A Day at Mato Land

Most of the gang decides to go to an amusement park designed for Mato, and fun is generally had. However, something or some shadowy someone has dark, hypnotic plans unfolding at Mato Land.


Late at night, in the Mato residence...
“Dawn?”
“Yes, Sarah?”
“I can’t believe we’re doing this.”
“I told you it’d be fun.”
“Are you sure we’re doing this the right way?”
“Don’t worry, I’ve done this with plenty of women before.”
“With their willing consent, I hope.”
“Hehe, whatever.  Now, if you can just move your hand a little to the left.”
“Okay.  Man, this is so good.”
“Yeah, it is.  Wow, I never knew you were so flexible.”
“Being a cop and a cyborg helps.  But you, I never knew you could do that with your legs.”
“Thanks.  Oh, and, since your head is down there, please be careful about those earblades.”
“Sure.  Okay, I’ve got one finger in place.  Is that enough?”
“No, but three should be good.”
“Like that?”
“Oh, yeah.  That’s perfect.  Are you sure this is your first time?”
“Yes, unless someone hypnotized me into doing it before.”
“Believe me, I’d remember if I did that to you.  Now, back to business.  My hand in the right place?”
“No, it’s a bit high.  Try a little lower.”
“Here?”
“No, a little lower and to the right... Oh, yeah, that’s the spot.”
“Glad to do my part.”
“And now to do mine.  Here I go....”
“Is something wrong?”
“Your tail’s in the way.  Okay, you’re good.  Haha, it tickles.”
“Seems we’re on a roll.  Are you sure you want to continue?”
“Yes.  Let’s take it to the next level!”
At those words, an electronic voice said, “Right foot, green.”  Sarah and Dawn were playing a game similar to Twister, in which the playmat was smaller, the circles were randomly distributed, and there were more colors.  Both of the girls were drunk.  They were also both down to their underwear, and their bodies were more entangled than a Twizzler.
After trying and failing to move her foot to a green cirlce, both girls collapsed onto each other and started laughing.  Then they both passed out.
****************
Sarah woke up the next morning in her bed, along with a killer headache and troubled stomache.
“Uh, what happened last night?” she muttered.  She vaguely recalled Dawn, so, against her better judgement, she decided to go see her for any answers she could provide about the previous night.
After getting dressed, she quietly made her way to Dawn’s room and knocked on the door.  No one answered, so she peaked inside.  Dawn was passed out in her bed.  Sarah walked over and shook her awake.
Only half awake, Dawn turned on her side and covered her face in her blanket.  “Go away, or I’ll make you want to be in Mato’s experiments,” she sleepily warned.
Sarah was not one to be deterred.  “Get up!”
Reluctantly, Dawn sat up.  She held her head.  “Be quiet!  My head is pounding.”
“Mine, too.  What happened last night?”
They both took a moment to try and recollect their thoughts.  “Let’s see,” Dawn said.  “I think I decided to go out for a night on the town.”
“And I did, too.”
Little by little, they reconstructed the evening.  By sheer coincidence, they had ended up at the same bar.  They ran into each other, but not before they had had a few drinks each.  They were so tipsy that they became very friendly, and when a cab had dropped them off back home, they played Entanglement...
“In our underwear,” Sarah finished, thoroughly depressed.  “You wear underwear?” she asked.
“Sometimes,” Dawn replied teasingly.
“Is there anyway I can guarentee that you’ll never speak of this again?”
“I’ll think of something.”
On their way to breakfest, Dawn realized something.  “Hold on a minute.  If we were both passed out, how did we get to bed?”
Before Sarah could respond, Lucia rounded a corner and said, “Hello, friends.  What was that game you were playing last night?”
Sarah stopped cold.  “You mean, you saw...?”
“The two of you in your underwear and sleeping on each other?  Oh, yes.  It was very reminiscent of Dawn’s DVD collection.  I had gone to get a snack and found the two of you like that, so I tucked you both into your beds.”
“Uh, thanks.  Have you told anyone else?”
“Oh, no.”  Sarah sighed in relief.  “I didn’t have to.  Everyone is watching the security footage in the lab.”
“NO!”  *At lightning speed, Sarah rushes out of the room, leaving a trail of smoke.*  Dawn, not embarrassed at all, just smirks, and she and Lucia walk after her.
Sarah arrived just in time to see the gang watching the final part of the video, where she and Dawn collapsed and passed out.  “AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!”
*Jessica turned to Sarah and smiled teasingly, little devil horns on her head.*  “I always knew you two would make each other very happy.”
“We were drunk, okay!?!  We were drunk!” Sarah screamed.
Dawn and Lucia entered the lab.  Dawn was not bothered in the least.  “So, everyone knows now?”
“Not everyone,” Mina said.  “Yuta and Diana are with Fawn on one of her concert tours.”
“That’s something, I guess,” the humiliated Sarah mumbled.  “So, you’re sure they haven’t seen it?”
“If they haven’t,” Mato said, turning away from a computer, “they will soon.  I just emailed them a copy of the footage, and I put another copy up on-line.”
Ten seconds later.....
Sarah had torn up half the lab, and had finally calmed down a bit.  “WHY!?”
“Because I can.”
Realizing that there was nothing that could be done now, Sarah just took a seat.
“While you’re all here,” Mato said, “I have some good news.  My amusement park just opened.”
“Your amusement park?” Jen asked.
“Yes, mine.  It’s called Mato Land.”
“How did you ever come up with such a clever name?” Jake sarcastically asked.
“Well, since my name is...”
“Honestly, why is sarcasm lost on you people!?” Jake yelled.
“Why did you open an amusement park, sir?” Katia asked.
“Well, I needed some additional funding, and my calculations showed that such a venture would become quite profitable very quickly.  I designed the whole park myself.”
“But if you were short on funds in the first place, how could you afford to build such a thing?” Mina inquired.
“Well, while I was scouting the abandoned warehouse district by the harbors for a good building site, I found a huge pile of abandoned, unclaimed money.  It was just enough to cover the costs.”
Dawn froze, a dread building up in her stomach.  Staring at the professor, she closed her fists.  “Where exactly did you find that money?” she asked through clenched teeth.
Mato walked over to one of the lab’s consoles.  “Let me check my records...  here it is.  It was in Section 9, warehouse number 2032.”
“THAT WAS MY MONEY, YOU THIEVING BASTARD!!!”  Dawn opened her fists and her nails grew thrice as long and sharp.  Then, screaming like a bat out of hell, she dove at Mato, hands reaching for his throat.
“Yipes!”  With only seconds left to live, Mato grabbed his remote control, and pressed the button labeled ‘Crazed Succubus Out For Revenge’.  With Dawn just a meter away, a TV screen suddenly rose up from the floor in front of Mato, forcing Dawn to stop.  Randomly alternating colors started appearing on the screen, like two ripples in a pond side by side.  Dawn stared at the screen, and her pupils shrank to nothing, the whites of her eyes perfectly mirroring the color patterns.  She was so entranced that she even smiled.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Mato used the remote, and the TV retracted into the floor.  But even without the screen, Dawn was still smiling, her eyes still a color fest.  “Now, Dawn, you are okay with the fact that I found and spent your money, aren’t you?”
“Yes, professor,” she replied sleepily.
