ALVINNN! and The Chipmunks:
Tamian Mysteries
Season 2, Episode 5 of 10:
Charlene's Day Out
In The Chipettes' treehouse, Brittany was showing Charlene around the place and telling her what to do while she was away.
"And this is the living room.", Brittany said as she stood in the center of the room and gestured into her surroundings. "If you get bored, I have a couple of Santa Barbara Fashion Monthly magazines in this drawer you can read.", she said as she opened the drawer of the side table to show Charlene.
"Ooohhh.", Charlene quietly said in awe. "Those look…", Charlene stopped mid-sentence. "Pretty?", Brittany assumed. "If that is what describes something with bright colors that I get satisfaction out of seeing, yes.", Charlene answered.
"Listen, Charlene. Our mission should only take a few hours. Just stay here in the treehouse. If anyone comes by and asks where Jeanette and Eleanor are, just say they went out to run errands.", Brittany instructed.
"Okay." Charlene replied.
"Oh, here, take my phone.", Brittany said as she handed Charlene her cPhone. "If you need any help, call Miss Miller. She's very clueless, so she shouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary with you replacing me.", she added.
"What if someone tries to call you?", Charlene asked.
"Don't pick up. They can wait.", Brittany said. "I gotta get going. Don't forget what I said.", she advised as she slowly backed up to the front doors, opened them, and then rushed off.
Charlene walked up to the front doors and peered her head through the doorway. By the time she was there, Brittany was already running down the sidewalk back to the Seville house. Brittany looked up towards Charlene. "Bye.", she said loudly. "Bye.", Charlene replied before going fully back into the treehouse and closing the door.
An hour passed and Charlene was lying on Eleanor's bed, flipping through one of the magazines Brittany had shown her.
Suddenly, Brittany's cPhone on the nightstand to Charlene's left started ringing. She leaned over and looked at the screen. The name "Vanessa" is situated near the top of the screen above an image of a brown haired, light-brown-skinned teenage girl in a pink dress that had light pink tropical flowers printed on it, a purple trim on the top and bottom edges, as well as purple straps going over the shoulders.
Charlene considered answering the phone and slowly reached out her hand to it. She then hesitated and retracted her hand in the opposite direction. "No. I cannot. Brittany said they could wait.", Charlene told herself. The phone stopped ringing, and Charlene returned to reading.
As she turned a page in the magazine, Charlene saw an image of a pink sequin wallet circled in red marker. The wallet was shown with a few dollar bills sticking out of it. Charlene lowered the magazine from her view and looked across to Brittany's nightstand and saw the same wallet resting on it. "Interesting. So this is what she uses to store her paper currency.", she surmised.
Brittany's cPhone started to ring a second time. It was Vanessa again. As like the previous call, Charlene hesitated to answer it. The ringing stopped, but this time it was soon followed with a voicemail. Charlene got up from the bed and stood in front of the nightstand, looking down at the phone. She was curious, and tapped on the voicemail icon. Brittany's cPhone then started to play the auditory message.
"Hey Britt. It's Vanessa. I'm going to the mall with Jenny, Mildred, and Anita. If you wanna come with us, we'll be passing by your house on our way there.", the message played.
"Oh no. Vanessa is coming here, to this house?", Charlene said with worry. "I do not know anything about them.", she said to herself as she started pacing around the bedroom. "What would Brittany do?", she asked herself.
After a few seconds thinking, Charlene decided to call Miss Miller. The elderly woman answered the phone on her end. "Hello?", Miss Miller asked for a response. "Hello, Miss Miller. It is me, Brittany. Someone named 'Vanessa' wants me to go with her and three other people to a place called the mall.", Charlene explained. "What should I know about the mall before I go there?", she asked.
"The mall? Well they were just starting out when I was your age. The first mall I ever went to was so big, I got lost for eight hours in there.", Miss Miller started rambling.
For the next ten minutes, Miss Miller continued to go on at length about her experiences with malls. "And that's where I bought my first washing machine. I'm tellin' ya, Common Electric makes some good appliances.", Miss Miller said. "I will take note of that.", Charlene replied. "Is there anything else I should know?", she asked. "Definitely bring as much money with you as you can. You'll never know what you'll need to buy.", Miss Miller recommended. "I will. Thank you, Miss Miller.", Charlene said. "You're welcome, dear. Enjoy yourself at the mall. Goodbye.", Miss Miller concluded. "Goodbye.", Charlene replied back before ending the call.
