13. Avatar

3.13 – Avatar

Teaser:

Fi: Some people, well, just aren't the most popular. Sometimes, they band together...

And sometimes that didn't work.

So they became lonely. But what did they do?

Some tried to escape the real world, leave their humiliation behind.

But what if...they went too far?

"Hey everyone, Callie says Hi!" Fi reads from her e-mail. "Tell him we said hi, back!" Molly smiles, as she drives the tour bus down a lightly snow-covered road. "Yeah...hi..." Carey says, as if he's in a trance. "You miss her, don'tcha?" Fi asks. "Yeah," he smiles, then goes back to playing cards with Jack at the table. Fi turns back to her laptop, while sitting on the bench in the community room. "So, mom, how much longer?" Jack asks. "Well, Ned and Irene said it's only a little farther," Molly says, "And they say the club is nice too." "Why did they go ahead?" Fi asks. "Well, this is a really great place, and Irene wanted everything to be perfect. So she took the crew ahead," Molly says. "Oh," Fi says. She clicks on a link, and it takes her back to her inbox. She sees one from "PhillipsPhan@earthsend.net." There is no subject, and Fi opens it. Suddenly, there is a flash. Fi looks around, but nothing seems different. "What was that?" Carey asks. "I don't know," Molly says, pulling to the side of the road, also looking around. "Fi..." Jack says. "What?" she yells. "Guys, fighting won't solve anything! It...was probably...lightning...or a bulb burning out or something," Molly says. "Lightning..." Fi repeats, looking out at the beautiful, sunny day. "A burnt out bulb?" Carey asks, remembering none of the lights were on because of the sunny day. "OK...but it was...something, OK? Let's keep going..." Molly says, and gets back on the road.

A few minutes later, Jack realizes, "Did you notice that since that flash, we haven't seen anyone else on this road?" "Yeah, you're right, honey. It wasn't crowded or jammed, but there was a nice flow of traffic," Molly also notices. She turns onto the exit they're supposed to get off at, which curves into a "U" shape, surrounded by trees. As they complete the "U", Molly slams on the brakes and looks around, as does everyone else. "What?" she asks. Everyone and everything ahead has turned into glowing, green lines, and everything else black. "Mom?" Fi asks. "Baby!" Molly says, running into the community room. "Look!" Carey says, pointing to the road below. "It...still looks...real," Molly says. After a moment, Molly says, "OK, we're going there." She puts the bus in reverse, and backs up off the exit ramp, back into the real-looking world. "What...do we do?" Carey asks. "What was that?" Fi asks. Molly gives them a confused stare. Suddenly, the radio snaps on. "They're fruity, tutti! Fruity-Tutti Freshly Baked Pies! Yes, come on down and get..." "Who did that?" Molly asks. "Isn't...that one of your jingles you took off the radio?" Jack asks. "We took them all off when we went back on tour..." Molly looks at him. Molly changes the station, and the jingle is playing on every station. She turns it off. "What is going on??" Molly asks. Suddenly, Fi's laptop beeps. They all turn to it. "Jordan's World Wide Web," Fi reads the title. "Look...there's a little picture off all these little locations," Carey says, pointing to them. Jack reads some of the locations, "Bahamas, New York City, Paris?" "Wonder where they take you," Fi says, clicking on one entitled "Amazon." They look out the bus window and see they're in the middle of the rainforest. "What in the world?" Molly says, opening the window. "What is this?" Carey laughs, sticking his head out. Suddenly, they hear a splash and turn to Carey. He brings his head back inside, soaking wet. The Phillips can't help but laugh. "Yeah, sure it's funny. Just wait..." Carey says. "Come on, Carey, I'll get you a towel," Molly says. "Thanks Mrs. P," Carey says, and follows her to the bathroom. "Try another one...Fi," Jack says. "OK," Fi says, and clicks on the "New York City" picture. They look out the window to see they're in the middle of Times Square. "Woah," Jack says, looking out. "Yeah, but what is that smell?" Fi says, holding her nose. "Aw, what is that?" Carey says, walking back in, "Close that window!" Jack closes it, as Molly walks back in. "Guys...when did we arrive in New York?" she asks. "Just now," Fi says. "It's like...whatever picture we click on, it's where we and the bus are transported to," Jack says. "But look...there's no people," Molly says. Suddenly, the electronic scrolling-banner starts flashing "Welcome to my world." "Welcome to my world?" Molly reads, puzzled, looking at the rest of the gang.