“Now, strip down and get inside this tube so I can run some OW!!”  Mato was on the floor, Jen having teleported right in front of and slugged him.  Katia and Jessica were restraining Dawn from undressing herself.  “I mean, wake up.”
Dawn blinked, her eyes returned to normal, and she yawned.  “So, what makes this park so special?” she asked.
Mato got up off the floor.  “Well, first, it possesses a wonderful security system..  Instead of requiring guards to keep people off rides and out of attractions they shouldn’t have access to, people just need to swipe their ID cards past a scanner, and the main computer will determine whether or not to let them through.”
“Wouldn’t that cause incredibly long-waiting lines?” Jake pointed out.
“Oh, no.  It’s been tested and works perfectly.  I’d tell you more about the park, but I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprises.  Why don’t you all go and try it out?”
Since they had nothing better to do, everyone decided that they might as well go.  “Aren’t you coming?” Mina asked Mato.
“Too busy, sorry.  But don’t worry, you’ll be fine.  Here, Jake.”  Mato handed him some kind of book.  “It’s a guidebook to Mato Land, made just for you.”  And so, Jake, Lucia, Katia, Dawn, Sarah, Jessica, Mina and Jen left the lab.  Mato called after them, “I promise you all will have fun!  I designed rides and games for each of you!”  And with that, Mato returned to his investigation of what animal in nature blinks the most each day.
*************
In the Mato Land control and security room, a figure, shrouded in shadows, spoke to the personnel at the control consoles.  “Is everything ready?” a female voice asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” a man responded.  “We’ve made the connections with the ID scanners and the main computer.  The traps will only spring on people meeting the criteria you set.”
“Excellent.”  The woman watched the monitors as the entrance lines started to build up.  “I hope you have fun at Mato Land.  For some of you, it will be the last you ever remember.”
*************
It was midmorning by the time Jake and the girls arrived at Mato Land.  After they had parked in Lot I Am A Genius, they headed to the front entrance.  Jake was occassionaly glancing at the guidebook Mato had given him.
When they reached the front entrance, they discovered that the crowd waiting to get in was HUGE.  Hundreds, maybe thousands of people, of all ages and species.  The park itself was humungous.  There were rollar coasters that seemed to stretch as tall as skyscrappers, multi-leveled arcade buildings, shops, etc.  The park spanned a distance farther than they eye could see.
Mina eyed the crowd and groaned.  “It’ll be graduation day before we get in.”
Dawn turned to Jake and smiled hopefully.  “If you’ll just let me use a few of my talents, I could clear a way for us,” she asked.
“No, Dawn,” Jake replied simply.  “I think we have another way in.  According to the guidebook, any of us can enter for half price through the VIP entrance.”
“That’s wonderful!” Lucia cried.  “Where is it?  I can’t wait to try out the ID card the professor got me.”
Jake pointed straight down at a manhole.  “Through there and a couple hundred meters north.”
“That’s disgusting!” Jen exclaimed.
Sarah pointed out that it actually made sense; given how popular the park seemed to be, hiding the VIP entrance was a good idea.
Ten minutes later, the group emerged from the surprisingly clean sewer system into a security office.  After the guards, who were wearing park themed lab coats, had finished checking out their identities, they were allowed into the park.
Mato Land was even more impressive on the inside than the outside.  Theme characters, mostly scientist-like, were everywhere.  There were plenty of friendly looking guards to make everyone feel safe.  Food was for sale all over.  And the rides and games, everything just looked like so much fun!
After checking out a map board, everyone had places they wanted to go.  “Princess Fairy Land!”  “The Oni and Ghoul Haunted House!”  “Wizard’s Realm!”
“Girls!  Girls!” Jake yelled at the top of his lungs, trying to get them to calm down.  When that didn’t work, he pulled out his pendant and held it in plain sight.  The threat it posed quieted them down, and he put it away.  “Why don’t we all just split up, go do what we want, and meet up at the entrance at a time we all agree on?”
All of the girls agreed, except for Katia.  “No, beloved!  I insist that the two of us stay together and do everything as a couple.  After we spend the first 9/10 of the day doing what I want, then we can get to what you want to...”  She trailed off as her eyes started to glaze.
Jake had pulled out his pendant again and was swinging it in front of Katia’s eyes.  “That sounds like a lot of work, Katia.  A fast elf like you, having to restrain your speed to keep up with a slow human like me.  That doesn’t sound like fun, does it?”
“No, master,” she agreed, yawning.
“You’d like to stick to my plan and split up, right?”
“Yes, master.”
“Good.  But before you do, why don’t you undress a little and-“  Sarah covered Jake’s mouth with her hand.
“There are kids here!” she hissed.
Reluctantly and sadly, Jake woke Katia up, and the group separated and went their own ways.
**************
“Ma’am?”
The woman in shadows turned to the personnel man.  “Yes?  What is it?”
The man started pressing buttons on his console.  “You asked to be notified if certain individuals entered the park.  The main computer has just notified us that these people have gained entrance.”  On the security screens close-ups of Jake and the girls were shown.
The figure smiled ruefully.  “I didn’t expect them to show up so soon.  But that doesn’t mean I’m not prepared.  Concentrate your efforts on these girls, one at a time.  I don’t want any screw-ups, understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the personnel men responded.
“What about the boy?” one of them asked.
The figure pulled out a portable phone.  “Don’t worry.  Leave him to me.”
**************
Mato Land was the biggest amusement park Jen had ever seen in all her years.  There were many different types of rides, games, foods, etc.  It was hard for her to decide where to start.
“Let’s see,” she wondered aloud.  “Mato said he had designed rides for each of us, so I might as well work my way there.  But what would he design for me?”  She checked out a stationary map station, looking over the various entertainment areas.  One caught her interest.  It was an attraction shaped like an oil lamp, and it was labeled ‘A Magic Lamp Ride.’  Jen laughed.  “If that’s not for me, then Dawn’s straight.”  Raising her arm, she snapped her fingers, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
**************
Meanwhile, Mina was enjoying herself in Wizard’s Realm.  There, she was provided with multiple, disposable targets for her to practice her arts on.  For each target destroyed, she received points.  Despite her usual tendencies to cast the wrong spells, she still succeeded in destroying her targets.
**************
Dawn had headed straight for the for the Oni and Ghoul Haunted House.  Along the way, she saw many, many potential victims to hypnotize and drain.  However, Jake had hypnotized her during the ride to the park so that she wouldn’t be able to drain anyone for the rest of the day.  Area 9, which was where the haunted house was located, was an artifical environment within a large dome.  This enabled the environment to be dark and spooky.  Dawn watched with amusement as she saw several little children try to use their ID cards to enter the dome, but were denied entry.  Smirking at them, she used her card and was allowed entry.  Laughing at the children, she started to enter, but then got hit by a glob of peanut butter ice cream in her hair.  She turned in a fury back towards the children, but they were already running off, laughing and calling her names.
“I wonder if I can get away with infanticide,” she grumbled, then entered the dome.
Dawn was very pleased with what she saw.  The entire area was straight out of an old horror movie.  The sky was black, lit only by moonlight and a few spooky-looking lamps.  There were tombstones abound, along with exposed coffins.  There were multiple park personnel dressed as vampires, zombies, and werewolves handing out pamphlets and candies and acting as guides.  And, on a large hill, was the centerpiece, the Oni and Ghoul Haunted House, which Dawn headed straight towards.
