Disclaimer: Characters belong to Fresh Tv. I'm only writing this for fun.
~A/N~ We're nearing the end, and this is the penultimate chapter, so hold on to your butts, because things are about to get crazy.
Chapter 9: The Reveal!
Mr. and Mrs. Dow were sitting on their couch as Mrs. Dow sobbed her eyes out. Her husband wrapped his arms around her torso as she released countless tears onto his shoulder.
Mr. Dow rolled his eyes. "Look, I'm sure-"
"No you're not!" Mrs. Dow raised her head, now covered in tears. "He's not okay! It's been four days and he's not okay! What don't you get!?"
"I'm just saying that maybe we should let the police handle it. They've been trained to handle these situations and they've done it before. Plus, Max is a smart kid. I'm sure if he's in trouble, he'll find a way out."
"That's what you always say!" Mrs. Dow buried her face in her hands. "You don't understand! You've never loved him like I did; you never will."
A knock on the door interrupted Mrs. Dow's grief.
"It's the cops!" she gasped enthusiastically, standing up and running to the door.
When she opened the door, she was greeted by a young, white woman with glasses and scarlet hair, tied in a bun.
"Hello, ma'am," the woman said. "I'm Inspector Bates. Are you Mrs. Dow?"
Max's mother reached out and grabbed the woman's hand. "Did you find him? Please, tell me he's alive?!"
"Are you, or are you not Mrs. Dow? Answer me, please."
"Yeah, we're the Dows," Max's father said, leaning past his wife. "You're here for our son, right?"
"Precisely," Bates answered. "Now, may I come in?"
"Oh, uh, I don't-" started Mr. Dow.
"Oh, please come in!" Mrs. Dow interrupted. "I've waited so long to talk!"
As 'Mrs. Bates' passed by Mr. Dow, he tapped her shoulder and chuckled. "It ain't the only thing she waited a long time for, if ya' get my drift."
The Inspector impatiently glared at Max's father and continued to walk past him, stepping on his bare foot with her high heel. He gasped in pain.
Bates joined Max's parents on their leather sofa. She opened her briefcase and pulled out a large, electronic tablet.
"And that's for what?" Mr. Dow asked her.
Bates glared at Mr. Dow again. He looked around the room nonchalantly, trying to avoid her malicious gaze.
"Alright, shall we begin?" Bates asked the parents.
Mrs. Dow nodded her head and wiped a tear from her eye.
"Perfect," the officer said, smiling. "Now, tell me about Max."
"Well, he was born on Ju-"
"No!" Bates hissed. "We know his date of birth. Just describe his personality."
"Oh," Mrs. Dow whimpered. "Well, he's a beautiful child."
Mrs. Bates lightly scoffed. "Of course he is. Now, tell me more."
"He's loud, obnoxious, and a pain in the ass," Max's father blurted out. "He sure ain't beautiful either."
Mrs. Dow turned to see her husband shrug. "How dare you shame our child like that!" She sobbed and buried her face in the sofa cushion.
"Oh, I believe you," Bates deadpanned. "You have no idea."
Mrs. Dow quickly recovered and continued her description. "He's always... liked evil."
"The word, or the mere act of being evil?"
"Both," the plump woman replied. "He's always saying it at school, at home; in his sleep."
Bates tapped a few buttons on her touchscreen. "And you say he's a fanatic for the diabolical?"
"Well, yes."
"Interesting. Now, could you show me his room? I need to take precautions and make sure he's not a child felon."
"A felon?!" Mrs. Dow screeched. "He would never commit a crime. He's the sweetest, most innocent boy on the face of the planet!"
"So, I don't get to see his room?" Bates asked.
"You're here to help us find him, so do it, Mrs. Bates!" Mrs. Dow stood up and jabbed a finger into Bates' face.
The Inspector smiled maniacally and reached into her briefcase, pulling out a small canister and spraying the couple in the face with an odd vapor. Before Max's parents could react, they were surrounded with misty fumes that clouded their vision. Within seconds, they were out cold and on the ground, slumped against the edge of the sofa.
Bates took off her tinted glasses and continued to grin. "Please, call me Scarlett." She kicked the foot of the father to test the effects of her chemical spray. He didn't move.
"Perfect." Scarlett snatched her briefcase and stood up. "Let's get down to business."
The psychopath stepped around the fallen couple and began to ascend the staircase that led to the second floor. As she passed several pictures of Max's family, she knocked each one down, shattering the glass of every frame.
