//------------------------------// // The Museum // Story: On the Corner of Straight and Narrow // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// As Sam and Trixie reached the museum, Trixie focused her mind on the spell Jane suggested. ...Daddy? she called with her mind. Instantly, she felt the touch of his mind. Trixie? Since when can you do psychic communication? I thought the card trick only allowed mind reading? Trixie smiled widely. Daddy! she thought happily. Since we both have the Card spell - although you can't do it without the actual cards - we can read each others' minds. What's happening to you? Are you alright? Max was quiet for a time. Well...I don't completely understand what's going on, but Skunkape and that Papierwaite guy from the film we watched - who's still around somehow - have hooked my brain up to some sort of magitek device that's summoning all the Toys to the Devil's Toybox. That's...not good, is it? Trixie asked. Honestly? No clue. Pretty sure we don't want either of them to have access to all those toys. Trixie thought for a time. They're working together to make the machine work, right? Yeah. Why? Max paused as his mind raced along the same thoughts Trixie's had. I getcha! You want me to figure out how we can split up their alliance, and then we work to make that happen, giving us a chance to get my brain and the Toybox away from them! Exactly! Trixie crowed happily. We're good at driving people crazy. Trixie has to go now, though. A giant cockroach is trying to get rid of your body. Opening her eyes, Trixie saw that in addition to the giant cockroach security guard that Sam was trying to talk out of getting rid of Max's body, there were also several space gorilla minions wandering about the museum. Trixie also heard the cockroach - named Sal - talking about throwing Max's body into the incinerator. "You can't!" Trixie complained. "It's not Daddy's fault your boss stole his brain! But we need to have his body here to get his brain back in!" "Whoa, you're going up against my boss?" Sal asked surprised. "Well, can't say I didn't expect this job to go south with all the freaky...stuff...going on here." It was plain he had corrected himself due to the presence of a minor. "Still, I have to play by the rules unless and until the job does go south, and that means if your father over there isn't up and moving in the next few minutes, I have to toss him in the incinerator." Trixie thought for a time. "Trixie doesn't suppose using her telekinesis to puppet Daddy's body in a macabre parody of life counts?" she asked curiously. Sal shook his head. "Nah, wouldn't count. But I'd pay you five bucks to see it." "Trixie has no need for money," she replied, "but she will keep the idea in mind for future shows. ...are there any spare brains around the museum? One we could stick in him to get him moving to meet the letter of the rule, if not the spirit?" "Try the Egyptian exhibit," Sal replied. "They preserved brains when they mummified people. Just don't break anything." Nodding, Trixie headed for the Egyptian exhibit on the left side of the museum. Seeing a jar labeled The Pharaoh's Brain, she focused her telekinesis to reach into the jar. She then carefully lifted the brain out of it and stuck it in her hat before turning to run back to Sam, who was still questioning Sal. "Uncle Sam!" she said eagerly. "I've got a spare brain for Daddy's body!" "Alright then," Sam replied. "Let's get Max's body back on his feet." Going over to Sam's limp body, Trixie slipped the brain into the empty cavity of his skull. Sam then closed the top down. "Anybody in there?" he called when there was so sign of activity. The body slowly began to rise to its feet as a strange voice could be heard issuing from the mouth. "Oooo...Eeee...torments of Osiris shall be laid upon your feet, heretics! The wrath of-Ack! Anubis!" The brain behind Max's eyes stared at Sam nervously. "Nah, but I get that a lot," Sam replied. "I'm Sam." "Oh, a new body!" the voice said, glancing over Max's frame carefully. "And it's so...energetic!" He began to bounce up and down. "That's probably one of Max's sugar rushes," Sam explained. "You'll want to ride those out until you get used to them." "I suppose you want some tedious boon in return for rescuing our spirit from the shadowy realms, yes?" the voice asked in resignation. Trixie stomped right up to the spirit in her father's body. "That's Daddy's body," she growled. "Stupid space monkey stole his brain. You're gonna help us get it back." The spirit frowned. "And if I don't?" Trixie lowered her ears against her skull. "Then Trixie will cry...and she will follow you wherever you go, crying, and tell everyone she is crying because you were mean and stole my Daddy's body...and imply you did inappropriate things to Trixie using said body, involving various things that Trixie doesn't fully understand yet but will make everyone you meet nauseous just to be in your presence." The spirit stared at Trixie for a time, and then laughed. "We like you, tiny unicorn named Trixie! We are Sammun-mak, and we shall happily retrieve your father's brain! However...what shall happen to our brain afterwards?" "Trixie will stick you inside a spaceship, giving you the power to traverse the cosmos," Trixie offered. "That would be most gratifying!" Sammun-mak proclaimed. "Very well! We shall begin! This task will be quite easy, what with all these Toys of the Gods secreted throughout this furry body." He pulled out the Teleporter phone and the Eyes of Yog-Soggoth. "So you have super psychic powers using the toys like Daddy and Trixie?" Trixie asked. "Indeed," Sammun-mak replied. "Though we are surprised to find two others who share the ability. Though not that one is a unicorn. They are a powerfully magical race, after all." Trixie? Max called. I've got some info for you on how to mess up Skunkape and Papierwaite's alliance. Daddy! Trixie called silently back. Tell us! We had no idea different users of this power could communicate telepathically! Sammun-mak spoke up. How wondrous! Who's that? Max asked in confusion. Your latest renter, Daddy, Trixie said quickly. What are the details? Well, Skunkape really doesn't like the idea of the cockroach getting near his minions, and Papierwaite is terrified of anything happening to his Yog-Soggoth tapestry or the space apes hurting said employee. Got it! Trixie has a plan. Grinning widely, Trixie levitated the nearest space gorilla and hurled him at the tapestry in question. The gorilla screamed in terror and confusion, catching hold of the tapestry as he landed on it, tearing it apart as he fell down it. "Hey!" Sal shouted angrily, rushing forward. "Stay away from the exhibits!" The cockroach and space gorilla promptly began to brawl. Daddy! Trixie called telepathically. Get Papierwaite and Skunkape to check the security cameras! Shortly thereafter, there was the sound of intense fighting from the planetarium, where Skunkape and Papierwaite were doing their work. Sam grinned. "Nice work," he said, leading the way up there. Once in the planetarium, Sam and Trixie made their way quietly to Max's brain. However, Sammun-mak made his way to the Devil's Toybox. As he touched it, Trixie staggered from the intense force of extra-dimensional psychic energy. And she wasn't the only one, as Skunkape and Papierwaite also were forced to their knees. "By the hammer of Ptah, the hairballs of Bastet, and the hangnails of Anubis," Sammun-Mak said ritualistically as he floated above the Toybox, "reality itself will kneel before Sammun-Mak!" "Is this bad?" Trixie whimpered, clutching her head. "Ya think?" Sam and Max said simultaneously. A sphere of blazing light expanded, consuming all before it.