Two Months Later
"GUYS!"
Eleanor's yell brought everyone running.
Simon raced from the computer that he had been searching. Alvin and Brittany ran from where they had been playing fuseball in the corner. Theodore dashed from where he had been eating a cookie on the counter (bringing his cookie with him, of course).
They all joined Eleanor on the counter, the station where someone was always checking the television.
Wordlessly, she pointed to the TV.
They gaped in astonishment.
Onscreen, two chipmunks were dancing and singing together on a big stage. There was a cheering audience in the background as they spun and twirled, singing their hearts out.
"TURN IT UP!" everyone yelled at the same time, causing Eleanor to jump and quickly stab the volume button several times.
"Well," the announcer was saying, "young superstar Calissa Scott, known to the world as Callie, has certainly risen fast in the world of the superstars."
"Yes," the other announcer agreed as Callie did a triple backflip and stuck the landing perfectly. "She's certainly a very talented young chipmunk. Her counterpart Adam Turner is certainly helping matters. He's very talented as well." The screen zoomed in on the male chipmunk, who was wearing a dark orange shirt with a black vest over it. He was dancing and singing with Callie, grinning at her. She spun into his arms, and he threw her high into the air, where she twirled gracefully several times before coming back down to land in his arms. She did a somersault forward and a back handspring right into his arms again. He dipped her low, and then twirled her around.
"Some people are even saying that Callie and Adam may be the biggest thing since the chipmunks and the chipettes," the announcer was saying.
All the chipmunks bristled at that.
"And there is still no sign of the chipmunks or the chipettes?" the second announcer asked.
"No, John. They went missing off their cruise ship several months back and still have not been heard of."
"Well," the second announcer chuckled, "if they're still out there, they might want to make it back quickly…because it looks like they might be being replaced!"
The camera panned to show the fans. All of them were leaning over the roped-off barrier in front of the stage, screaming things like "I LOVE YOU, ADAM!" and "CALLIE, YOU'RE AMAZING!"
Then a commercial came on.
The chipmunks, Brittany, and Eleanor all stared at one another wordlessly.
"Bit of a coincidence, don't you think?" Alvin asked, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms across his chest. "When these new two chipmunks pop up just as Jeanette gets kidnapped and vanishes?"
"I don't think this is a coincidence," Brittany agreed to his implication.
"But…where's Jeanette, then?" Simon asked, frustrated. "That still doesn't answer our question."
Just then, the showing of the concert showed up again, and the camera zoomed in very closely on Callie.
Simon gasped and nearly fell off his chair. "LOOK!" he yelled, pointing.
Everyone stared, and then Brittany and Eleanor gasped as they saw what he meant.
"What?" Alvin asked finally.
"Look at her eyes," Simon said flatly.
They peered closely.
The eyes didn't have glasses. But the irises were the same vibrant, rich purple that they all knew belonged to Jeanette.
Another commercial came on as they digested this new piece of information.
"Coincidence?" Theodore suggested meekly.
"No way," Brittany said, shaking her head vehemently. "Those are Jeanette's eyes. I would know them anymore. The question is…what are THEY doing on CALISSA?"
"Britt, calm down," Alvin said, putting a paw on her shoulder.
Then Simon let out a gasp as comprehension dawned in his eyes.
"I'VE GOT IT!" he yelled, and then he scampered off to his computer.
He typed frantically into the search bar and began to scroll down through the links. He clicked on one that looked promising. After reading for several minutes, he smiled to himself and began to take notes.
Just has he had suspected.
"What is it, Simon?" Eleanor asked softly, coming up behind him.
He grinned and grabbed the notepad that he had been taking notes on and the computer. He dragged them both back over to the others. Proudly, he displayed the screen.
"That looks like…" Brittany's eyes widened. "That spider! The one that bit you on the island. The one that changed you into Simone…"
Their eyes all widened as comprehension dawned.
"OHMIGOSH!" Eleanor shrieked. "JEANETTE GOT BITTEN BY A SPIDER?"
"Wait," Theodore frowned. "That doesn't make sense. You're saying that Jeanette could have gotten turned into…Callie?"
