I'm baaaack! Get ready to find out what happens to our favorite Chipmunks next! There will be plenty of drama ahead. The last tale was a breather and things are about to get HEAVY again.

Also, Merry Christmas, everyone! What? I know I'm writing this in February, but it wouldn't be a giant AATC fic without some Christmas shenanigans. This chapter takes place mostly over Christmas vacation.

Let's see how the Sevilles and Millers continue to adapt to Alvin's new hobbies and new outlook on life. In case the title wasn't enough of a clue, get ready for a lot of good Alvin and Simon brotherly bonding moments!

Now, on with the show!

Alvin 2.0's POV

I bet you're all itching to know what happened after I successfully completed my flying skateboard. Well, the answer is, a ton of stuff! I continued to keep my grades up so I could win the Most Improved Award again. Britt continued to be a pain in the butt, I continued to run my comic book business, and Jeanette gave me a shiny new silver zipper pull for my favorite cyan jacket. It was shaped like an acorn! How fitting is that!?

It didn't take me very long to come up with a brand new invention idea either! Ohoho! I was really on a roll. Okay, so, that's not entirely accurate. Let me explain. First, I came up with an idea that Dave once again rejected. That meant I had to think of something similar, yet different. Luckily, the unfair rejection of my idea eventually led me to an even BETTER concept. One that was easier to implement.

One day, just before Christmas break started, I had rushed into the dining room to show Dave and my brothers my latest idea. I explained everything and held up a detailed diagram.

What I got, was the typical Dave response. "You can't create a robot that does your chores for you."

I felt my fur bristling, but I maintained as much composure as possible. "Fairly sure I can, pal."

"Well you SHOULDN'T." My dad sounded very upset. What was so upsetting about this? I put a lot of thought into this idea!

"He's right." Of course, my brother Simon just HAD to back Dave up. "Chores are important. They build character, assist with time management, make you into a responsible person…"

I twisted the hem of my letter A T shirt, trying to avoid getting too "whiny" or "annoying." I had to make them listen to me. Maybe the fact that I was dressed a lot like the way I used to dress was making them more skeptical. But I still had the cyan shirt underneath and the sleeves visible. Not to mention the glasses and longer hair and all the other weird changes to my appearance.

After a brief moment of preparation, I had my answer ready. "Si, come on! There's nothing more responsible than automating chores! Think of all the time we'll save! We could pick up new hobbies! Or, you know, actually rest!" I pointed out. "Plus, David, I dunno if you noticed, but a robot would be 10 times more efficient than having your son haul trash bags that weigh more than he does!"

Simon looked stunned. "He's…got you there."

"Yeah. He does." Dave replied. Was this it? The moment he'd reconsider?

"This is weird." Theodore whispered to both Dave and Simon, while nibbling on some waffles.

Dave nodded in agreement. "So weird."

"So do I have your permission to create this robot or not?" I asked, getting impatient, as I so often do.

Simon sighed. "Alvin, no. We've already got enough robots in this house. Besides, isn't building a robot a little advanced for you?" What!? I thought Simon supported me now! I had proven I can invent things! He cheered me on!

"It's really not!" I protested.

Dave looked at me with those stern eyes. "No robots. End of discussion."

"But you ARE saying I can invent something that ISN'T a robot?" I smiled, with just a hint of deviousness coursing through my mind.

"I suppose, yes." My father scratched his head.

"What are you gonna make if you can't make a robot?" Theodore wondered.

Simon looked like he had the same question. The boy in the royal blue jacket was eyeing me suspiciously.

I smiled even wider, already concocting my next big idea. "You'll see."

And that's how I settled on my next big project! A remote controlled lawnmower. Chores wouldn't be so bad for me, if I could turn them into a videogame. Imagine mowing your lawn while standing inside your house! It's groundbreaking stuff!

Christmas vacation came around and I was hard at work on my next invention. I puzzled out all the details and fine tuned the mechanical aspect of it. Simon even allowed me to use his lab upstairs! But, only for like 2 hours a day, tops. After that, I had to work outside in the backyard. Luckily, weather in California was fairly mild despite it being wintertime.

One day, I was just getting ready to spend my two hours of work time in Simon's lab. Suddenly, I was ambushed by my brothers and the Chipettes. They were all dressed for the season, in various Christmas sweaters.

Britt's was fuschia with a slight reddish tint and had a candy cane heart on it. Jeanette's was light lilac and had a snowman design. Eleanor's was deep teal and sported a sugar cookie star icon. Theodore's was forest green with a gingerbread man. And, lastly, Simon's was a very odd shade of turquoise blue with a cool geometric snowflake.

"Look what we made you!" Brittany held up a red Christmas sweater with a green Christmas tree, styled to look like the letter A.

"Look what I made you." Eleanor corrected her sister.

It was a pretty nice sweater, but it wasn't doing it for me. "Oh, uh, nice. Is that for the Christmas concert?"

"Duh!" Brittany rolled her eyes at me.

I was DREADING the Christmas concert. I knew we needed to put one on, but I wasn't ready for it. I had finally, finally, accepted and embraced my new self. Pretending to be plain ol classic Alvin again felt….weird. I knew I'd be great once I got onstage. It was getting there that was the hurdle.

"In that case, cool. I'll wear it for the concert." I said.

Eleanor folded her arms. "Do you hate it or something?"

"What? No! I just….really really like THIS look." I gestured to my current outfit.

Theodore pouted. "But we were hoping you could match us." He squeaked.

"I have an idea." Jeanette bent over to whisper something in Eleanor's ear.

"Fine. Fine." The pigtailed girl with holly decorating her pigtails didn't look thrilled. "I'll make another version with cyan trim. After I finish baking cookies to sell at the mall."

My ears twitched. "I like the sound of that!" Then, I couldn't resist making another comment. "Yeesh, still haven't paid back those gambling debts, have ya?"

She reached over to flick my cap. "Or maybe I just wanted to spread the joy of the season."

