Lloyd led the way
through the school’s halls, wearing something faintly resembling a smile. He’d managed to garner a win -- albeit a
slight one -- out of what could have been a much messier situation. He’d taken a stand against Gaston, saved his
brother, won over his nemesis’ henchwoman, and managed to do it all without a
single shotgun blast to the face. He’d
earned the right to strut a bit (and indeed, his lively steps reflected
that). He had every reason to show a bit
of cheer.
A shame that he had two
professional killjoys in his party.
“So let me see if I got
this right,” said Mrs. Overdose, lugging JP around on one shoulder like a
rolled-up rug (and stepping over a splotch of spiders). “You say you’re gonna be my servant, but I’m
the one who ends up carryin’ your kid brother around?”
Lloyd turned back
toward her and nodded. “Truth be told,
you are considerably stronger than I.
It’s only natural that I leave him in your capable hands; I’d assume
that even his slight weight would be enough to rip my arms from their sockets.”
“Oh, don’t talk to me about crap days,” Mrs. Overdose
snapped.
“You should listen to
her, JP; she has seniority over you, after all.” Lloyd clapped his hands a few times. “The two of you can converse all you want
when we return home! You are of a
similar mindset, so I imagine you can whittle each night down to mere moments,
discussing matters of money and cynicism and general mistreatment of yours
truly!”
Mrs. Overdose shot an
eye toward JP, with an eyebrow raised.
“You like money?”
“I do. I’ve been looking into making some
investments, and trying my hand at the stock market. If I play my cards right, I may be able to
walk away with some serious funds after this.”
“Huh. You’re all right, JP.”
Lloyd’s eyes nearly
shot out of his head. “L-Lady
Overdose! You actually used someone’s
name for once! Does that mean you’ll
begin using mine as we-”
A quick point of the
shotgun gave her answer.
“Ah, my heart…how you
bruise it so…!” Lloyd moaned, rubbing his face with a forearm. But he set the notion aside and turned back
toward her. “In any case, I trust
lodgings in our house will be enough to satisfy you? Our home is small, but the warmth it exudes
should be more than enough to --”
Mrs. Overdose cocked
her head and scowled. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,
kid. Just ‘cause I’m on your side -- kind of on your side -- doesn’t mean I’m
about to start livin’ with you. I don’t
know if you noticed, but you have a real bad habit of gettin’ me all riled
up. Not good for me to get so stressed
out all the time. Besides, I’m already
stayin’ at a motel on the edge of town, so I got a place of my own.”
“Ah. Fair enough…but if you come and stay with us,
we won’t charge you room and board.”
“Ever?”
“Ever. And you can stay as long as you want.”
Mrs. Overdose nodded
slightly, lips shifting as she considered the idea -- and as she did, JP
started wriggling in her grasp. “Does
anybody care what I think?” he asked.
“Because as the sole voice of reason in my family, I have to say this is
a stupid-ass idea.”
“Was that the case with
Miss Walters?”
“Of course it wa-” JP
suddenly stopped wriggling, and glanced aside with a slight pout. “I mean, yeah, the circumstances are a little
different, but you get the idea.”
“Right. Then there are no objections.”
“I’ve got a hell of a
lot of objections!”
“Then we’ll discuss
them in earnest once we return home.
Once we’ve reached a safe haven, we should be able to decide what to do
with your new comrade.” Lloyd winked at
Mrs. Overdose. “Though I suspect that
discussion won’t last long.”
JP groaned softly, and
Mrs. Overdose just gave him a cool shrug; with no more outbursts, Lloyd nodded
and continued leading the group down the hall.
“Dad and Miss Walters are awaiting our return outside. If fortune is on our side, we should be able
to --”
“Wait,” said JP. “There’s something that’s been bothering me.”
Lloyd and Mrs. Overdose
stopped. “You mean besides the fact that
we’ve yet to even attempt untying you?” he asked.
“No, I’ve pretty much
accepted that because I know you’re a braying jackass of a brother. I’m talking about Gaston.” JP’s brow tightened. “If we’re going to stop him -- or anyone, at
least -- we need to figure out how his powers work…and what we can do to stop them.
