Parties And Planning And Drugs, Oh My!

Katia needs Jake to take her to a ball, but Jake is bent on seeing a premier showing of a movie. What does she do? Turn to Mato for help!

For once, it was a peaceful breakfest in the Mato residence.  Mina and Diana were spending a few days over while their parents were out, and everyone was behaving themselves, even Dawn.  All twelve of the house’s occupants were enjoying Jen’s wonderful delicious breakfast pancakes, not a care in the world.
But Jake didn’t bother trying to enjoy this moment too much.  As he knew, all good things...
“Hey, Sarah,” Dawn spoke up, “maybe you should start working out again, I think you’re getting flabby.”
...must come to an end.
Sarah was pissed.  “Well, considering that you’re main method of travel is flying, I’m amazed you can sitll fit into that skanky outfit!”
*Lightning starts shooting from both Sarah and Dawn’s angry eyes towards the other and starts interacting.  Sweatdrops on everyone else but the oblivious Mato.  The energy between Sarah and Dawn becomes so intense that the stack of pancakes in the center of the table ignites.*
“FIRE!” the other girls yell, ending Dawn and Sarah’s staring contest.
“Excellent!” Mate shouts.  “A perfect chance to test my new invention.”  From out of nowhere, he produces a small, red, metallic cylinder with a handle and aims it at the fire.  Everyone sighs in relief, except Yuta, who stares into the fire, entranced.  “So pretty....”
“Fire hypnosis!”  Mato pulls out a remote control.  “I must get data!”
Jake takes the remote away.  “First deal with the fire.”  Speaking of which, the fire was starting to spread across the table.
“Oh, very well.”  Mato aimed the cylinder towards the spreading flames.
“I didn’t know you were working on a new type of fire extinguisher, Professor,” Diana said.
Mato looked insulted.  “A fire extinguisher!?  Oh no, that’s far too common.  This is a fire amplifier!”  And before anyone could stop him, the cylinder shot a spray of black foam on the fire.  Two seconds and a small explosion later, the fire had spread all over the kitchen.  The housemates exited in a panicked and disorderly fashion.
“Why the hell would you invent something like that!??!” Jake shouted as he ran out, carrying Mato under one arm and the still entranced Yuta in the other.
“Because I can,” the professor answered, trying to wipe the black soot off his goggles.
Why me? Jake thought.  He gazed upwards.  Have I really offended anyone up there?
In the higher realm of existence, Osaka, one of the Kais of Hypnosis, said, “Actually, yeah, you have.”
***************
10 minutes later, the fire was under control.  But not before Mina tried to conjure water to douse the fire, but actually making it worse by accidently summoning wind, which spread the fire all over the first floor.
Fortunately, Jen was able to create enough buckets of water to handle the situation.  With much of the furniture and decorum of the floor destroyed, Mato found himself under the intense gaze of eleven pairs of extremely angry eyes.
“WHY DID YOU DO SOMETHING SO STUPID!?!” came the eleven synchronized yells.
“Because you don’t expand the boundaries of science by playing it safe,” Mato replied smugly.  Everyone sighed in exasperation, realizing the old man would never change.  “So who’s going to clean up this mess?”
Everyone pointed at him.  “Oh, very well, I guess that’s fair.  It will give me a chance to install a whole bunch of new prototypes in the rebuilt kitchen...”
Though most of the group reazlied the potential dire consequences of such a thing, Katia was the first one to speak up.  “NO!!  Uh, I mean, why don’t I just call in an elven interior decorating crew.  It’s the least I can do for you, professor, considering you let me live here, so close to my beloved.”  She grabs Jakes arm and rests her head on Jake’s shoulder, sighing contentedly.
*Jake turns his head to the side and sighs in exasperation, a visible cloud escaping his lips.*
While Katia was gone making the call, Jake remembered he had an announcement to make.  But first... “Hey, professor, I think I heard somewhere that someone was close to inventing a self-milking mechanical cow.”
“WHAT!?” Mato yelled angrily.  “I want that patent!”  And thus he ran off to the lab.  “I AM A GENIUS!”
“Now that he’s gone,” Jake said, turning to the girls, “I have some real news.  What are everyone’s plans three nights from now?”
“Physical training,” responded Jessica.
“Playing with a ball of string,” said Diana.
“Working on my water summoning spell,” came the response of a sad Mina, surveying the damage she had done.
“Practicing for a concert,” was Fawn’s answer.
“Increasing my profits through means I won’t publicly admit,” Dawn said coyly, smirking at Sarah.
“Keeping an eye on the menace to society,” growled Sarah, glaring daggers at the succubus.
“Well,” Jake said, preparing to savor everyone’s reaction, “you’d better cancel those plans.  I did a small favor for a rich kid at school, and in return, he's hooked me up with eleven tickets to the premier showing of Cosmic Conflict: Part 666: Vengeance of the Evil-Doers!”
*All of the girls eyes light up with stars and their faces assume dreamy expressions.*  “The actual final installment of the classic saga, starring Star Katana as the romantic hero!  Oh, Jake, we love you!”
“HEY!”  Everyone turned to see Katia storming back into the room.  “I’m the only one who gets to love him!”  She grabbed his arm and rested her head on his shoulder again.  “Beloved, what’s the commotion?”
Jake told her about the movie.  Katia seemed uninterested until the name Star Katana came up.  “Oh, I love him!”
“Hippocrite,” Dawn muttered under her breath.
“Jake, why did you trick Mato into leaving before you told us?” Jen asked.
“Two reasons.  One, I only have eleven tickets, and I’d rather take ten hot girls than an annoying old man.”  Jake suddenly found himself the target of several offended stares.  Quickly, he reached for his pendant.  30 seconds and a quick mass hypnosis session later, he rephrased his statement.  “Because I’d rather take all of you.  Also, you remember how he acted when we saw the last movie?”
Flashback.
The whole gang was sitting in the living room watching the previous installment on cable.  Whenever a good action scene comes along, Mato would start yelling, “Thieves!  I came up with the idea of laser maces!”  Zigzeron can’t be used to make laser blasts.  Zerzeron is much better.”  “Someone turn off the sound.  There should be no noise in outer space battles.”  And during the romance scenes... “Oh, he should just hypnotize her.  That way he could drop all the lame and dorky love proclamations.”
End Flashback.
“Good point,” Mina admitted.
“But Jake, I thought you hated Star Katana,” Lucia brought up.
Jake shrugged.  “I do.  But the critics say the action and story more than make up for his terrible romance acting.”  Another quick session with his pendant was the only thing that saved Jake from a severe pummeling.
“It’ll be so much fun,” Yuta exclaimed, jumping for joy.
“I’m glad you’re all excited,” Jake said.  He held out his hand.  “That’ll be three times the price of a normal movie ticket each.”  Everyone froze in place and stared at him with shocked and betrayed expressions.  “I was still charged for the tickets.  Just because my friend is rich doesn’t mean he’s not cheap.”  Everyone grumbled and pulled out their wallets.
