Revelations

Part 3

Show's Over, Synergy

By Nick Maro

The audience went silent after witnessing the unexpected scene that had just unfolded before their eyes. Jerrica Benton had just been revealed as Jem live on stage, televisions, and computers around the world. Tears began to fill Jerrica's eyes as she bolted off stage pushing past anyone who got in her way. Jerrica slammed the door to The Holograms dressing room while the reporters who were backsatge ran to the door and started shouting questions. Thinking quickly Kimber began to field the questions, telling them all their questions will be answered on the stage in a few moments.

Walking out on the stage, Kimber tested the microphone, cleared her throat and smiled. "Ladies and gentlemen, as many of you know Jerrica Benton is my sister. What just happened was a technical problem. Jerrica was covering for Jem tonight who is actually home sick with the flu. Jem did not want to disappoint her fans so she asked Jerrica to perform as her tonight. Naturally my sister jumped at the chance since their voices are almost identical while singing. The way we staged Jerrica to look like Jem is a part of the magic of our industry. Jem will issue a statement when she's fully recovered. Once again on behalf of Starlight Music and Jem and The Holograms, I apologize for this deception."

Kimber was met with a standing ovation while she smiled and bowed then waved for the other performers out. "Let's give a hand to everyone involved. Jerrica, I know you can hear me in the back. Come on out and take a bow."

The audience began chanting Jerrica's name with the bands joining in. Slowly, she stepped out from the curtain and was met with a thunderous applause. She walked up to Kimber, hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear. "Thank you. That was very quick thinking." Kimber nodded and left Jerrica to address the audience and the world. "I just want to thank my sister for explaining the situation. I ran off because I was very embarrassed and scared that people would think I fooled them. But now let's just wrap this up, shall we? First, I want to thank Danse for arranging this whole benefit. Second, I want to thank David Gabor for helping me out. Finally, thank you to everyone, your contributions are very much appreciated. Thank you and drive safely." She left the stage to the same applause and went into The Holograms dressing room and flopped on the floor.

Aja came in and sat by her longtime friend. "I told Rio and the rest to stay out until I could talk to you. Shana said that when she saw what had happened, her heart skipped a beat." Aja paused for a second then smiled. "No pun intended." Jerrica let out a loud laugh and rubbed her eyes. "What do you think could've happened?"

"I dunno, Aja. All I know is that I was so scared. It was my worst fear come to life. Once I got in here it hit me, Rio knows that I'm Jem. What am I going to do now? I broke down in tears shortly after that then I heard Kimber talking on stage. She didn't panic but took control of the situation. She's really matured." Jerrica propped herself up on her elbows and let out a tired sigh. "I'm exhausted. Let's go home and skip the after party."

"Yeah, good idea," Aja helped Jerrica to her feet and gather their things. "I'll just drop you at home. I'm meeting Craig and Stormer at her place since he's leaving tomorrow morning. Mason just told them they're doing a mini tour of England starting Tuesday, so I'm milking as much time as I can with him." Aja opened the dressing room door and to her shock no reporters were waiting.

Rio spotted Jerrica coming out of the dressing room. He excused himself from talking with David and ran up to her. "We need to talk, Jerrica. In private."

"O-okay." Jerrica was startled by Rio's tone of voice. He wasn't upset, angry or disappointed. She couldn't tell how he was feeling and that frightened her. "Rio, I'm very tired and exhausted. All the excitement has worn me out. Can't we talk tomorrow? I'll be feeling better then." Jerrica hugged him lightly.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I'm tired as hell as well it really has been a long day for everyone. Tell you what I'll meet you at Starlight Music tomorrow. I need to reconfigure some of the sound equipment for the new album." He hugged her and kissed her gently. "I didn't mean to scare you it's just that's how tired I am. I'll drive you home and let Aja spend more time with Craig." Rio and Jerrica said their farewells and went to his car. Jerrica leaned her head back on the headrest and started falling asleep. He let her rest until he got her home. He pulled through the gates of the mansion and parked in front of the home.