The line to get through the front door was long, but moving along swiftly.  Within just a few minutes, Dawn was inside.  She had several options to choose from.  She could either go to Mato’s Mutants on Display, Sea Serpents of the Deep, the Stairway to Hades, etc.  She decided to go on what looked like a mini-rollar coaster, entitled The Undead Come Alive.
It seemed only adults could get on this ride.  Several teenage couples tried, but their cards were refused.  Dawn used her card and entered through the gate.  The rollar coaster appeared to be designed like a bunch of coffins strung together, with one person per coffin.  Dawn was ushered towards the back coffin by the automated systems, despite their being some openings towards the front, and the ride was off.
The ride was slow, but intensley spooky.  Canine howls.  Zombies moaning.  Awesome special effects were abound.  When a spider dropped from a trap door in the ceiling and dangled right in front of her face, Dawn actually screamed.  When she recovered, she was glad none of the housemates had seen her.
Not too long into the ride, the coaster entered a dark tunnel.  When she emerged from it, Dawn realized that there were no coffins in front of her.  She had been separated from the others.  A few seconds later, the coaster came to a halt in a graveyard setting, deserted except for a single vampire.
Dawn emerged from the cart and asked the vampire, “What’s going on?”
The vampire was covering his face with his cape.  “Congratulations, Dawn.  You have been randomly selected to participate in a side game.  Your car was separated from the coaster and sent here through a different rail line.  You are the first to participate in this game.”
Dawn glared at him.  “Suck me, you creep.  I don’t want to play some stupid game.  Send me back, now.”
“There is a vonderful cash prize if you vin.”
Dawn had a sudden change of heart.  “So, how do I play?”
The vampire pointed behind her.  She turned, and saw multiple coffins emerge vertically from the ground.  They opened, and out poured hoards of robotic zombies and vampires and undead samurai.  “The goal,” the vampire continued, “is to not be taken by the ghouls.  Use vhatever means you desire.”
Dawn cracked her knuckles in anticipation.  “You’re going to regret giving me that option.”  She dove at the mechanical creatures, tearing through them with ease with her immense succubus strength.
Two mechanical zombies moved her way as Dawn flipped up on top of one using the other as booster, kicking that one into a tree and tearing the head off of the one she was flipping over.  “Aww, he lost his head,” she sighed.  Then, in one smooth motion, she turned and, using the zombie’s head as a bowling ball, rolled it along the ground, tripping up 3 other zombies.  “STRIKE!” she yelled.
However, while she was distracted by her opponents, the vampire snuck up behind her and bit into her neck.  Artifical fangs introduced a special serum into her system.
“What, what happened?” Dawn murmured, everything starting to fade.
“Simple,” the vampire replied.  “You lost.”  Dawn slipped into unconciousness and was placed back in the cart.  The cart then carried her off to an unknown destination.
**************
Jessica had easily found the game that Mato had designed with her in mind.  Being that she was a soldier, she checked the map for anything to do with combat.  Thanks to the map, she was now in line for laser tag.  The building in which the laser tag game was set up in was quite large.  It was so big that up to half a dozen or more different games could be held at one time.  The signs advertised the game as having a feel that was quite close to real combat.  Jessica couldn’t wait to try it out.  Unfortunately, the line was quite long, and slow moving.
Twenty minutes into her wait, one of the park workers, who was dressed in fake combat gear, approached her.  “Are you Jessica Chabers?” he asked.
She nodded.  “Yes.  May I ask what this is about?”
The man checked a clipboard he had.  “According to our main computer, you are an actual soldier.  As such, you have been selected to participate in a special version of this game.  You would be up against eleven other people in single shot elimination.  They are also trained combatants.  If you win, you will be presented with an authentic Mato Land gun model.  Are you interested?”
“Do I get to play right away?”
“Yes.”
“I’m in.”
“Good.  If you’ll just follow me.”  As he led her to a door separate from the others, he told her, “By the way, anyone shot by an opponents gun will receive an unpleasant electric shock.  Does that bother you?”
“Nope.”
Five minutes later, Jessica was the only one left standing in the holographic battle field.  The other eleven players had all been taken out.  By Jessica.
The worker who had let her into the game approached her, a weird looking laser rifle in his hands.  “Congratulations!  I’m sure your record won’t be beaten for years to come!”
Jessica blushed.  “It was nothing.”  She eyed the rifle he held.  “Is that my reward?” she asked.
“Yes.”  The man quickly pointed the rifle at her and pulled the trigger.  A red laser shot out from the rifle and struck Jessica right in the forehead.  Her mind emptied of all thoughts and she collapsed to the ground.
The man looked down at her.  “Can you hear me?”
“Yes,” came the monotone reply.
“Will you do as you are told?”
“Yes.  I will obey.”
“Stand up and follow me.”
**************
Sarah was trying to have fun, she really was.  But it was difficult, considering the humiliation she was feeling over the whole Entanglement in her underwear with Dawn thing.  If she handled the situation incorrectly, it could destroy the image she had tried to built for herself over her career.  She was trying to let some steam out at a shooter gallery.  She was holding a pistol that was wired into the system and wearing a pair of VR goggles.  The goggles allowed her to see simulated return fire from her targets.  She started at level one, which used illustrations of armed criminals as targets.  Her gallery was isolated from the others and she was alone.
She was doing very well.  She was raking in the points, and when the level 1 was over, she had a near perfect score.
“Congratulations,” a computerized voice told her.  “You have completed level 1.  There will be special targets in level 2.  Please select design of special targets.”  Sarah saw the alphabet being displayed.
Sarah smiled.  She knew exactly what kind of target she wanted.  Using the gun, she shot the letter S, then scrolled down until she found Succubus, which she selected.
The level 2 area was designed to look like a laboratory that had suffered riot damage.  “Warning,” a voice said.  “The mutants and demons have broken loose.  Use any means necessary to stop them.”
After a minute of blasting humanoid fish monsters and minotaurs, Sarah saw the target she was looking for.  It was a succubus, whose illustration resembled Dawn by a surprising amount.  Aiming carefully, she pulled the trigger.  The succubus disappeared.
As soon as the target was destroyed, a light from the goggles entered Sarah’s eyes, and she felt some kind of weird jolt throughout her body.  It was an incredibly wonderful feeling which left her dazed.
“What... was that?” she murmured.
“Your reward,” the computer voice responded.  “Destroying the special targets gives the gamer physical pleasure.  Would you like to continue playing the game?”
Sarah nodded eagerly.  “Yes, yes.”  She raised her gun and kept blasting away.  Her attention was now focused on the special targets.  Everytime she destroyed a succubus, she received another jolt, each better than the one before.  It was becoming harder and harder to think.  All she knew was that she had to do whatever it took to keep feeling like this.  It was the best she had ever felt in her life.
The game screen went blank.  “What?” was all Sarah could manage to say.
“The level is over,” the computer voice said.  “Would you like to continue feeling the way you do now?”
“Yes.  Will do anything.”