“I’d better find my Tempesttrooper costume to wear to the premier,” Jessica said.  “By the way, Katia, when is the redecoration crew getting here?”
“I’d say in about,” Katia glanced at the only working clock in the burnt room (which ironically was one of Mato’s inventions), “two seconds.”
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.  KNOCK!  The last knock came from the damagaed door falling off its hinges.  Right outside the door were half a dozen tall, muscular elven males in worker’s outfits.  “Elven Royal Redecoration Crew, Katia’s Personal Division.”
“Personal Division?” Dawn asked Katia.  I have to stop forgetting she’s rich, she thought, already scheming schemes.
“Oh yes.  Whenever I’m home, I have them redecorate my room each week,” Katia replied matter-of-factly.  “Why don’t we let them get started.  The kitchen’s that way.  Just as I instructed over the phone, please.”  The elves entered, bowed in homage to Katia, and then headed towards the kitchen.
“By the way, Princess Katia,” the head elf spoke, pulling out a letter, “this is from your father.”
“Oh, goodie!  He’s probably reserved the 1000 piece orchestra for my birthday party.”  Katia snatched the letter, ran to her room, and slammed the door.
*Mass sweat drops.*
“Is she this spoiled and crazy back home?” Jake asked the head elf.
The head elf rolled his eyes.  “You have noooooo idea.”
***************
Katia laid down on her unicorn decorated blankets in her heart shaped bed and read the letter from her father, rapidly skimming, looking for the good parts.  “’Everyone’s healthy, finances are good, sentenced capital punishment to a dozen usurpers of the throne, won last Bingo game, yada yada yada.’  Hmm, what’s this?  ‘Dearest Katia, as you probably know, in three days, the annual Celebration of Nature Ball will be held in the reception portion of the palace.  As they are held only once every 50 years, you obviously have never been to one.  But I promise you it will be one of the fondest memories of your life.  I met your mother at the last one, and it was one of the best nights I’ve ever had.  Dates/escorts are mandatory for those under 35, so why don’t you bring that beloved Jack of yours?  All my love, Harold Gravetree.’”
Katia put the letter down angrily.  “It’s Jake, not Jack, Father!”  Then the full implication of the letter sank in.  “Oh, by the Forest Spirits, this is wonderful!  My beloved will be with me on a night I’ve dreamed of for so many years.”  She let her imagination start running wild.
***************
Jake was the first to survey the reworked first floor.  Unfortunately, Katia had told the crew to remake it in the image of her childhood playroom.  The walls were pink with red hearts, it smelled of roses, and all the shelves were littered with small crystalline animals.  Fortunately, Jake ‘persuaded’ Katia to return the first floor to it’s original look.  The elves then left, and the gang, minus the professor, who was still working on capturing the self-milking mechanical cow patent, were gathered in the living room.
“It’s so good to have everything back to normal,” Jen observed.
“Yeah,” Jake said.  He faced Sarah and Dawn.  “And have we learned our lesson?” he asked sternly.
“Yes,” they both mumbled.
“And that is?”
“Never have staring contests near flammable materials when Mato is in the room.”
“Now that that’s finished,” Katia said, grabbing Jake by the arm, “my beloved and I have something important to talk about.”  *Katia runs towards her bedroom, dragging Jake with her, causing him to hit his head on each stair step along the way, leaving a trail of dust behind them.*
The girls all exchanged glances.  “What was that about?” Diana asked.
Dawn grinned mischievously.  “I know how to find out.”
***************
Katia and Jake were seated on the bed, Jake sporting a new large bandaid on his head.
I should be nervous being in Katia’s room with her alone, but I’m not, Jake thought.  Either I’m developing a backbone, or those blows to the head did more damage than I thought.
“Okay, Katia, what’s this about?”
“Oh, Jake, I-“
“Wait,” he interrupted her.  “Did you just call me Jake, not ‘beloved.’?”
“Yes, I’ve decided to talk like an adult instead of an adorable princess for the next few days.  Now, Jake, I have a favor to ask you.”
Jake groaned.  “If this is about asking me to acknowledge the existence of this engagement you think exists between us...”
“Okay, I have two favors to ask you.  Would you be willing to acknowledge-“
“No.”
“Alright.  I can be very patient, and elves are noted for their patience.  The main reason I asked your here is-“
There suddenly came a slight noise from the door, followed by a barely audible “Ssssh!” sound.  Scowling, Katia checked under the door frame and saw a large number of feet standing right outside.  Holding her finger to her mouth, telling Jake to be quiet, she tiptoed over to her closet, took out something Jake thought was a shoebox, and walked back to the door.  She opened the box, took out what appeared to be a stuffed dog, and held it face first to the door.  A quick pull on its tail and
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Jake covered his ears.  It was just like an airhorn, only thrice as loud.
*Katia throws open the door, and a pile of nine chibi bishies lies right outside, thrown back several feet, each one with swirly eyes, a dazed expression, and stars hovering over their heads.*
“That’ll teach you to listen in on a princess’s private conversation!”  She slammed the door and starting scratching the dog-like animal under the chin.  “Goood boooyyyy.  You get an extra serving of swamp lizards tonight.”  She then replaced the creature in its box and sat with Jake again.
“Anyway, Jake, here’s why I asked you here.  In three days, the annual Celebration of Nature Evening Ball will be held.  It’s a wonderful party where everyone dresses up, wonderful activities are held, delicious foods are served, and the dancing!  Oh, the dancing!  I know we’ll have so much fun together if we go.”
Jake was a little slow processing this, due to the cranial and noise  trauma.  “So, basically, you’re asking me out on a date?”
“Oh, I knew you would understand!  I’ve already sent your measurements to a tailor for your outfit.”
“Katia, I – how do you have my measurements?”
“Mato gave them to me after he ran his last set tests on you.”
Jake shuddered.  That was not a pleasant memory.  “When did you say this party will be held?”
“Three nights from now, in the evening.”
“But that’s the same night as the movie premier.”
“Jake!  Surely a twice in a century, royal party with a beautiful date is more interesting than a movie you can see anytime in the theater!”
“Katia, that’s beside the point.  I already made arrangements with everyone else to go.  And I’ve been waiting to see the premier for weeks.”
“But Jake, I’ve already sent a response letter saying that my beloved will bring me.  Dates are mandatory for people my age.  If you don’t come, I won’t be able to show my face.  I’ve been looking forward to this my whole life.”
“Katia, you have to realize that you can’t expect me to drop all of my plans and disappoint the others just because of a fancy of yours.”
“But Jake-“
“You could always take Mato?” Jake suggested.
WHAM!
A short concussion later Jake was back on his feet.  “Okay, bad idea.  I’m sorry Katia, but I’ve already made a promise to go to the premier with the others.  You’re still welcome to come.  I hope this works out for you somehow.”  Jake left the room, being careful not to step on the pile of girls.