Simon nodded.
"But…I mean…that venom made you act totally different, right?"
Simon nodded.
"And that part makes sense, because Callie and Jeanette act nothing alike. But aside from their eyes, they don't LOOK anything alike, either!"
He pointed at the television, where they were showing Callie and Adam taking pictures and signing autographs.
"Theo's right," Eleanor sighed, slumping dejectedly. "Jeanette's fur is brown, and it's short. And her nails aren't that long. Callie's fur is red, and it goes all the way down to her waist. And her nails are longer. Plus, Callie doesn't wear glasses, and she doesn't dress the same way as Jeanette, either."
"That's what I thought at first, too," Simon added. "But listen to this." He read it from the website. "When in the case of a female, if the person in question is bitten, the female's appearance may change as much as her personality does. Perhaps she will be taller or shorter, or a change in the senses such as hearing or eyesight—," He gave them a meaningful look and continued. "—or longer or different-colored hair."
They all paused to let this sink in.
"That means," Simon added, "theoretically, if Jeanette got bitten by a spider, then she might hear better all of a sudden, or have different fur…or might not need glasses anymore."
"So that means that Callie…" Brittany started.
"Is really…" Eleanor continued.
"…Jeanette?" Theodore finished in a quiet voice.
Simon looked solemn.
"I think so," he said.
Brittany gritted her teeth.
"All right, then," she said in a very determined voice. "Once we get off of this boat, we know where we're going."
The chipmunks and chipettes nodded, each one looking determined.
Simon and Alvin were back. They had a game plan. They knew what they were doing.
No matter what, they were going after Jeanette.
One Year Later
"We are approaching America."
That was all Moesby had to say to bring loud cheers from all the chipmunks and the remaining chipettes. They had packed their luggage the day before when Moesby had announced a week ago that they would be in the United States soon.
"Oh, Zoe is totally going to get it," Brittany vented. "She's letting spiders bite my sister. She's got to be insane."
"She WAS on an island for ten years, with no one to talk to but a basketball," Eleanor pointed out. "That's bound to do SOMETHING to you."
"I don't care," Brittany snarled as she dragged her suitcases out the door of the cabin. "She's still totally going to get it." She stopped and gave her sister a meaningful look. "Besides, if she doesn't get it from me, then she'll definitely be getting it from Simon. Have you seen him lately?"
Eleanor nodded. "He's been more and more furious ever since we found out what happened to Jeanette."
"And that was almost a year ago," Brittany sighed as she and Eleanor scampered out of their cabin with their bags in tow. "To be honest, I think that he's jealous of that Adam guy."
"Well, we both know that Jeanette doesn't love Adam, regardless of whether or not Callie does," Eleanor pointed out.
"That's a fair point," Brittany conceded. "But Simon isn't going to see it that way."
"Yeah," Eleanor mumbled, tugging her green suitcase back on deck.
There were lots of goodbyes to be said, which was hard for the chipmunks, Brittany, and Eleanor. They had become pretty good friends with all the kids on deck. Alvin and Zack got along together very well. Cody and Simon were good friends. London and Brittany, surprisingly, had hit it off well. Bailey and Eleanor talked a lot. And they were all pretty good friends with Woody and Marcus.
"Well, you chipmunks make sure that you keep up with your education once you get off the boat," Miss Tutweiler told them, shaking a finger.
"I hope you've enjoyed your stay on the Tipton," was Mr. Moesby's pompous goodbye.
"Well, see you guys," Zack said, giving them all hugs as best as he could. "It's been fun, huh?"
"You should definitely get that new calculator that just came out," Cody was saying earnestly to Simon. "It will definitely help with your math."
"I'll look for you on the magazine covers," Brittany and London promised each other at the exact same time.
"I hope you guys find your sister," Bailey said kindly.
"Make sure you eat a lot of food for me," Woody called from where he was at the buffet.
"Hey, I'll be listening to your music," Marcus told them happily. "You guys rock."
So, with that, the chipmunks said goodbye to all their new friends and left the ship with Dave.