"I think it's both!" Theodore interjected.

Simon let out a small chuckle and Eleanor glared at him.

"What are your holiday plans, Alvin?" Jeanette asked me sweetly. "Would you like to help me with the Toys For Tots drive?"

"Uhhhh…" I felt sort of backed in a corner. "Oooh, boy, it sounds so tempting, but…I'm pretty busy with my latest invention."

"That's what you've been saying for days." Brittany muttered. "Whatever. It's fine. This is what you've apparently chosen to do with your life." She started to walk toward the door. "As for me, I will be practicing my audition for the Christmas play. I just know I'm going to make a fabulous Sandy Claus."

"Hahahaha!" I couldn't NOT laugh at that. "You're auditioning to play SANTA!? YOU!?"

She grabbed my baseball cap. "Not Santa! Santa's daughter!"

"I didn't even know Santa HAD a daughter." Theodore's browish blonde eyebrows were sky high.

Eleanor put a hand on Theo's arm. "It's just for the play the community theater is putting on."

"Ohhhhh." My littlest bro responded.

Brittany traced her fingers over the glitter glue atom design drawn on my cap. "What is this icky stuff?" She started to attempt to scrape it off with her nail.

"Hey!" I snatched the cap back from her. "It's just, you know, a little bit of…sciencey flare."

"You even changed your cap." She murmured, looking like she was about to sob. Then, she stuffed her emotions down. "Anyway, I'm off to the audition now. Wish you could come and watch me."

"I'll watch you in the play IF you get the part." I said quietly.

"IF!? IF!?" The girl in the pink sweater gasped in outrage.

"Just go, Britt." Eleanor waved her annoying sister away.

Brittany angrily stomped out of the room.

"Theodore,…" Jeanette fidgeted with the long purple ribbon hanging from her bun. "Would you like to help with Toys For Tots?"

"I would…" Theodore frowned. "But I can't. I'm entering the yard decorating contest this year. Kevin, Cheesy, and me are going to turn the house into Christmas candyland!"

"And I." Simon commented.

I snickered a little. Simon was still more of a know-it-all than me. This proved it.

Theodore held a finger to Simon's lips. "Simon, don't correct my grammar. We're on vacation, remember? No school stuff allowed."

"Christmas candyland?" Jeanette's midnight eyes squinted as she tried to puzzle out what Theo meant by that. "How will you pull that off? Edible decorations are a recipe for disaster."

"I can show you!" Theodore brought out a picture of his concept. It was huge! And attached to an easel with wheels. "I'm not using actual food, but I'm gonna make everything look like food. There's gonna be a big ice cream cone in the shape of a Christmas tree, chocolate bar shutters, a giant candy cane and lots of gumdrops. Oh, and some elves too! Elves are an important part of Christmas." He rambled.

"Looks awesome, Theo." I said, half interested in his idea and half too focused on getting them all out of here so I could work on my remote controlled lawnmower. Well, all except Simon. He can stay…if he'll actually help.

"I love it!" Eleanor smiled. "Good luck!"

"How very creative!" Jeanette clapped for him.

I started to usher everyone out of the room except Simon. "Right, so, uh, have fun with all your plans. I'm gonna be rootin' for ya. I'll see ya later!"

"Are you sure you don't wanna help Jeanette?" Theodore asked me in a whisper as the Chipettes left.

I felt a small pang in my heart. "I'd love to help her. But, I have to use my invention mojo while I've got it. She'll understand. I know she will."

"Okay." Theodore scurried outside of the room pushing his easel on wheels. "As long as you're sure."

As I shut the door and scurried into the lab, I saw Simon's shadow behind me. "Since when do you pick being alone over being with people?" He pondered.

"Since I have voices in my head and I'm never actually alone." I sassed back. "And, furthermore, I HAVE to get this invention finished before Christmas!"

"Why before Christmas?" He asked.

"Because that's the deadline." I started working on the lawnmower again. If you're wondering how I got it upstairs and inside Simon's lab, he shrank it and then unshrank it. He has a shrink ray.

He folded his arms. "Alvin, it's not a school project. The only deadline is the one you set."

I wasn't sure I wanted to tell him the real reason the deadline was before Christmas. I was worried he'd talk me out of it. "And I set the deadline I wanted."

Simon frowned. Was he upset with me? Worried about me? Why wouldn't he just SAY what he was feeling? "….alright then."

"Do you wanna help me out?" I asked eagerly. I had dreamed of this moment for a while. Two genius bros building something extraordinary together. We could be like…The Brothers Of Invention!

He looked unsure again. "Do you actually want my help?"

"More than ANYTHING." I answered. "Please!"

The tiniest hint of a smile flickered across his face. "I'll get my toolbox from downstairs." And with that, he ran off.

I was giddy! I was gonna have the time of my life! All thoughts of becoming too much like Simon had pretty much faded, for the time being. All I wanted was to create the perfect chore machine so I could take back some of my free time!

Predictably, as I was celebrating, my classic self glitched into view. He stood next to me like a ghost, watching my every movement. I tried my best to ignore him. Then, he cleared his throat, forcing me to acknowledge his presence in the lab.

"What do you want?" I asked angrily.

He grabbed my arm, which didn't do much…since he was made purely from my imagination. "To get you out of here before it's too late."

I groaned. "You sound like Brittany."

"You're spending your Christmas vacation WORKING! You could be out having fun!" He whined.

I gestured to the half-upgraded lawnmower with a smile on my face. "This IS fun."

"Not for me." He let go of my arm and grumbled.

"Dude, I promise, you and I can have some fun as soon as I finish this." I vowed. "Which, with Simon helping us, will be a snap."

"I feel like a prisoner." The transparent guy glitched away with a popping noise.

Gosh, sometimes I hated sharing a brain with my former self. He was such a handful. Granted, I still could be a handful, but SERIOUSLY! And yet, I couldn't let him go. I needed him inside me….I felt bad for the guy. Maybe I should be making the most of the holidays….No, no, that is quitter talk! I can do this and still squeeze in some fun!

