“Going somewhere?” Les hissed.
“Yes, but it has nothing to do with your diabolical plan to get rid of the surfers and bikers,” Mack said. Her hand shot up to her mouth. She didn’t mean to tell them that!
“And to destroy Big Momma’s forever,” Brady added, wincing.
He turned to Mack. “I hate talking in plot points.”
“It seems you two miscreants have become a liability to the strategy I’ve carefully orchestrated,” Les said to them. A few bars of sinister music played off in the distance, underscoring the dire situation. Mack cringed.
“In just under two hours, this area will all be mine!” Les cackled.
“And how are you going to stop us from warning our friends?” Brady prodded him.
Dr. Fusion aimed his laser gun at a rock and fired it. The rock sizzled and disintegrated!
“And now we know,” Mack said.
“I should warn you, I know karate,” Brady stated. “And, like, two other Japanese words.” He leaped toward the gun, but Dr. Fusion fired. Brady was thrown back onto the sand.
“Brady! Are you okay?” Mack cried, rushing over to him.
“Oh, he’s fine,” Dr. Fusion said. “It was only a stun gun.”
Brady sat up and shook his head. “Wow. In the movie, that looked like it would hurt a whole lot less,” he said.
Mack gently helped Brady stand up and steadied him on his feet. Les and Dr. Fusion led them down the beach at gunpoint. Mack glanced over at Brady, who shared the same worried expression. They had no choice but to head to the lighthouse—and see where this new plot point was going to take them!
Lela ran down the shoreline, weaving in between the sunbathers lying on blankets. She stopped at the ocean’s edge and turned around to scan the beach. More than anything, she wanted another surfing lesson today. She had to find Brady! She was about to give up when she spotted Tanner. He seemed to be searching for someone as well. Lela went up to him, thinking that maybe they could help each other.
“You waiting for Mack?” Lela asked.
“Yeah,” Tanner said. “You waiting for Brady?”
“Yeah,” Lela said, still looking around. “We’re going to surf.”
Tanner raised his eyebrows. “What? You like to surf?” he asked.
“It’s like riding a cloud,” Lela said dreamily. She gazed out into the ocean with a faraway expression on her face. Then she chuckled. “Except that cloud is water.”
“No way,” Tanner said, pointing his thumb at his chest. “I said that same thing, except not right now.”
“I know bikers aren’t supposed to like surfing, but I don’t care,” Lela cried.
“You don’t?” Tanner asked. He moved closer to her. The biker chick he had seen hanging around Big Momma’s suddenly looked different to him. “Hey. You know what? I’ve always wanted to ride a motorcycle,” he confessed.
“Are you serious?” Lela asked. She eyed the surfer boy curiously.
“No. I’m Tanner,” he said with an absolutely straight face.
“I grew up riding,” Lela told him.
“Is that why you’re stunning as a moon that lighteth up a day?” Tanner asked, using his low, poetic voice.
“Who said that?” Lela asked, impressed.
“I just did,” Tanner said. He stood up tall and proudly.
“Wow. I really like your low voice.”
“Thanks. I can do high, too.”
Lela smiled. “Who’d have thought a biker and a surfer could have so much in common?” She looked down at the sand and then up at Tanner again. “Did you ever think the person you thought was perfect for you isn’t as perfect as the perfect person for you?”
“You mean…you?” Tanner said sweetly.
“And you,” she added coyly.
Tanner and Lela started to sing about destiny and belonging together. Suddenly, the whole beach was involved in a full-on dance number! Lela leaped up onto one of the high rocks near the water’s edge. As she sang, she slipped and lost her balance. She wobbled and fell right into Tanner’s arms. They looked into each other’s eyes…and kissed.
“Hey, what are we going to tell Mack and Brady?” Lela asked, still feeling the electricity of their kiss.
“Yeah, where are they anyway?” Tanner said, looking around. Suddenly, Tanner saw the flower garland he gave to Mack lying on the sand. He picked it up and showed it to Lela.
“I gave this to Mack. She was wearing it,” he said, thinking out loud.
“Why would she take it off?” Lela wondered.