"We have to get a plane back home first," Dave told them. "Then we need to get a plane over to Florida so that we can get Jeanette back."
And that's exactly what they did. They arrived in Florida the following night and stayed at a hotel.
"I've booked tickets back home," Dave told them after their second night. "So all we need to do is get Callie and bring her home. Simon, have you perfected the venom cure?"
"Yes," Simon nodded. "We just have to get her home to my lab and I can inject her with it."
"That's good," Dave said in relief. "We'll have Jeanette back right away."
"We're down the street from her house," Brittany whispered. "All right. Do you have the cat carrier, Simon?"
Simon nodded and pointed to the bushes. "It's in the bushes," he whispered.
"Okay," Brittany whispered. "Positions, everyone."
The chipmunks had changed their signature outfits to black jackets and hats. The girls were both wearing strapless black dresses and leggings.
Just then, the limousine pulled up. The door opened and Zoe stepped out. The chipmunks all hissed in synchronization.
She was holding a cat carrier, and she held it up to her face. "Callie, baby, you did AWESOME tonight," she cooed.
"Thanks, Zoe," a happy voice they recognized from television chirped.
Callie. Jeanette. Callie.
"Let's get you to bed. We've got a long day tomorrow," Zoe told her, going into the house.
"With Adam?" The pleasure in Callie's voice was undisguised.
"Yes, with Adam," Zoe laughed. They stepped into the house and they heard the lock click behind them.
"We have to wait," Simon whispered, peering through the window. He saw, in astonishment, Zoe move aside the staircase to reveal the entrance to her lab. She went down into it.
"Okay, fifteen minutes," Alvin whispered.
Fifteen minutes later, Simon got his grapple hook. He threw it up at the roof and heard a clang. He tugged it a few times, and then climbed up.
He got to the roof and slid down the chimney. Luckily, there wasn't a fire lit at the bottom. He crept to the door and unlocked it, and the other chipmunks snuck in.
They all silently went upstairs and opened the door on the right. There was a single bed pressed up against the wall, and they saw Callie curled up in it, asleep.
Simon's heart skipped a beat and began thrumming faster and faster. He felt something humming in the air, a connection, between him and the chipette on the bed. He felt like something was tugging him toward her, and he knew that his heart recognized that it was his love just a few feet away, even if his mind didn't know it.
He crept closer and reached out to grab Callie, but her eyes fluttered open.
His breath caught in his throat at seeing those vibrant purple irises just inches away from his own.
Those eyes.
Those are her eyes, he thought.
"Simon, grab her now!" Brittany hissed.
"Wh—who are you?" Callie demanded, sitting upright.
Simon felt frozen.
"This is a waste of time," Alvin snarled. He pushed past Simon, grabbed Callie by the arm, and yanked her from the bed.
"Ouch! Hey, let go! What are you doing?" Callie wriggled as hard as she could. Alvin almost lost his grip on her, but Theodore darted forward and grabbed her other arm. They quickly pulled her from the room.
"Let go of me! Let go! ZOE! ZOE!" she screamed. Alvin quickly clamped his paw down over her mouth as they hustled her out the front door.
Adam was sitting in the maple tree like he did every night, waiting for Callie to come out. Every night, they snuck out to meet in the maple tree and talk. Sometimes, they sang.
He heard the front door open, and he smiled to himself, waiting for Callie to call a greeting.
Nothing happened.
He heard rustling from beneath, like someone was struggling, and he heard muffled cries from beneath.
He looked down and couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Callie was being yanked across her yard, pulled by two dark figures. Two other figures were scampering ahead of them, and one taller figure was behind them.
Callie looked up and saw Adam. One of the figures holding her had his paw over her mouth, but she managed to wriggle free.
"ADAM!" she shrieked, struggling with all her might. "ADAM, HELP ME!"
The figures looked up and saw Adam.
"Gosh dang it, there's another one!" one of the figures holding her yelled, and Adam started at the squeakiness of his voice. The figures kidnapping Callie were chipmunks, too?
"Let go of her!" he yelled, shaking off his surprise and jumping down.