As soon as he left, Katia broke down and started crying.
***************
It was a noisy breakfast the next day.  Everone was eagerly talking about the premier.  The only quiet one was Katia, who was poking sullenly at her breakfast with her fork.  The only one absent was Mato.
“Excuse me, can everyone please join me in the lab?” Mato asked over the house P.A. system.  Before they left, Jake handed out lab goggles and emergency medical kits to everyone.
“I am glad you are all here,” Mato said upon their arrival.  “I have a marvelous new invention to show you.”
“You finished the self-milking mechanical cow?” Jessica guessed.
“No, something even better.”  Mato walked into a glass capsule and sealed himself inside.  He then picked up a V.R. helmet and put it on.  A minute later, an identical Mato entered from a different portion of the lab.  “Here’s my surprise,” Mato #2 said.
Jake glanced rapidly back and forth from Mato to Mato.  “Oh God, he’s cloned himself!  We’re doomed!”
“Oh, no,” Mato #2 said.  “This is an android body I’ve been working on.  When I wear the helmet, it’s like this becomes my new body.  It also conveys my brain with the appropriate sensations of touch, smell, sight, hearing, and taste.  This will open up a whole new range of human exploration!”  Everyone was clearly impressed.
“Oh, you’re a genius, professor!” Yuta told him, playfully hitting Mato #2 in the arm.
“OW!  Don’t do that.  The android body also registers pain and sends the sensation back to my brain.  If you were to break my android arm, I would feel like my arm had been broken, even though no damage would be done to my real body.”
“How do you end your connection with the android?” Sarah asked.
Mato #2 tapped the side of his head.  A moment later, Mato stepped out of the tube after removing the helmet.  "All I have to do is tap the side of the head, and it sends a signal to the helmet to end the connection.”
Everyone applauded, still impressed.  Mato bowed graciously.  “Thank you all, now if you would please vacate, I have more things to do.”
As the group was returning to the kitchen, Sarah noted, “Was it me, or was Mato acting surprisingly mature and behaved?”
“I know.”  Jake shuddered.  “Creepy.”
***************
Mato was about to work on another invention when he noticed Katia was still in the lab, sitting and looking sullen and depressed.  Deciding to play the part of the helpful grandfather, he walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.  “Is something wrong, my dear?  Has something happened to Harold?”
Katia looked up at him, her eyes teary.  “Oh, professor, I need help!”  She filled him in on the Royal Ball and Jake’s reluctance to go.  When she had finished, she said, “I know it is only a matter of time before Jake realizes we are destined to be together, but a matter of time isn’t soon enough!”
Mato listened intently.  “Ah, yes, the Celebration of Nature Ball.  I was at the last one.  It was there I made friends with your parents.”
Katia was about to go on when she realized something and eyed Mato quizzically.  “Is there something wrong with you, professor?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, I’ve been in the lab for 10 minutes, and you haven’t tried to use me in one of your experiments, and there haven’t been any explosions.  In fact, it’s been a full day since you yelled, ‘I’m a genius!’  It’s like your not quite yourself.”
Mato smiled at her.  “I was hoping to save the news till later, but I guess I should tell you.  Jake told me that there are people in his dimension who suffer from attention disorders that prevents them from focusing on their studies and projects and limits their good sense.”
“That’s unfortu- wait, did you just say ‘people in Jake’s dimension?’”
Mato panicked, and started thinking quickly.  “Ah, no, uh, I, uh, I said people in Jake’s, uh, direction.  By that I mean people from where he’s from.”
“Oh, okay,” Katia nodded.
“Phew,” Mato said, wiping his brow.
“Why did you just say ‘phew’ and wipe your brow?” Katia asked.
Mato panicked again.  “Um, because I’ve been working for hours and I feel a little hot.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Anyway, Jake told me about a drug they use to treat people with such disorders.  I believe he called it ritalout.  He said it increases their concentration and improves their behavior, though it only lasts a few hours at a time.  A friend of his accidently gave him one of the pills instead of a candy, and I was able to find trace amounts of the drug in his old clothes.  With it, I’ve created a vast stock of this drug, ritalout.  I decided to experiment on myself starting yesterday, and since then, I’ve been able to put such attention and focus on to all of my existing projects.  I plan on making it available to the scientific community next week.”
Despite her problems, Katia was still interested.  “That’s wonderful.  And it’s also the reason you’re acting more your age?”
“I suppose so.  Sadly, it only lasts three hours at a time.  Now, let’s get back to you.  Why wouldn’t Jake want to take a lovely young girl on a date to a royal ball?”
“Well, the reason he told me is because he’s taking all us girls to the premier of the new Cosmic Conflict movie.”
“WHAT?”  Mato was outraged.  “He’d rather see a movie than take you to this ball?!  And have the audacity to leave me behind!?”
Katia sadly nodded.  “I called Father and asked if he could delay the premier.  He tried, but the geek community threatened to stop purchasing our kingdom’s main export, collectible trading monster battling cards, if he did so.  Oh, I don’t know what to do.  I have to go, not only for myself, but for the image of our family, and I need Jake to take me.”  She started crying again.
Mato pondered for several minutes.  “Why didn’t you try using one of those hypnotic headbands I gave you to make him take you?  There’s a chance that might work.”
“Because I want Jake,” Katia yelled angrily, “not a mindless zombie!  That’s what football players are for!”
Mato kept pondering.  “I am beginning to formulate a plan that will benefit both of us.  It will let you and Jake go to the ball, me go to the movie, and allow me to gather valuable data at the same time.”
Katia’s eyes lit up.  “Really?”
“Yes, but it will require you to do most of the work in an extremely convoluted, complicated, confusing, possibly unethical plan-“
“I’ll do it.”
“Wonderful!”  Mato clapped his hands together once in delight, then led Katia out of the lab.  “Come back tomorrow morning and I should have everything planned out and ready.  And remember, tell no one.  If Jake even suspects you’re up to something, the plan will be ruined.”  Katia nodded, then returned to the kitchen.  The others were now in the living room, watching previous Cosmic Conflict movies on the new widescreen plasma TV.  She joined them, acting sullen for the rest of the day to avoid Jake’s suspicion, though she was ecstatic.  She slept that night much happier than the night before, dreaming of Jake dancing her around a ball room.  In Jake’s room, Jake was dreaming of watching laser mace battles the likes of which had never been seen before.  In Sarah’s room, Dawn was hypnotizing Sarah to have more nightmares of fantasizing over Dawn.
***************
The next morning, Jake and the girls were talking excitedly over the movie they would see tomorrow night.
“The best part of the movies is the laser mace battles,” Jake proclaimed.
“No, it’s the romance,” Yuta and Lucia countered.
“No, the soldiers fighting one another with laser pistols,” Sarah and Jessica decided.
“Actually, the best part is the suffering of people at the hands of the Evil-doers,” Dawn said sadistically.
