Swing123: Just a little note to ask the good readers at FanFiction if they could PLEASE REVIEW? Seriously, I think both Garfieldodie and I would like to know how we're doing, here!

Please?

Part five written by Garfieldodie
All over town, lights flickered off.

The traffic lights turned off, causing traffic to halt. Neon lights on stores turned off, making people think they were closed. Automatic doors wouldn't open, trapping people already in the stores.

And all over town, streetlights blinked off, and the houses went dark.

In other words, the town sort of went into chaos.

Not complete chaos. It was just a lighthearted chaos.

Back at the mansion, Calvin, Hobbes, Socrates, Andy and Sherman were slowly climbing down the great wall towards the backyard.

"What do we do now?" asked Hobbes.

"We get out our sheet music and play the real waltz," said Calvin. "We strategize."

"How do we do that?" asked Andy.

"Well, we've got a hardlight hologram and a man made entirely out of electricity on our tails. Options are limited."

"And so far, all we have against either of them is Retro's faulty light bee," said Hobbes.

Then Calvin had an idea.

"Then we're left with no choice. We fight fire with fire! Electricity with electricity!"

"How do we do that?" asked Sherman. "They've got control over the whole town by now!"

Calvin then reached into his pocket and pulled out a paperclip.

"With my winnings from the poker game!" he said triumphantly.

Hobbes, Socrates and Andy looked confused, but Sherman seemed to understand.

"Ah-ha! Well played!" he said. "I know exactly what to do."

Calvin quickly emptied his pockets and revealed about seventy-one cents worth in pennies, a few paperclips, a dime, some hairpins, a pair of wire rim glasses, and a packet of salt.

Calvin and Sherman got to work.

"Andy, we need your bottled water," said Sherman.

Andy pulled the bottle out of his pocket and tossed it to them.

Sherman took it and poured it into a cup.

Calvin immediately started connecting all the paper clips into a long chain. Then he put one end into cup of water.

Sherman opened the packet of salt and poured it in, and then mixed it all together.

"Anyone got a clue as to what they're doing?" asked Hobbes.

"Wasting perfectly good paperclips is what they're doing," mumbled Socrates.

Calvin took the wire rim glasses and twisted the last paperclip around one of the earpieces.

Sherman took the hairpin and suspended it in the saltwater.

Calvin then pulled out a couple of pennies.

"Forgive a simple layman for asking, but would either mind giving us some insight to the plot?" asked Andy.

"We've made a homemade electrical current," said Sherman. "All this stuff put together should make a small electrical current strong enough for someone to add three minutes to a cell phone."

"Only we've got something else in mind for it," said Calvin, holding the pennies in his hand.

"Impressive," said Socrates. "We could use the phone call to call the Home Office."

"Why?" asked Hobbes.

"Because my home has been wrecked!"

Just then, a shadow loomed over them.

Everyone looked up.

Electro was glaring down at them.

"What's this? Doing your science project during a life and death situation? Goodness, Calvin. This isn't your style at all!" he sneered.

Calvin simply looked up at Electro.

"Your days are numbered, buddy," he said. "In fact, I'd go so far as to say your minutes are numbered."

"Ooh, clever word play!" said Electro, touching down on the ground nearby.

He coolly approached them. He overlooked the little project.

"Ah, I recognize this little design. A pathetic attempt to create electricity!"

It was around that time that Retro came sliding down the drainpipe. He went unnoticed by Electro.

"You seem to not understand my power. I can willfully tell that little piece of scrap to back off!"

"Indeed," said Calvin, holding the pennies above the glass of saltwater. "However, this was never meant for you."

Electro raised an eyebrow.

Retro finally came into his view.

"What'd I miss?" he asked.

Electro looked back and forth between Retro and the glass.

"Oh…," he said at last.

Calvin smirked and dropped the pennies into the glass.

BLIP! BLOOP!

Once the copper pennies landed in the saltwater, there was a chemical reaction that caused an electrical current to be shot through the long line of paperclips and through the set of glasses. One of the earpieces rose into the air and started to move towards Retro.

Retro stared at it, and before he could back away, sparks flew from the glasses. The long line from the glass stuck itself into Retro's body, causing a tiny but powerful electric current to surge into his light bee!

