CHAPTER 4: The Childhood of the Electric Mayhem Part 2

Benedict Pepper and Grandma Bridget had finally come home from the store. There was no car in the driveway except their own, everything seemed normal…that is until they opened the front door and found preteen Lips tied and gagged. Bridget almost screamed as Benedict untied him and took the gag out of his mouth. Lips coughed hardly as he tried to speak.

"Mr. Pepper, your son…his friends…Dr. Teeth, Janice…Zoot…Ani…mal," he coughed. Benedict looked worried.

"What is it? Where are they? Are they alright?" he asked. Lips shrugged.
"I don't know," he replied. Grandma Bridget and Benedict gasped. As Grandma Bridget untied Lips, the young boy started explaining.

"Dr. Teeth, Floyd, Zoot, Janice, and Animal have been kidnapped."

Benedict's jaw dropped.

"…what??!!" he cried. Lips nodded.

"Two criminals named Tim and Goddard broke in and attempted to rob the place. The kids would not let them. They started jumping on them and pulling on them telling them to stop. They wouldn't. It wasn't until Tim grabbed Janice when he and Goddard took advantage of them. Tim grasped the kids while Goddard tied me up and gagged me. The rest is history. I'm a horrible baby-sitter!" he said starting the shake in the rope that held him tightly. Bridget calmed him down as she released him. Lips jumped up and talked more…faster than the first time.

"The bad guys said that they want 10 billion smackers by midnight, or we'll never see the kids alive again!" he said feeling and sounding more stressed than before. Benedict started getting really worried. He knew the guardians of the younger Dr. Teeth, Janice, Animal, and Zoot had to know.

First, he went to Mrs. Teeth.

Benedict came to a white, peaceful looking, one-story house. He came to the door and rang the doorbell.

The front door was answered by a gorgeous young looking muppet woman. Her long bright orange hair tied into many little braids that ran down her back. She had blue eye shadow, small pink lips, and wore a denim blue skirt, black leggings underneath, and a long black and white striped sweater. She had a big smile on her face, showing big white teeth, which her son had inherited from her.

"Hello, Mr. Pepper, how are you?" she asked in a sweet and gentle tone. Benedict's frown concerned Mrs. Teeth.

"Hello, Pamela, I'm not well. I need to talk to you about your son," he replied, gulping hard. Pamela's grin faded in a worried expression.

"What about him? Last time I saw him, he said he was going over to your son's house. Is everything alright??" she asked, looking like she was about to faint. Benedict shook his head.
"Not really," he returned. Tears came to Pamela's eyes.

"What's happened to him," she asked, with her voice breaking. Benedict let out a deep sigh and explained the whole situation.

"Pamela Teeth, your son, my son, Mark and Whitney's daughter, Zinia's nephew, and Laverne's son have been shanghaied by two criminals demanding for a ten billion dollar ransom by midnight," he said. Pamela was about to faint.

"B-B-Benedict, something's got to be done! My husband will be home in a little while, and if he finds out about this, he'll blow his top!" she cried. She took out a handkerchief and started to bawl like a baby. Benedict put his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry. I'll find a way to make sure they come back," he said. Pamela grabbed his hand.

"Please! That's all I ask!" she screeched. Benedict nodded and left Pamela to tell Janice, Zoot, and Animal's families. Zoot's Aunt Zinnia became so angry, smoke looked like it was coming out of her ears, Mark and Whitney, Janice's parents both fainted in shock, and Laverne could not say a word. They were all worried for their children. They could not imagine what was happening to them right now.

"So what's next, Tim?" asked Goddard at their hideout. Their hideout was a ramshackle shack on a high cliff. Dr. Teeth, Floyd, Janice, Zoot, and Animal were all tied in chairs with small pieces of cloth tied around their mouths. Tim could not stop staring at their captives.

"Well, what comes next is the ransom money. I mean, think about it! Ten billion bucks! It'll be everythin' we've ever hoped for!" he replied. Janice shook her head so that the gag could not make her avoid trying to speak.

"You know, really, do ya really think this plan's gonna work, for sure?" she asked. Tim glared at her.

"Of course it will! Now shut up!" he snapped.

"Hey! Don't treat my friend like that…" said young Zoot. The crooks rolled their eyes.
"Ah, who cares? After tonight, we'll be swimmin' in cash and you kids will most likely be miserable!" replied Goddard. Young Animal started shaking in his chair, feeling uneasy. Tim and Goddard looked amazed as they saw this energetic creature shake violently.
"Someone, control that thing!" yelled Tim as he pointed at Animal. Animal started to gnaw on the ropes that held him tightly. Goddard jumped up and tried to hold Animal down, but Gypsy's voice in side him told him to bite him, so he did. Goddard squealed with pain.