Rio got out and opened the passenger side door and picked Jerrica up. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He carried her to the front door, found her keys in her purse and opened the front door. He went up the stairs to Jerrica's bedroom being careful not to wake her. He put her on the bed and kissed her forehead. "Good night, Jem." She mumbled a reply in her sleep.

Pizzazz rang the bell of the old mansion the morning after the benefit. A butler opened the door and Pizzazz gave her best smile. "Hi Phyllis Gabor for Richard Xanthos, I don't have an appointment but I was hoping to speak with him. Is he in?" She nervously rubbed her thumb along the briefcase handle.

The butler opened the door wider. "Master Xanthos is in his private study. Follow me." He led her down the hall and up a flight of stairs. He stopped before a decorated heavy door and once Pizzazz caught up he opened the door. Richard put his book down and looked up as his butler cleared his throat and Pizzazz entered the study. "Master Xanthos, a Miz Phyllis Gabor here to see you, sir."

Richard stood up and smiled wide as he met her half way to the couch he was sitting on. "Phyllis, how good it is to see you. I didn't get a chance to tell how much I enjoyed the benefit last night. That was one hell of a show and I must say The Misfits are growing on me. But the band I was the most impressed with was Suzaku. If they keep up with singing in Japanese they'll be a hit. America needs a change in the music scene. Now what can I do for you?"

"The Misfits and I want to do a Battle of the Bands but we don't want to do a music contest. Instead we've been planning a more a physical contest." She put the briefcase down and opened it where she pulled out a light gun and a sensor. "I'm suggesting we do this. It's called Laser Warriors. I just wanted to ask if you could host this event. All money would go to where you want. It's just an idea, Richard."

Richard rubbed his chin and thought about it. "Not everything has to be for charity. This could just be for fun but I'll make a few calls. Maybe I can get a network to pick this up. Instead of Battle of the Bands how about we rename it War of the Bands or something to that effect? I like this idea and it looks like a lot of fun to play." He put the sensor on the couch and fired at it a few times.

"I'll have David contact a few bands to see if they want to participate. Jetta and I came up with a few rules for the games. No more than four people per team. We're thinking of taking the bands and mixing up the members by doing a random draw type thing. We're still working that one out. Another rule would be no blocking or turning off the sensor. That's just not fair. There will be other smaller rules such as no touching the opponent, you can't get closer than ten feet of your opponent before shooting and whatever other rules you can come up with. I'm fresh out of ideas." Pizzazz took the light gun and sensor from Richard and put them back in the case.

"It sounds like a great idea. Can I offer you some breakfast or something to drink? Or do you have to run so soon?" Richard picked up the phone and called down to the kitchen before she could answer.

Pizzazz sat at a table and thanked him. "The Misfits and I play this laser game all the time, usually for money. It'll be fun playing on your property. There are a lot of strategic hiding places back there." She smiled to herself. "I remember how lost I got the last time I was back there during that treasure hunt. God, I just realized how much of a bitch I must've been then."

Richard sat next to her and laughed a little. "You just weren't as mature as you are now. I see that you really have done some growing emotionally. A few months ago you would've just busted in here demanding I do this, but now you're asking for my help. That was the main reason why I agreed to the meeting." Pizzazz put her arms on the table and put her head on them and started laughing. "What's so funny?"

She shook her head while it was down. "Just thinking of how much I'm becoming more like my brother. It's funny and scary at the same time. Next thing you know, I'll be dating a Hologram." Pizzazz turned her head and looked at Richard. "Maybe Raya is available."

"You're a lesbian? I didn't know."

Pizzazz sat up straighter and stared at him. When she saw he was getting nervous from the look she was giving him she laughed hard. "No, I was making a joke. I'm still working on that aspect. Roxy is the comedian lately anyway." She stood to leave when a different butler came into the room with breakfast.