"Money?", Carlene wondered to herself as she put her finger up to her chin. "Right. The currency.", she realized, then went to Brittany's nightstand and picked up the wallet.
A few moments later, Vanessa, Jenny, Mildred, and Anita rolled up on their bicycles in front of Miss Miller's yard. "Brittany never gave us a call or text back.", Vanessa said to her friends. "Should we check to see if she's home?", she asked. "Go for it.", Jenny said.
Vanessa picked up a pebble from the sidewalk and very precisely threw it to hit the door to The Chipettes' treehouse. Inside, Charlene was startled by the tiny noise, but decided to investigate. She opened the front door and peered out like before. "Hey, Brittany!", Vanessa shouted. Charlene then looked down towards the sidewalk and saw the four teenage human girls, and was stricken with intimidation. "Did you get my messages?", Vanessa asked. "Messages? No, I did not get them.", Charlene responded as she stepped out of the doorway and closed the door.
"Oh, my, gosh. You look so cute in red.", Mildred complimented. Charlene trotted down the spiral stairs of the treehouse and went up to the girls. "I was just about to say, Amber said she thought she saw you the other day wearing red in the park.", Vannessa said to Charlene. "Thank you. I thought I would try red instead of pink today.", Charlene replied.
"So how come you didn't get my messages? Did something happen to your phone.", Vanessa asked. "I lost it. In the… underground tunnels.", Charlene answered. "Underground tunnels? What are you talking about?", Anita asked. "I was… helping Alvin, Simon, and Theodore chase a raccoon… and we followed it into a culvert… then it was dark… and the raccoon attacked me… and it stole the phone.", Charlene haphazardly made up a story.
"Oh my.", Jenny commented. "Well we were just on our way to the mall.", Vanessa said. "Wanna come with us?", she offered. "Yes, indeed.", Charlene replied. "Hop in.", Vanessa said. Charlene then scaled up Vanessa's bike and climbed into the front basket. The girls soon rode off again on their way to the mall.
A little while later, Charlene and the human girls arrived at the mall. Upon entering, Charlene was amazed by the size of the building from the inside. It was two stories tall, with a rotunda that split off into three separate wings. At the far end of the west, north, and east wings were a department store, food court, and cinema respectively. Between four and six stores lined each side of a wing on each floor, with a few boarded up, out-of-business stores peppering the entire mall. The rotunda had a fountain in the center with four fish statues arching streams of water from their mouths into the pool, and a dome skylight on the ceiling.
"So where should we go first?" Anita asked.
"The salon? I'm in need of like, a serious touch up.", Mildred replied.
"You mean dark blue isn't your natural color?" Vanessa teased playfully.
"I need a dozen new skirts. My old ones are like, totally out of style.", Jenny commented.
"What about that store?", Charlene asked, pointing to an electronics store at the start of the right side of the west wing.
"You wanna go to Radio Yurt?", Mildred asked in confusion.
"Indeed.", Charlene answered.
"I dunno." Vanessa tilted her head.
Jenny let out a giggle. "Yeah, that's like, totally not a Brittany store.", she said.
"Then again, it is Radio Yurt. This might be one of the last times we ever get to visit one.", Anita suggested.
"Alright. If it's like, so important.", Mildred said unenthusiastically.
The five of them entered the store. Charlene immediately went to the audio equipment section, while the other girls looked around, perplexed why Brittany would like such a place.
"Ugh, this stuff looks so like, ancient.", Vanessa said in disgust, looking at a display of home phones.
"I know, right?", Mildred concurred. "I can't even remember the last time I used the home phones in my house.", she added.
Anita walked over to check on Charlene. "What are you looking for, Brittany?", she asked.
"A radio demodulator.", Charlene answered.
"What for?", Anita asked.
"I keep detecting signals on multiple frequencies. I want to understand them.", Charlene responded.
"Is this for some kind of project?", Anita questioned.
Charlene realized she was acting too conspicuous, and so thought hard through her memory banks to come up with an excuse. "...Yes. I am building a radio receiver with Simon and Jeanette.", she detailed.
"Wow, I had no idea you liked this kind of stuff.", Anita replied.