“Something’s not right!” Tanner cried.
They looked at each other and then toward the abandoned lighthouse.
“We need to get help,” Lela declared.
“But from who?” Tanner asked.
The new couple raced up the beach to find help. They needed to figure out how to save Mack and Brady—and fast!
Mack and Brady were tied up in the villains’ laboratory. They watched as Dr. Fusion worked on the weather machine, making small adjustments to knobs and levers.
“In mere moments, less time than it takes for me to steal this scene,” Les announced, “this machine will change the weather patterns. I will take possession of Big Momma’s, and all your friends will disappear forever—or longer!” Les laughed maniacally.
“There’s one flaw with your plan!” Mack called over to him.
“And what might that be?” Les asked, turning to look at his prisoners.
Mack glanced at Brady. She shrugged. “I don’t know, isn’t there always one flaw with these kind of plans?” she asked.
Les waved her off. “Now I’m off to measure the beach for a resort parking lot,” he said as he headed out the door.
Dr. Fusion gave Mack and Brady an evil stare and followed Les outside.
“I guess it could be worse,” Brady mused once he was alone with Mack. “At least my favorite movie wasn’t Tarantulas on a Train.”
Mack looked at him, then started to laugh uncontrollably.
“Okay, you’ve lost it,” Brady said.
Mack took a deep breath and grew serious. “Brady, I’ve spent this entire movie telling Lela to follow her heart and do what she loves,” she confessed. “And she did.” Mack thought of Lela, a hard-core biker, out on a surfboard having fun. “She has more courage than I do.”
“That’s not true,” Brady told her. He strained to turn and see Mack’s face. “You’re braver than anyone I know.”
“If we hadn’t come here,” Mack began, “I’d be on a plane right now, heading for some private school to become something I don’t really want to be.” She felt relieved to finally get that confession off her chest. Then she sighed. “Instead, we’re being held prisoner in a lighthouse where a sinister weather machine could destroy a surfer’s paradise!”
“So, you’re glad we came?” Brady asked.
“I couldn’t be more glad!” Mack exclaimed. She grinned at Brady. “It’s like, I’m tied up, but at the same time, I’ve never felt more free.” She tilted her head toward Brady. “You were right. What’s my hurry to grow up when I could be stuck in nineteen sixty-two with you?”
Brady struggled to slip his hand into Mack’s and give her a reassuring squeeze. Mack leaned her head on his shoulder. This might not have been the plot twist she expected, but Mack still wanted to enjoy the moment.
Tanner and Lela burst into Big Momma’s. The place was filled with the surfers and bikers having burgers and shakes. As usual, there was tension between the two groups on different sides of the restaurant. Lela and Tanner leaped onto the stage and tried to get everyone’s attention.
“Everyone, listen!” Tanner shouted.
All heads in the restaurant turned toward the stage. There was complete silence as the crowd watched the mismatched couple—a surfer boy and a biker chick.
“Les Camembert wants to destroy us!” Lela told the crowd.
“He’s built a weather machine that will stop the tide…” Ta
nner explained.
“And rust all of our bikes!” Lela finished his sentence. She tried to enlist some support from the crowd. There was a roar from the biker side of the room.
“Just to get rid of us,” Tanner added.
Lela looked around at the people in the restaurant. “Plus, he’s got Mack and Brady held captive in a secret location.” She stepped closer to the edge of the stage. “We need your help.”
“Us or them?” Butchy asked, pointing to himself and then to the surfers across the room.
“Us,” a surfer cried, standing up.
“I think she meant us,” one of the bikers replied.
Seacat stood up and looked right at Tanner. “You meant them?”
“Or did you mean them?” Cheechee said to Lela, standing up with her hands on her hips.
“I mean all of us!” Lela shouted.
“Ohhhhhhhhhh,” the crowd replied in a collective sigh.
“The only hope is to work together,” Tanner urged everyone. “Free our friends, and destroy that machine before it destroys our world.”
“Why should we do anything with them?” Butchy asked, eyeing the surfers across the room.