As the argument continued, Katia slipped out of the room unnoticed and went down to Mato’s lab.  Mato was standing behind a small table with a cloth laid down on it, and several objects littering the cloth.
“Are you ready, Katia?”
“Yes, professor, I am willing to do anything.”
“Good.  This will be one of those instances the world will never know that proves beyond a doubt that I am a genius!”
*Sweat drop on Katia.*  “Ah, professor, did you take your ritalout this morning?”
“What?  Oh, no, I didn’t.  Thanks for the reminder.”  Mato popped the top of a pill container, downed two, waited a few minutes, then returned to the plan.
“Before we start, please put this on.”  Mato picked up a beautiful diamond embedded gold bracelet and handed it to Katia.  She eyed it carefully.
“Is it going to make me do something I don’t want to?”
“No.”  Relieved, Katia put it on her wrist.  “It will actually prevent you from doing some things that you might want to do.”
“Huh?”
“You see, during this plan, you’re going to be placing people in hypnotic states of suggestibilty.  The bracelet will prevent you from having them do things you know they would definitely object to.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Katia scoffed.
“Ok.  Try imagining hypnotizing someone and having them do something that is directly contrary to their nature.”
“Very well.”  Katia closed her eyes and brought an image of the time she had Dawn under her power with the hypnotic headband and talked to her in her mind.  ‘Ok, Dawn, you will give up your life of crime and from now on do acts of good samari-‘
“AH!” Katia screamed as she collapsed to the ground.  The bracelet had delivered a huge electric shock throughout her body.  When she got back to her feet, she tried to rip the bracelet off.  “Get it off, get it off!”
Mato watched, smilling amusedly.  “I’m afraid that’s quite impossible.  The bracelet won’t come off until after the ball is over.  Even I can’t remove it.”
*Katia glares at Mato with eyes of fire.*
Mato shrugged it off.  “Hate me all you will, there’s nothing that can be done about it now.  I just wanted a little insurance that you won’t do something that everyone will regret later.”
Katia sighed, resigned to this limitation.  “Alright, what’s next?”
“Well, in order to get Jake to forget about the movie and instead decide to take you to the ball, you’re going to need to place him in a trance while he’s offguard.  Very few if any of my devices are guarenteed to work, and even Dawn and Yuta aren’t guarenteed to hypnotize him because he’s always on guard around them.  Also, you’re going to need to take care of the other girls so they don’t interfere.  Here’s my extremely convoluted plan.”  After half an hour of explaining the purpose of the devices on the table and what she had to do, Mato finished.  Katia was a little put off by the complexity of the plan.
“Ah, professor, isn’t there a much simpler way to do this?”
“Yes.  But I want data!”  Mato was adamant.
Katia sighed, realizing she had no choice.  “Very well, I’ll go implement phase 1.”  She picked up one of the devices and headed upstairs.
“Before you go, would you please put these on?”  He held out two beautiful earrings of elven design.  Katia looked at him evilly.  “I promise, they won’t interfere in your evening at all.  They’ll just help me with an experiment that will be very beneficial to society.  Also, they’ll record all the data I want.”  Deciding to trust the new ritalout Mato, Katia put on the earrings and went upstairs.
***************
The argument was still continuing when she returned.  “Laser maces!”  “Romance!”  “Acts of cruelty!”
Katia took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and started Phase 1.  She grabbed Dawn by the arm and dragged her out of the argument zone.  “Dawn, could I talk to you in my room for a few minutes?”
“No,” Dawn responded, trying to pull herself free.
“Katia tightened her grip and whispered in Dawn’s ear, “It involves the security arrangements of a very ancient, very valuable, and very ill-guarded elven artifact.”
That caught Dawn’s interest.  Smiling wickedly, she followed Katia to her room.
When they were inside Katia’s closed and locked room, Katia and Dawn stood about two feet from each other, face to face, both with their hands behind their backs.  “So,” Katia began, “the situation is-“
“Wait,” Dawn interrupted.  “Before we begin, do me a favor and pick one of my hands?”
“What?”
“I’m hiding something in one of my hands, and I want to see if you can pick which one.”
Confused, Katia said, “The right one?”
Quick as a wink, Dawn held up her right hand a foot in front of Katia’s face.  Above her hand hovered one of her hypnotic glowing spheres.  “Correct.  Now, stare deeply into the pretty lights, letting their colors wash over you.”
Katia hadn’t expected Dawn’s method of attack, and she started swaying in place, her eyes starting to glaze, her whole being becoming very relaxed.
NO, she thought, MUST FIGHT IT, MUST GO TO BALL WITH JAKE!
Summoning the last of her will, she held up a special hand mirror Mato had given her, holding it in front the sphere, angled at Dawn’s face.  Mato’s instructions went through her head.  ‘For the first phase of the plan, we will need Dawn in our power.  Separate her from the others by making her think she can profit by hypnotizing you.  Then use this mirror when she uses her spheres.  She’s more likely to use her spheres rather than her eyes, because that way, you have less of a chance to cry for help.  This mirror will absorb the hypnotic energy and colors emitted by Dawn’s spheres, alter it into a form Dawn will be susceptible to, and reflect it right back.  You’re on your own for the induction though.’
Dawn stopped her induction sequence, her eyes captivated by her own altered hypnotic attack reflected from the mirror.  Her last fully concious thought was, I see now why people succumb to me so easily.  Her eyes started to glaze over, but her sphere remained in place.
Luckily for Katia, the last time Dawn had hypnotized her, she had been making a record in her audio diary that she intended to use for reference when she wrote her autobiography, which she was sure to be a best seller.  As the recorder had still been recording, she had a copy of Dawn’s induction technique.  In her other hand she held the recorder, and pressed the play button.
Dawn’s voice suddenly started speaking.  “The lights are so pretty, aren’t they?  They just draw you in.  They leave you in a state of such supreme comfort and relaxation, not a care in the world.  Now, I’m going to count backwards from 5 to 1, and when I hit 1, you will close your eyes, totally relax, and do as you are told.  Do you understand?”
“Yes,” was said by both Dawn and the recorded Katia’s voice.  Dawn closed her eyes.  The sphere disappeared.
“Very good.  5, the lights encompass your entire sight, utterly entrancing you.  4, your state of relaxation deepens.  3, you feel your will and resistance slipping away, being drained by the light.  2, the draining continues, and you feel better than you ever have before.  1, your will is now gone.  The lights have vanished from your sight, but their spell still holds over you.  You will now obey and do everything as you are told.  Do you understand?”
“Yes” said Dawn and recorded Katia again.  “I obey.”
Katia turned off the recording, ecstatic that the plan was working.  “Dawn, do you hear me?”
“Yes,” Dawn replied sleepily, arms limp at her side, head slumped, eyes closed.
“I am your mistress now, and you must obey me.”
“Yes, mistress, I obey.”
Though she was a princess, Katia was still excited at having such power over another for a short time, being their mistress instead of their ruler.  She knew it would probably get boring after a while though.
