Vernon could only watch, frozen in fear, as Grizz extended his claws to their full terrifying length. Bearvis was still pinned to the wall, and the hole in the monster bear’s chest was already knitting itself back together. Vernon was out of options, and in a moment, he’d be out of time.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” said Grizz, his eyes blazing hatred. His teeth seemed to grow larger as he stepped closer to Vernon. Vernon instinctively covered his neck to protect himself from the vampire’s bite. “Lisa Marie, help!”
“She can’t help you,” Grizz snarled.
“Wanna bet?” said Lisa Marie, appearing in the doorway. “Vernon, catch!” she instructed, tossing him something small, red and shiny. Vernon scrabbled to grab it but missed. It fell on to the floor beside him, its satin surface gleaming in the shop’s overhead lights.
It was a heart. A tiny red heart.
Vernon had sworn he would never do this, but suddenly that didn’t seem to matter. Snatching up the heart, he brought it to his lips. “Grizz,” he said, then he kissed it.
“What are you doing?” Grizz demanded.
Vernon picked up the pencil from the floor.
“Taking care of business,” Vernon said. “See, this heart now belongs to you.”
He drove the tip of the pencil into the centre of the heart-shaped piece of cloth, piercing it. The effect was instantaneous (which, coincidentally, was another of Lisa Marie’s favourite words). Grizz stumbled backwards clutching at his chest, the flames of his demon-magic flicking out one by one.
There was a thud as Bearvis slid down the wall and hit the floor. He bounded up, ready for action, but the fight was already won. As Grizz toppled over, his furry body began to crumble into dust.
“You haven’t heard the last of me,” Grizz wheezed. “I’ll be baaaaaaack!”
In seconds, the bear became a pile of ash on the shop floor. Vernon stared down at it, breathing heavily, watching in case it should spring into life again. To his relief, it didn’t.
“It’s over,” Vernon whispered. “We won.”
“That we did, son!” Bearvis agreed. “That we did!”
There was a crick from the window as a man-sized monster bear thudded a fist against the glass. Hundreds of other bears swarmed along behind him. Some of them hurled themselves at the window, while others rattled the door.
“Oh no. Spoke too soon,” Vernon sobbed. “Lisa Marie, hurry up!”
“Almost … there!” Lisa Marie replied.
From the storeroom there came the sound of something clicking into place. “Got it!”
She hit the button on the hastily rebuilt machine. A flash of light rippled out from the device, passing straight through the walls and radiating off it in all directions.
“Did it work?” she asked, leaning through the doorway.
Over on the wall, the racks of empty teddy-bear skins jolted into life. They screeched and screamed as they flopped limply down on to the floor and began crawling in Vernon and Bearvis’s direction.
Outside, the army of bears continued to hammer against the window.
“No! That’s worse!” Vernon cried, kicking at one of the empty bear skins that was dragging itself towards him. “That’s much worse!”
“One second!” Lisa Marie said, vanishing into the back again.
There was a crash from the window as the glass gave way. Vernon and Bearvis scrabbled backwards as teddies poured in through the hole.
“OK, I’ve got it!” said Lisa Marie, adjusting the controls. She raised a hand above the button that would activate it again, then stopped. “Wait!”
Vernon and Bearvis retreated into the storeroom. Vernon pushed the door closed, but a blast from an alien ray gun disintegrated it.
“Wait for what? Hurry up!” he shrieked.
Lisa Marie turned to the King. “If I do this, you’ll be a teddy again,” she said. “A normal teddy, I mean. You won’t be alive.”
Bearvis nodded. “I guess that’s true, little darlin’,” he said. “But it’ll be worth it to keep y’all safe.”
The bears were almost in the room now. There was nowhere left to run.
“We’re going to die!” Drake wailed.
Bearvis placed a paw on Lisa Marie’s hand. “It’s now or never, honey,” he said, glancing down at the button.
Lisa Marie swallowed back tears and nodded. “Thank you, Bearvis.”
“Naw, thank you, darlin’,” he said. “Thank you very much.”
He pushed her hand down on the button just as a werewolf bear launched itself at Vernon. A light, just like the one before, rippled out of the machine in all directions.
The werewolf bear bounced off Vernon’s head and flopped to the ground. Its glassy eyes stared emptily up at the ceiling.
Out in the shop, the army of teddies first fell silent, and then fell over. Vernon threw his hands above his head and cheered!
“YES! We did it!”
He spotted the sad look on Lisa Marie’s face. Bearvis was in her arms, as motionless as all the others. She wiped some flecks of dirt from his outfit, then smoothed down his fur.
“You OK?” Vernon asked.
Lisa Marie straightened up, took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes. I’m fine,” she said. “This is … good. It means that the machine worked. Everything is back to normal.”
Vernon tapped his sister on the shoulder and pointed down at the floor. A furry brown bear with a bow on its head looked up at them. “I’m still a teddy!” Drake yelped. “Why am I still a teddy?”
Lisa Marie bit her lip to stop herself laughing. “Well almost everything.”