“Excellent.  Take off your goggles and put the gun back.”  Sarah did as she was told.  As soon as she did, a the square section of floor she was standing on started to descend to a lower level, carrying the very dazed and compliant law officer with it.
**************
All over the park, dozens of men and women whose disappearence would not be noticed, at least not immediately, were falling victim to similar hypnosis traps and were being directed to one location.
**************
The mysterious woman back in the control room was observing the fruits of her labor.  She laughed.  “Excellent.  The higher ups will be very pleased with the results we are obtaining.”
Suddenly – “Emergency!  Emergency!”  The automatic park system was blaring over the loudspeakers.  “We have a Code Purple in Sector 5!  Repeat!  Code Purple in Sector 5!  Please dispatch emergency support teams immediately!”
Undisturbed but curious, the woman turned to one of the personnel men.  “Code Purple?  What’s that?”
The man started scrolling through his monitor.  “Let’s see... Code Blue, Code Brown, Code Green, ah, here we go, Code Purple.  ‘A Code Purple is any situation that...’”
**************
Right now, Jake was just wandering around the park.  He had sampled many of the rides and other attractions, and he had to admit that is was better than any theme park he had been to back home.  Chewing on some cotton candy, he was searching for the attraction that the Mato would have designed for him.
As he was walking around, he heard tidbits of conversations.  “Where did she go?”  “You mean he’s disappeared?”  “You lost track of ‘em where?”  “Ah, don’t worry, they’re just lost.  We can meet up with them later.”  Paying them no mind, he kept walking.
As he was passing through Sector 5, he heard yelling coming from Wizard’s Realm.  Curious, he ran over, and saw Mina yelling at some park workers.  The only thing he was able to hear was her screaming, “Jerks!”
Mina turned around and saw Jake waving at her, so she went over to him.  “Hi, Jake.  How are you doing?”
“I’m great.  This place is fantastic.  How are you?”
Mina glanced over her shoulder at Wizard’s Realm.  “There was an... incident.  By the way, what does Code Purple mean?”
Finishing off the rest of his cotton candy and cleaning his hands on a nearby moist towellete, Jake pulled out his handy-dandy Mato Land guidebook and looked through the glossary.
“Let’s see...  Code Orange means fire, Code Pink means activists, Code Brown means sewer mutants...  Ah!  Here we go.  ‘Code Purple refers to any situation involving Mina.’”
“It does not say that!” Mina yelled furiously, snatching the book from Jake and looking through it.  After a minute, she lowered the book, revealing her upset expression.  “It does say that,” she grumbled, handing the book back.
Jake put the book away.  “So, what happened?”
Mina, upset, gave him a brief recount of the situation.  Apparently, her magic had gotten out of hand, and fire had spread throughout much of the attraction, and now she was given a life time ban from Wizard’s Realm.
Jake patted her on the shoulder.  “Hey, don’t worry.  I’m sure Mato can help you.”
Mina brightened up.  “You’re right.  Thanks.  I’ll see you later.”  The two of them split up.
When he was a sufficient distance away from her, Jake said, “Too bad he can’t improve your spell-casting.  Now, what would Mato design with me in...”  He trailed off, seeing a large sign with two women in swimsuits.  The sign identified the attraction as Bikini Land, and entry was prohibited for those under 21 who weren’t Jake Mato.  Jake gave a yelp of joy.  “Thank you, old man!”
**************
Lucia decided to spend her time in the Kiddy Zone with the children, the most innocent and pure of all beings.  Though all of the rides and games were designed with children in mind, all of the rides also had one or two vehicles or carts that were adult sized in case parents wanted to keep close to their children.
Her attitude and behavior was quite comparable to the excited children.  She even had the same reaction the children did when the ice cream vendor came around the corner, running straight for the cart, screaming excitedly.  She was so thrilled that she even picked up two of the children and carried them to the cart.
After going on the Rollar Coaster Through the Clouds and Star Light Train Express, Lucia decided to next try out the flying bumper cars.  Each car flew, obviously, within a constrained space, and all of the cars had a dome in order to protect the driver.
After waiting her turn in line, Lucia got into one of the only two flying cars that were designed for someone of her stature.  As soon as all the riders were in place, everyone was off.
Though Lucia was familiar with the feeling of soaring through the air, it was much more fun this time because there were so many others with her, laughing and having fun as well.  She took delight in other peoples happiness.
After bumping into a few of the other cars, her wheel suddenly jerked free of her control and started steering on its own.
Before Lucia could investigate what was wrong, a voice spoke through the car.  “I’m sorry, but it appears that there is an error with your craft, so the auto-pilot has taken over.”
Always helpful, Lucia asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Possibly,” the voice responded.  “If you could just stare at the center of the wheel while I talk you through the procedure, that would be most appreciated.”
Complying, Lucia stared at the center of the wheel, which had a blank circular screen.  After a moment, a black circle appeared on the screen.  The black circle then appeared to begin to spin.  In a few seconds, the black circle had transformed into a black and white spiral that was captivating Lucia’s gaze.
“I think I have discovered the problem,” the voice said.  “Would you still like to help?”
“Yes,” Lucia weakly replied.
“The problem seems to be in the center of the spiral in front of you.  If you can just find the center, everything should be fixed.”
Trying to help, Lucia stared even deeper into the spiral, trying to find its center.  But it was so hard, the spiral kept spinning.  And spinning.  And spinning.  And spinning.  No matter how hard she tried, no matter how long she stared, Lucia couldn’t find the center of the spiral.  If someone had been in the car with her, they would have seen her eyes transform into unblinking, spinning spirals.
Unaware of the passage of time, Lucia didn’t notice the ride end.  All of the children exited the cars and left the ride.  Lucia just kept trying to find the center of the spiral.  The computer system told the waiting line of children that the ride would require maintenance for the next ten minutes, so everyone left.
Now that she was all alone, the spiral on Lucia’s steering wheel disappeared, and the dome opened, giving her an exit.  But, even though the spiral on the wheel was gone, the angel kept seeing the spirals in her eyes.  And still, she couldn’t find the center.
“Pardon me?” the voice spoke again.
“I’m trying,” Lucia said.  “I’m trying to find the center, but I can’t.”
“That is quite alright.  I can tell you where to go to find the center.  Will you follow my instructions?”
“Yes.  Just help me, find the center.”
“I want you to exit the vehicle and proceed to the following area.”
**************
Back in the control room, the mysterious female was rapidly entering numbers into a calculator.  She was not pleased.  “That stupid girl.  Does she have any idea how much damage she caused?!  Good thing I’m not picking up the bill.”  She turned to her lackies.  “How are we doing?”
“Ma’am, so far we have taken and stored in excess of 50 people, including 4 of the girls who accompanied Jake Mato.  No disappearences have been reported.  I would saw the system is working perfectly.”
That changed the woman’s attitude.  She grinned.  “Excellent.  Concentrate on taking the remaining 3 girls.  I don’t want to move against Jake until we have them indisposed of.  My superiors were quite adamant about not giving these people a chance to regroup.  Get the elf next.  She’ll be useful as either ransom or a political pawn.  And get the transportation ready.  I want to begin shipping out tonight after closing.”