"Aunt Rachel?" Fi asks, as the gang walks into the apartment we last saw in "Twin." "Look at this place...empty..." Molly says. "It's creepy," Carey says. Fi walks back into the bedrooms, as the rest of the gang checks out the living room. Suddenly, we hear Fi scream, and they all run back. "Fi! What is..." Molly begins, but stops when she sees. As soon as Fi entered Rachel's bedroom, it was the green grid again. "Let's get out of here," Molly says, scooting everyone out. Back on the bus, Carey says, "Let's try...Gilligan's Island??" He clicks on it, and instantly, they are on the set of Gilligan's Island. "Woah," Fi says. They climb off, but they realize that no one can see, hear, or even acknowledge their prescence. "It's like...we've been teleported into the show, but not really..." Fi says. Carey waves his hand in front of Gilligan. "Nothing," Carey says. Jack goes down to the water. "Woah!!" he screams. "What is it?" Molly asks. "The water...it's like...real!" Jack says. "Cool!" Fi says. Suddenly, they are at the base of a mountain. "Who did that?" Jack asks. "No one...we're all out here," Fi says. "What is that rumbling noise?" Molly asks, looking. She turns around, and yells, "Run!" Everyone else looks and sees that the mountain is really a volcano, and an erupting one! They all scramble back onto the bus, as Fi clicks on a "Paris" picture. "Hurry up!" Jack yells. "It's loading!" Fi yells. "It's getting closer!" Molly yells. Fi begins to sweat as the "Loading" progress bar fills in slowly. As the lava tickles the bus tires, it loads, and they are hanging off the Eiffel Tower by the rear tow hook. "Woo hoo! Look at this!" Carey says, dancing around. "Carey! You're gonna tip us!" Molly yells, staying perfectly still. "Fi, try another one!" Jack says. Fi slowly reaches over and gently clicks on a "Bahamas" picture, They are on a beach then, a 'real' one (versus Gilligan's Island), and they all climb off, feeling the nice, sea air. Then, Jack snaps back to himself, "Wait...what is this? We can't just...hop from place to place! It's unreal! It must be dream, yeah! You're all just a dream!" "Jack! Get over it! This isn't a dream!" Fi yells. "Fi, honey?" Molly pulls her back, "Now, Jack, I...I...don't know what's going on, or who's doing this, or whatever, but believe me, it's real...I mean, I think it is..." "Well, I don't belive it," Jack says, and begins to walk away, when they all hear a voice. "Why don't you Jack?" it bellows. "What?" he turns around. "Why don't you believe?" he asks, "Could it be your father?" "What? Who are you?" Jack yells, as everyone looks around. Suddenly, they turn to see the Jordan from the "real Avatar." "Who are you?" Molly asks. "My name's Jordan. And let me warn you, be nice to me, because..." the boy says, "I own you!", the last part in a very demanding voice. "Wait...why are you doing this?" Fi asks. "I'm glad you asked that Fiona..." he says. She stares at him. "How did you know my name?" she asks. "Oh, I know more about you than you think. More about you than you know. More about you than you want to know," he says. "How?" Molly asks. Jordan smiles. He snaps his fingers and Fi's webpage appears in the sky, surrounding them. "See?" he muses, snapping his finger several more times, each time a different page of Fi's website appearing. "But...why? Why are you doing this?" Molly asks. "It's my own place. No people to get mad at me, get irritated. No one to nag me," he says. "But...you're alone," Molly points out. "Exactly, which is why I brought you here!" he says, "So I could have a queen!" "Queen?" Carey says. "Yeah, queen. A female companion to rule with me! We can make our own world!" Jordan says. "But she needs us...her family...people," Jack says. "Why do you think I brought you here with her?" he says. "You can't make us stay," Molly says. "Oh, yes I can. Here, I control everything. I built it! I can do whatever I want," he says. "So, when were were transported to another location when we didn't click it, it was you?" Fi asks. "Of course, who else?" he says, "You see, when Fi opened the e-mail, I wrote a program that would capture everything and anything within a certain area, the exact dimensions of your bus." "That's why we haven't seen anyone else," Jack mumbles. "But Jordan...you're alone," Molly says, "Don't you ever get lonely?" "No...I have everything I could want. All I have to do is think it," he says. "Why did you do this?" Fi asks. "I told you..." Jordan begin, irritated, but Fi interrupts, "No...I meant...why did you build this place?" Jordan pauses, and after a moment, responds, "I...wasn't well liked in the real world. Heh...you could call me a loser...and I wanted to get away. So I did...I built this." Molly, now concerned, asks him, "What...do your parents think?" "My mom...doesn't know. She has police all over the house, all the time, waiting...for a ransom call or something. My dad's...dead," Jordan says, with a sentimental tone in his voice. "I'm sorry...how lonh have you been here?" Molly asks. Jordan gets the "proud" smile back on his face, "How long have I been here?" he yells. A computer voice speaks, "You have been here 1 year, and 6 days, Jordan." "Like that? I added the "Jordan" myself," he says. "We're going," Molly says, putting her arms around the kids and starts to head toward the bus. "No! You can't go! Remember, I control you!" Jordan yells. Molly shakes her head, as they climb on the bus.