"Won't you stay for breakfast? We can discuss this War of the Bands idea further." Richard smiled when she agreed and pushed her chair in once she sat back down. They ate breakfast and talked about the event.

Aja knocked on Jerrica's door frame. "Just wanted to see if you were okay, I'm going with Mary to lunch. You're welcome to join us." Aja could tell that she was distracted by something on her mind. "What's wrong?"

"It's-it's nothing. Just thinking about what could have happened. Why it happened and so forth. I better get ready to meet Rio. He's at Starlight Music adjusting our sound equipment. Rain check on the lunch?" Jerrica began changing out of her clothes from the night before. Aja didn't leave her doorway as she put on a fresh shirt. "I'm alright, Aja. Really, I am."

"Jerrica, I know you better than most. Now what's really bugging you?"

Jerrica was putting on a new pair of jeans when she paused then finished putting them on all the way. "When Rio brought me up here I was half awake. He kissed me on my forehead and called me Jem. I think he knows and that's what he wants to talk about. It's another fear come to life." She looked in the mirror to start applying her makeup when she let out a tiny gasp. "Of course! I'm so stupid! I've been so out of it I forgot to ask Synergy what the problem was. C'mon Aja. Stormer can wait a few extra minutes." She grabbed Aja's arm before she could object. In seconds they were in Synergy's private room. Jerrica turned to the powerful computer. "Synergy, why did the hologram fail?"

Synergy blinked to life on the giant monitor. "The answers are in the earrings, Jerrica. They're simply not able to handle the power of the new holograms. I tried warning you on stage."

"I was wearing the monitor plugs to hear how I sounded," Jerrica said quietly and suddenly feeling a little stupid.

"Y'know, Jerrica, it is possible the Jemstar earrings did burn out. Your father wasn't even sure if they could handle the new holograms. Give me a few days I might be able to create a new pair. How does that sound?" Aja put her hand on Jerrica's shoulder who just nodded. "Or we could ask Techrat for help. There were several times when I almost called him for help."

Jerrica turned around quickly with panic in her eyes. "No! No, we can't get outside help on this. This is my father's dream and our secret. Just get the new earrings done as fast as possible. We still need Jem to issue a statement about her health. How do we get in these messes?"

"We're just lucky I guess," Aja laughed. "I'll give Mary a call and cancel lunch. I want to get to work on the earrings right away. I think I saw plans for some new ones in the tech manual. No one is at Starlight Drive Inn, right?"

"No one should be there. All of the rewiring and the new screen are finished. I just have to meet the code inspector tomorrow morning." Jerrica sighed again and rubbed temples. "Go have lunch with Stormer. I don't want you sacrificing your social life for me and I'm going to talk with Rio. This should prove to be fun."

None of the staff of Starlight Music was around when she arrived. Jerrica knew it would be a good time to talk in private. She walked into the recording studio quietly. "I brought lunch, Rio. So what did you want to talk about?" Jerrica chided herself for being so nervous.

Rio slid out from under a control panel. "I forgot all about lunch. Thanks, Jer, you're a life saver." He began eating the fast food she had brought him right away. He shut the studio door just in case someone was in the building. "About what happened on stage, why didn't you tell me you were Jem last night? Why all the secrecy?"

Jerrica was silent for a minute as her blood went cold and drained from her face. Her voice cracked when she started to speak. "Because I didn't want you to get hurt, I wanted to tell you so many times over the past few years but I didn't know how you'd react. Also, I knew you were in love with Jem and me. I just didn't know how to tell you."

"Okay, I can see your point," he said half listening while he adjusted a few dials on the equalizer board. "But I'm still your boyfriend and the stage manager. If you're going to pose as Jem for a ni—" Rio caught himself in mid-sentence and slowly turned to face her. "Wait, did you say past few years?" Jerrica's eyes went wide with horror when she realized that he really didn't know. She nodded slowly and balled her hands into fists. "You've always been Jem?!"

"Y-yes." She said with her voice cracking more. "I thought you knew after last night. I was half awake when you kissed me on the forehead and called me Jem."