Simon returned and luckily, it didn't appear that he'd heard me conversing with myself. He set a timer for two hours and during that time, we both rigged Dave's lawnmower to prepare it to be remote controlled. We didn't get as far as I hoped, but we did get to have some fun discussions during that time. Including, this one!

"What does ethereal mean?" I asked my more experienced brother, while I was untangling wires that I had accidentally connected wrong.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "You don't know?"

I shook my head. "No. That's why I asked." I'd heard it in an audio book recently.

My brother was working underneath the lawnmower at the time. He had it elevated by a carjack thingie. He rolled out and stood up. "You don't know! I can't believe it! I can't believe it! Haha! You actually don't know! FINALLY, I know a word that you don't!" He exclaimed, clearly excited.

I finished untangling the wires. "Are you gonna tell me what it means? Or?"

"Just let me savor the moment." He replied, closing his eyes and grinning.

I spotted a dictionary on Simon's desk and grabbed it. "I can just look it up." I threatened playfully.

"No! Wait, I'll tell you! Do NOT deprive me of this!" He held up his hands.

I opened the dictionary and started to flip pages.

The boy in the snowflake sweater got increasingly more frustrated. "Please! Alvin! I am begging you!"

I closed the dictionary with a loud SNAP. "I'm just messin with ya." I admitted. "I can't look it up if I can't spell it."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "It means extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world. Also, heavenly or spiritual." He recited from his incredible memory.

My brain immediately made a connection that surprised both him and me. "So, basically, it means….Jeanette?"

He looked confused, before smiling again. "….actually, yes. That is a good way to describe her."

"Awesome, thanks, bro!" I patted his shoulder the way a loving brother does.

"You're…..welcome." He blinked and then awkwardly got back to work. He was still adjusting to the new me. It was pretty obvious. But, but, I had a feeling we were getting somewhere!

ALVIN: Okay, Simon. You're up again.

SIMON: I'll grab my notes. I really don't want to do this.

ALVIN: What? But this story has some of the best parts!

SIMON: I wouldn't call what's coming up "the best parts."

ALVIN: I'm not talking about the bad thing. I'm talking about the other things.

SIMON: I know less now than I did when I asked.

ALVIN: Just WRITE, dude!

SIMON: If you insist.

ALVIN: Trust me. Everyone needs to know what you're thinking.

SIMON: I'm thinking you've lost your mind. The same thing I'm usually thinking.

ALVIN: (sarcasm) Very amusing.

Simon's POV

A couple days came and went. I figured Alvin would take a break once it became clear his invention idea wasn't working out. But the more setbacks we faced, the more he wanted to work on it. It scared me. I could tell Alvin wasn't enjoying himself as much as he claimed to be, yet he continued his pursuit.

It was at that point, I realized something extremely fascinating and equally upsetting. Now, inside my very own brother, I saw the dangerous and self-destructive tendencies that I hated about myself. The way he just COULDN'T stop spending every day painstakingly tinkering with that lawnmower. The way he sorrowfully turned down all our Christmas plans, in favor of more endless work. It was all eerily reminiscent of…me.

I decided that, as much as I wanted to help Alvin rig the lawnmower with a remote control function, I needed to get him to take a break! He was driving both of us mad! The success of his first invention had caused him to become too fixated on creating another invention. He was even setting impossible deadlines for himself. Enough is enough.

"Would you like to come Christmas caroling with me?" I asked, entering my lab.

"I'll be singing enough at the concert." Alvin reasoned. "Gotta save my voice, ya know. Otherwise, it might fail again."

"Okay, well, uh, how about you and I play a game instead?" I suggested.

He wasn't budging. "This is far more important than a silly game."

"Why? Why is it so important?" I put my hands on my hips.

Alvin didn't seem to be listening to me anymore. Instead, he carried out his flying skateboard and set it down on one of my lab tables.

"Look at this beautiful invention I birthed from my own brain! Isn't it cool? You have to admit it's pretty cool!" He announced. "I want to do that again. The feeling is….indescribable!" Was he answering my question? Or off on another tangent? Who could tell?

I shuffled my feet. "It's nice, but….well….I was thinking…" I wondered how on earth to say what needed to be said without making Alvin think I doubted his talent. "Maybe, it isn't wise to jump back in on another invention so soon. Your brain is probably exhausted from all that agonizing and obsessing…."

Alvin waved his arms and then slipped on his cyan colored labcoat. "No way! I feel great! And my next idea is gonna be even more awesome! Ohoho I can feel it! The brain juices are cooking!"

I gripped him by the shoulders and looked at him, trying to stay calm. "You promised you'd take a break after completing the flying skateboard!"

"Just let me do one more!" He begged, breaking away from my grasp. "I can do it in less tries this time! I have more experience!" He took off his cap and set it on my desk. Once the cap had been removed, his hair fluffed up into a wild and messy mad scientist hairdo.

I was internally panicked now. Alvin had fallen in too deep. He needed to be set straight. "You made ONE functional invention! ONE!" I shouted angrily.

Alvin took the cap and fidgeted with it in his hands. "Which proves I'm a genius." He said haughtily, putting the cap back on, though his hair reminded a mess.

I grabbed an award off my desk. It was the one I had earned in an invention contest. I began to polish it, my anger level rising and my sarcastic quips lashing out. "Of course. I'll just dust off this Master Inventor's award for you." I said dryly.

"I know I can do this." Alvin said, clenching his fists.

"You're wasting the holiday season!" I exclaimed, setting the award down and throwing my hands up.

"I'll be finished really soon." Alvin insisted.

I pulled the labcoat off of him and then dragged him out into our bedroom. "No brother of mine is spending Christmas vacation cooped up in the lab." I announced in a determined way.

"But I have to get it done!" Alvin grabbed at the air, reaching out for the invention.

I continued to tug him away. "No, you don't."