Charlene picked a small plastic bag containing the component she was looking for off of a rack. "This RQ-25 looks promising. This store has much more than the waste container of Hobbyist Electronics.", she said.
"Ooo-kaaay.", Anita acknowledged with skepticism.
Soon after, they had all left the Radio Yurt, with Charlene having bought the demodulator and carrying it in a checkout bag.
"So, where should we go next?", Jenny asked.
"I heard Marina Rodenchia opened up a new store on the second floor of this wing.", Vanessa informed the group.
"Ooo, I hope she has new designs up for sale.", Anita said excitedly.
"Wait, where's Brittany?", Mildred asked.
The human girls looked around them until they saw Charlene standing in front of a window display at a toy store. She was looking at a generic toy robot and attempting to communicate with it.
"What kind of processor do you have?", Charlene asked the toy robot. It then turned its head a full three hundred and sixty degrees, flashed its yellow bulb eyes, and waved its arms up and down.
"Brittany.", Jenny said, walking up to Charlene. "Come on, we're going to check out Marina's new store.", she told her.
"Okay. I'm ready to go.", Charlene responded. As she and Jenny were walking away towards the rest of the group, Charlene looked back at the toy robot. "I will return later.", she said to it.
The group took an escalator to the second floor and walked over to Marina's store. Charlene was awestruck by the beauty of the store and the dresses lining the racks. "This store is really pretty.", Charlene commented.
"I wanna check out the new shoe styles.", Vanessa said.
"I think we should all get dresses for Homecoming.", Jenny suggested.
"'Homecoming'?", Anita asked. "But summer just started.", she added.
"Yeah but like, Homecoming for senior year is like, a big deal, so let's make sure we have dresses in advance.", Mildred said.
The girls started to look around. Charlene still stuck close to Anita as they went to the back of the store to look at the earrings.
"Is everything alright with you, Brittany?", Anita asked.
"What do you mean?", Charlene asked back.
"You don't seem like yourself.", Anita said.
"How is that?", Charlene kept asking.
"Like, you aren't talking like you usually do. And you're always more outspoken.", Anita answered.
"Is there something important I should speak about.", Charlene continued asking.
"Well yeah. First thing we did going into the mall was go to Radio Yurt. I get if you want to build radios with Simon and Jeanette, that's fine. But the rest of us felt left out by you.", Anita calmly complained.
"I am sorry. I will try not to make you feel that way for the rest of the day.", Charlene pledged.
"O-M-G! Marina just walked in!", Vanessa exclaimed as she rushed up to Anita and Charlene, pointing towards the front of the store.
Marina stopped at the side of the store checkout and the girls excitedly approached her. "Miss Rodenchia. When is your next line of hats releasing?", "How are you planning to stay in style this summer?", "Are you going to attend the national fashion gala this year?", Vanessa, Mildred, and Jenny asked respectively.
"Please, please. Settle down, girls. Marina shall help you all one at a time.", she told the group.
"I thought we came here for dresses.", Charlene told Brittany's human companions.
Marina looked down at Charlene. "Oh. You're the little squirrel girl who used to work for Marina, aren't you?", she asked.
"I do not recall.", Charlene answered.
"Marina is sure you did, darling. You even embarrassed her in front of investors.", she said.
"Wait, I thought you were Marina.", Charlene stated confusedly.
"That's what I said.", Marina replied. "But that's all in the past. To make it up to you, Marina will sell you a dress at half price. And she has a new design she would love for you to try.", she said.
A couple minutes later, Charlene is in the changing room and pulls back the curtain to reveal the new outfit she has tried on. A red sequin dress with loops over the sides of the shoulders and goes down just above the knee. She is also wearing a pair of red mid-level heel shoes and purple hoop earrings. Marina and the teenage girls all gasp in astonishment.
"O-M-G! That dress is amazing, Brittany!", Jenny complimented.
"Yeah, it like, screams you.", Mildred said.
"You look gorgeous, darling.", Marina praised.
Charlene looked in the mirror next to her and admired how she looked. For the first time, she was experiencing fun; and completely forgot about her previous worries of having to run from her creators or escaping Chipmunk Island.
"I look… pretty.", Charlene said to herself.