“Hey,” Seacat replied, staring down Butchy. “We didn’t want to do anything with you first.”
“Together we can help each other,” Tanner said, focusing the crowd. He was trying to gain support, but no one seemed care.
Butchy walked over to the stage and pointed at Tanner. “Why should we listen to you?” he growled.
Tanner flashed the biker a stellar, sparkling smile. “I never thought I’d have anything in common with a biker either, until I took a ride with one!” He gestured to Lela and held her gaze.
“In fact, all our fighting ever did was stop us from seeing what we have in common,” Lela added as she winked at Tanner.
“Big Momma’s, the beach, and…us!” Tanner cheered. Lela clasped Tanner’s hand and raised it up for the crowd to see. They stood united in front of everyone. The crowd cheered when they realized that the two were now a couple.
Butchy stepped near the stage. No one in Big Momma’s breathed a word. Was he going to punch Tanner for touching his sister? Silently, everyone moved in closer to see what would happen next.
After a long moment of silence, he approached Tanner and shook his hand.
Tanner grinned. “Let’s go!” Butchy and Tanner shouted in unison. They led the crowd out of the restaurant.
“No running!” Big Momma cried as she saw everyone racing for the door. Then she thought better of it, sensing the urgency of the situation. “Ah, go ahead.”
All the surfers and bikers rushed down the beach toward the lighthouse. They were on a mission. And now they were all united!
Les stood outside of the old lighthouse. He spotted a group of kids running down the beach and grimaced. This was not in his plan.
Inside the laboratory, Dr. Fusion was still holding Mack and Brady at gunpoint.
“Do you really want to do this?” Brady asked the scientist. “Ruin the lives of all these people?”
“Just because you can magnify the power of nuclear plutonium to six hundred forty-seven degrees, doesn’t mean you have to,” Mack said. Then she noticed Brady staring at her. “What?” she said, shrugging. “It’s not like I never paid attention when you watched the movie.”
Brady couldn’t help but laugh.
“How did you know that?” Dr. Fusion barked. He moved the toy gun closer to them. “Who are you?” he said, glaring at them.
“Fine,” Brady said. If this guy wanted the truth, he would give it to him. “We’re from the future, and you’re not real. You’re a villain in a movie we got stuck in somehow.”
“No,” Dr. Fusion said, shaking his head.
“Yup,” Mack said.
“Noooooooooooo!” Dr. Fusion cried. “So I’m nothing but a flicker on a silver screen, destined to relive the same evil deeds and trite dialogue, over and over?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” Mack told him.
Just then, Les ran in from his outside post. “Bad news,” he gasped. “The bikers and surfers have united together in order to save you and destroy us.”
“How is that bad news?” Brady asked.
Les smirked. “Correction. Bad news for you.” He turned to Dr. Fusion. “It’s time!”
Dr. Fusion faced the machine. He hit the glowing red button. Pulsing red rays shot out of the lighthouse, penetrating the sky.
On the beach, Tanner, Lela, and Butchy looked up at the laser show. Tanner turned to Butchy.
“Look. Ray!” Tanner called.
“No. Butchy,” he said, pointing to himself. “Ray is my cousin.”
Lela motioned to the cliff where the lighthouse was perched. “No, the ray,” she clarified. “It’s coming from that lighthouse.”
“That must be where they are!” Tanner exclaimed.
Butchy looked up at the creepy lighthouse. “I got to be honest. I’m not big on lighthouses. It’s a thing. For some people, it’s caves. For some, it’s snakes. Me, it’s lighthouses!”
All of the surfers and bikers gathered behind Butchy and stared up at the cliff.
Seacat moved through the crowd to stand next to Butchy. “You can do this. We’re all with you,” he said. “What do you say?”
Butchy looked around. “Wow,” he replied. The group was being so supportive and kind. “My fear is gone!” he exclaimed. “Let’s go!”
The gang trekked up the cliff and arrived at the lighthouse. Everyone headed through the dark tunnel into the hidden laboratory. Their entrance took Les and Dr. Fusion by surprise.
“Lela!” Brady cried when she burst into the room.