"Yes! I do!" He struggled, but I pushed him harder. Eventually, he was outside and I closed up the lab.

He let out a defeated groan, but, without any further discourse, he followed me out of the room.

I decided to take him to a place where he couldn't resist having fun. About a half hour later, we were immersed in a game of billiards in the arcade. Or, as some may refer to it, pool. The game was low stakes and purely for our enjoyment. At least, I hoped Alvin was enjoying it.

"How are you feeling now?" I asked.

He didn't answer right away since he was engrossed in planning his next shot.

"Alvin?" I spoke again.

He continued to ignore me.

"Alvin!" I shouted a bit louder.

"Don't mess up my shot, Si." He said calmly as his cue stick almost connected with the cue ball. He frowned and then second guessed himself, repositioning the cue stick.

I looked at him with intrigue. He was rarely this calm. "I was just wondering how you're feeling."

"I'm feelin' like I'm about to win." He said smugly. "Check this out." He took the shot and I watched as the billiard balls ricocheted around, with almost all of Alvin's striped balls falling into the pockets.

That was an almost impossible shot! How was he doing that? Oh, of course.

"Hey! No using your physics powers." I snapped. "That's cheating."

My brother rolled his eyes. "No it isn't."

"Yes it is! It gives you a huge advantage." I pointed out.

Alvin set down the cue stick and tapped his forehead with his finger. "Ah, yes, but you see….I'm ALWAYS using my physics powers, regardless of whether I'm aware of them of not. If I'm not hallucinating equations everywhere, I'm calculating stuff in my subconscious." He explained.

I didn't believe one word of that. "Prove it." I challenged him.

"HOW THE HECK DO I DO THAT!?" He shouted.

I set down my cue stick to rub my forehead with my hand. "At least tell me if the hallucinations are happening now." I requested.

Alvin continued to be a pain. "Hmmm….I don't think so."

"You don't think they're happening or you don't think you're going to tell me?" I asked.

The red capped boy smirked and shrugged. It still wasn't his old smirk, but it was fairly close to it.

I picked up my cue stick and prepared to take my shot. Clearly, I wasn't going to get any information out of Alvin.

"I hate you." I grumbled under my breath.

Alvin laughed. "Don't hate the player. Hate the game." He pocketed the last two of his balls and then the 8 ball.

That day, Alvin beat me at 5 rounds of billiards and I decided that I was never playing billiards against him again. But, at least he was doing something other than fuss over the lawnmower invention.

I continued to convince Alvin to take breaks from inventing. It was difficult, but it went surprisingly well. We made some Christmas cards together as a family, helped Theodore with some of his Christmas decorations for the contest, and then hung ornaments on our own tree together.

Brittany came flouncing into the room as Alvin, Theodore, Jeanette, and I were decorating. "Guess who got CALLBACKS!" She screeched like an over-hyped banshee.

"Does this mean you get the part?" Theodore asked, stringing popcorn onto a garland with Eleanor.

"Hopefully!" The girl in the pink candy cane sweater and matching red glitter skirt jumped onto the couch. "Look out, Broadway! Here I come!"

"It sounds so exciting." Jeanette told her sister as she stood on Alvin's shoulders to hang ornaments on the tree.

"How's the toys for tots thing going?" My brother asked. It seemed strange to me that Alvin cared, but pretty much everything the new Alvin did WAS strange.

"We've collected so many donations." The brunette girl climbed carefully off my brother's shoulders. "So many kids are going to have wonderful Christmas presents this year."

"Maybe you should donate some of your action figures, Alvie." Brittany teased, batting her eyelashes.

"Knock it off, Britt." Eleanor replied. We could both tell that Brittany was once again trying to start things.

"Maybe you should donate some of your clothes." Alvin snapped.

"Must we start this painfully repetitive nonsense AGAIN?" I asked, looking at the Christmas tree. It didn't have that many ornaments on it. We'd have to run out and buy some more.

"Maybe you should donate that ugly sweater!" Brittany huffed.

Alvin folded his arms over his red sweater with a green Christmas tree style A and cyan trim. I cannot believe Eleanor agreed to make him a second sweater. So much work went into those things.

"It literally looks the SAME as the other one! The only difference is the trim!" My brother groaned.

I decided to try and ignore the argument breaking out. "Theodore, put more ornaments on the shopping list."

"Yes, sir!" The little chipmunk in green responded, going into the kitchen to find the list.

"How many more days until Christmas now?" Jeanette wondered, sitting on the ground beside me as I took over Theo's position of stringing popcorn on the garland.

"Five." I answered. "And only three until our concert, which I have taken the liberty of planning with Dave, since Alvin wasn't interested."

"I am interested." The red capped boy replied. "I'm just interested in other stuff more."

"So are you planning on opening presents with us on Christmas Day?" Brittany walked over to nudge Alvin. "Or would you rather spend it with your new girlfriend,… the lawnmower?"

"Simon, can I please throw her outside?" Alvin clasped his hands together and shook them desperately.

"Unfortunately, no." I responded. I was kind of with him. Brittany was being insufferable. Though, she was trying to protect him too…in a way.

Theodore raced back into the room. "The list is updated! I also added wrapping paper, and decorations for the concert hall."

"Fantastic." I stood up and let Theodore have his spot back. I watched as he and Eleanor wrapped the popcorn garland around the tree.

Alvin grabbed me and pulled me aside. "Can we get out of here and back to the…you know what? I need a break from…you know who."

I chuckled. "Yeah. We can. Have you got a good excuse for bailing?"

"Uh huh." He nodded. Then, he walked into the center of the room and jumped on the coffee table. "Dave texted and he says he wants me and Simon to tidy the attic and see if we can find some decorations there."

It wasn't a terrible excuse, but it could have gone better. "Yeah. That's what he said." I added.

"What are we supposed to do while you're gone?" Brittany looked at her shimmering pink nails.

"We could watch Christmas movies!" Eleanor announced. "Who's up for Die Hard?"