"Brittany, smile.", Vanessa said, holding up her smartphone. Charlene looked towards the camera and smiled. Vanessa took a picture. "I am so sharing this on social media.", she told everyone.
"I will purchase it.", Charlene told Marina.
Soon after, the girls and Charlene left Marina's shop. Charlene was now carrying a new bag with the dress she had bought.
"That was fun.", Charlene said with enthusiasm. "Where should we go next?", she asked?
"I wanna check out that jewelry shop.", Anita commented. "Maybe we can find something to go along with that new dress.", she said to Charlene.
"That would be great.", Charlene replied.
Meanwhile, the C-Team and their new ally, Eric Munkowski, were flying back to Santa Barbara in the Munkmobile 2.0, having just crossed into mainland territory. As Simon was in the pilot seat operating the craft, Jeanette sat next to him in the main passenger seat. While the rest of them sat along the rows of seats against the wall of the interior. Alvin, Brittany, and Eric sat on one side, while Theodore and Eleanor sat on the other. Jeanette was playing back the recording she had taken of Harry and Digbee.
"'Very well then. I will arrive in two days. I need to gather a boat and all the equipment we'll need for these three expeditions.'", Digbee said.
"'Understood. Over and out.'", Harry responded.
Jeanette ended the playback.
"We have to go back and steal those pages.", Alvin declared.
"At this point it's easier said than done. Harry will no doubt be watching all pathways to the village more closely.", Eric said.
"Let's just focus on getting home. Then we'll reassess everything and come up with a plan.", Simon replied.
"You told Alvin?", Eleanor asked Brittany.
"Yeah. I did.", Brittany replied.
"When?", Eleanor continued asking.
"On top of Eagle's Peak.", Brittany answered.
"Britt, I'm so sorry for letting the cat out of the bag.", Alvin apologized.
"It's okay, Alvin. You were right.", Brittany told him somberly. "Wow. I never thought I'd say that.", she perked up and remarked.
"I agree.", Jeanette said.
"Really?", Brittany questioned Jeanette. "You were the one in danger back there.", she added.
"Like you said, Alvin. You just got your mother back. I wouldn't want you boys to have it any other way.", Jeanette stated.
"So what happened?", Simon asked as he was flying the Munkmobile.
"I didn't want it to come as a shock to you or Theodore, but we grew up never knowing our parents either.", Brittany admitted.
"You had always told us you left your parents by choice because you were mature enough and wanted to seek a new life as singers.", Simon said.
"Mature, we definitely weren't. There were some scary times. And over the years, we had to get streetwise.", Brittany said.
"So, where did you come from?", Alvin asked Brittany.
"I'd rather not explain. Maybe some other time.", Brittany responded.
"I'm not shocked. I already knew you never knew your parents.", Theodore stated.
"What?! How did you find out?!", Brittany asked in surprise.
"Eleanor told me that it's always been hard for you all, not having a dad.", Theodore answered.
Brittany turned to look at Eleanor, growing more angry and feeling betrayed. "You told him-"
"Only that part. Nothing else.", Eleanor interrupted Brittany.
"Still, how could you Eleanor?!", Brittany asked in devastation.
"You know that time we all wanted Dave to take us to the father-daughter dance? Well, I used that to convince Theodore to ask Dave to take me.", Eleanor confessed.
"You broke our rule just so you could go to the dance?! That's so low of you, Eleanor!", Brittany scolded her sister.
"Our rule?!", Eleanor asked, baffled. "You mean your rule! Jeanette and I are always being held back by the rules you put in place, only for you to disregard them yourself! Like saying we aren't ready for boyfriends!", Eleanor ranted.
Brittany and Eleanor began arguing with each other so fast that their sentences were incomprehensible to the rest of the group. Alvin, Theodore, and Eric all covered their ears to mitigate the volume.
"Do they always argue like this?", Eric asked Alvin loudly.
"Not often, but they don't resolve easily.", Alvin answered.
"Could you two quiet down? I'm trying to fly.", Simon requested loudly.
As the Munkmobile 2.0 started flying within cellular communication range, Jeanette heard a ping on her cPhone. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked social media. She gasped, and could not believe her eyes when she saw that Vanessa had posted a picture of Charlene wearing the red dress.
"Guys!", Jeanette called out to everyone behind her. "Guys!", she said, slightly louder. "SHUT UP!", she yelled at Brittany and Eleanor.