BRZAP!

"YOW!"

Retro was knocked off his feet.

He suddenly grew a bit brighter.

"That's odd," he said. "I've been given more power! A few tiny volts have recharged my light bee to full working order!"

Electro began to back away from him nervously.

"What's he so scared of?" asked Andy.

"Retro is the one who freed Electro through his light bee, but they never stuck to each other like other objects would because Retro's power wasn't as strong," said Calvin. "Now with added strength, Electro's electricity should cause him to…"

WHAM!

"HEY!" shouted Retro. "Get off of me!"

"…do that," Calvin finished.

The added boost of electricity had caused Electro to stick to Retro. The two looked like they were in a hug they didn't want to be in.

"LET ME GO!" Electro ordered.

"GET OFF OF ME RIGHT NOW!" Retro screamed.

The two villains ran around fighting and hitting each other until they started to head towards the pool.

"Oh no!" said Sherman.

"Don't worry. The pool is heated during January. They'll be fine," said Socrates.

"No, you dolt! They're going fall in. Don't you know what happens when you pour water on working electrical socket?"

Everyone paused.

Finally, Hobbes started to move away.

"I'm starting to think a quick dash into the house would be an excellent career move right now," he said.

Everyone zoomed into the house just in time.

Retro stumbled over his own brown shoes and started to tip over the pool.

Electro's eyes bugged open.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!" he screamed.

SPLOOSH!

Retro and Electro landed in the pool.

Electro reacted with the water and suddenly…

FOOOM!

The pool erupted, sending chlorinated water for miles around, soaking people, cars and the roads.

A man was walking down the street when he got soaked by the falling pool water. He looked up, only to find there was not a cloud in the sky.

"Mmm-Hmmmm…," he said, drying himself off and continuing on his way.

When the water finally stopped falling, Calvin and Hobbes dared to exit the house.

They looked down and saw the pool was half-empty.

All that sat at the bottom was a small object.

"What's that?" asked Calvin.

Socrates, Andy and Sherman joined them.

"It must be Retro's light bee," said Sherman.

Calvin slid down into the pool to get it. He checked it out.

"It's still active," he said.

"I think our best option is to get rid of it," said Hobbes.

Calvin nodded in agreement.

Once Calvin had gathered all his inventions, he took out the MTM and loaded the light bee on the end of it. He stood on the roof of the mansion and fired it into the air.

ZAP!

The light bee sailed into the air and towards the forest.

In the air, the light bee suddenly buzzed a little.

Retro suddenly came out of it.

"Where am I?" he demanded.

He looked around and realized he was about to land in the trees.

Retro gulped, and then quickly started squeezing his abdomen, and he suddenly switched himself off just in time.

The light bee landed in the trees with a dull THUNK.

Calvin watched until it was out of sight.

"There," he said. "Hopefully, he's gotten himself lost, and he'll be trapped there for an undetermined amount of time."

"Hmm, that's not long enough," said Hobbes.

Calvin rolled his eyes.

"Well, sorry for disturbing you all," said Calvin. "Hobbes and I must now return to our task of buying light bulbs."

"Indeed," said Hobbes.

"But what about my house?!" demanded Socrates.

"Well, maybe this will teach you not to be a cheater!" Calvin retorted.

"Besides," said Hobbes, "If four villains can parade through our house and it can still be fixed in a day, I'm pretty sure it should be a snap for you."

Calvin and Hobbes left.

Socrates stared at the door.

"I've gotta start locking that thing," he said. "Okay, we need to…"

Socrates then realized that Andy and Sherman had vanished.

"Hmmm… I wonder how much effort it would take to convince Elliot that all we really need is some computerized protection," he commented.

And he set to work trying to fix his house.

The End

Voice Actors

Pamela Segall Adlon: Calvin

Tom Hanks: Hobbes

Bill Murray: Dad

Jennifer Love Hewitt: Mom

Ryan Stiles: Socrates

Andrew Lawrence: Andy

Colin Mochrie: Sherman

Kurtwood Smith: Retro Griffin

Eric Roberts: Electro

Ben Stine: The man who goes "Mmmm-hmmmm"

Coming up Next: Sherman Goes to the Vet