**************
Being in Princess Fairy Land was a delightful experience for Katia.  Right now, she was riding on a pony (mechanical or real, she couldn’t tell) by herself, surrounded by wondrous things.  It was like taking a ride down a road from a fairy book.  To her left and to her right, creatures of all makes and sizes were running out of their houses, or trees, or holes in the groud, or giant shoes, and were hurrying their way over to her.  Every single creature, woodland and domestic, were bowing, waving, and yelling that they loved their beautiful princess.
It reminds me so much of home, Katia thought.  She just loved being adored and fawned over, even if her fans were artificial.
She raised her hand and waved at her adoring public while sobbing happily.  “Thank you, thank you, I love you all!” she called out as she rode down the path slowly, blowing a kiss or two.
After the pony had carried her out of Gum Drop Village, Katia was now proceeding through what appeared to be an enchanted green forest.  After witnessing all mannerisms of makes and marvels, the pony came to a fork in the road and stopped.
“I wonder which path I should take,” Katia wondered aloud.
There came a high pitched, girlish giggling from above.  Katia looked up to see a fairy, about the size of a small child, float down and hover in front of her.  The fairy had light green skin, wearing a dark green dress, with shining green hair flowing down to her shoulders.  Her wings were those of a butterfly, and she carried a wand with a gold star on top.
“Hello, Princess Katia,” the fairy asked in a delightful voice.  “How are you at this fine hour?”
Katia smiled.  “I’m quite fine, thank you.  And may I ask who you are?”
The fairy giggled.  “I’m the guide that leads people down the correct path.  I’m here to show you the right way.  But first, you have to do something for me.  Are you ready?”
Katia nodded.  “Yes, I am.”
“Good.”  The fairy floated up above Katia and started waving her wand.  From it, glittering green dust started descending and enveloping Katia.  “Just breath deep.”
Katia breathed deep, and was overcome with a sense of euphoria.
“This is just a little something to help you sleep,” the fairy told her.  “You see, to get to where you’re going, you need to be dreaming.  So, just let go and get some rest.”
Nodding, Katia leaned forward, nuzzled her head on the back of her pony’s neck, and fell promptly asleep.
The fairy giggled again.  “Gets them every time.”  Grabbing the pony by the reigns, the fairy guided the horse down the left path.
**************
Mina was still a bit depressed over the damage she had done in Wizard’s Realm.  She was at the moment eating some comfort food of chocolate and cotton candy.  She had tried out a few of the rides, but nothing seemed to be making her feel better.  Then a clown handed her a card.  The card read ‘Come to the Amazing Mr. Roboto’s Magic and Hypnotism Show!’  Mina checked the card further, and found that she just barely made the age requirement.  She felt that she might as well go.
A short time later, she was seated in the front row of an auditorium with a stage.  There were a few dozen other people in the audience.  Right on time, the curtain opened, and out stepped Mr. Roboto.  As his name suggested, he was mechanical, not organic.  He had a shiny metallic face that resembled a mold of a human man’s face.  He was dressed in an attire similar to what old stage magicians wore.  He had a top hat and a tuxedo.  The audience applauded, he bowed, and the show began.
His magic tricks were astounding.  He sawed a desk in half and then reattached the two halves without anyone figuring out how he did it.  He did disappearing acts, light shows, levitation, and many other tricks.  One of the bigger tricks involved him showing the audience the inside of his top hat.  Then he reached in and pulled out a huge 8 foot long tiger with bunny ears.  As the audience gasped, Mr. Roboto looked at them and shrugged, saying, “Sorry, my budget isn’t what it used to be; I have to make due with what I have.”  He then shoved the tiger/bunny back into the hat.  Mina and the rest of the audience were quite entertained.
As the show neared its end, Mr. Roboto spoke to the audience.  “You have all been a wonderful audience, and I’m sorry that the show must end.  But I’ve saved the best for last.  For my hypnotism bit, I will need a lovely young lady volunteer from the audience.”  Everyone who met the criteria raised their hands, including Mina.
Mr. Roboto surveyed the crowd, then pointed at Mina.  “How about you, ma’am?  Yes, you, with the violet hair.”  Delightedly, Mina rushed on stage.  “Now, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?”
Mina blushed and turned to the audience.  “Well, my name is Mina.  I’m from Yoto, I’m in the magic girl program at my school, and I think Mato Land is great.”  Everyone applauded.
“Thank you very much, Mina,” Mr. Roboto said.  He then pulled out an old, golden pocket watch with a chain from his suit.  “Now, for my last trick, I want you to focus on this watch as hard as you can.”  He started swinging the watch in front of her eyes.
Mina followed the watch with her eyes as it kept swinging back and forth, back and forth.  It was so pretty, the way it caught and reflected the spot lights.
“Watch the watch, watch the watch,” Mr. Roboto intoned.  “It is so relaxing to watch, is it not?”  Mina nodded.  “Just keep on following the watch with your eyes.  Keep the rythm.  Back and forth, back and forth.  Following the watch is so much fun, but it’s also tiring, isn’t it?”  Mina nodded again.  “With each swing of the watch, you grow more and more tired.  Each time it swings left and right, you’re eyes close a fraction more.”
It was true.  Mina was becoming more and more tired as she watched the watch.  But still, she kept her focus on the object.  Her eyelids kept loweing, little by litte, as the watch swung.  Within a minute, her eyes were completely shut.
“Very good,” Mr. Roboto continued, putting the watch away.  “You are now hypnotized, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” was Mina’s mindless reply.
“Excellent.  Will you do as you are told?”
“Yes sir.”
“Wonderful.  Now, I’m going to give you some instructions.”  He leaned next to her ear and started whispering some instructions.
Mina nodded when he finished.  He moved away a couple of steps.  The hypnotized Mina, with her eyes closed, walked to the very edge of the stage.  She then spun around, bent over, and lifted up her skirt, showing off her rear.
The men in the audience went beserk.  There was much cheering and whooping.  “Yeah!”  “Alright!”  “Nice butt!”  “Cute panties!”
Mr. Roboto clapped his hands once.  Mina straightened up, turned around, opened her eyes, and waved at the audience while smiling.
“Isn’t she great, folks?” Mr. Roboto said.  “Let’s give her a hand!”  Immense applauding followed.
The show ended, and everyone dispersed.  However, if anyone had taken a close look at Mina, they would have noticed the dull, emotionless look on her face.  She was still hypnotized, and now she was proceeding to where Mr. Roboto had told her to go.
**************
Jen had been to a number of other attractions on her way to the Magic Lamp Ride.  But now, she was finally in line.  The line led to an escalator that appeared to go underground.  Being impatient, Jen wanted to teleport to the front of the line.  However, she had done that once at another ride, and the security system had busted her.  While the person in the front wasn’t looking she teleported directly in front of him.  She thought she had gotten away with it when a small arm lowered down from a pillar and gave her an electrical jolt in the butt.  She was warned that if she tried it again, she would be fined.
But patience is a virtue, and eventually Jen made it to the ride proper.  The coaster itself appeared to be twelve oil lamps strung together, with room in each lamp for one person.  The computer system guided her into the first lamp.  When she was seated, a glass dome covered her, and she was sealed inside.
The ride was off.  It was fast, and it was very visual.  There were so many ups and downs, bumps and straight aways.  It was thrilling.  Jen and the other riders shouted in joy.  The special effects were amazing.  It was like soaring over a desert in the night, and then in the day.  It was roaring through a cave filled with lava, and treasure.  It was so much fun.