The two sisters at odds with each other stopped and turned towards Jeanette, knowing it was very out of the ordinary for her to say "Shut up".
"We got a problem.", Jeanette said, as she got out of the passenger seat and walked over to them.
"What is it?", Eleanor asked.
"Charlene is with our friends at the mall.", Jeanette answered as she showed the image on her phone to Brittany.
"What?! She left the house?!", Brittany asked, stunned. "I gave her my phone. Call me.", Brittany instructed.
Jeanette called Brittany. The dial tone started playing. After a couple of seconds, it went to voicemail. "Hi. You've reached the fabulous queen of fashion and singing, Brittany Miller. Please leave a message.", Brittany's prerecorded voice said.
"Charlene! What are you doing with my friends?! I told you to stay in the treehouse! Call us back! Right now!, Brittany ranted.
Jeanette ended the voicemail recording. "Britt, I think you were a little harsh telling Charlene-"
"Harsh?!", Brittant interrupted Jeanette. "I'll tell you what's harsh! She could be ruining my reputation!", Brittany went on.
"Maybe not. Our friends are understanding. If Charlene's told them she's a robot already, I'm sure they won't think any less of you.", Jeanette tried to reassure Brittany.
"If she has, we're all in deep trouble.", Eleanor said to Jeanette from behind.
"Who's Charlene?", Eric asked.
"Oh, she's our friend. And the one who knocked you out back on Chipmunk Island.", Alvin answered.
Back at the mall, Charlene was looking at an array of locket necklaces displayed in a glass container under the checkout counter. She spotted one she liked. It was heart-shaped, made of brass, and had three black lines branching out from the center in a triangular pattern.
"I would like to purchase that one, please.", Charlene told the woman behind the counter as she pointed to the locket.
The woman unlocked the display container and pulled out the locket. She typed on a few buttons of the register and opened the cash drawer. Charlene handed the woman some money and in return she was given the locket and some coin change.
"That's a nice locket, Brittany.", Jenny said.
"Thank you.", Charlene replied. She then opened the locket and saw an empty spot for a picture.
"Do you have any idea who you're going to put a picture of in there?", Jenny asked.
"I do not know yet.", Charlene replied. "Who do you think it should be?", she asked.
"Someone close to your heart, I guess. Sister, boyfriend, mother, a whole lotta people.", Jenny suggested.
"C'mon, girls. Let's hit the food court.", Mildred said, standing near the exit.
"Yes. 'Let's hit the food court.'", Charlene responded, imitating the speaking style of the human girls. "Will the food court be damaged?", she asked, perplexed by Mildred's expression.
"What? No, we meant we're going to the food court for lunch.", Jenny explained to Charlene.
"Alright. Let us be on our way.", Charlene replied, as the group reunited and left the jewelry shop.
Outside the mall, the Munkmobile 2.0 landed behind a small patch of trees across the street from the main entrance. Inside the craft, Alvin stood up and addressed everyone.
"Simon. You and Eric stay here. Everyone else, let's go.", Alvin declared.
"Wait. What about Brittany?", Jeanette asked. "We can't let her be seen.", she said.
"Alright, you stay here too, Britt.", Alvin agreed to the change of plan.
"Just hurry. Every moment she's in there is one more moment my image is getting tarnished.", Brittany dramatacized.
"We'll find her as fast as we can.", Theodore said to Brittany.
The rear door opened and Alvin, Theodore, Jeanette, and Eleanor lightly ran out.
"Good luck.", Eric said as the team was leaving.
A moment later, the four members of the C-Team entered the rotunda at the front of the mall. They all looked in every direction at the different wings, trying to search for any sign of Charlene.
"Jeanette, check the department store. Eleanor, you check the movie theater. Theo, you and I will check the second floor.
The four of them split up.
Meanwhile, in the food court, Charlene and Brittany's friends waited in line at a vegetarian burger restaurant.
"What do you think we should do, like, after lunch?", Vanessa asked.
"I wanna visit the perfume shop.", Jenny answered.
"And I wanna get a new backpack at Radical Topic.", Mildred chimed in.
"O-M-G, like why did I not think of that. I wanna check out what's there too.", Vannessa responded.