"So many memories," she scoffed. "Down the drain they go."
When Scarlett reached the top of the staircase, she was met by a long hallway with many doors on each side. However, Max's room was painfully easy to locate.
The mad genius walked up to the odd door and sighed. Glued to the front was a crude drawing of Max's face, most likely drawn as a self portrait. The face was colored with crayons and splattered with red glitter around the eyes. Above the horrid portrait was a sign that read 'Warning: Goody-Goodies Will Be Disintegrated On Sight!'
"Charming," Scarlett said sarcastically. She reached at the doorknob to find it locked and covered in sticky residue. Scarlett cringed and wiped her hand on the drawing of Max.
"Fine," she sighed. "It appears as if I must use it after all." Scarlett reached into her pocket and pulled out a small tube of lipstick. She pulled off the cap and grasped the tube like a pen, pointing it at the door, and Max's drawing in particular.
She pressed a button on the back of the tube and a red laser shot out, slowly burning the door to ash in front of her. When the door was completely destroyed, Scarlett stepped inside the purple-tinted room. It was amazing... to an extent.
"interesting," she said, grabbing a vial of chemicals from Max's tube rack. "A sample of fluoroantimonic acid. How useful."
Scarlett carefully placed the acid in her briefcase, being careful not to break the glass vial. She turned her attention to the set of charts and graphs that hung from tacks that Max had stuck into the wall.
As she looked over each one, Scarlett chuckled. "Excellent. Given time, I should be able to rework these calculations and make-"
She pressed her hand down on Max's desk and heard a clicking sound. A rumbling noise echoed from within the wall behind Max's bookshelf as she discovered a small button under a stack of papers.
Suddenly, the bookshelf split in two, revealing a secret passageway marked with a sign that said 'Evil Stuff.'
Scarlett smiled, grabbing her briefcase and entering the cramped passage. A light flickered on when she stepped into the tunnel, most likely from a motion sensor. At the end of the hall was a terminal.
"Jackpot," Scarlett said, walking up to the terminal and turning on the small computer.
"Please enter your pass code," Max's voice said from within the computer. A set of four boxes flashed onscreen; one for each character.
Scarlett rolled her eyes and typed 'E-V-I-L' into the slots. She pressed the 'enter' key and waited as a small hourglass popped up.
"Welcome back, me!" said the computer. "Enjoy your evil lab, and don't forget rule number one: keep it evil."
A set of doors opened with a hiss and Scarlett walked through. When she stepped foot in Max's lab, she nearly had a heart attack.
The walls were coated in a vast array of weapons and devices, ranging from guns and bombs, to colorfully wrapped birthday gifts and a game controller.
"Oh, this will do," Scarlett squealed in excitement. "This is certainly do."
Max's parents were still knocked out when Scarlett, stocked in full with metallic devices and a large backpack wrapped around her arms, waist, and back, strolled past them with a menacing smile on her mug.
"Enjoy your nap," she told the two adults. "May you be blessed with a beneficial dream-state and your miserable lives."
Scarlett opened the front door and stepped outside with the sound of clanking metal filling the morning air. She casually walked to her car, though she was struggling with the weight of her outfit.
The sound of a chuckle drew her attention to a pair of ten year old boys on bicycles standing a few feet down the sidewalk.
"Nice guns, nerd!" one of the boys taunted. "Where'd ya' get them, the dollar store!?" He laughed with his friends.
"Oh, no," Scarlett said with an informative tone. "These weapons are of my ownership and are very expensive. Well, the improvements are of my doing. I was merely provided prototypes."
"Not those guns, moron! Those guns!" The other boy laughed hysterically, pointing at Scarlett's chest. She scowled and took a deep breath.
"Say, little boy. Have you ever wanted to fly like the birds?" Scarlett asked him in a suggestive tone.
"Uh, yeah," he said halfheartedly. "I guess."
"Well, every dog has his day, and today just happens to be yours." Scarlett shot the boy an evil glare and whipped out a small, pink handgun. She aimed and fired a blast of pink light at the bully.
A bright flash exploded when the boy was hit the beam. When the light subsided, he was gone. In his place was a tiny, pink butterfly.
"Tommy?!" the other boy gasped. He looked at Scarlett in terror. "What the hell is with you?!"
"Well, my IQ is exceptional, as is my aim. Now scram, or you'll join your winged friend there." She pointed to the pink butterfly that fluttered into the street. A car whizzed by and the insect was smashed into the windshield.