Her sisters and Theo looked at her like she'd lost her mind.

"Kidding kidding. It technically counts as a Christmas movie though." The pigtailed Chipette said.

Alvin and I made our way upstairs and I once again allowed him into my private closet lab. It might as well be OUR closet lab at the moment, though I detested that idea. Though working with Alvin wasn't as awful as I expected it to be.

The thing is, I'd been studying scientific concepts so long that I'd started to take it all for granted. The exciting feeling of learning something groundbreaking for the first time was completely lost on me. All I cared about was gathering as much information as possible and using it to the best of my ability. I didn't actually LOVE science…I just liked it. It was familiar. It was expected. The passion I once felt for it had dried up.

As weird as it sounds, I'm getting to re-discover my love of science through Alvin. It's really neat watching him experience every breakthrough, every new bit of knowledge for the first time. The way his face just lights up with understanding. The way he's awestruck by every discovery. It flips his world around. It's almost like watching a toddler learn colors for the first time.

He's like my protégé. I'm his teacher. With my help, maybe he could grow up to….replace me. No! Don't think like that! You can't be replaced! Just enjoy getting back in touch with how much you love science. No negativity. No negativity.

But, as pleasurable as he can be to work with, Alvin's still got an aggravating streak. After two more hours of work, the remote controls for the invention were still malfunctioning a little. It was nearly complete, but nearly complete and actually being complete are two very separate matters. Did Alvin understand that? Apparently not.

"Can we test it yet?" He paced around impatiently.

I didn't look up from the adjustments I was making to the remote. "No."

"How about now?" Alvin leaned over my shoulder.

I rubbed my nose in exasperation. "It's not ready."

He huffed. "Well, when will it be ready!? I need it ASAP!"

"Maybe if you quit badgering me, it will be ready sooner." I responded.

He sat on top of the lab table I was working on with an audible CREAK. "Can I test it out when it's time to test it out? Or are you gonna do the fun part?" He babbled.

I tried to stay in control of my anger. "You can test it."

"Ohoho yes!" He leapt from the lab table.

"But, and this is VERY important. Do NOT test it until I give the okay. I'm still adjusting the controls." I pointed at the remote control I was currently working on.

Alvin nodded. "Got it. Yep. I'll be careful." He ran over to the other side of the lab and started tinkering with the lawnmower again.

"You better be." I muttered.

Less than five minutes later, Alvin returned to look over my shoulder again. "Soooo…..can I test it now?"

It took every last ounce of my strength not to hurl my screwdriver at him.

Aside from that, Alvin did his best to follow my directions and we were actually a decent team. Maybe having two genius brothers in one family wasn't a bad thing after all.

"Alright,…" I said at last, after explaining the adjustments I'd made to the remote. "I'm going shopping with Brittany and Eleanor for some supplies. Can I trust you in the lab alone until I get back?"

"Wait, you're actually letting me stay here!? You're not gonna close it off and kick me out?" His crystal blue eyes were wide.

"As long as you promise you won't trash the place." This felt WRONG but also right. "Yes."

"THANK YOU, BRO! I WON'T LET YOU DOWN! I'll make sure everything in here stays organized while you get more inventing supplies." He squeaked.

"I'm getting CHRISTMAS supplies." I explained.

"Ohhh, right. Yeah." He sat down at the lab table and folded his hands neatly. "Well, I can totally hold down the fort while you're gone. No sweat!"

"Thank you." Before I could reconsider, I left the closet lab. I trusted my brother not to destroy it while I was gone. Really, I did. Little did I know that, while my lab would remain safe, something else was not so lucky.

SIMON: Tag. You're it.

ALVIN: Already?

SIMON: Well, I'm at a part where we need to know what you're doing while I'm not around, so…

ALVIN: Oh yeah. I forgot that scene needs to go in.

SIMON: Hop to it.

ALVIN: I'll call ya back when I'm done! Shouldn't be long.

Alvin 2.0's POV

I was pretty much floating on air! Simon trusted me! He actually TRUSTED me! I could not screw this up. I danced around the lab as I soaked in the wonderful feeling of Simon not assuming I'd burn his lab up or make it explode. Ohoho! Those days were behind me. At least, that's what I thought.

I hung around in the lab a bit, but then quickly became restless. I wanted to try and take the lawnmower for a little test drive. It was the only thing on my mind. I double checked all the connections in the remote, then I triple checked that the wiring and circuitry was all set. There was no reason that the lawnmower wouldn't work as intended.

I waited until I was sure that everyone had left, since I wanted the fact that it worked to remain a surprise until Christmas day when I unveiled it. Once they were gone, I used Simon's shrink ray on the lawnmower and carried it outside in the palm of my hand while holding the remote with the other. It was so SMALL! like one of Theo's toy cars! Once I was outside in the front yard, I un-shrank it.

"Ohoho! Now, let's see what this baby can do." I chuckled. I turned it on and began to control it using the remote in my hands. It was a success! The grass was being mowed without me even touching the lawnmower! I AM A GENIUS!

I scrambled into the house, eager to see if it still worked even when I was further away. Yes! It did! It was mowing like a pro and it was….leaving the yard? Oh no! OH NOOOOO!

I dashed out of the house to follow the runaway lawnmower, frantically pressing the button on the remote that was meant to slow it down. It wasn't working! I heard a scraping noise as the lawnmower turned onto the sidewalk. It was headed into town! While I couldn't make the machine slow down, I could still change its direction using the remote. I could turn left, and right, could I make a U turn? Crap! Now the thing was headed toward ME! AND GOING FASTER!

"I CHANGED MY MIND!" I screamed. "GO THAT WAY!"

Phew! It turned back around so it wasn't facing me. I chased it down the sidewalk and to the park, luckily the sidewalks were pretty bare since everyone was downtown. Unfortunately, the local department store was pretty close to the park. It was a pretty large store and it was currently bustling with shoppers. If I couldn't stop that lawnmower, well, I really didn't wanna think about it!

