back to Brainstorm's lab, Jacqueline set her bottle of Pepsi on the table, and looked over at Sheila.
"Hey, Sheila?" She started.
"WHAT?!?!"
"Merry Christmas," She said, sweetly.
Sheila paused for a moment.
"Merry Christmas, Jacqueline," She muttered, reluctantly.
Jacqueline beamed, and leaned back in her seat.
"Don't you DARE tell anyone I said that!!!" Sheila screeched.
The End