Rio threw a pair of pliers he was using to the floor. "I only said that because of what Kimber said on stage. I thought it was great that you would fill in for a sick friend like that. But now I find out this way that all this time you've been lying to me! I've seen you and Jem together. How the fuck did you pull that off?" Jerrica began to open her mouth but Rio cut her off. "No, it'll just be another damn excuse. I don't know what it means for you to have a boyfriend but this is not how you treat them. I'm through here and I don't want to see you again." Rio grabbed his jacket and slammed the door behind him.

Jerrica fell to her knees and wondered why it was so hard to cry.

Pizzazz knocked on David's door and waited for his answer. She opened the door and found him writing at his desk. "I have to ask you a huge favor, David." He stopped writing and slowly looked up at her suspiciously. "Okay, nothing that huge, I just need you to ask Ken, Eiji and Hitomi to do something." The look of suspicion on David's face deepened. "It's nothing destructive! I just need them to postpone their trip until after next weekend."

"What's next weekend?" David finally asked slowly with suspicion in his voice.

"I have arranged for a War of the Bands event. I went to Richard Xanthos' place this morning and asked to use his property for this event and he jumped at the idea. What we're going to do is play a game of Laser Warriors. Richard is getting it televised on WMBT." Pizzazz smiled. She was obviously very proud of herself.

David smiled in return and chuckled. "It figures the Wombat would pick up that special but I have to admit I'm surprised you took the initiative like that. This does sound like a great idea. I've been working on your tour schedule and this fits in perfectly. We go on tour in a month, by the way. Meant to tell you last night but with all the excitement I forgot." David's stomach rumbled. "Kimber should be here any second you can tell us about the idea over lunch. She'll love it I'm sure."

Pizzazz agreed and followed her brother downstairs to the kitchen. "Do you think you could ask Jerrica if Jem and The Holograms could participate? Each team has four players and there are four teams. Suzaku, Misfits, Jem, and one other to be decided later, I was thinking of The Stingers but they're a trio." She sat at the table after grabbing a bag of chips and spoke around a half chewed mouthful. "If you were to enter then we could do a hat draw. Have four team captains draw three names out. How's that sound?"

The doorbell rang before David could answer. He opened the door and hugged his girlfriend. "Kimber, Pizzazz has a great idea, a War of the Bands using Laser Warriors equipment. What do you think?"

"I think I'm hungry but I do like the sound of the idea. Stormer has a set of the Laser Warriors toys and we constantly play it. She's good at it." Kimber wrapped her arm around David's waist and walked with him to the kitchen. She took the bag of chips from Pizzazz and grinned. "Thank you."

"Hey! Those were mine, Baby Holotwerp!" Pizzazz screeched and grabbed the bag back. She took a handful and handed them back to Kimber who was laughing at Pizzazz's old insult for her. "How are you, Kimber?" She asked in a more pleasant tone.

Kimber leaned against David and popped a chip in her mouth. "I'm hungry and tired. Doofus here promised me lunch. So where is it?" She elbowed him lightly and looked up at him over her shoulder.

"You haven't told me what you wanted yet. I could make okonomiyaki. A girl I met in Japan taught me how to make it. Strange girl, too. Dressed like a boy and carried a giant spatula. She was cute though. Had little throwing spatulas, but like I said strange. I almost asked her out but she kept ranting about some fiancée." He shrugged at the thought of her. "Anyway, it's like a Japanese pizza. You'll like it."

"Well get to it. You promised me lunch and I want lunch dammit." Kimber elbowed David and winked at Pizzazz who was now laughing. She let David get off his chair so he could start preparing the meal and slid the bag of chips to Pizzazz. "Last night was great, Pizzazz. The benefit was a huge success. Hopefully we can carry that over to this Laser Warriors thing you have planned."