CRASH! the lawnmower sped up even faster and left a giant hole in the side of the department store. I guess they had an extra back door now. Urgh! Don't joke about it! This is a disaster! I climbed through the hole and scurried up to one of the shelves. From there, I launched myself onto the seat of the lawnmower, with the remote in my hands. Maybe, now that I was on top of the thing, I could somehow shut it down before it trashed more of the store. If, you know, I could stop screaming.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

ALVIN: Tag, you're it.

SIMON: That was frightfully fast.

ALVIN: Just like the runaway lawnmower.

SIMON: You're terrible.

ALVIN: I use humor to deflect trauma. Deal. With. It.

SIMON: Okay.

Simon's POV

While Alvin was off on his joyride, Brittany, Eleanor, and I were shopping. None of us had any clue about the mess he was creating. That is, until we turned the corner and saw some of the damage. Brittany and Eleanor saw it first, because I was busy checking the list.

"Okay, so, we need streamers, wrapping paper and….ornaments." Brittany's voice said, before sounding surprised and unsettled. "WHOAH! What happened here?"

"What the heck?" Eleanor exclaimed after her.

"Let's see, the decorations should be in aisle 3." I looked up from my list to see the destruction. "WHERE IS AISLE THREE!?"

The entire aisle appeared to have been utterly destroyed. Broken glass and shredded paper were scattered everywhere. Shelves had toppled and splintered apart. It almost looked like it had been hit by a hurricane.

Brittany stepped carefully around the broken glass. "Simon, this place is wrecked. Do you know what's going on?"

At that moment, I could have sworn I heard Alvin screaming faintly from a distance. Nothing about this situation was good.

Brittany heard it as well. "Is that…?" She began, before her sister's voice cut in.

"Hey, let's follow these tracks and see where they lead." Eleanor suggested, pointing to some skid marks across the floor.

The tracks had a very erratic pattern. Between that, and the sound of Alvin's terrified screams, it didn't take me long to piece the situation together.

I panicked. "We need to get out of here! Now!" I shouted. "WE NEED TO GET EVERYONE OUT OF THE STORE!" My volume rose to convey the urgency of the situation. Lives were at stake!

Brittany rushed to the cashier counter and snatched the mic for the store's intercom system. Eleanor and I followed.

"ATTENTION SHOPPERS, YOU NEED TO DROP WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING AND EVACUATE THE STORE!" Exclaimed the frantic Chipette in pink. "THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"

The three of us took action. We led the terrified and confused Christmas shoppers as they scrambled toward the exit.

Eleanor didn't waste any time hurrying the crowd. "Move it or lose it, people!"

"This way!" I yelled. "Follow my friend Brittany! She'll lead you to safety!" I would have told them to follow Eleanor too, but…it would be easier for them to notice Brittany.

I gulped as I broke away from the crowd.

"Aren't you coming?" Eleanor asked, noticing my departure.

I clenched a fist and tried to fight the nervous energy. "I need to save my brother." I said, in a determined way.

Brittany looked surprised, and then let out a weird girlish giggle. "Wow. He's so heroic." She told her sister.

Heroic? Hardly. I was not thinking rationally. All I wanted at that moment was to make sure Alvin was safe. I didn't care if I was risking life and limb to save him. Oh? Maybe it was a little heroic.

I cupped my hand around my ear and followed the sound of my brother's screams. They grew louder and louder. I also followed the tracks and the giant path of destruction left by the mower.

Then, at last, I saw him. The mower was SMOKING and Alvin was sitting on top of it, trapped on an unexpected joyride. How on earth could I slow that thing down?

"ALVIN!" I yelped. "Can you toss me the remote?"

"Not! Very! Easily!" My brother screeched, the mower turned the corner and whisked him away.

"Can you get to the control panel!?" I asked.

He sounded choked up. "Not without a screwdriver!"

I felt the pocket of my jeans. Did I remember to bring my trusty screwdriver? YES! I did! It was here!

"If I throw you one, can you catch it!?" I climbed up onto a shelf the held potato chips and crackers, awaiting my brother's answer.

"Uh….maybe!" He squeaked.

"Are your physics powers on?" I asked again, trying to calculate exactly when and where I needed to throw the screwdriver. The mower was moving MUCH too quickly.

"Yes! They are!" Alvin blubbered. "Not that they're helping! This stupid thing is going 88 miles per hour!"

"Tell me when to throw the screwdriver!" I requested, noticing that the lawnmower was headed directly toward the shelf I was standing on.

"Okay!" Alvin squinted up at me. "Right about…..now!"

I tossed the screwdriver at him and it flew through the air. I leapt off the shelf seconds before the lawnmower slammed into it, sending it toppling. I landed on another shelf and watched as Alvin's fingers almost grasped the screwdriver. Almost….

Aha! He had it! Now, all he had to do was unscrew the metal plate hiding the control panel and shut this thing down! It was a difficult feat, since the lawnmower was still going much too fast.

I watched as my brother unscrewed three of the four screws, like his life depended on it….and then….that's when the lawnmower exploded and sent Alvin flying off of it.

All I could do was watch as my brother was nearly impaled by sharp chunks of twisted metal. He managed to dodge most of them, but then…he was pinned to the ground by a large and flat piece.

I climbed down cautiously from the shelf, heart pounding. Alvin was lying on the ground with the flat metal piece of lawnmower covering him like the world's least comfortable blanket. He wasn't moving at all. I feared the worst.

Then, he turned his head at the sound of my arrival. He coughed. He was alive!

"Are you okay?" I asked, looking down at him.

He looked utterly crushed, and not just because he was pinned and couldn't free himself. "I'm fine, yeah. Dave's lawnmower and the department store….not so much. I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened! One minute it was working fine and the next, well,….this!" He gestured with his one freed hand.

I was just happy to know he was alright. "Oh thank goodness. We'll figure out how to replace the lawnmower….and repair whatever you destroyed." I assured him.