"Ahhhhh!" The other boy screamed, ditched his bike, and stumbled away as fast as he could.
Scarlett laughed and holstered her ray gun. "This is going to be fun."
Max's vision was blurry. So blurry in fact, that he couldn't even make out shapes. Lights were harsh and painful, so he tried to keep his eyes closed. He had no idea where he was or what had happened since Sugar had knocked them out with her weird neck pinch technique.
"Oh, Max," a voice echoed in his head. "Wake up, Max. You're home now."
"Mother?" Max whispered. "Mother? Is that you?"
"Mama's here for ya' now, Max. You're in my care."
Max felt a warm, meaty hand touch his shoulder and he smiled. "Wait!" he gasped. "That drawl!?"
Suddenly, the genius' vision became clear and he was greeted by Sugar, hovering over him like a carrion-craving bird. "Mornin' sleepy-pie. Don't worry, you're safe now, and improved too."
Max stared at Sugar with unease. "What?"
"Oh, you haven't seen it?" Sugar teased. "Well, your old body with soft, flabby, and too... dumb. So, I took responsibility and made you more... applicable."
Max looked down and nearly had a heart attack. His normal jumpsuit was no where to be found. Instead, his body was covered in a brownish material with a pink tint. He tried to move his hands and feet, but discovered that he was completely restrained to a table.
"Here, take a look," Sugar said, holding up a large mirror.
Max saw a monster. His entire body was covered in a leather-like material that resembled skin. A line of stitching ran up the center of the skin-tight suit, leading to Max's face. His head was covered in the same material, leaving only his eyes and mouth uncovered. A pig-like snout covered his nose and two floppy ears hung from his head. Max looked down at his hands and feet to see that the digits were taped together and painted to look like hooves .
"Wha-"
"Oh, it's okay," Sugar said calmly. "It's hard to get used to, but your new body will serve ya' well."
Max was speechless.
"Don't worry about the wizard and Ella. They're fine, just like you." Sugar grabbed the table that Max was strapped to and wheeled it around to face the opposite direction.
Leonard and Ella were tied down and covered in their own suits. Leonard's suit was bright white and fluffy with a pink face and black 'hooves' that resembled Max's. Ella was wrapped in feathers of different shapes and colors. Her head was topped with a latex glove that was painted a dark red and her mouth was covered with a yellow beak made of a plastic cup. Neither was awake.
"Beautiful, huh?" Sugar asked. "I've worked on those animal suits for months. You should feel lucky. You're the first testers I've had, so you get first dibs. Sounds good, huh." She elbowed Max in the shoulder.
"Cretin!" Max screamed. "You're mad! Not as mad as me, but it's a close race!"
Sugar sighed. "Here's the thing. I knew you weren't interested in me from day one. I had hope for us, so I gave it a chance. But like all the boys, you couldn't handle my general awesomeness. So, why should I let you go when you could be so useful? Get it?"
"No! What are you doing with us, anyways?!"
"I have a future, Max," Sugar said. "I have dreams to fulfill, but you... You have nothin' to do in life. You're a failure, so face the facts: you're better off with me."
"Shut it and tell me why I'm dressed up like a... Pig, right?"
Sugar nodded. "I wanted to use your old suit, but the skin textures were screwy, so I used real skin instead."
"Real skin!?" Max gasped. "You're sick!"
"It's tanned pig hide, you ninny. Stop being so rowdy, or the make-up will be ruined."
"Hold on... Make up!?" Max shouted. "That's why I'm here? You want to put make up on me?! How anticlimactic."
"My life has been devoted to animals and beauty, so why not combine both? Pretty smart if ya' ask me." Sugar pulled a brush and a make up kit out of her cleavage.
"Why us?!" Max asked. "Why not use your plethora of farm animals?
Sugar rolled where eyes. "Because animals are dumb! Duh! They run away. They fight the power. They even kick me in the face! But you'd never do that stuff. Plus, you're cheaper! So, shall we get started?"
"No!" Max screamed as Sugar brought the brush closer to is face. "Evil hates mascara!"
As screams of terror rang through the countryside, a small foot stepped out of the cornfield outside Sugar's farmhouse. The figure clenched it's fist and smiled in anticipation.
"It's payback time," Scarlett said, wiping red face paint onto her cheeks. "Game on!"
~A/N~ There's the weirdness I promised. I probably creeped plenty of you out with that reveal, but hopefully the jokes kept the mood light. Remember, this story shouldn't be taken too seriously. That is all.
Next time: Epicness