Pizzazz spoke around another half chewed mouthful of chips. "I have a feeling it will. WMBT is doing promos for it starting tomorrow but I just need two more bands. We already have Misfits and Suzaku playing. I wanted you to ask Jem and The Holograms to participate then I just need one more band. Looks like I'll have to ask The Stingers." She propped her head on her hand. "I don't really want to ask them but I will."

David put a plate in front of Kimber and his sister. "There you go, hope you like it." The two young women started eating right away. He sat next to Kimber where she cut a piece and fed it to him while Pizzazz rolled her eyes. The phone rang as they ate. "I'll get it, you two finish lunch." He stood up again and answered the phone. "Gabor residence David speaking. Oh hi, Raya. Yeah she's here having lunch, I'll put her on." He covered the mouthpiece but still lowered his voice a bit. "Kimber, its Raya and she wants to talk to you about something." He just shrugged when she gave him a questioning look.

Kimber put her fork down and swallowed the mouthful of food. "Hi Raya, what do you need? Uh-huh. Okay, let me go into the other room." She left the kitchen and walked into the living room. David and Pizzazz looked at each other in confusion until a couple of minutes later she returned. She hugged and kissed David then put her jacket on. "Lunch was great but I have to run. It seems Rio is mad at Jerrica and broke up with her so I'm going to cheer Jerrica up. I'll see you tonight." She kissed David again and ran off to her car.

"Y'know, that girl has grown on me, David. And she was right that lunch was great." Pizzazz pulled her brother by the arm. "C'mon, make me another."

Hitomi lay on her back and watched the clouds drift overheard. She was still giddy from the night before. It was such a rush to be on stage in front of millions of people. She turned her head and watched Roxy stalk Eiji. They were playing a one on one game of Laser Warriors at Roxy's new house. Eiji popped up from behind a bush and Roxy eliminated him. Hitomi smiled to herself as she was hoping Roxy would win. "Good game, Roxy. I better get some practice in myself. Either that or hope that I get put on your team."

"Well Pizzazz didn't give me any details about what's going on. Just said it was really up to the network and Richard Xanthos how teams would be chosen. They might just decide the teams ahead of the event. In any case I just hope I'm on the team with David." She took Eiji's set of light gun and sensor after removing her own sensor.

"I'm going to challenge Ken and Jetta inside. I think they're still playing video games." Eiji waved and headed indoors.

Roxy frowned as she watched him sulk a little. "He's still ticked about having to cancel the trip up north?"

"Yeah, I don't blame him. He was really looking forward to this. So was I actually but I can wait another two weeks. Did you want to come with? I wouldn't mind having someone to talk to. I spend too much time with Eiji and Ken anyway." Hitomi moved to a lawn chair and relaxed.

"Maybe, I still have to get ready for the upcoming tour. We're leaving in a month or something. David was distracted with something when he told me. I think it was Kimber's tongue in his ear." She shrugged and Hitomi shuddered at the image. "But I'll see what's going on. It's only for three days, right? Not gonna turn into some kind of Blair Witch thing is it?" Roxy sat in the chair next to Hitomi.

She gave her a confused look. "Blair Witch? What the hell is that?"

"It's a movie. Sheila and Mary love it for some reason. They thought it was scary while I laughed my ass off at how stupid the people acted. All in all it was good movie. I will say that the ending scared the shit out of me. We'll watch it later, okay?" Roxy smiled when Hitomi agreed.

The insistent banging on the door wouldn't stop until Rio finally had enough and answered the door. "What?!" he yelled at the redheaded figure before him and then cooled down. "Oh it's you, Kimber. Come on in if you'd like. What does Jem, I mean, Jerrica want."

Kimber walked into Rio's apartment ignoring his comment. In all the years she'd known him she'd only been over a few times. It was just like she remembered, in order with a little chaos. "My sister didn't send me over. I came over on my own and she doesn't even know I'm here. I just wanted to tell you that she really does love you. What happened at Starlight Music is tearing her apart."

