"How sentimental." *
Like the crack of a whip, Magenta's words resounded in the ball room, dragging Brad out of the foggy daze he'd been in for the past few hours. Partly blinded by the vivid shine of the spotlights, he quickly tried to recollect what happened. The lab, the dinner, Frank chasing Janet… Janet! Was she even alright? Much to his relief, his fiancée was standing next to him, all lost and confused, but alright. On the outside, at least. Why was she dressed like a harlot, though? Not to mention her makeup! Looking more closely, he soon came to realize that everyone was dressed in an odd way : the two servants in silver costumes… and all the others, corseted in lavish lingerie sets. In this regard, Frank seemed to be the only one true to form, displaying garters and fishnets with the effortlessness of a schoolboy in uniform.
"And also presumptuous of you." Riff Raff added as he walked towards the stage. "You see, when I said "we" were to return to Transylvania, I referred only to Magenta and myself."
Appalled, Frank backed away immediately, his slender legs wavering. He was terrified, obviously, though Brad couldn't help but to wonder if his massive heels were to be blamed as well. The shoes were exquisite as much as they were expendables, he thought, for the doctor's svelte silhouette didn't need such an extravagance to ravish every soul on Earth.
"I'm sorry however if you found my words misleading," Riff Raff resumed, drawing a futuristic-looking sort of gun, "but you see, you are to remain here…in spirit anyway."
"Great heavens, that's a laser!" Dr Scott exclaimed, seemingly more impressed than scared by the ominous device.
"Yes, Doctor Scott. A laser capable of emitting a beam of pure antimatter."
"You mean you're going to kill him?" Brad gasped instinctevely, his heart hammering in his chest. "What's his crime?" he then asked, even though he already had a few ideas in mind.
Surprisingly, the dreaded answer came from Scotty, his mentor and friend, the person he held in the highest regard.
"You saw what became of Eddie. Society must be protected."
His breathing became ragged. Such hypocrisy was purely suffocating. In vain, he turned to Janet, desperate for some eye contact, to see she didn't condone the mad scene going on right in front of them either. Her abysmal passivity was simply too much to bear.
"Exactly, Doctor Scott." Acknowledged Riff Raff, even if it was clear that the approval of a crippled earthling was the least of his concerns. "And now Frank N. Furter, your time has come. Say goodbye to all of this and hello to oblivion."
Janet raised her hand to her mouth. With a satisfied smirk, Riff Raff put both of his hands on the gun as Brad clenched his fist behind his back. Ever since he'd exited the elevator clad in his black cape, Frank had been wreaking havoc on his life, for better and for worse. It couldn't, wouldn't end this way…
What followed happened almost too quickly for his brain to compute. From the back of the room, which was shrouded in darkness, came a feminine scream along with a small silhouette running towards the stage. Columbia! She knew them, she'd lived with them for a while, maybe she could deter them from…
That tiny gleam of hope was immediately annihilated when Riff Raff spinned round and shot the groupie, who dropped dead on the floor. When he realized it was only a matter of seconds before Riff Raff regained focus, Brad removed his platform shoes calmly and got off the stage.
"No! No! No!" Frank yelled, bumping into the stage curtains while Riff Raff pointed the laser beam again.
Hiding in the dark, and in spite of not wearing his glasses, he found his way through the rows of beach chairs (where the hell did Frank get all of these?) and was now standing half-up and half-down behind the servants' back. Without further deliberation, he grabbed one of the chairs and smashed it as hard as he could on Riff Raff's head, knocking him out.
"You miserable earthling scum!" Magenta spat, pouncing on Brad as they both tried to reach for the weapon.
"Rocky, seize her!" ordered Frank, his voice still shaking.
The creature obeyed, jumped off the stage and threw his muscular arms around her, allowing Brad to pick up the ray gun.
"Brad, what are you doing? Put it down!" Janet pleaded, stepping forward.
"Don't be foolish, boy, you might hurt yourself. Come here…" soothed Scotty. "You can give it to me," he then said, extending his hand.
As he took a look around, Brad's gaze met a pair of green eyes in which he'd already lost himself more than once.
"Don't worry, I'm not keeping it!"
Saying so, he threw the gun to Frank, who caught it mid-air. Scott and Janet gasped in unison.
"Are you out of your mind?" she cried out.
She began to walk towards him, but Scott held her back.
"Why, that was unexpected!" chuckled the transvestite, his lips drawing back in a shark-like grin. "Rocky!" The creature let out a grunt of approval. "Grab some cables, tie those two back-stabbing cunts up, and take them to the dungeon! Separate cells, of course."
"Dungeon? You have a dungeon?" asked Brad, his voice laced with incredulous undertones as he joined Frank on the stage.
"Duh! Can you imagine a castle with a freaking pool in it but no dungeon? That would make me a total dimwit!" he exclaimed, fiddling with the laser beam as if it were a mere toy.
"Erm… I guess that makes sense, yes."
"It's all about priorities, Bradley. Now…" he cooed, punctuating his sentence with a delicate stroke on Brad's clavicle. "You were looking for a phone, am I right?"
*the words in italics are from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I obviously do not own any of these lines.