Jen was having so much fun that she didn’t notice a slight hissing sound coming from underneath her seat.  Nor did she notice that she was starting to get sleepy until it was too late.  The nonvisible gas that had been pumped into her cart did its work, and she fell asleep.  The trap system knew that it was dealing with a genie, a magical being that could be resistant to mind control.  Therefore, it instead chose to render her asleep quickly rather than risk her realizing the danger she was in.
The ride ended, and everyone departed.  Everyone, that is, except for Jen.  Unseen by anyone, the unconcious genie was covered in a blue light, and when it was gone, she had been transported away.
**************
“We’ve done it, ma’am!  We have all 7 girls!”
The woman smiled and pulled out her phone.  “Excellent.  Now to deal with Jake and complete the set.”
**************
I must be in heaven, Jake thought as he wondered around Bikini Land.  Everywhere he looked, there were girls, girls, girls.  And if being surrounded by bishie femals wasn’t good enough, all of them were scantiliy clad in swim and night wear.  Purple, pink, yellow, black, white, the whole color spectrum.  In underwear.
He couldn’t tell whether the enviroments were real or holographic.  He didn’t know if the women were real, artificial, or illusion.  And he didn’t care.  It was an eye fest.
He was the only guy anywhere to be seen.  He had been to a lingerie show.  He had been to a modeling photo shoot.  Right now, he was walking along a very convincing beach front in a bathing suit that had been provided for him.  The sand felt real, the water felt real, and the girls seemed real.
Finally, finally, beautiful girls everywhere, and not one of them is giving me a headache.
He made a mental note to thank Mato later.  Right now he was observing women getting a tan.
He was so caught up in looking at girls that he ran smack into someone, and they both fell down.
“I’m so sorry,” Jake said as he started to get up.  “It was my...” he trailed off as he saw who he had bumped into.  All the other women were gorgeous, but this girl was a cut above.  She had shapely legs, perfect skin, and an hourglass body that rivaled Lucia’s.  She was wearing a red top and bottom, along with one of those transparent, silk like skirts.  Her hair was black and glittered in the sunlight.  And her eyes were blue to match the water.  Jake just stared at her, red in the face.
The woman giggled.  “That’s alright.  I wasn’t looking either.”
“Are you, are you part of the attraction?”
“Oh, no.  I just like looking at attractive men and women.”
SO HOT!  Jake tried to be polite and held out his hand.  “Hi, I’m Jake Mato.”
The woman grasped his hand and looked at his face.  “Mato?  As in Mato Land?”
Jake blushed a little deeper, looking at her eyes.  “Yeah, my grandpa owns the park.”
The woman pulled Jake closer to her and cupped his face in her hands.  “Forgive me for being so forward, but I just find you attractive.  Do you find me attractive?”
Jake’s head started to get foggy.  “Yes, you’re very pretty.”
“What about my eyes?  Do you think they’re pretty too?”
Jake looked deeper into her blue eyes.  They seemed to twinkle.  With the ocean noise in the background, her eyes seemed like water.
“My eyes are pretty, aren’t they?  They’re so blue, that it seems like water.  And when you’re in the water, it feels so comfortable.  My eyes make you feel comfortable.”
Jake had to admit, she was making sense.  His body kept relaxing more and more.  She gently pushed him down, back first into the sand, and straddled him, still looking into his eyes.
“You feel so warm, so safe.  You just want to lie down here, on the sand, and get some rest.  Just let your eyes close.  It’s okay.  You know I’m here.  You know I’ll keep you safe.  Just rest.”
Jake felt so good that he was about to drift off.  Then he noticed something.  He saw a hint of a spade like tail poking from underneath her skirt.  The woman was a succubus!
Realizing that he was being hypnotized and in potential danger, Jake was able to shake off her influence, barely.  Regaining control of his senses, he concentrated his energies, grabbed the succubus by the shoulders, and started to let his hypnotic energy flow into her.  The succubus gasped.
“I’ve got a better idea,” Jake said.  “Why don’t you take a nap?”
Within a minute, Jake and the succubus were back on their feet, the succubus deeply hypnotized and under Jake’s power.
Jake shook his head.  “That was close.  Now for some answers.”  He faced the succubus.  “What’s your name?”
“Twilight, master,” she murmured.
“Why did you try to hypnotize me?  Did you want to drain my energy?”
“No, master.  I was hired.”
“What?  Hired by who?”
“I don’t know.  The deal was made over the phone.  I was to put you asleep and then leave.  The one who spoke to me sounded female.”
Great.  We’ve got another Triple H (Hypno Happy Hottie) on the loose.  Why do I keep attracting these people and these situations?  And what is it this week?  A cyborg?  A contortionist?  Barbara?
“What else can you tell me?” Jake asked.
“Well, I’m very pretty, and my favorite targets to drain are...”
“About the person who hired you!”
“Oh, sorry, master.  The only other thing they said was that I wouldn’t have to worry about your friends saving you.  They already had them.”
“Oh, no, the girls,” Jake whispered.  “What do you mean, ‘had them?’”
“I don’t know, master.”
After a few moments, Jake decided what he had to do.  “Alright, Twilight, I want you to go home, forget about this job, and forget that we met, understand?”
“Yes, master.”  Twilight turned to leave.
Jake turned to leave, too, then stopped.  What am I?  Stupid?  “Twilight, stop.”  She did.  “Face me.”  She did.  “Take off your top.”  She did.  If I’m going to save the day, I deserve to have some fun first.
**************
A short time later, Jake was using a pay phone to call Mato.
“Oh, hello Jake!  I hope you’re having fun.”
“I am but...”
“Also, Jake, I was wondering if you could bring home dinner.”
“Okay, but...”
“Also, Jake, could you stop by the hardware store and get me a set of screwdrivers?”
“Sure, but...”
“Also, Jake, what factor do you think causes an organism to blink the most?”
“Um, humidity, I guess, but...”
“Also, Jake, what’s your favorite question?”
“Would you please listen!?!”
“Also, Jake...”
“SCIENCE IS NO LONGER COOL!!!”
“What!?”
“Now that I’ve got your attention, I have some questions to ask.  Did you install hypnotic traps in Mato Land?”
“Oh, yes, I did.  A wide variety of them, employing multiple methods.  I planned on using them to help me gather data.  Unfortunately, the safety commission forbade me from activating them.  Why?”
“No reason.  Also, I got separated from the girls.  Is there any way you could help me find them?”
“Hm, let me check my computer.  I might be able to... yes, I’ve got a lock on Sarah’s cybernetic implants.  She’s in the event center at the middle of the park.  Odd, nothing’s scheduled there until next week.  What is she doing there?”
“I’ll be sure to ask her.  Thanks.”  Jake hung up.  There was no point in telling him what’s going on.  He’d be no help.  Looks like I’m on my own.
**************
After making his way to the center of the park, Jake discovered that the event center had some very tight security.  Guards were everywhere.  But he knew he had to get inside.  Employing any and all of the ninja skills he had, he was able to create a distraction and slip into the event center.
