Mary Christmas 2: Christmas in July – Chapter 3
By: lostandwhatever

Continued from Chapter 2.

With the door shut behind her, Mary scanned the room she had just entered. It was a small office space filled with cubicles and surrounded by various offices. She could see no one working just now and decided that she had a moment for a private conversation. She needed to consult with her informant. She reached into her breast pocket and fished out a figure that was about an inch-and-a-half tall. The Lejo man looked up at her with his black dot eyes on his yellow face and frowned the dark line of his mouth.

“So,” Mary said. “What’s the deal, blockhead? Are you trying to get me caught?”

“N-no!” the Lejo man stammered. He held up his little yellow claw hands defensively. “There were no guards there last week. I swear!”

Mary eyed him suspiciously as she clutched him in her hand. “Are you sure there aren’t any other details you might have neglected to share with me? Is that Martinez woman even going to be here?”

“I’ve told you everything! Martinez will be here. She never goes out in the field.”

Mary nodded. “Well, she better be. If I get caught, then you can kiss your old body goodbye. Get used to the idea of living in a toy brick house.”

“She’s here,” he said, and he would have cried then if his Lejo eyes could. He just wanted this nightmare to be over and did not care what the consequences would be later.

“Fine,” Mary said and stuffed him roughly back into her breast pocket. There was no turning back now anyway. She had come too far, made too much noise. They would be ready for her if she came back again. It was now or never.

Mary walked to the doors across the room. A sign read “Research and Development” on the wall next to them. She used her stolen key card from the Lejo man one last time to unlock these doors. After this, the card would be of no more use to her. The last door needed another card, the one that belonged to Ms. Martinez.

***

Angela Martinez headed for the restroom. It had been a crazy morning, but the response team in the field was getting things under control with the help of local law enforcement. It would not be long before she had to brief the president and his staff on what was happening, and she wanted to freshen up a bit first. It would also be nice to have a minute alone to think. Being the head of R&D for the department meant that she was always under a bit of pressure, but she had grown to like the stress of it. In fact, it was a bit exhilarating. And, having the ear of the most powerful man in the world was a thrill in itself. Despite how awful things were out there right now, she was secretly enjoying the chaos.

Angela entered the women’s room and sat down in a stall. As she relieved herself, another woman entered and sat down in the stall next to her. If her mind had not been as distracted as it was, Angela might have found it strange that the other woman did not pull down her pants.

Angela finished up and stepped out of the stall. She washed her hands and stood in front of the mirror, checking her hair and make-up.

Meanwhile, back in her stall, Mary pulled a pair of necklaces out of her pocket. She slipped the small one around an object in her pocket and held the larger one in her hands. It was time for the ambush.

Angela barely noticed the bathroom stall open behind her. She did notice when some kind of string or wire was dropped over her head and around her neck. She had a split second to realize it was a necklace. “Wha-?” she started to say, but was cut off when her world went suddenly dark. She found herself encased in rough fabric and unable to move much at all. Suddenly, she felt herself slide roughly out of the fabric out into the open. She realized she was in the bathroom still. Only, the room seemed enormous now.

Angela swung through the air and then found herself face to face with a giant woman. She recognized the face. She had seen it in surveillance pictures from all over the world. “Mary!” she said in a squeaky little voice as she gazed up at the elf that held her in the grip of a giant hand. She squirmed a bit, but found that her body did not want to move at all beneath her neck.

“Hello, Martinez,” Mary said. “How nice to see that you recognize me. I won’t have to waste time explaining.”

Angela watched as another giant hand reached for her. She gasped as log-like fingers gripped something around her neck and lifted it over her head.

“Recognize this?” Mary said as she held the necklace in front of her.

“The swap necklace!” Angela said. That explained the squeaky voice. She must be a toy now, but what toy was she?

“Check this out,” Mary said. Angela felt a giant thumb pull her head backwards to the point that she thought her neck would snap, but instead, she felt something solid slide out from a space in the front of her neck. Mary pulled the object out of Angela’s neck and let her head fall forward back into place. Angela saw the chalky purple brick Mary held between her fingers.

“No,” Angela said. “You didn’t. You couldn’t have.”

Mary popped the candy brick in her mouth and crunched on it. “I don’t know why people complain about chalky candy like this. I love it. It’s pure sugar.”