Farther back in the line, behind Vanessa, Mildred, and Jenny, Charlene was once again standing by Anita.
"How are you feeling now?", Charlene asked.
"Huh?", Anita uttered in confusion.
"In the store belonging to Marina, you said you felt left out. Do you still feel that way?", Charlene clarified.
"Oh, not as much now. I'm glad she gave you an opportunity to try on that new dress.", Anita said.
"Yes. I anticipate showing it to my sisters.", Charlene replied.
At the front of the line, Vanessa was paying for the meals, when she looked in her wallet and realized she was missing about half the money she needed.
"Hey, anyone got fifteen dollars?", Vanessa asked her friends.
"I do.", Charlene answered as she reached into Brittany's wallet and pulled out some more money and went to hand it to Vanessa.
"Thanks, Brittany.", Vanessa said.
Back in the rotunda, the C-Team regrouped when their searches all turned up fruitless.
"You didn't find her either?", Jeanette asked Eleanor.
"No. If they went to see a movie it could be hours before they get out.", Eleanor said.
"I asked the department store manager and she said she hasn't seen her.", Jeanette added.
Theodore's stomach started to grumble. "Oh. I'm so hungry. I haven't eaten all day.", Theodore said in a melancholy tone.
"Newsflash, Theo: None of us have. Because we were too busy saving Alvin's butt.", Eleanor ranted at the youngest Seville brother.
"Hey, you don't have to-", before Alvin could finish his sentence to Eleanor, he stopped himself and gasped. He realized the one place they hadn't checked yet. "That's it!", he exclaimed. He then started running towards the north wing.
"Wait, Alvin. Where are we going?", Jeanette asked as she and the others followed Alvin.
"The food court. It's the one place we haven't checked.", Alvin said.
Back in the food court, the five friends were sitting at a table, all biting into their vegetarian burgers, except for Charlene.
"Aren't you hungry, Brittany?", Jenny asked.
"I am sorry, what?", Charlene asked back.
"You haven't taken a bite of your veggie burger, or your fries.", Jenny said.
Charlene started to recall more of her experiences again to make up an excuse. "That, yes. I… have not been as hungry as I usually am. I keep having… thoughts at night…".
"You mean nightmares?", Mildred asked.
"Yes, nightmares. I was being pursued by a woman. She wanted to control me. She wanted to assimilate me into those serving her. And make me do bad things to my friends.", Charlene explained to the human girls.
"Oh my.", Anita said with concern.
"Yeah, I know that feeling. Like, adults demand so much out of teenagers like us. And they like, force us to sabotage our own friendships because they think it'll be the best thing for us. You're not alone, Brittany.", Vanessa said sincerely.
"I'm sure talking things out will help. If not, you can always talk to us about it.", Anita advised.
"Yeah. But you gotta like, get your energy up. You can't save your friendships on an empty stomach.", Mildred suggested.
Charlene decided to give in to what her new friends were saying to her. She picked up a french fry and slowly moved it toward her mouth, getting more nervous about exposing her inability to ingest food as a robot. Just before Charlene was about to try and pretend to consume it, the sound of several tiny sets of footsteps were getting closer to the table.
"Char- I mean Brittany!", Jeanette called, running up to the table along with Alvin, Theodore, and Eleanor. "Thank goodness we found you.", she said to the robotic Chipette.
"Alvin. You are back.", Charlene said happily, putting down the french fry. "Do not worry. The book is safe.", she informed Alvin.
"I know.", Alvin said.
"But it almost wasn't, if it weren't for me.", Theodore added.
"Theodore.", Eleanor frustratedly whispered to him.
"What book?", Anita asked.
"Nevermind that.", Alvin told Anita. "C'mon Brittany, we got another mission.", he said.
"Mission?", Jenny was puzzled.
"Another?" Mildred was puzzled as well.
"What kind of 'mission' is this?", Vanessa asked Alvin.
"That's classified.", Alvin responded.
"It's like, so cute, but also like, so immature of you all to be playing secret agents when you're about to be high school seniors.", Mildred commented.
"Okay, but when the world's about to be taken over by chipmunks, don't come cryin' to us.", Alvin remarked. "So are we goin' Britt, or what?", he asked Charlene.
"Yes.", Charlene answered as she grabbed her shopping bags and hopped down from her seat. "Goodbye, girls. This was fun.", she told her new friends.