"Maybe if she told me the truth from the beginning then maybe she wouldn't be in this situation. Do all the Benton women enjoy toying with men's emotions? Look at you Kimber; you toyed with both Jeff and Sean's emotions. It wouldn't surprise me if you were toying with David's as well." He sat in his recliner and turned the TV on.

"How dare you go there you dick! What I have with David is special. He knows about my past and that I'm not proud of it. Besides this isn't about me, it's about you and your stubbornness to accept Jerrica as Jem. She didn't tell you because of how you'd react. You know what? You're acting just like how she thought you would. Like an asshole. No correction a world class asshole. Besides she knew you loved Jem and that's why Jem always fought off Riot's affections because she loves you." Kimber turned off the television and blocked his view.

Rio shot to his feet and got in Kimber's face. "If Jerrica loved me so badly then she should've told me before constantly lying to me about not being Jem. I couldn't care less about Riot trying for Jem because I knew she would never go for him. He's not her type of man."

"Oh and you are? Big, macho, jealous jerk type?"

"Well it sure beats being flirt and slut like you, Kimber."

Kimber's eyes went wide with anger and she quickly slapped him across the face as hard as she could. "Just remember that when she was Jem or Jerrica she loved you and that's all that really matters in the end, isn't it?" Kimber left by slamming the apartment door behind her.

Rio flopped back in his recliner and threw his remote control. "Dammit!"

Jerrica rolled out of her bed and looked out the window. It was a sunny morning and she felt like just crawling back into bed. She hadn't been in the office for two days and the code inspector came by Starlight Drive Inn on Monday. She was thankful that Shana handled the inspection for her. She sat on the edge of her bed feeling her eyes burn from constantly crying since Sunday afternoon. A knock came from her door and Jerrica ignored it. The knock came harder this time. "Fine. Come in!"

Aja opened the door and had a big smile on her face. "Good news for a change, Jerrica. Rio was hit by the Stupid Bus and that's why he reacted like that. He's all better now." Involuntarily, Jerrica laughed as Aja sat next to her on the bed. "I really do have some good news." She pulled out an earring case and handed it to Jerrica and kissed her oldest friend on the cheek. "Don't worry, they work."

With a smile Jerrica carefully opened the case. Inside were exact duplicates of her old Jemstar earrings. She put them on with shaking hands and then finally spoke the familiar words. "Showtime, Synergy." Within seconds the air around her shimmered with pink light. She was Jem once more. As Jem turned to Aja and hugged her. "Thank you so much."

"Now that Jem is officially over being sick we can participate in the War of the Bands."

A clearing of the throat came from the doorway and the two women found Rio standing there. He cracked a half grin. "Raya let me in." Jerrica canceled the Jem hologram and sat on the bed. "So, that's how you did it. A computer hologram?" Jerrica nodded slowly.

Aja began to walk out of the room. "I'll let you two be alone." She left the room and shut the door after giving Rio a cautionary glare.

Rio let out a held breath and sat next to Jerrica. "I'm sorry. I said some stupid things and let my anger get the better of me. Did Kimber tell you that she stopped by my apartment?"

Jerrica looked up from the floor in confusion. "No she didn't."

"Well she did and we had a big fight. I said some really stupid things to her as well but she did make one good point. No matter who you were, you always loved me and that's what matters in the end. I thought about that for the past few days. You have one smart sister there." He put his arm around Jerrica's waist who laid her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I never told you the first time I became Jem." She felt tears starting to stream down her face. "After that, there never seemed to be a right time to tell you." She wiped her tears away with the back of her hands

Rio kissed the top of her head. "It's okay. I do love you. No matter whom you are at the time and I have some heavy apologizing to do to you and Kimber."

Jerrica looked up at him for a minute and then kissed him deeply. "I love you, too." Rio looked deep into Jerrica's eyes and she smiled. "I think I have an introduction to make that's long over do." She got off the bed and pulled him by his hand. "C'mon, you have to meet Synergy. You'll love her."

TO BE CONTINUED IN

MISFIT HUNT PART 1