"The little bastard bit me!" he cried. The young Electric Mayhem gasped.

"Language, language, language," said young Dr. Teeth. Goddard shot a really mean look at him. He walked over to a cupboard and took out some sort of yanking contraption. They aimed it at young Dr. Teeth.

"If you kids don't keep quiet, this could happen to ya!" he said. The kids looked confused.

"What d'ya mean 'this could happen to you'?" asked Dr. Teeth. Tim looked at Goddard, nodded his head, and suddenly, Goddard started walking towards Dr. Teeth. The young version of the gold toothed keyboard player's eyes widened with fear. The little pliers that were held at the edge of the contraption started moving into Dr. Teeth's mouth and grabbed his dental braces. The pliers started yanking at his braces. The pain was too hard to bear. Dr. Teeth's cries of pain could be heard through out the whole hideout. His friends watched in fear. The pain became so much worse, that Dr. Teeth started to feel his braces literally started to move. The pliers were so strong; they were ripping out Dr. Teeth's braces. Young Animal could bear watching him suffer, so started gnawing more and more at his bonds. As he gnawed hard, there was a big snap! Everyone looked and heard the blood curling scream come from Dr. Teeth. His braces had been ripped out, revealing big straight, white teeth, which obviously meant that the time for his braces to come off was close. No one could believe it. Not even Goddard, and he and Tim were supposed to make these kids miserable.

"Whoa, man…" said Floyd. Dr. Teeth looked at his amazed friends. Even Animal stopped chewing on his ropes to have a look-see.

"I didn't know you were so close to getting your braces off," said Janice.

"Yeah, I was scheduled to get these off two days from now…I guess not," replied Dr. Teeth.
"Enough!" yelled Tim. He pulled out a switchblade and pointed at Zoot, then at Janice, the Floyd, then Dr. Teeth, then at Animal. Animal could not take this anymore. Something inside him snapped. At the first possible moment, he grabbed the switchblade by his mouth and growled at Tim. Tim looked terrified at first, but glared at him.
"You think you're so tough, don't ya, you brat?!" he asked furiously. As he argued with Animal, Tim got an idea. He snatched the switchblade away from Animal's mouth and walked towards young Janice. He pointed it at her.

"If you don't stop makin' trouble, your girlfriend's gonna pay!" he said. Everyone, except Goddard's, eyes widened with fear. Janice started shaking violently in the chair she was sitting in.

"You can't do that because that's murder! What the heck's the matter with you?! Don't you have any feelings? Don't you care about anyone but yourself? Why be so heartless?" she asked. Tim could not take all of these questions. He nodded at Goddard and Goddard tightened Janice's gag. Then, Janice grew silent. Tim blocked his ears until she did grow silent. When he heard nothing, he let go of his ears and sighed in relief.
"That feels and sounds better. Good God, girl, you never stop talkin' don't ya?" he asked sharply. Janice glared at him.

"Leave her alone!" yelled an angered Floyd. Tim glared at Floyd and pressed the sharp switchblade's point into Floyd's cheek. The switchblade sunk into Floyd's skin. Floyd tried his hardest not to scream. Suddenly, Tim felt a sharp intense sequence of pain and fell to the ground down on his back. Goddard felt the same pain and fell as well. Zoot, Dr. Teeth, Janice and Floyd looked at Animal, knowing that it was him who had escaped from his ropes while no one was looking and threw wine glass close by at Tim and a wooden board at Goddard, making them both pass out on the floor. The four tied up children were all amazed at Animal's strange behavior. After a long period of silence, Zoot finally spoke.

"Well, since the two crooks are out, we might as well get outta here a call 911 or somethin'," he said. With that said, Animal started chewing and gnawing on everyone else's ropes. When they were all finally free, they ran out of the hideout as fast as they could and followed the trail back into their neighborhood.

Back in their neighborhood, Dr. Teeth's mother was waiting in Benedict's driveway feeling absolutely nervous about the safety of her son.

"Calm yourself down, Pamela. Benedict's on the case…what could go wrong...I gotta call for help," she said to herself. She ran all the way into her house, found the telephone and placed it to her ear.

"Operator, would you get me the police please?" she asked. The operator did so, and in no time at all, Mrs. Teeth was in touch with the police.

"Hello," said a stern voice at the other end.

