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Chapter 23: Wanted

The Gasman was an obedient child.

So when his horrible, cruel, downright evil mother told him to go to his room and make himself presentable for a surprise celebration, the Gasman did just that.

Well, not quite. He kind of skipped over the "make himself presentable" part. That wasn't really Gazzy's style.

As he walked through the halls towards his room, two erasers flanking his sides, the Gasman spotted a newspaper lying on a table. The headline read Holiday Shopping: That's a Wrap!

Gazzy came to a halt. Holiday shopping?

Craning his neck to see the date on the newspaper, the Gasman noted that it was December 24.

December 24…

The Gasman wracked his brain, trying to remember why that date was so special.

After awhile, he figured it out. The deduction was rather difficult, as the Flock never had taken the time to celebrate holidays.

Gazzy smiled. December 24 was Christmas Eve.

. . .

There was a knock on the Gasman's door.

"Yeah?"

"Gregory, darling, it's me. Are you ready yet?"

"No, mother," Gazzy replied stonily. "Just give me a couple more minutes."

"Sure, sweetheart, but do hurry! I don't want our feast to get cold!"

"Yes, mother."

Gazzy turned back to his work. Wrapping tinfoil around the contraption, he tucked it into a box.

There was just one more thing he needed.

The Gasman rang the service bell that his mother had installed by his bed.

"Yes?"

"I need some wrapping paper. Pronto."

. . .

Turns out room service was not the best here at Itex Headquarters. Twenty minutes later, a frazzled whitecoat rushed into Gazzy's room, gasping for breath.

"Sorry… wrapping paper was hard to come by… had to run all the way to the next town… sorry."

Rolling his eyes, Gazzy took the wrapping paper from the whitecoat's trembling hands. She scurried out of the room.

The Gasman had never been very good at wrapping gifts. Whenever the Flock remembered to celebrate birthdays (a rare occasion), Gazzy made the employees at the gift shop wrap his gifts for him. He simply could not figure out how to make a plain brown box look nice and inviting.

But desperate times call for desperate measures. Gazzy carefully ripped the snowflake patterned paper and folded it around the corners of the box. Using the tape he always carried with him for emergency occasions such as this (he and Iggy never knew when they might need a bomb), Gazzy taped the edges of the wrapping paper together. With a pen, he wrote in scrawling handwriting To: Mother and Father. Love, Gregory.

This would definitely be interesting.

. . .

Dr. Evelyn Castillo ran her fingers through her tangled hair, trying desperately to work out the knots. After a few hopeless attempts, she sighed in defeat and pulled it up into a tight bun. Pursing her lips, the doctor applied a red lipstick, as well as mascara. She slipped her feet into her high heels, zipped up her dress, and made her way out the door.

As she headed out, Evelyn caught a glimpse of herself in the hallway mirror. She stepped up closer. Scrutinizing her form, she tried to remember what it felt like to be truly beautiful. Sure, she was attractive, she admitted. Slender hips, long legs, piercing eyes. But this was only at first glance. Looking closer, the dark bags under her eyes became evident. Her cheekbones protruded sharply, and her face was tight with worry lines.

The doctor smoothed her hand over her hips. Where had all that youthful sexiness gone? Once, she had simply been a bright young woman, one who went to parties and got dressed up and fell in love.

She really could not put her finger on what had changed her. Her husband would probably say that it was simply science.

Well, that was partially true. Without science, Evelyn knew she would be nothing like the woman she was today. However, Evelyn was pretty sure that her greed was what had truly aged her.

She had always been exceptionally bright, but in the past, her longing for knowledge had been satisfied through her schooling. Eventually, though, she grew so intelligent that she could no longer learn from books. She became greedy. She wanted to discover things herself.

And that was what had led to this. This hideous person standing before her. One who was attractive on the outside, but a monster within.

Evelyn could feel tears beginning to leak out of her eyes.

Snap out of it, she told herself. You're a scientist. You chose this, remember? You chose science over parties and attractiveness and love.

This was your choice.

Dr. Evelyn Castillo turned off the lights and walked briskly out her door.

. . .

Gazzy entered the main hall of Itex headquarters. Looking around, he did a double take. This hall once had been full of microscopes, lab tools, whitecoats, and many different experiments. Now, it had been entirely transformed. Bright wreaths hung on the walls, faceless whitecoats darted around with trays of treats, and a massive Christmas tree stood at the front of the hall.

The Gasman's mother and father sat at the head of one of the long banquet tables. They beckoned to him. Gazzy chose the seat next to his father. He wanted to be as far away from his vile mother as possible without making an outright statement.

"Gregory, darling, so glad you could join us," Gazzy's mother gushed. "Don't you look… dashing!" Her cold eyes scanned the Gasman's dirty jeans and stained Beatles t-shirt. Gazzy grinned.

At that moment, a herd of whitecoats bustled over with a rolling tray, filled with a rich pot roast, green beans, mashed potatoes, cranberry bread, cous cous, steamed carrots, and all the other delectable foods Gazzy could possibly imagine.

So this is what Christmas is like.

Gazzy licked his lips and dug in without hesitation.

. . .

A couple feeble attempts were made at starting conversation.

"How are you enjoying your time here, darling?"

"Just fine."

There would be a brief span of time, maybe two or three minutes, until the Gasman's mother or father tried again.

"Is there anything special you'd like to do while you're staying with us?"

"No."

The Gasman knew that they were stalling time before they asked the big question at the tip of their tongues. Gazzy answered a few more aimless questions, until finally, Dr. Evelyn got to the whole point of this festive Christmas Eve feast.

"So Gregory, dear, have you thought about our offer?"

"Yes."

The Castillos waited for a few minutes, but the Gasman kept stubbornly silent.

"And… has your answer changed?"

"No."

"Ah, I see. Well, I don't know if you've already thought of this, but there would be some benefits to –"

The Gasman abruptly jumped out of his seat, nearly knocking over his goblet of apple cider.

"Oh! I almost forgot!"

The Castillos looked at their son in confusion.

"There is something I want to give to you. May I be excused to retrieve it from my room?"

"Ah, well, sure – I guess you – "

At that, Gazzy took off in a sprint towards his room.

. . .

Minutes later, the Gasman flew into the banquet hall with a crudely wrapped package in his hands.

"Mother, Father, I got this gift for you. It has been so wonderful staying with you, and I just wanted to show my appreciation."

The Gasman layed it on thick as Dr. Castillo unwrapped the gift.

"Oh, how lovely darling, what exactly is –"

The doctor's words were cut off with a bout of coughing as a noxious gas filled up the room, clouding their vision.

The Castillo's cried out. "What, what is – what is this – Gregory, dear, where are you?"

The Gasman took a moment to revel in the success of his stink bomb. Then, he took off at a run out of the banquet hall and out the front doors of Itex Headquarters, alarms blaring behind him.