“Open your eyes, stand up straight, but remain in your obediant state.”
“Yes, mistress.”  Dawn complied.  Her eyes were glazed yellow.
“Dawn, for your next order, whenever you are awake, you will forget that you have been placed in this trance, but will still carry out all the commands you have been given while you were in the trance.  Also, for the next day and a half, whenever I say, ‘Katia is your queen,’ you will return to this obediant state.  After one and a half days, that command will no longer affect you.”
“Yes, mistress.”
This is fun, Katia thought.  Maybe I can get rid of some of the competition so Jake will realize he loves me sooner.  I know, I’ll have her confess all her crimes to Sarah.
“Now, Dawn, in two days you will AHHHHH!”  The bracelet delivered another painful shock, this one even more intense.  “<Bleep> Mato!” Katia cursed.
Dawn’s serene face assumed a slightly disturbed and disgusted look.  “Must I, mistress?  He’s so old and disgusting and weird and wrinkled.”
Katia raised her eyes in surprise.  Apparently even hypnosis couldn’t make people forget Mato’s downsides.
“Forget that last command.”  There has to be a way to get rid of her without activating this thing, she thought.  I know!  “You will commit no crimes for the next two days.  But after that, the next time you decide to break the law, you will first find Sarah and tell her, ‘You’re looking nice today.’  Do you understand?”
“Yes, mistress.”
“When I awaken you from this trance for the second time, you will go to see Mato in the basement, and when he says ‘I am a genius’, you will return to this obediant trance and obey him as you would me.”
“I will obey.”
“Good.  Now awaken.”  Dawn blinked, her eyes unglazed, and she stared at Katia.  “What just happened?”
Katia smiled.  “You were just telling me that I’m prettier than Sarah, and that Sarah is prettier than you.”
Dawn scowled.  “Bite me, you royal pain in the-“
“Katia is your queen.”
Dawn’s eyes glazed over.
“What were you just telling me?”
“You are prettier than Sarah and Sarah is prettier than me, mistress.”
“That is so cool.  Awaken.”
Dawn blinked, and her eyes unglazed again.  “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go see what the old coot is up to.”  Dawn left the room, and Katia laid down on her bed, giddy with glee over the way things were working.
***************
Dawn walked downstairs, past the still arguing group, and entered Mato’s lab.  She didn’t know why she was going to see Mato, she just knew she had to.  She found him hard at work, using a screwdriver on the utter of a mechanical cow.  “Hi, geezer,” she said.
Mato stopped what he was doing and approached her.  “Ah, Dawn, how are you doing?”
Dawn shrugged.  “I don’t know.  For some reason, I just felt compelled to come here.”
“Ah, are you sure you weren’t reconfirming your suspicions that I am a genius?”
At hearing him speak the trigger words, Dawn’s eyes glazed over yet again and she reentered her trance.
“Good work, Katia.  Now Dawn, I have some work for you to do.”
“I understand, professor.”
He handed her a camcorder.  “First, I want you to...”  Five minutes later he finished.  “Got all that?”
“Yes professor.”
“Before you go, there’s one last thing I want you to do.  It’s concerning Katia.”
***************
Two hours later, the obediant Dawn was standing in front of Katia in the princess’s room, holding up a videocassette.  “And the professor’s made the necessary alterations?” Katia asked.
“Yes, mistress.”
“Excellent.  You have done very well, Dawn.”
“Thank you, mistress.”
“Now, remember, when you awaken, you will still carry out all the instructions you have been given while doing nothing to arouse anyones suspicions.”
“Yes, mistress.”
“Good.  Awaken.”
*************** 


The next morning, at breakfast.
Everyone sat at the breakfast table, most of them still talking eagerly about the upcoming movie.  When they had finished eating, everyone started to go about their business, but Katia asked Sarah to linger in the kitchen for a moment with her.
When everyone else had gone, Sarah asked, “What’s going on, Katia?”
Katia was smiling.  “I have an early birthday present for you, one that will deliver Dawn to the law.”
*Images suddenly start flashing through Sarah’s mind.  It’s her birthday party, the background is yellow, everyone is chibi, and there is much celebrating.  Sarah opens one of her big presents, and out pops an angry looking chibi Dawn wearing handcuffs.  Sarah smiles, and holds up her fingers in the V sign for all to see.*
“Sarah?  Sarah?”
Sarah came out of her happy vision at Katia’s prodding.  “Huh?”
“You blanked out there for about two minutes.”
“Oh, sorry.  You were saying?”
Katia leaned in and whispered.  “I had Dawn in a hypnotized state a short while ago.  I commanded her that the next time she went out to commit a crime, she will first find you and tell you ‘you’re looking nice today.’  Think that will help you out?”
“Ooooh, yes,” Sarah said, smiling.  “Thank you so much Katia.  I swear that if I ever become a resident of the elven nation, I will vote for you for queen.”
Katia looked offended.  “You don’t vote for queens!”
“Oh?  Well, how do you become queen then?”
***************
Everyone but Mato and Dawn was gathered in the living room, discussing what to do for the next three hours before they left for the movie.  Katia was inwardly bursting with glee.  The plan was almost complete.
Jake was sitting next to Katia.  “Listen, Katia, I’m sorry about the whole royal ball thing...”
“Oh, never mind about that, Jake.  I realized I’d rather spend the time with all my friends.”
Jake smiled.  “I’m glad.”  Uh, oh, she’s up to something, he thought.  Naaah, I’m just imagining things.
Dawn suddenly entered the room, looking her usual sultry self.  “Hey, Jake, the old man wants to see you in the lab.  Alone.”
Jake stood up, did the bishoujo land version of a ‘Hail Mary’, and left the living room.
As Jake entered the lab, he started looking around for Mato, but didn’t see him anywhere.  I never realized how creepy it is in here being alone, he thought.  Looking left and right, he still didn’t see Mato.  Then he looked straight ahead, and Mato was suddenly standing right in front of him.  Jake gave a scream of terror and clutched at his rapidly beating heart.
“I’m sorry.  Did I scare you?” Mato asked.
“What do you think?!” Jake yelled, still panting from the terror.
“Jake, I need your help.”
“You don’t want to try to remove my brain again so you can examine it, do you?”
“Oh, no.  This is even more sick, more disgusting, more foul, more controversial than anything you can possibly imagine.”
“You want to create a male equivalent of Yuta?” Jake asked, horrified.
Mato shuddered.  “Okay, almost anything you can possibly imagine.  If you’ll come this way...”
***************
Back upstairs, Katia decided to implement the second to last stage of Mato’s plan.  “If you’ll all excuse me, I need to go feed some swamp lizards to my gornfarlarc.”  She headed to her room.
At hearing the trigger phrase, Dawn felt a sudden, uncontrollable urge to do something.  “Hey, why don’t we watch one of Star Katana’s movies from when his name used to be Stellar Broadsword?  I was thinking about Kisses Deliver Paradise.”