"Bye, Brittany.", the four girls said in unison.
"See ya, ladies.", Alvin looked back and said to the girls as he and the team started to walk away.
Theodore, who was in the back of the group, decided to run back to the table. He closed the box of Charlene's vegetarian burger, and collected it; along with the container of french fries and the soft drink, which he started to sip. Brittany's friends looked at Theodore awkwardly. When Theodore noticed them staring, he stopped sipping the drink and glanced back at them.
"What?", he asked. Theodore got no reply.
"Theo! Come on!", Eleanor called back to him.
"Bye.", he said to the girls as he rushed to catch up with the others.
"Well, that was… weird.", Vanessa said.
"The world being taken over by chipmunks? That'd be like, so hilarious.", Mildred quipped.
"Excuse me for one moment." Anita said as she stood up and left the table in the direction of the C-Team.
Anita followed the C-Team while staying far enough behind them that they would not notice. They were heading towards an exit hall at the side of the food court. The C-Team turned the corner and stopped along a wall. Anita hid behind the corner and looked around it to see the C-Team discussing in relatively soft voices.
"Where is Brittany?", Charlene asked Alvin.
"She's back in Simon's new Munkmobile. With him and our new friend.", Alvin explained.
"Yeah. Last thing we would have wanted was for those girls to see two Brittanys at once.", Eleanor said.
"So Charlene, did you tell any of them that you're a… you know…", Jeanette asked, trying to keep vague in public.
"No. I simply pretended as if I were Brittany.", Charlene answered. "But I must ask: What is a homecoming?", she inquired.
"It's where I wanna go right now. I've had a heck-of-a day and wanna relax.", Alvin remarked.
"Alvin's being too literal. We'll explain everything soon.", Eleanor told Charlene.
The C-Team continued on their way out of the mall. Anita was confused by what she had just seen and heard.
"Charlene?", Anita wondered to herself. She then walked back to the table and rejoined her friends, but decided to keep what she saw to herself.
Moments later, the C-Team made it back to the Munkmobile 2.0. Upon entering the craft, Charlene noticed Eric sitting on the right side. Charlene immediately became defensive, dropping her bags and priming her fists as her eyes glowed blue. Eric began to react in fear, closing his eyes, turning his head away, and putting up his forearms to protect himself. As Charlene was starting to pull back her arm for a punch, Alvin got between her and Eric.
"Woah, woah, woah!", Alvin rapidly said. "It's okay, Charlene.", he added.
Charlene froze and relaxed, her eyes returning to normal. Eric subsequently lowered his arms and realized he was not in danger.
"This is Eric. He's with us. He was never with Harry and Orwell. He's going to help us find the Tamian relics.", Alvin explained.
Charlene stepped closer to Eric and extended her hand. "Hello. I am Charlene. I am sorry for knocking you unconscious on Chipmunk Island.", she greeted and apologized.
Eric shook Charlene's hand in forgiveness. "It's alright. I'm Eric Munkowski. I had no idea Brittany had a twin.", Eric commented.
"She's not my twin.", Brittany corrected Eric. "I don't suppose you know what a robot is.", she said to him.
"No. Does that have something to do with her eyes glowing? Is she a demon that's taken your form?", Eric asked, growing defensive again.
"No, no, no, no.", Theodore hastily said to Eric. "It means she's made of metal on the inside. We'll explain later.", he answered.
Brittany grabbed Charlene by the shoulders and turned her sentient robot copy towards her. "What did you do with my friends in that mall?", she worriedly asked Charlene.
"I had a great time with your friends. They were very nice to me. I observed many new points of information from them.", Charlene stated.
"Like what?", Brittany asked.
"That, actually. They often use the word 'like'.", Charlene said.
"What else happened?", Brittany started to get slightly more interrogative.
"We went to Radio Yurt, we viewed clothing and jewelry, I tried on and purchased the most pretty dress, and then we went to the food court.", Charlene exposited.
"You bought stuff?! With what money?!", Brittany started to freak out.
"I used the currency that was stored inside of this.", Charlene answered as she pulled out Brittany's wallet.
Brittany snatched the wallet out of Charlene's hand and opened it. Only to be shocked that it was devoid of money.
"CHARLENEEE!", Brittany yelled upward.
The End