Even if he’s as dangerous as we think he is, he’s got to have some kind
of weakness. Some kind of condition to
his powers.”
“A good point. As far as I know, his power is twofold:
illusion and hypnosis. By confusing the
senses and afflicting the mind, he can have anyone act as he wishes…provided of
course that they’re indoors. And by the
sound of things, he can induce mass hypnosis based on the same principle.”
JP nodded. “Illusion and hypnosis…if that’s it, then
maybe there’s a way to beat him without even touching him.” He looked left and right through the
hall. “Ah, there it is. Lloyd, go pull
that fire alarm.”
“Eh? But I’ll get in trouble! I may even be -- oh, right.” Lloyd trotted over to the alarm, a red lever
that had gathered a slight coat of dust.
“May I ask your reasoning?”
“Gaston uses his powers
to screw with people’s senses, right? If
that’s the case, then maybe there’s a hidden characteristic to them. If he’s influencing people, he has to give
their bodies and minds certain orders.
Orders that he broadcasts, and his targets carry out. But what if there was a way to scramble that
order, or remove it completely?”
“…Ah, I see, I
see!” Lloyd clapped a fist atop his
palm. “The sound of the school’s fire
alarm should be loud enough and shocking enough to distort Gaston’s
orders! And if this works, then we’ll
not only be able to prevent harm to the student body…”
“We’ll have our first
weapon against this guy.”
Mrs. Overdose
sighed. “And here I was, thinkin’ that
you two kids would be the loudest thing I heard all day.”
“You mean besides your
shotgun blast, right?” JP asked.
“Please. You hang around guns long enough, you get
used to it.” She nodded at Lloyd. “Pull the alarm so we can get outta here and
see what’s up -- and maybe go home or somethin’. I could go for a nice foot rub after this
from my new servant. “
“Very well. Let the experiment begin.” Lloyd tugged the lever down.
Ka-KLAXON! Ka-KLAXON!
Ka-KLAXON!
“Yes! The alarm is blaring as planned!” Lloyd shouted
over the noise. And sure enough, only a
few seconds passed before doors throughout the halls flung open; murmurs and
laughs mixed with the heavy trudging of feet as the students and their teachers
appeared, making their way towards the nearest exits. “And it seems as if we’ve made it out of
harm’s way with several minutes to spare.
Come, comrades! The outside world
and its verdant fields await!”
Of course, Mrs.
Overdose had already left Lloyd behind.
And with the crowd of students approaching like a tidal wave, Lloyd
dashed after her as fast as his legs could carry him.
Not that he was in any
danger. With a few quick strides and a
fervent push, Lloyd made it through the door and onto the school’s front
sidewalk. Mrs. Overdose and JP had already
started crossing the street, and headed to the parking lot on the other side --
precisely where Patton and Trixie had taken residence. With a wave and a cheer, Lloyd sprinted
toward them, managing to cross just as the student body poured out of the building.
“Dad! Miss Walters!
Oh, it’s so good to see you again!”
He would have seized them in a hug if he hadn’t noticed the tension in
the air; though they showed him now scorn, the same couldn’t be said for the
gunwoman that stood before them. “Oh,
yes! I’m pleased to announce that we
have a new comrade to aid us in our quest for love and justice!”
A feral growl rumbled
in Patton’s throat. “You’re sure we can
trust her?” he asked, tugging JP off her shoulder and slinging him onto his
own. “You know what I always told you --
old ladies are a lot nastier than they let on.”
“And it’s real nice to
see that she’s still tuggin’ round that gun o’ hers,” Trixie added.
“Look, I didn’t have to
come along OR bring your boys back safe and sound,” said Mrs. Overdose. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a
reed, and stuck it in her mouth. “You
don’t want me around, I’m gone. But your
boy here’d be real heartbroken if I packed up and left.”
Lloyd nodded
rapidly. “I would, I would!”
“I know, kid. And I’m gonna try and avoid that if I can…even
if it means doin’ somethin’ as stupid
as hangin’ around with you and the rest of the goof troop.”