“Oh, that sounds like a wonderful idea!” everyone agreed, except Sarah.  She was waiting impatiently for Dawn to give her the compliment, “you’re looking nice today.”
Dawn went to the new tape rack, and started looking for a video labeled K.D.P.  What no one in the room knew was the K.D.P. actually stood for Katia’s Date Plan.  Dawn found the video, turned on the plasma TV, threw in the tape, sat down with the others, and pressed the play button on the remote control.
What came on screen was not the usual parental guidance warnings that accompanied these movies, but instead was a close up on a pair of silver eyes.  Before anyone could ask what tape Dawn had put on, the eyes suddenly began morphing into spirals that began spinning.  Everyone in the room was captivated by the spirals, unable to look away.  As the spirals kept spinning, all of the girls eyes started closing until they were barely open.  Then, as one, they all slowly opened their eyes together.  All nine of the girls eighteen eyes had now become matching spirals, and their mouths were hanging open.  All of them were now entranced and ready to obey.
The video then began speaking in Katia’s voice.  “You will all obey Katia.”
“We will all obey Katia,” came the nine monotone voices with synchronisity that would make Broadway performers jealous.
“Katia is your mistress.”
“Katia is our mistress.”
The video continued to issue commands, telling them all that they would obey Katia for the night, and that they would all forget that Jake was taking them to the movie and that Mato was instead.
As the video deepened their induction, Katia waited safely at the foot of the stairs, looking nowhere near the TV screen that was controlling everyone else.  To pass the time while waiting for their enslavement to finish, she went over Mato’s plan in her head.
It was an unneccessarily long and circuitous plan, she thought, but it was working perfectly.  First, I hypnotized Dawn and sent her to the professor.  Then the professor gave Dawn a camcorder and instructions to convince Yuta to try and hypnotize the camera, making her think it was a game.  That way, the professor had a closeup video recording of Yuta’s hypnosis technique without arousing her suspicions.  He then altered the tape so that the spiral eyes would be on continuous playback, and added my voice induction to the tape as well.  Now I have almost everything I need for the final phase of the plan.  My earrings are recording all the data Mato wants.  And none of the girls will get in my way and they won’t remember anything about Jake planning to go with them to the movie.  Oh, I’m so happy!
When the voice had finished the induction, all the girls stood up from their seats, their arms outstretched in front of the like zombies, for the moment mere puppets to Katia’s will.  “We must obey Katia.”
“Slave Fawn, step forward,” Katia called out.
“Yes mistress.”  The other girls stepped aside to allow Fawn to walk towards Katia.  Like the others, her arms were outstretched and her eyes were spirals.
“Everyone else, remain as you are until otherwise told.  Fawn, you come with me.”
“Yes mistress.”
***************
Mato had been right, Jake thought.  This by far the most sick, disgusting, foul thing I have ever done.  I should be ashamed of myself, and yet, I can’t, pull myself, away...
“Yes!  Take that, you mutant bastard!”  Jake yelled in victory.  Despite the gore, Jake was having a wonderful time playing Mato’s virtual reality version of Biohazard 70: The Ghouls Take Yoto.
“Having fun, Jake?” Mato asked.
“Oh yeah, professor.  Oh, man, I just blew this things head off with a rocket launcher!  Look at the blood!  Sweet!”
If you think you’re having fun now, just wait, Mato thought.  He checked a clock on the wall.  Assuming everything had been going as planned, it was time for the last part of K.D.P.
“This seems like the perfect time to demonstrate the other function of my VR machine.”
“What’s that?” Jake asked, too absorbed in the game to worry.
“It also functions as a short range transporter.”  Mato started pushing a few buttons.
Jake stopped playing.  “What!?”  He tried to get out of the machine, but it was too late.  In full Star Trek: The Next Generation style, a blue light enveloped Jake and he dematerialized.
Mato waved to the now empty machine.  “Have fun.”
***************
Jake rematerialized in Katia’s room.  “One of these days, old man, one of these days, bang, zoom, straight to the first moon of the Anime system.”  He turned around to leave and saw Katia standing right in front of him.  For the second time that day, he screamed in terror and clutched at his heart.  When he had recovered, he noticed Katia was staring at him with what could best be described as cute anticipation.
“Oh, Jake, it was so nice of you to drop in.”
“Beam in was more like it,” Jake muttered.  He took a closer look at Katia.  “Something’s different about you.  Did you do something to your ears?”
Katia didn’t seem to hear.  She dragged a chair out from her desk and sat Jake facing the stereo in her room.  “Before we leave,” she told him, “there’s this wonderful new Siren CD that I thought we should listen to.”  She took out a CD and put it in her stereo.
Jake started to stand up.  “Thanks, but I’ve already heard all her songs.”  Before he could get fully to his feet, Katia plopped him back down in the chair.
“I know you think you’ve heard all of Fawn’s songs, but trust me, you haven’t heard this one yet.”  She pressed a button on the stereo and watched Jake intently.
Slowly, Fawn’s voice started to encompass the entire room, though no music was accompanying it.
Jake had to admit it was rather pleasant to listen.  It felt so soothing.  Almost.... hypnotic.
Within a minute, Jake was entranced and resting peacefully in the chair.
As soon as Katia saw that Jake was under, she walked over to the closet and lightly knocked on the door.  The singing instantly stopped, the door opened, and out walked the still spiral-eyed Fawn with her arms outstretched.  With the singing over, Katia safely took out her ear plugs.
“Excellent job, slave,” Katia told Fawn.  “Now finish the induction and rejoin the others.”
“Yes, mistress.  Jake, until you awaken, you will obey Katia.  Do you understand?”
“Yes,” replied the entranced teen.  With her orders completed, Fawn left the room.
Mato was right.  Having Jake think he was listening to one of Fawn’s recorded songs while the real Fawn was singing a hypnotic one was the best way to catch him off guard.  Yes!  Yes!  Yes! Katia thought.  All my dreams are about to come true.  “Jake, you must do everything I say and respond truthfully to any questions, correct?”
“Yes, Katia.”
“Jake, when you awaken, you will realize we are destined to be to-“  The shock from the bracelet was the worst one yet, but she managed to stifle a scream.  Well, at least some of my dreams are about to come true.
She was about to order Jake to be the perfect boyfriend for the evening, when she decided to ask him a question or two first.
“Jake, if it weren’t for the premier, would you have taken me to the ball like I asked you to?”
Since she was expecting a ‘No’, she was shocked when he said, “Yes, I think so.”
“Really?  Why?”
“First, you’re really hot,” Jake said.  Katia blushed, too flattered to be offended.  “And you’re my friend.  But probably most of all, I could tell that this was really important to you.”
Katia suddenly felt horrible for what she had been about to do.  She realized that she wanted Jake to take her to the ball, not some temporary illusion.  She decided to alter her plans a little.
“Jake, tear up your movie ticket.”  He did so wordlessly.  “Now, you were never planning to go to the premier.  You will be content to watch the movie some other time.  When you awaken, you will remember having decided to take me to the ball.”