He sprang towards Callie, who was being pulled into the bushes by the two figures. But the other two figures, the ones who had been in front, were there in an instant, blocking his path.
He started, realizing that they were female chipmunks.
"Give her back!" he demanded.
"Not today," the taller one hissed, and then her foot shot out toward his face.
He heard a sickening thud, and then he felt pain in his head as he fell to the ground and blacked out.
"We want our sister back, you bastard!" the shorter one snarled, and they whirled and disappeared into the bushes in a flash.
Callie saw the cat carrier and before she knew what was happening, the figures holding her had pushed her into it and locked the door.
She hammered on the bars. "Let me out!" she screamed.
All five of the figures surrounded the cat carrier and lifted it.
"Dave's got a car just down the street!" one of the figures gasped as they carried the cat carrier out of the bushes and down the lawn as fast as they could. Callie pressed her face up against the bars and screamed, "HELP! HELP ME!"
Then she saw Adam, motionless on the ground, and let out a shriek.
The door burst open and Zoe ran out. "Callie?" she called. "Callie, where are you?"
"ZOE! I'M HERE! ZOE!" Callie was screaming and sobbing now.
Zoe saw the cat carrier wobbling across the yard, and saw Adam motionless on the ground several yards away.
"LET GO OF HER!" she screamed.
Suddenly, one of the figures dropped the carrier and dashed toward Zoe. The other four quickly regrouped underneath it and kept carrying it down the sidewalk.
Zoe stared down at the small figure, and then he stepped into the light from the streetlamp. She let out a gasp.
"You," she hissed. "You."
"Me," Simon said grimly.
Zoe made a move to get around him, but he leapt at her face, scratching her with his claws, and she fell back.
The cat carrier disappeared around the corner.
"NO!" she yelled. "You're stealing her!"
Simon stood his ground and glared ferociously at her. "WE'RE stealing her? WE are? YOU stole her," he snarled. "YOU stole her from US. We're only taking her back."
"I see the venom wore off," she jeered at him. "I must say, I liked you better as Simone. I think Jeanette did, too."
"SHUT UP!" Simon yelled, scratching her again.
"NEVER!" Zoe yelled back. "You're kidnapping my baby."
He laughed without humor. "She's not your baby, you idiot, whatever you might think. YOU kidnapped her. You took her away from us. We're not kidnapping her. We're only taking back what's ours."
He whirled and dashed off after the cat carrier.
Zoe tried to get to her feet, but the world spun from all the scratches she'd gotten.
Focus! She screamed at herself. She managed to stumble to her feet.
Simon dashed around the corner and saw Brittany, Eleanor, Alvin, and Theodore loading the cat carrier into the van.
"Zoe's coming!" Simon yelled as he caught up to them. They quickly pushed the cat carrier, with Callie still trapped inside, into the van, and Simon quickly boosted Theodore and Eleanor into the van after her.
"ZOE?" Brittany snarled. She hadn't seen Zoe come outside. "Oh, that is IT. I'm gonna give her a PIECE OF MY MIND!"
"Britt, get in the van NOW!" Alvin yelled.
"NO!" she yelled back, running down the sidewalk back toward Zoe.
Before she could even take two steps, Alvin had grabbed her around the middle and fairly THROWN her into the van. He sprang in after her and slammed the door shut before she could jump out again.
Zoe raced around the corner at that moment, looking livid. Adam was by her side. He had finally regained consciousness, and was now looking very panicked.
But they were too late. The last thing they saw was a dark van speeding off into the night.
"It's no use," Zoe panted. "We'll never catch up to them now."
"They took her!" Adam sobbed, slumping to the sidewalk.
Zoe gritted her teeth and tried to remember. There had been something sticking out of Simon's jacket pocket. A ticket? Yes! A ticket. But to where?
Zoe pushed her memory harder, sharpening it, trying to remember. And there it was, in a flash. Her eyes popped open.
"Don't worry, Adam," she said through gritted teeth. "We'll get her back. Because I know where they're going."
She turned and began to run back to the house. "Pack your things," she called over her shoulder in a determined tone of voice. "We're going to the airport."