Patton’s hair bristled,
but in the end he managed a slight nod.
“We’ll hear her out once we get back home. Till then, I’ll keep a real close eye on
her.” He looked down at her, his lip
parting a bit to reveal a snarl. “A real close eye.”
Trixie nodded in
agreement, and then pointed at the rows of students in front of the
school. “So what’s all that about, pal?”
“An experiment, so to
speak,” said Lloyd. “Gaston may have the
entire student body under his spell, but if this effort proves effective, we
may be able to dispel it. A boon to our
future endeavors, if there ever was one.”
He stroked his chin. “And I
suppose if we keep them outside long enough, eventually the effect will wear
off entirely.”
“Is it really gonna
work?”
“We’ll know soon
enough.”
“Anybody feel like
untying me in the meantime?” JP asked -- a request that went unheeded.
Mrs. Overdose shifted
the reed between her lips. “Think it’s
about that time, kid. If they’re gonna
head in there and throw down, they’d be movin’ right about now.”
Lloyd eyed the crowd --
other than some general swaying and fidgeting, they held their ground. Only the teachers (and a certain incensed
principal screaming about his ruined nap) seemed to dart about with any sense
of urgency. “They’re staying put. They’re actually staying put! Look at them -- they’ve refused Gaston’s call
to arms!”
“I dunno what yer
talkin’ about, pal,” Trixie muttered while rubbing the back of her neck. “But I’m guessin’ it’s a good thing.”
“Guess? Miss Walters, there’s no need to guess!” Lloyd cast a hand toward the crowd. “Now we know that Gaston’s powers aren’t as
ironclad as they once seemed! With this,
we can take one more step towards --”
“Hey, everybody! Let’s go in the auditorium and fight for an
hour!”
“Yeah!”
Lloyd froze in place.
“Yeah! Yeah!”
“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
“Yeah! Wait, why?”
A long pause from the
crowd.
“…Because that guy said
we should fight!”
“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” And with that, the students started marching
back into the building, stomping over the teachers in their path. Some of them couldn’t even wait to start
wailing on each other before re-entering.
That just left Lloyd
standing in place, smiling and gesturing toward a near-empty expanse of the
school.
Mrs. Overdose scratched
her crown. “Guess I’ll go pull my car
around,” she grumbled. “And before any
of you ask, my shotgun’s got shotgun.”
*
“Can you hear
that? Such beautiful music, is it not?”
Gaston raised his phone
from the ground -- from the roof of the school -- and slid once more into the
shadows cast by its doorway. “Ah, much
more sonorous than I expected; truly, L. Bernstein’s auditorium has some
fantastic acoustics…ku fu fu…”
He pressed the phone
against his ear -- or at least where his ear should have been -- and crossed
his arms. “Oh? You would doubt my efforts now?” he asked,
leaning against the doorway. “Surely
you’ve more reason to put your faith in me than ever before. I have succeeded in everything I set out to
do today -- for your benefit of course, but for mine as well. And such entertainment to be had! Truly, I have done us both, and this town, a
service!”
He tapped a finger
against the phone. “I assure you, it is
of no consequence. If he wants to try
and discover my faults, I say let him try; by the time he succeeds…IF he succeeds…it
will already be too late. Everything is
going as we discussed. The town is
slowly but surely coming under my spell.
Those that would rebel against me are quickly becoming aware of their
limitations. And most of all…”
He couldn’t help but
chuckle. “The development of the
Normal-Abnormal is proceeding just as predicted. So long as stimuli are provided, ‘tis but a
matter of time until the ultimate weapon is fully prepared. And I trust I’ve no need to remind you of
what happens when it is, correct?”
Another chuckle. “Well, well…I suppose that’s to be expected
from one of your pedigree. Now then, I
trust my progress report is satisfactory?
It is? My, such a relief to hear
-- I had hoped to meet your high standards; so much so that I was very nearly
paralyzed with fear. Ku fu fu…well then,
if there is nothing more you need of me, I shall bid thee farewell.”
Gaston brought the call
to an end. “Yes…everything is going
according to plan.”
TO BE HEARTINUED…
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