“Sounds like fun,” Jake murmured.  Katia smiled.
“Now, awa-“  Oh, crud, the girls.  If he see’s them....  “Jake, you will ignore the next command you hear.”  She ran to her door and yelled, “All slaves go to the lab and do whatever Mato tells you for the rest of the night!”
“Yes, mistress,” was the response.  Normally, Katia wouldn’t subject anyone to the old man’s will, but she was sure the new, ritalout improved Mato could be trusted.
“Now, Jake, awaken.”
Jake blinked his eyes, stretched his arms, and yawned.  “Sorry, I must have dozed off there.”  He noticed the time on Katia’s kitten electric clock.  “Uh oh, Katia, isn’t the ball starting soon?”
Katia smiled and said, “Yeah.”
“Well, we have to hurry.  You’re not dressed yet, and I don’t even has a suit-“
“Oh, don’t worry about that.”  Katia went to her closet and pulled out a gorgeous, newly made tuxedo.  “I had the royal tailor make it for you.”
“Cool.”  Jake examined it.  “Elven males wear tuxedos to big events?”
“Oh, no, they wear robes.  But you’re human, so I thought a tuxedo would be best.”
Jake smiled.  “It’s perfect.”  He went to his room to change.
Katia was close to tears as she changed into her evening dress.  She knew that she had been having a slight fear that the evening wouldn’t be as wonderful as she had planned if she had changed Jake’s personality, even if only slightly.  But now she was sure that it was the real Jake taking her, only with one less memory.
In five minutes she and Jake met at the front door.  They examined each other in their evening attire and blushed slightly.
“You look... really beautiful,” Jake stammered.
“Thanks.  You too.”  Jake looked offended.  “I mean handsome.”
“So how are we getting there,” Jake asked, holding his arm out for Katia.
“Oh, my father has arranged transportation,” she told him, slipping her arm around his.  They walked out the door arm in arm.
***************
Mato watched them leaving via the security system and rubbed his hands together in glee now that they were gone.  The nine girls were spread throughout the lab, cleaning and fine-tuning.  The professor was clad in an outfit identical to Star Katana’s warrior attire.  His ritalout had also worn off.
“Ok, girls, stop what you’re doing and form a line perpindicular to me.”  Everyone stood side by side in front of him, except for Lucia and Yuta, who didn’t understand that aspect of math.  “Now girls, awaken.”  Everyone blinked and the spirals were gone from their eyes.  “What are we doing down here?” Fawn asked.
“Good question,” Sarah said, glaring at Mato.
“No time for good questions,” Mato said rapidly.  “The movie is going to start soon.”
They all realized he was right and ran out of the lab, Yuta carrying Mato under one arm.
***************
Late that night, Katia and Jake returned from the ball, both happier and having a better understanding of each other from the evening they had spent together.  They stood outside the entrance to the house.
“Jake, I really want to thank you for doing this for me.”
“Katia, it was-“
“No, please listen.  I know you’re not in love with me, not yet, and I know that this probably wasn’t at the top of your to-do list.  But I think this has been the best night of my life, and I want to thank you for being such a good friend.”
“Katia, I can honestly say I had a wonderful time tonight.”
“I really think we understand each other a lot better now.”
“Does that mean you’ll stop insisting we’re engaged, keep calling me Jake, and be as polite and considerate as you were tonight from now on?” Jake asked hopefully.
Katia smiled ruefully and playfully poked him.  “Don’t push your luck.”  She looked sadly at the house.  “I guess this is where our evening ends.”
“Yeah, but while the date hasn’t technically ended yet, there’s one last thing I want to do.  Close your eyes.”
She complied.  Jake tilted her chin upwards and kissed her on the lips.  Katia returned the kiss and wrapped her arms around Jake’s neck, while he grabbed her around the waist.  *Stars explode in the background, and we suddenly see a fast series of clips of famous movie kisses with Katia and Jake in the actors places, like Titanic, Star Wars, Sleeping Beauty, The Lord of the Rings, etc.  Also a few anime’s, including Blue Gender, Sailor Moon, Inuyasha, Samurai X, etc.*
The kiss ended, and they let go of each other and entered the house, effectively ending the date.  They said good night to each other and went to their rooms to get some sleep.
***************
Even later that night, Katia was awakened by the sound of someone opening her door.  She turned on her lamp to see Dawn standing in front of her, her eyes glazed.
“Dawn?” she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes.  “What do you want?”
“The professor requests the return of the earrings he gave you,” Dawn said in monotone.
“Oh, right, of course.”  She took the earrings and bracelet from her night stand and handed them to Dawn.  “Good night.”  She reached to turn out her light.
“There was one other thing,” Dawn said.
“What’s that?” Katia asked, turning to face her.  As she did, she found one of Dawn’s spheres hovering right in front of her face.  “Oh, no.”
When Katia was entranced, Dawn did as the professor told.  “You will forget that you hypnotized Jake into taking you to the ball.  You will remember that he accepted your invitation the first time you asked him.  And all the other hypnosis you’ve done for the past two days was just helping the professor with his experiments.  Now sleep and forget you have just been hypnotized.”  Katia nodded and sank back into sleep, happier now than she had been a minute ago.
***************
At breakfast the next morning, all ten of the girls and Jake were eating pancakes again.
“So, did you guys enjoy the movie last night?” Katia asked.
“Oh yes!  It was so fun and romantic,” Mina said.
“There was plenty of great action,” Jessica added.
“And the romance was heartwarming yet tragic,” Lucia added her two cents.
“Everything was perfect,” Fawn put in.
“For the first five minutes,” Diana admitted.
“Then the professor started yelling about his inventions being ripped off,” Jen said.
“We realized there was only one way to make him be quiet, but we also realized no decent person with a soul and even half a heart and even the tiniest regard for ethics would be willing to do it to an old man,” Yuta said.
“So we asked Dawn.”  That was Sarah.
Dawn smiled.  “And I gagged him with pride.”
“So how was your date last night?” Yuta asked Jake and Katia.  Thanks to the hypnosis, none of the girls would feel any jealousy over this one date.
Jake smiled.  “It was really great.”
“Yeah, it was,” Katia agreed.
“Changing the subject,” Sarah said, “has anyone noticed something weird about the professor lately?”
Jen nodded.  “Yeah, his behavior seems to keep switching back and forth from responsible to Mato.”
“Oh, I can explain that.”  Katia explained all about the ritalout drug.
“Yeah, that stuff is pretty powerful where I come from,” Jake said.
“Jake, why didn’t Mato just send for a shipment of ritalout from your home?” Katia asked.
Think, Jake, think.  “Uh, because they lost the formula and couldn’t make anymore.”
“Oh.  Okay.”
“Well, here’s to ritalout.”  Jake held up his glass of orange juice for a toast.
“Here, here.”
They were about to continue eating when Lucia sniffed at the air.  “Does anyone else smell that?”