“Tanner!” Mack exclaimed.
“Problem!” Les shouted over the noise.
“We’re here to save you,” Lela said. Mack and Brady suddenly noticed that Lela and Tanner were holding hands.
“Look at that, Brady,” Mack said. “They got together all by themselves.”
Brady grinned. “I guess they had to. It was written that way.”
The crowd piled in and quickly untied Mack and Brady. Then, they tied Les and Dr. Fusion together!
“You’ll never stop us!” Les cried, still trying to fight the crowd. “We will destroy you.”
“Annihilate you,” Dr. Fusion added.
“Discombobulate you!” Les shouted.
Mack picked up the toy ray gun that Les must have dropped in the scuffle. She carefully pointed it at Les and Dr. Fusion.
Les quickly changed his tune. “Actually, we’re good,” he said, backing away.
“Never better,” Dr. Fusion agreed, looking for a way out of the lab.
“Good luck to you,” Les said with a goofy grin.
Just then, the villains’ weather machine started shooting rays again and making threatening sounds.
Brady turned to Lela and Tanner. “You have to destroy the machine.”
“It’s too late!” Les told them. “Say good-bye to this beach as you know it!”
The machine continued to fire pulsing rays. Butchy, Tanner, and the other bikers and surfers tried to stop it, but they couldn’t figure out which of the many switches to flip.
Lela stepped closer to the machine and quickly assessed the mechanical parts. “Wait!” she cried. “That motor is not much different than the four-stroke, five-hundred-cc, flat-twin, air-cooled Wankel with shaft final and rear-wheel drive.” She looked around at the bikers. “That’s the kind of motor that you guys refurbish all the time.”
Butchy pushed to the front of the crowd. “Let me see,” he said. He looked for a second, then reacted. “She’s right,” he said. “But it’s too far down to get to without taking it apart.” He held up his pudgy hand. “Especially with these sausage fingers.”
Lela smiled. She held up her own slender hand and wiggled her fingers. “Not for me it isn’t!” She took a hairpin from her head and approached the machine. Then she reached in and short-circuited the moto
r in one motion.
Suddenly, there was a low rumble. Smoke escaped with incredible force from a few areas of the machine. The lights flickered and flashed. Everyone backed away as the inevitable eruption built up and up.
“Let’s get out of here!” Butchy yelled.
Everyone ran for the exit. As the last of the surfers and bikers left, Dr. Fusion and Les realized that they had been left alone in the lab. There was an awkward moment of silence, except for the noise of the weather machine building toward an explosion.
“I can’t even imagine a scenario where this turns out well for us,” Les said to the scientist.
“Nope,” Dr. Fusion agreed.
There was a loud pop, and Les and Dr. Fusion panicked as the weather machine exploded. The two men went flying out of the lighthouse window, still tied up. They landed out in the ocean, bobbing in the water on a shattered piece of the weather machine.
“I’m not sure I like the way this movie ends,” Dr. Fusion muttered.
Les looked at him, confused. He scratched his head. “Movie? What movie?”
“Glad you asked,” Dr. Fusion replied. “It seems we’re all in this movie, and we’re villains!”
“Intriguing,” Les said. “Tell me more…”
Dr. Fusion grabbed the weather machine’s main lever and used it as a paddle. “Apparently, as we’ve been carrying out our plot, cameras have been watching,” Dr. Fusion explained. He glanced over his shoulder. “Of course, had I known, I’d have done something more flowy with my hair.” He shook his tangled mess of hair and straightened up a bit. His voice trailed off as he and Les floated farther out into the ocean.
Mack and Brady found themselves in front of Big Momma’s restaurant, confused and slightly winded.
“How did we get back here?” Mack asked. She was just at the lighthouse—and then there was the explosion.
“Because it’s exactly where we’re supposed to be,” Brady replied. “We can leave exactly as we came.”
Mack nodded her head. She was starting to understand. All plot points were checked. She and Brady just needed the right wave to ride back to the future and end this story.
“Looks like the movie is back on track,” Mack said. “We can leave.”
Teen Beach Movie Page 5