He was not prepared for what he saw.  Occupying a number of the seats were people, dozens, maybe hundreds of people.  All of them sat with their backs straight, their eyes unblinking, staring at nothing.  After trying to get a response from several people and failing, Jake started surveying the rows.
When he got to the front row, he found what he was looking for.  Dawn, Jessica, Sarah, Lucia, Katia, Mina, and Jen were just like all the others.  The girls were sitting side by side to one another.
Jake frantically tried to wake up his friends, but to no avail.
Okay, if I can’t wake them, maybe I can unhypnotize them.
But before he could use his talents, both of his arms were grabbed.  He looked to his sides to see two very big, very strong looking security guards holding him.  “Uh, what’s up, fella’s?”
Wordlessly, the two guards started dragging Jake further into the building.
Jake saw only one way out of this mess.  I promised myself never to use this on men, but this is an exception.  He concentrated, and his arms started to glow.  “I bet you’re feeling tired, huh?”
They didn’t respond, they didn’t slow down, and they certainly didn’t look tired.  Jake’s powers weren’t working.  While he tried to figure out what was wrong, he noticed that both of the guards were wearing bracelets, both embedded with a single large jewel.  Jake groaned.  He knew what those bracelets were.  They were similar to Mato’s mind controlling tiara technology.  The guards were being controlled by those bracelets.  And apparently, even Jake’s powers couldn’t override the bracelets control.
In a few minutes, Jake had been dragged through a series of corridors into what appeared to be the security room.  The room was full of monitors, consoles, and several park workers, who also happened to be wearing similar bracelets.  In the front of the room was a swivel chair, occupied, its occupant surveying the monitors.  The chair was facing away from Jake.
The guards let go of Jake.  “Ma’am, we have brought the intruder,” one of them said while Jake was getting to his feet.
“Very good.”  The chair swiveled around and Jake was finally able to see who was the mastermind behind this whole ordeal.
“BARBARA!?!?!?!?!”
“No, I’m her identical twin sister, Betty.”
“Really?”
“NO!”
Indeed it was Barabara, Mato’s lab assistant whom Jake had not seen in quite some time.  She looked the same as he remembered her, short brown hair and a lab coat.  And still very attractive.
I wasn’t serious when I guessed it was her.  How can it be her?  She’s one of the good guys!  Then Jake noticed a bracelet on Barbara.
“It’s been a while, Jake.”
“Yeah, it has, Barb.”
She smiled mockingly at him.  “You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here.”
“Actually, I think I’ve put a few things together.  You’re not the mastermind of whatever scheme is going on here.  Someone else is, and that someone else is controlling you via that bracelet you have on.”
Barbara raised her arm and gave her bracelet a cursory glance.  “Clever boy.  You’re right, I am being controlled.  And I don’t care in the slightest.  All I want to do is carry out my orders.”
“And what are those orders?”
Still smiling, Barbara directed Jake’s attention to a monitor displaying the event center full of hypnotized people.  “To obtain a large source of slave labor,” she said.  “You see, I take orders from a group that is interested in getting a dedicated workforce that they don’t have to pay.  The problem is, if you start abducting mass numbers of people all at once, their disappearences will be noticed.  Then my masters heard about Mato Land.  They discovered the large number of hypnotic traps Mato had designed into the park.  They realized it was the perfect way to obtain a steady network of slaves.  Take over the park, program the computer to hypnotize only people whose abscences wouldn’t be missed in the short run, and let things work from there.  Unfortunately, Mato’s security systems were so tight that they needed someone familiar with the technology to override the programming.  Enter me.  Right now, we’ve taken about a hundred people.  We’ll keep on taking people a few days each week for a number of months.  By the time the public notices the large number of missing people, we’ll have taken thousands, and then disappear.  That way, all the blame will fall on Mato.”
“You can’t do this!” Jake yelled.  “You’re destroying people’s lives!  It’s wrong!”
Barbara raised her arm and pointed at her bracelet.  “Hellooooo.  Controlled.  I don’t care.”  Lowering her arm, she addressed him again.  “The group I’m referring to was able to harvest some of the mind control equipment and has equipped it onto a number of workers in this park, as well as me.  When you and your housemates arrived, I knew you could be a thorn in our plans, so I directed most of our energies into capturing you and your friends.”
“Why did you hire a succubus?  Why didn’t you just try out some gadget on me?”
“Because I know you, Jake.  I know you’re lucky.  I know you’re resistant to most forms of hypnotism.  And I know you’re so horny that a beautiful girl was the best way to catch you off guard.”
“Barbara, I’m asking you, one last time, please stop this.”
“And I’m telling you, one last time, I don’t care.”  She snapped her fingers, and the guards stepped forward.  “We’re going to start shipping out the group in the event center tonight after closing hours.  Lock the kid up somewhere.  I’ll figure out what to do with him later.”  She looked at Jake one last time.  “And don’t bother trying to hypnotize your way out of this one.  Everyone here, the guards, the workers, those in the events center, they will only respond to me.  Now, take him away.”
“Yes, ma’am.”  Without another word, Jake was dragged off.
**************
The guards dumped Jake in a storage room and locked the door.  Jake pounded on the wooden door, but it was no use.  Jake then surveyed his surroundings.  The room was full of knicknacks, chemicals, building materials, etc.
I have to act quickly, or I’ll never see the girls again.  This is where my watching of every Mcgyver episode ever made finally pays off.
Within twenty minutes, Jake had gathered enough materials and come up with a plan to attempt escape.  First, he laid a newspaper across a table.  Placing some fertilizer on the paper and dousing it in some chemicals, he had constructed a makeshift bomb.  Then, he tied a thin piece of rope that was doused in kerosene around the wrapped newspaper bomb.  He used some duct tape to stick the bomb against the lock on the door.  Finally, taking cover, he used a discarded lighter to ignite the rope.  A few seconds later and...
BOOOOMMMM!!!
The lock destroyed, Jake escaped from the room.  “It worked!  I am a genius!”
At that moment, a pair of guards, attracted by the explosion, came running down the hall towards him.
“Awwww, nuts.”
**************
Jake was dragged back to the control room.
“What’s he doing here?” Barbara asked.  One of the guards explained about Jake’s escape attempt.
“Very clever, Jake.  Mato would be proud.  Lock him up again.”
**************
This time, Jake found himself locked in a cafeteria with only one entrance.
If at first you don’t succeed...
The first thing Jake did was get some water from a vending machine.  He drank some and stuffed the bottle into his back pocket.  Then he got to work.
The door was locked with an electronic combination pad.  Using some of the utensils available to him, Jake was able to dig through the wall into the back of the pad on the other side of a door.  Then, he stacked some of the chairs so that he could reach one of the over head lights.  Prying off the cover, Jake gained access to a long supply of conductive wire.  Placing one end of the wire into the back of the control pad, and the other end against a live electric current, Jake was able to short out the lock.
As he stepped out the door, Jake yelled, “I’m so brilliant, it’s shocking!”
As if in punishment for his bad joke, a pair of guards came running towards him, having heard his yell.
“Awwwww, nut bunnies.”
**************
Once again, Jake was dragged before Barbara.
“What did he do this time?” she asked, annoyed.  She was filled in.  She shook her head.  “Jake, you are a valuable prisoner, but if you annoy me one more time, you will regret it.”  She turned to the guards.  “Lock him in the food freezer!”