Angela felt her body spin and then she was looking into the mirror in front of her. She saw the giant figure of Mary standing there, and poking out of Mary’s hand was a realistic looking white bunny head, the top of a PAZ candy dispenser. Angela shook her head and the bunny in the reflection did the same. It was her. She could even feel the fuzzy ears drooping on her head.

“You like?” Mary asked. “I know Easter is over, but I think it still works for the season, right?”

Angela tried to calm herself and fight back the terror inside, but it was hard not to be scared when you were turned into a little candy-dispensing toy and gripped in the fist of a giant demonic elf. “Whatever you are trying to do!” she said. “You won’t get away with it!”

“Oh, don’t be so cliché,” Mary said as she walked over to Angela’s old body, now turned into a plastic mannequin version of herself. Mary stood behind Angela’s body and kept the PAZ dispenser Angela facing the mirror. “I’m going to need this,” Mary said as she unclipped the ID card from Angela’s old body.

“That won’t do you any good,” Angela said.

“Oh?” Mary said in mock surprise. “It won’t?” She pocketed the ID.

“Just turn me back, and we can talk about what to do next. There’s no way you’re getting out of here alive unless you surrender now.” Angela hoped the bluff would work.

“Um, no,” Mary said. “I think you’re the one whose life is in danger. Here, have a little chat with an old friend of yours.” Mary pulled something out of her breast pocket and set it and Angela down on the counter next to the sink. Angela recognized the object from Mary’s pocket as a living Lejo man. Mary must have used the necklace on him as well.

“Who are you?” Angela asked.

The Lejo man looked up at Mary fearfully. Mary nodded down at him giving him permission to speak. “I’m John…” the toy man said, turning back to Angela. “John Smalls.”

Mary cackled above them, “Can you believe that? ‘Smalls?’ How could I resist?”

Angela knew Smalls from the department. He was one of the analysts. “Smalls,” she said. “What did you tell her?”

Even with his simple features, he looked so defeated. “I told her everything. Everything! I’m sorry, Martinez, but what could I do? She would’ve killed me or worse: she might leave me like this.”

“Damn it, Smalls!”

“You have to help her,” he pleaded, clutching his claw hands together. “I can’t live like this anymore. Do you really want to be stuck like that forever?”

Angela sighed. Smalls was gone, she realized. He had betrayed them all. It was all up to her to stop Mary now, no matter what the cost.

Mary picked up Smalls again and said, “Smalls here says that I need your ID and some type of code or biometric to open the vault door. He says you’re the one who would know how to open it.” Mary stuffed Smalls back into her shirt pocket.

“I won’t help you,” Angela said.

“Hmm,” Mary said. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to try to find the right biometric to open the door. I’m guessing it might be a fingerprint. Well, I can’t very well carry your whole body over there. I suppose I could just snap off your hand and use that.” Mary reached up to grip Angela’s old plastic hand.

Angela’s eyes went wide. She knew what happened if a body was damaged while using the necklaces. There was no turning back to normal after that. “Wait!” she shouted.

Mary paused and looked down at her expectantly. “Yes?” she said.

“Don’t do this! You don’t have to do this!” Angela was having trouble hiding the desperation in her voice.

“I don’t have to do it,” Mary said. “But, I really, really want to. Oh well, say goodbye to your old body.” Mary grabbed the hand roughly.

“No!” Angela shouted. She felt her will crack inside just before her old hand cracked off.

“Yes?” Mary said.

“It’s a passcode,” Angela said. “I use a passcode.” She spat out the words painfully. Her betrayal stung her to the core, to her candy core.

“What passcode?”

“1337,” Angela said. She hated herself.

Mary smirked. “LEET? Really?”

“Yes,” Angela said. She felt ready to cry. How could she face her office mates later after this? And, the president…?

Mary picked up Angela again. Then, Mary stuffed Angela down the front of her old mannequin body’s shirt to wedge her in the line of her own plastic cleavage. Angela rested there, staring at the mirror, forced to look at her old plastic body with that silly bunny head poking out between her breasts. The necklace trapping her in this form was tantalizingly only inches from the back of her bunny head, but she had no way to remove it now.

“Enjoy the view,” Mary said. “Hopefully, someone will remove the necklace later. Oh, and try not to be too hard on yourself. If it’s any consolation, I’m not planning on hurting anyone with what I’m doing. In fact, it might be a bit of fun for everyone.” Mary walked out the door, leaving Angela to wallow in her shame.