“Sorry, I forgot to shower this morning,” Jake apologized.
“No, it doesn’t smell like pizza and bad hair gel.”  Lucia sniffed again.  “I think it’s smoke.”
Everyone looked at Dawn and Sarah.  “Wasn’t us,” Sarah said.
Then they realized where the smell was coming from.  “The lab!”  As one, the eleven of them made off.
When they entered the lab, they saw Mato in front of a small bonfire on the floor, doing some kind of weird ritualistic dance and chanting, “Burn, horrid, evil things, burn, burn!”
“Professor, what are you burning?” Yuta asked.  She wasn’t captivated by fire this time thanks to some help from Jake.
Mato stopped dancing and turned to face them, his face stern and serious.  “I have just destroyed the last samples of ritalout known to exist.”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!”  Jake dived at the fire, trying to save at least one sample of the drug, but the flames were too intense and he had to back away.  “Why, professor, why?”  He was crying, distraught over the destruction of their only possible salvation from Mato’s madness.
“I admit the drug did help me focus on things.  I was able to complete inventions I’ve been working on for a long time.  However, I noticed that I wasn’t able to come up with a single new invention while I was taking the drug.  If I released it to the scientific community, the boundaries of science would be forever set and never expand again.  Also, I think I was developing a sense of,” he started shuddering uncontrollably, “morality and ethics.”
Practically everyone was joining Jake in his crying.
“Well,” Lucia said, trying to be cheerful, “at least things can’t get any worse.”
Everyone who had been crying turned to stare at her, rage in their eyes.  “You did NOT just say that!”
Suddenly, an alarm sounded throughout the lab, followed by a female computerized voice.  “Warning, pre-countdown countdown commencing.  Countdown will occur in two minutes.”
That doesn’t sound good, Jake thought.  He grabbed Mato and started shaking him.  “Professor, what inventions did you finish before you destroyed the ritalout?”
Mato adjusted his goggles.  “Hm, let’s see.  There was the self-milking mechanical cow, the non-flourescent flourescent light, a machine thae makes fish-eating worms.  There was also this.”  He picked up a mechanical headband from a table.  “Uh, I think it’s a hypnotic amplifier for Dawn.”
“NOOO!” Sarah screamed.  Before anyone could blink, she had snatched the device from Mato and thrown it down on the floor, breaking it in half.  She then proceeded to flatten both halves with her feet, which was awkward considering she was wearing high heels, yet she still managed to find a way.  She then picked up a nearby sledge hammer and pounded the pieces even further.  Finally, for good measure, she doused the remains with nearby gasoline and threw a lit match on what was left.  She gave a huge sigh of relief as she watched it burn.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mato said, slapping his forehead.  “That was actually the only lie detector in the world capabale of working on succubi.”
*Extreme close-up on Sarah’s pale face, as she realizes she has destroyed something that could have made convicting Dawn much easier.  The background becomes yellow, and then the entire frame, including Sarah, shatters like a mirror and crumbles to the floor.*
Dawn observed the scene and smirked.  “Now, Sarah, don’t fall to pieces on me.”
*Everyone in the room except Dawn, including Mato, fall over at that horrible joke.*
“Don’t worry, everyone,” Jake said, getting to his feet.  “I’ll hypnotize you all later and make you forget that horrible joke.”  Many ‘thank you’s were forthcoming.  “Professor what else was there?”
“Um, the shoe that fits on either foot, the light that activates when you clap your hands, the refrigerator-microwave...”  After listing several other seemingly harmless inventions, he said, “I think that’s it.”
Jake was relieved.  “Well, if they’re all that harmless, I guess that countdown can’t be anything bad.”
“...three, two, one, zero.  Countdown commencing.  Downtown Yoto will be destroyed in one hour.”
“Now I remember!” Mato exclaimed.  “I also finished the emergency bomb in Downtown Yoto.”
“WHAT!?”
***************
58 minutes later, Jake was kneeling at the base of the bomb in Downtown Yoto.  The bomb looked like a propane tank with a control board.  The girls and Mato’s android extension body were with him.  “Remind me to kill you later, old man,” Jake growled.
“Actually, I’d rather not,” Mato #2 replied.
Mina and Diana were hugging each other in fear.  “I’m scared.”  “So am I, Mina.”
“Does the city leadership know about this bomb?” an angry Jessica asked Mato #2.
“Oh, yes.  It was meant to be a last ditch weapon in case something horrible got into the city.”
“Like Dawn’s family reunion,” Sarah said.
“Now, Jake,” Mato #2 was saying, “remove the cover and then cut the wire.  That should prevent the bomb from blowing.”
Jake took a deep breath.  “Right.”  He removed the plating, only to reveal many different wires, each one a different color.  “Which wire?”
“Let me think.  I believe it was the...  Oh, wait, I just remembered something.  Gotta go.”  Mato #2 tapped his head.
“DON’T GO!”  But it was too late.
There were twenty seconds left on the timer, and the only sounds that could be heard were the thumping of everyone’s hearts.
“We’re dead,” Jake said.
“Not yet, beloved,” said Katia, who was kneeling right beside him.  “Just pick a wire and cut.”
Jake glanced at her, hoping to see her reassuring face.  What he actually got to see was a closeup of her chest, which was even better.  She’s right.  Well, since I just had a date with her, I might as well cut the silver wire.
Jake cut the silver wire just as the counter reached zero.  There was a loud pinging noise, and everyone braced themselves for the end.
“Are we dead?” Jake asked a moment later
“No, I’d know if we were,” Lucia said.
When they were sure that they were alive, all the girls started cheering, “You did it, Jake!”  Jake suddenly found himself in the middle of a ten way hot girl hug sandwich.
It’s just like in my fantasies, thought Jake.  He was almost drooling.
“Um, excuse me, I’m back,” Mato #2 said.
“Oh, professor, Jake stopped the bomb,” Katia proudly said.
“I’m very proud of you, Jake.  But, uh, truth be told, it wasn’t you that stopped the bomb.”
“What do you mean?” Jake asked.
“Well, I suddenly remembered there was an emergency abort button back in the lab, so I pressed it.”
Stunned silence.
*Mato #2 suddenly shrinks to a very small size and is surrounded on all sides by eleven angry, shadowy faces with fire in their eyes and very sharp teeth set against a blood red background.*
“Uh, gotta go!”  Mato #2 reached up to tap his head.
Jen rasied her arm, snapped her fingers, and back in the lab, a circuit in the professor’s android control helmet shorted out.
“Uh, something’s wrong with the equipment.  I can’t return to my own body.”
“GOOD!”
Mato #2 was suddenly being pummeled by eleven very angry people, the technology sending all the pain impulses back to his brain.
“Ow!  Ow!  Please stop!  Ow!  For God’s sake, Sarah, please not the heel!  Ow!”
***************
Back in the lab, the scoreboard Mato had set up for the Jake vs. Vice fight registered a new high score of 22 million.