"What are we going to do?" Carey says, sitting down. "Fi, try going to another location!" Jack says. Fi clicks on a picture, and an error appears "Cannot Reach Destination. Disconnected." "Disconnected?" Fi asks. "Yes, disconnected!" Jordan bellows, echoing throughout the bus, "You are disconnected from everyone and everything! You can only deal with me!" "I wonder what he's going to do next," Molly thinks. Then, they hear a knocking on the door. Molly looks at everyone, then goes down. "Wha..." Molly begins to say, thinking it would be Jordan, but takes a step back when she sees who it is, "Rick?" Rick is standing there, as if alive as Molly was, "Molly, may I come on?" "Uh...sure...what..." Molly says, but she lets the Rick through. Everyone jumps when Rick enters the community room. Molly closes the door, as she cautiously approches Rick. "Honey?" she says, and touches him. Instantly, he morphs into Jordan. "Jordan!" everyone yells. "I knew I needed a way to get on. Thought that might work...and it did," he says. "But...why...my dad?" Jack asks, annoyed. "I figured it would work. I can be anyone I want...you can be anyone you want...I can make anyone, virtually!" he says. "But, it's not the actual person," Molly says. "So?" he asks, glaring at them intensely. "This...is all, nice, but it's not real. Jordan," Molly says, putting her hand on his shoulder, "You need the real touch...the touch of a person...who loves you, even if it doesn't seem so." "Jordan...I mean, you're playing with people's lives here! Don't you think people will get a little suspicious when we suddenly disappear?" Fi says. "Yeah...my parents are expecting us in..." Carey looks at his watch, "a few minutes." "What do you care? They're not going to find this place!" Jordan says. "Get off our bus," Jack says calmly. "What? You can't control me!" Jordan says. "Oh, really?" Jack says, grabs his collar, and tosses him out the bus door. "Fine, it's that's how you want it," he mumbles, and pulls a little black box out. He presses some buttons on it, and smiles. On the bus, Jack suddenly fades away. "Jack!" Fi yells.

In the real world, Jack appears at Molly's club. Looking around, confused, Irene comes up to him, "Hey, honey, when did you get here? Your mom her yet?" "Uh, I think..." Jack says, just looking around. "OK, I'll go look for her," Irene says, and walks off. Jack shakes his head.

"What did you do to Jack?" Fi yells out the window. "Oh, sent him back to the real world. Doesn't seem like I need him too much here," he says, walking away. Fi grumbles, and runs off the bus after Jordan. "Jordan!" Fi yells, running after him, and does catch up with him. "What will it take," she asks him, "to let us go...and for you to come with us, to go home?" "Nothing. I won't go and neither will you," he says firmly. "But...think about what you're missing here! Real people, real food, reality," Fi says. "Why would I want that stuff? People never did me any good...I don't have to go to school, I CAN have any food I want, any time, I don't have a bed time, nothing! It's total freedom!" Jordan says. "But still...the people," Fi persists. "Forget the people...I told you, I don't need them," he says, stubbornly. "Then why did you bring us here?" Fi leaves him with that question, and gets back on the bus. Jordan thinks about it, and almost sheds a tear, but sucks it up, and pulls out his black box. "Where did you go, baby?" Molly asks. "Just talked to Jordan...but..." Fi is cut off, as she blinks and finds herself in the club with the still-confused Jack. "Wait...how..." Molly says. "Did Jordan do this?" Carey asks, "Is this just another...virtual world?" "Oh, there you are!" Irene says, running over, "Where were you guys? OK, Moll, we're all set up. You wanna practice?" "Um, sure..." Molly says, unsure, but realizes that she is surrounded by people, something not found in Jordan's world. She hugs Jack, Fi, and Carey and runs on stage. "So...we just, drove to the club, and made it in time?" Jack asks. "I'll go with that," Fi says. Jack looks at her surprised. "Looks like my sister's turning human," he jokes. "Shut up Jack!" she laughs, pushing him lightly. Outside of the club, Jordan stands in front of the bus, smiling. Then he pulls a cell phone out of his pocket, and dials a number. After a few rings, we hear a "Hello?" and Jordan says, "Mom?"

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