"I hope so." He sounded embarrassed.

It didn't take long for Dave to find us. The girls must have filled him in on what happened. As soon as the all clear to enter the store was given, he raced over to the spot where the lawnmower had exploded. It had been near the front entrance.

"ALVIN! SIMON!" He gasped, upon seeing us. Because he had human strength, he was able to lift the metal slab off Alvin. "Are you hurt? What happened?"

"I'm fine, Dave." Alvin adjusted his cap so it was no longer crooked. "Just some bruises and scrapes."

"WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING!?" Dave shouted.

I wasn't sure exactly how to answer. Moments before, I thought my brother had been fatally injured in the explosion. All I could do was point at Alvin and let him try to explain.

Alvin started to cry harder. "I was just taking a little test drive!"

"A LITTLE TEST DRIVE!? THROUGH A DEPARTMENT STORE!?" Dave shouted, which only made Alvin cry harder.

"It was an accident!" Alvin insisted.

"Dave, uh, I….I think I can take care of this." I said, sounding a lot more sure than I felt. "The most important thing is that no one was hurt."

"Oh…okay." Dave folded his arms and glared at Alvin one more time before leaving. "You're going to pay for all this." He warned. "I'm not sure how, but you will be paying this store every penny."

"Y…Yes, Dave." Alvin slumped his shoulders.

As soon as Dave left the aisle, Alvin's usual sense of humor returned. I could still tell it was hiding immense guilt. "Well, uh…..it's a good thing I have comic book money."

At that moment, we were walking toward the exit of the store, so Alvin could explain to the police and the cashiers what happened. I noticed that many many aisles had been absolutely obliterated. I didn't like him trying to make light of the situation. And did he really REALLY think his comic money could cover this!?

Time for a reality check. "Alvin, this is thousands of dollars worth of damage…..and that's not even factoring in that PEOPLE COULD HAVE BEEN INJURED OR KILLED!" I told him.

"Yeah. I know." He rubbed the sleeve of his sweater. "It was an accident. I'll find a way to pay for everything. I didn't mean to ruin everyone's Christmas!" He started to cry again.

"I told you not to touch…." I began, before we met up with Brittany and Eleanor.

They were outside the store, waiting with the disgruntled mass of displaced Christmas shoppers, many of whom lost their purchases when they fled.

"You better have a really good explanation for this!" Eleanor hissed at him.

Brittany looked at Alvin with a sly smirk. "It's just like I warned you. Alvins are meant to wreck things. This proves it."

"I'm SORRY!" Alvin weeped. "It was an accident! A total accident! The remote control went nuts!"

Theodore stepped onto the sidewalk behind Eleanor. "Remote control? More like remote out of control!"

The pigtailed girl added on to his poorly timed humor. "There's no business like MOW business."

"Good one!" Theodore and Eleanor fist bumped each other.

The blonde girl in the teal sweater looked surprised. "Hey, where were you when this was happening?"

"I was at the doughnut shop across the street." Her companion in the green sweater with a gingerbread man answered.

I was getting more and more irate by the minute. "We really shouldn't be joking about this."

Alvin's ears and nose gave a twitch. "Why not?"

I sighed. Did I HAVE to explain it? Was he that clueless? "Here's a physics question for you. Someone drives a lawnmower through a department store at 88mph. What would happen if innocent bystanders happened to be in the lawnmower's path?" I asked

Eleanor raised her hand.

I was expecting Alvin to answer, but I decided to give the Chipette a chance. "Yes, Eleanor?"

"Carnage. Absolute carnage." She replied, straight faced. There wasn't a hint of a smile.

Alvin adjusted his glasses. "But nobody DID get hurt, so it's okay to joke about it!"

I was boiling now. The fact that Alvin uses humor as a coping mechanism was the furthest thing from my mind. I had TRUSTED him, and he pulled a stunt like this! I was FURIOUS.

It all came spewing out. Everything I had held inside until I knew Alvin wasn't a goner. "I TOLD YOU SPECIFICALLY NOT TO TEST IT OUT UNTIL IT WAS FINISHED! YOU AGREED NOT TO! YOU LIED TO ME!"

My older brother stuck both hands behind his back. "Oof….well, uh, actually, I just sorta said whatever popped into my head. I wasn't even paying attention." He confessed. "All that was on my mind was takin' that thing for a spin."

"WHAT!? Okay, that's it. You can't do things like this." I shouted.

Alvin waved his hands around dramatically. "In my defense, Einstein had TONS of setbacks and failures."

"Einstein never ran a lawnmower through a department store!" I replied, having had ENOUGH of all this foolishness.

"Right, well, I'm still learning." Alvin reasoned. "I'll get better, Si, you'll see."

Will he though? Can he? Is he even as capable of personal growth as he claims? Those thoughts swirled through my mind.

Brittany leaned against the parking meter on the sidewalk. "I'm not sure any of us will live that long."

"Grrrrr." A low growl ripped through my red-clad, err, red and cyan clad, brother's throat.

Brittany walked toward the store entrance, continuing to taunt him. "If anyone needs me, I'll be shopping at what's left of the department store."

"I said I was sorry." Alvin repeated, and I knew he was sincere.

"Sorry doesn't un-destroy everything." Brittany chided.

"No, it doesn't." Alvin agreed. "But,…it's a start."

"Do you realize you've lost your privilege to be alone in my lab now?" I asked him, while Eleanor and Theodore stopped Brittany from going back inside the store.

Alvin stared down at his obnoxiously colorful shoes. "Yeah. I do."

Jeanette strolled into view, carrying a box of plush toys. She dropped the box and covered her mouth upon noticing the aggravated crowd.

"I'll catch you up." I offered, as a best friend does.

She picked up the box and nodded.

I looked around for Alvin, but now he was busy talking to Officer Dangus and explaining the calamity. I hoped we'd get a chance to talk later.