“I can’t go in there!” Jake complained.  “I’ll freeze to death!”
“Oh, very well, give him a coat.  Then hurry back.  Shipments begin soon.”
Jake was dragged off.
**************
A short time later, Barbara was watching the final preparations to move the people in the event center out of Mato Land.  It was only a short time until closing hours.
“Nothing can stop us now,” she said.
At that moment... BOOOOMMM!
She rolled her eyes.  “Everyone, find him and rough him up!”
“Yes, ma’am.”  Everyone except Barbara left the room in search of Jake.  Barbara surveyed the monitors for any sign of him.
A few minutes laters, she heard Jake say, “Boo.”  She turned to see him standing in the doorway, without the coat he had been given.
She smiled.  “Alright, how did you do it this time?”
Jake smiled back.  “Well, you seemed to have forgotten that water has this weird way of expanding when it’s frozen.  You didn’t take away my bottle of water when you shoved me into the freezer.  I poured the water into the door lock, plugged it, let the water freeze, it expanded, and broke the lock.”
“That’s impossible!” Barbara yelled.
“And yet here I am.  After that, I silently made my way back to the storage room, where I set off that explosion you heard a few minutes ago so that I could draw all your guards away.  Now I’m going to get that bracelet off of you and set things right.”
Barbara applauded.  “Very good, Jake, but that’s not going to happen.”  She picked up some kind of gun from the console and pointed it at Jake.
Jake scoffed at the weapon.  “What is that?  One of those guns that hypnotizes people?”
Barbara pulled the trigger, and a silenced bullet whizzed by Jake’s ear.  “Actually, it’s one of those guns that puts holes in people.”
“YOWZERS!”  Jake ran off, and Barbara pursued him.
**************
It had been a harrowing chase, but now Jake had been backed into a dead end.  He had his back to a wall, and Barbara was standing a few feet in front of him, the gun pointed at his head.
“It looks like our friendship is about to end, Jake.  Too bad.  You’re cute.”  She started to squeeze the trigger, when...
BOOM!
Another loud explosion sounded off in the distance, but Barbara did not so much as flinch.
“Hey!” Jake complained.  “You weren’t distracted by my melting ice delay time bomb!”
She shrugged.  “You can’t easily fool me with the same trick twice.”  She pointed the gun directly at his forehead.  “Any last words?”
“Actually, yes.  Oh, what the hell is that!?!”  He pointed over her shoulder.
Barbara looked in that direction, and Jake charged her.  They struggled for control over the gun, and eventually Barbara was able to push Jake away.  But Jake had gotten a solid grip on the bracelet on her arm, and when he was shoved away, the bracelet went with him.
Free from the bracelets control, Barbara collapsed to the ground.
Jake carefully walked over to her, picked up the gun, threw it away, and then shook her.  “Barbara?  Are you alright?”
Groggily, she got up.  “I, I think so.”  Then she looked up and saw Jake’s face.  She gave a short, joyful cheer and hugged him around the neck.  “Oh, Jake!  It’s so good to see you!”  She was crying with relief.
Jake patted her on the shoulders and returned the hug.  “I’m glad to have you back.”
“Thank you, Jake!  Thank you so much!  You saved me.  You stopped me from doing something horrible!”
“You mean you remember?”
She broke the hug and looked at him, nodding.  “Tidbits.  I remember the general idea of what happened, but specific details escape me.  I remember what I was going to do, but I don’t remember who placed that bracelet on me, or where, or where I was going to send those poor people.  Oh, Jake, please don’t tell Mato or anyone else about my role in all this.  I couldn’t bear to lose their trust.”
“Don’t worry, Barbara.  No one will know but the two of us.”  He helped her to her feet.  “But right now, we have to hurry and stop that shipment, alter everyone’s memories, and set things right.”
“You’re right.”  She smiled at him.  “But first...”  She suddenly leaned in and kissed him passionately on the lips.  Jake was too stunned to do anything but kiss back.  A minute later, the kiss ended.
“Why’d you do that?” the dazed Jake asked.
“Because you saved me.  Besides,” she winked at him, “you really are cute.”
**************
With Barbara at his side, Jake was able to undo all the hypnotic programming that had been going on in Mato Land that day.  Everyone except for the girls were sent home with their memories altered.  Barbara left as well, without saying goodbye to the girls.
Sarah, Dawn, and the others were pestering Jake for answers as to what had happened, but Jake refused to answer any questions until they got back home.  So, they got in their vehicle and left.
**************
In an unknown room, a shadowed figure was scowling at a monitor.  There was a gigantic S in the background.
“So,” the figure said, “apparently Jake is not only lucky and hypnotically empowered, but he is clever as well.  If ultimate victory is to be achieved, he must not be underestimated.”
**************
It was dark when Jake and the others arrived home.  Fawn, Diana and Yuta had returned.  A minute after the group got back from Mato Land, Barbara stopped by to say hi quickly.  She didn’t stay long, but there was enough time to take a large group photo of all thirteen of them.  Then she left.  The remaining twelve housemates were now gathered in the lab.
“It’s too bad Barbara didn’t stay longer,” Yuta said, sadly.  “We didn’t have time to play any games.”
Sarah rolled her eyes and said, “She probably left so quickly so there wouldn’t be time for your games.”
“So, how was your trip?” Jake asked Fawn, Yuta, and Diana.
“Oh, it was wonderful!” Diana exclaimed, her cat ears twitching.
Fawn laughed.  “Yes, but I wish I could have seen Mato Land opening day.”
Mato spoke up.  “Oh, Dawn, here, take this.”  He handed Dawn a check.
Dawn eyed the check and her eyes bulged.  “That’s a lot of numbers, professor.  Why are you giving this to me?”
“Well, my profits have increased so much that I decided to pay you back for the money I used to build Mato Land.”
Dawn smiled a rare, genuine smile.  “Thanks.”  She put the check away.  “You mean Mato Land has already brought in that much money?”
“Oh, no.  The park’s doing great, but not that great.  You see, that video of you and Sarah I put up this morning is so popular many people are paying me royalties in order to download it.  There’s probably a copy of it on every site in existence.”
Ten seconds later...
Sarah had torn up the other half of the lab, and had calmed down a little.
“I’m going to sue you, old man!” she screamed.
Mato pulled out his remote and pressed the button labeled ‘Cover-up’.  A screen hypnotized Sarah and Mato tweaked her feelings a bit before waking her up.
The pleasantries out of the way, Jake filled everyone in on what had happened at the park, minus the parts about Barbara.  The girls who had been involved thanked Jake for saving them.
Mina yawned.  “Well, it’s been a long day, and I’m going home and getting some sleep.”  All the girls agreed and left, leaving Jake and Mato alone.
Mato shook Jake’s hand.  “Jake, you continue to do an old man proud.”
Jake smiled.  “I try.”
“By the way, did you finish reading that guidebook I gave you?”
“Uh, no, why?”
“Well, at the very end, it tells you that you could have taken control of the entire park from anywhere in Mato Land with just a few voice commands.”
*Jake just stands still, his mouth open in shock.  He pulls out the guidebook, skips to the end, confirms what Mato just told him, realizes how unneccesarily difficult he had made things, and falls over.*