"Officer, there's been a kidnapping. I need you to come and help! This is an emergency!" replied Pamela sounding stressed.

"Name, please?" asked the officer.

"Pamela Teeth," returned Pamela.

As Pamela talked to the police at her house, at the same moment, the young Electric Mayhem had just arrived to their neighborhood. When they found that Janice's parents were not home, they snuck into her house.

"Okay, the first thing we gotta do is call the fuzz," said Dr. Teeth pointing to a nearby phone. The phone was sitting to a counter right next to the back door. Zoot and Janice rushed to the phone, but before one of them could even touch it, the back door was kicked open and there stood Tim! Tim had his hands in fists on his waist, as he wore an evil look on his face. Zoot and Janice stopped in their tracks! As they attempted to turn and run, Tim grabbed Janice's hair! Janice tried her best to run away, but she could not. Tim grasped her shirt and held in the air. He pulled out a gun! Janice placed her hands over her eyes, thinking that this was the end. Before Tim could pull the trigger, Goddard came crashing into the room, making Tim and Janice fall on the ground. As Zoot, Floyd, and Animal watched in horror, they started to back away. Tim quickly came to his feet, still with Janice in hand.

"You get the kid with the big teeth, the kid with sunglasses and the saxophone strapped on his back, and the Floyd boy. I'll take care of the wild one and the girl," he said to Goddard nodded and charged after Dr. Teeth, Floyd and Zoot. The three young boys jumped up stairs. Goddard followed them.

Tim placed Janice on a hook and chased after Animal. Animal could not move. He was too nervous and his mind was blank.

"Run, Animal, run!"

Animal heard Gypsy's voice in his head and ran away. Tim chased after him. The house started getting out of order as the crook chased the young drummer. He finally felt his hands grab Animal's small body, he held him tightly and turned back to Janice and found that she had escaped. She was gone! Tim was furious!

Suddenly, a cry for help could be heard. Tim saw as Goddard came with a small boy being held over his shoulder. Young Zoot had been captured and was doing something no one would have ever expected him to do. He was kicking and screaming and begging to be put down! His loud screams were like loud sirens to Goddard's ears.

"PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN! OH MY GOSH PUT ME DOWN!!" he yelled as he kicked and screamed. Goddard ignored him.

"Can it, kid!" he snapped. Zoot glared at him. Goddard handed Zoot to Tim and he placed the child in a chair, tied him up, and did the same with Animal.

"Okay, two down, three to go," hissed Tim. They split up and started searching for the other kids. Goddard checked upstairs and Tim looked downstairs.

As Tim went down into the basement, he looked in through it, but then heard the door jingle. Young Dr. Teeth and young Floyd came in and saw Tim there. Tim looked up at them and gave a wicked smile. Dr. Teeth and Floyd stopped the moment they saw him.

"Whoops! Wrong way!" cried Floyd.

"Oh, ya think?!" replied Dr. Teeth.

Suddenly, the vent system above them opened and there was Janice! They all looked up and saw her. Janice held out her hand. The boys grabbed it and they both climbed into the vent system. Tim leaped to the opening and as Janice started to crawl away, but felt a tug on one of her socks and suddenly felt Tim pull her down. Janice tried to grab on something, but it was useless. Tim grabbed a hold of Janice and carried her away. Janice could not stop squirming. In no time at all, she was tied up with Zoot and Animal.

Then Tim and Goddard went after Floyd and Dr. Teeth. When no one was looking, Floyd rushed up the stairs, and was unfortunately noticed by Goddard and he started chasing after him. Dr. Teeth rushed out to the garage and into the front yard. He hid behind a nearby bush sitting next to a big tree. It would have been a perfect hiding place…that is, if it had not been for the tall blue feather sticking out of his hat. Tim ran outside and saw Dr. Teeth's blue feather sticking out. He grinned and started creeping towards the bush.

"I know you're in there, kid," he hissed. Dr. Teeth started shaking violently, and blocked his eyes with his hands as he felt himself rising into the air. He was rising because Tim had found him.

Meanwhile, Floyd had made his way up to the roof. When he made it, he could not stop running. It was not until he made to the edge of the roof that he finally stopped, trying not to fall. He heard footsteps from behind. He turned and stared in horror!

"There you are!" cried Goddard. Floyd was trapped! He looked at Goddard holding a wooden board, thinking that Goddard was going to knock him out, and then glanced at the ground. When he glanced down, he saw an old trampoline. He thought up a quick plan and jumped. Goddard was speechless. He rushed to the edge and saw Floyd gracefully off the roof…

TO BE CONTINUED…