And we did, back at home, eventually. Dave was still very upset with Alvin, but he was trying his best not to punish him too hard. He'd floated by the idea of banning Alvin from inventing things ever again. I had graciously gotten him to allow Alvin to continue to work on the invention, as long as he had help from me.

Granted, we were currently in need of an entirely new lawnmower in order to complete the invention. I still didn't understand WHY it had to be completed before Christmas. Truthfully, I was getting very fed up with Alvin.

"We're never going to finish this in time now." He said, as both of us were attempting to build a new lawnmower. It wasn't going well.

"Yeah. That's likely." I muttered.

He sighed and flopped down on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. "Maybe we can't be inventing partners because I suck at being an inventor."

Ouch. I remember having a lot of doubts regarding my knack for creating things.

I softened a little. He needed that. "You don't suck."

"Yes I do! This inventing thing is harder than I thought." He frowned.

Well, duh! I stared at him in disbelief. "You didn't realize that when you took 162 tries to create a flying skateboard?"

He sat up and started to pace. "163, but who's counting?"

I was shocked. "Apparently you are, since I was one off."

"I thought it would be easier with the two of us, you know, that it would go faster." He sighed. "But the stupid thing still exploded and here we are back to the drawing board."

"That's the nature of the beast, Alvin." I mumbled. "My inventions aren't great on the first try either." Though, usually, they're still better than his.

"But this one HAS to be! It HAS to!" His lip quivered. "I don't have a backup plan."

"A backup plan for what?" I asked, hoping to finally get some much needed context.

"Shhhh! It's a secret." Alvin whispered softly.

My patience had run out. I growled under my breath. "You know, I was looking forward to enjoying my break. Instead, I have been sacrificing time every day to spend fussing over this RIDICULOUS idea of yours. Now, I don't mind having you as a lab partner, really I don't." I stated honestly. I had to make sure he didn't misunderstand me. "The problem is, we have been at this so long that it's not fun anymore. In addition, the fact that you haven't once considered how I feel about all this is VERY SELFISH!"

He backed away from me, talking in a very meek voice. "Selfish? You think this is selfish?"

"Yes! Yes I do! It's YOUR idea. YOUR invention. YOUR deadline. It's all about YOU! It's ALWAYS about YOU!" I fumed.

"It's not just for me!" He squeaked.

"Oh? Really? Is it for you and the voices in your head?" I probably shouldn't have said that, it was incredibly nasty. I regretted it instantly.

I regretted it even more once the truth came out. Alvin faced me with fire burning in those sad blue eyes. "It's for DAVE!" He trembled. "It's a Christmas present for Dave! I wanted to surprise him with a way to do my chores without complaining…and I thought maybe he'd have fun mowing the lawn like playing a videogame too." Alvin sat at my desk and blew his nose on a tissue. "But it doesn't even matter. It's all ruined now because I messed it up and now I don't have any idea what to get him for Christmas."

"Oh….that's surprisingly thoughtful." I said, feeling the anger leave my body almost instantly.

It's still a bit ridiculous, but I could see how in Alvin's mind he thought he was doing a kind and generous thing. I'd been too hard on him. No wonder he was so fixated on this.

"Thanks." He didn't sound cheerful at all, but he also didn't sound sarcastic. I could tell he meant it.

"Why didn't you just say that before?" I walked over to join him by the desk.

"Cuz I wanted it to be a surprise!" He blew his nose again.

I sighed. "Well, errr, maybe we can come up with something else to invent for Dave." I proposed.

"What about this idea?" He was starting to sound less sad. "I like this idea."

"You can revisit this idea sometime later when you've accumulated more experience." I suggested, taking his hand and urging him to stand up.

He slid out of the chair. "I guess." He murmured.

I smiled. "And this way, we won't have to work tirelessly in the lab the rest of Christmas vacation."

"That….That does sound more fun." He admitted. "But, I still feel like a failure for giving up on the lawnmower thingie."

"A good inventor knows when it's time to throw in the towel on a project." I patted his shoulder.

"I'm a worthless failure." Alvin repeated.

"Well, if you feel that way because your invention didn't work out, then congratulations…today, you are officially a scientist." I hoped hearing this would cheer him up. I couldn't stand to see him like this.

He blinked, brightening up just a tad. "I am?"

"You said it yourself. Setbacks and failures are part of the process. If you aren't failing, you aren't learning." I reminded him.

"You're…right." His unsure expression morphed into one of giddy excitement. "Ohoho! I'm a scientist! You just called me a scientist! You DO have faith in me…and not just because Jeanette told you to!" Alvin hugged me, which caught me off guard. "Best brother ever! Look at us, two scientists that are gonna change the world!"

I hugged him back, and I'm usually not a hugger. This Christmas vacation had been unusual and full of surprises so far. I didn't know what was coming next. I was very much looking forward to some of the holiday traditions we did every year with Dave. I was even looking forward to the Christmas concert. I hoped Alvin could handle it.

I wasn't sure what present we would invent for Dave. That's something we'd have to brainstorm. There wasn't much time left, so it would need to be simple. Still, I was certain we could pull it off…as long as Alvin and I could put our heads together and not get caught up arguing.

My brother still had a lot to learn. A single working invention didn't make him an expert. He was but a fledgling, he'd just learned to fly…quite literally. It was my job to help him along, to guide him. Maybe he'd never be as skilled at inventing as I was. I could only hope. Still, it didn't matter if he was close to my caliber or not. I had a feeling he'd always need my help.

And that's a wrap on 38! These are so much longer than what I plan in my head, so 39 will continue the Christmas vacation storyline. Coming up, we have the concert! That'll be a riot!

Simon's really going through a growth arc now that he's starting to worry less about Alvin being erased. He's beginning to see the benefit to the situation.

Poor Alvin though, he just cannot catch a break. What did you guys think about that reveal at the end? Does it make sense?

I don't know when chapter 39 will be out. It's getting tougher for me to write at home because of things out of my control. I don't want to abandon this story though, so I am going to do my best to work through it.

See ya soon!