PREVIOUSLY: The planet is about to be destroyed by a bomb so many people are fleeing, heading out in small space crafts to other Transylvanian planets. In the castle, Dr. Scott waits in the control room for Brad and Janet. Brad waits at the bottom of the stairs for Janet, who has gone up to the lab. In the lab, she found a very-much-alive Rocky, who wants her help bring Frank's body back to life...
Rocky and Janet carry Frank's lifeless body towards
the tank.
"Wait," Janet said, "We're just gonna put him in
with all those guards?"
Rocky hadn't thought of that. The unconscious
guards cluttered the interior of the tank.
"Well," Rocky said, "There's no time to remove them
-- not with the bomb set and all. We'll just have to put Frank N
Furter in there as well."
With some difficulty, they managed to put Frank's
body inside the tank, resting comfortably on the bodies of the guards.
Janet ran over to the lab's control panel and took
a few seconds to recall the things that Riff Raff had done.
"Okay, Janet, do your thing."
Janet looked over the lab's control panel, studying
real quickly. First, she recalled, these two levers.
Janet pulled down the two levers, and then moved over to the panel of triangular
lights. She pressed the three that she remembered Riff Raff doing.
The lights in the room started flashing on and off. Now let's
see. What did he do next? Oh yeah, the thing came down because
Riff Raff cranked this wheel-a-ma-jiggy.
Janet knelt down and started to turn the
wheel, watching as the object lowered itself from the ceiling, stopping
just over the tank. The lights continued to flash on and off.
She watched as Rocky started pouring the colored fluids onto Frank and
the bodies below him. Rocky used Frank's notes as a guide to which
color came first, second, etc. Then he turned them all off, and looked
down at Frank.
Suddenly the lights stopped flashing, and the room
was once again well lit. Rocky stood over Frank and stared.
"Did it work?" Janet asked.
"I'm not sure. I don't think so."
Janet walked over and joined Rocky's side.
Looking down she could see Frank. He remained motionless, with slight
amounts of various colors poured on him. Mysteriously, the colors
seemed to "soak" into his clothes and skin until they practically vanished.
Rocky and Janet waited for nearly a minute without speaking. Frank
still did not move.
"I don't understand," Rocky said, "I followed his
notes perfectly. I injected him with the exact amount of formula
he specified. The only thing I didn't do was something I couldn't
read."
Janet looked at the pages of notes, and said, "Maybe
I can tell what it says."
Rocky pointed to the correct page and the words
he couldn't read.
Disappointed, Janet said, "I can't read it either.
The page is wet and some of the ink has washed away."
Rocky and Janet stood there for a few more seconds,
a feeling of sadness and disappointment in the air. Finally, Rocky
turned to her and said, "Well, at least we tried. You better get
going."
"Don't be sad," she said in comfort, "Frank would
be proud that you tried."
Rocky's eyes filled with fresh tears and he started
to cry, "But it wasn't enough!"
He slammed his fist against the edge of the tank,
"Dammit!"
Janet searched her mind for words of comfort, something
that might cheer him up. In her mind, she found the perfect words,
but she was afraid to say them. Staring into his eyes and seeing
his sadness, she knew she had to him. Especially if he (or they)
were to die in the castle from the bomb. She forced the words out
loud:
"The baby is yours."
There. I finally said it.
Rocky turned his weeping eyes towards Janet
and asked her, "What?"
"The baby I gave birth to. It was yours."
Rocky tried to smile, "I'm a father?"
Janet returned the smile, and answered, "Yes, it's
yours. I knew that if the baby's hair color was brown it would be
Brad's and if it were black, it would be Frank's. But the baby's
hair was blonde. It was yours."
Rocky turned back to Frank and said nothing.
His smile dropped. "It doesn't matter," he said aloud, "Nothing matters
right now. Frank is dead and I can't bring him back!"
Rocky leaned over the tank in an awkward effort
of hugging Frank's body, and he just started crying heavily.
"Just go," he said, as tears from his face fell
upon Frank, "Go."
Janet turned around and looked up to the top of
the ramp. There, standing in the doorway (hole) that Dr. Scott created,
was Brad.
"Brad!" Janet said, excited to see him.
Suddenly the speakers echoed the following words:
"Explosion in 8 minutes and counting."
Brad walked down the ramp to join her and Rocky.
He had a look of shock on his face.
"I got tired of waiting, and I started to worry."
Rocky looked up at Brad for a second, then back
to Frank.
Brad stood at Janet's side and asked the inevitable
question, "How come he's alive?"
Janet answered, "It's a long story, but I'll tell
it to you lat--"
She stopped talking as she noticed something unusual:
Frank's index finger on his left hand was moving. His body seemed
to glow bright and dim.
"Look!" she exclaimed, pointing to the left hand
which was rising.
Rocky wiped his tears and stared at Frank, who seemed
to be stretching in his sleep.
Rocky smiled gleefully, "It's working! Frank's
alive!"
Frank opened his eyes and stared into Rocky's face.
He reached out his hand and softly caressed Rocky's cheek. Quietly,
Frank N Furter said, "Oh, my beautiful creature."
Rocky helped Frank N Furter stand up, and out of
the tank.
"Brad, Janet, what a pleasure it is to see you!"
Frank said with a smile, "And Janet, what have you done to your hair?
I loved you as a blonde, but I love you even more as a brunette!"
Janet smiled shyly, and said thank you.
Rocky asked Frank, "I followed your notes exactly,
but it didn't work."
"Yes," Janet added, "Except for one part that we
couldn't read."
She handed him the stack of papers which showcased
Frank's notes. Frank looked at the words in question, and then smiled,
"The missing ingredient, my dear friends, is teardrops ... given out of
love."
Sounds kind of cheesy, Brad thought, but
apparently it works. The missing ingredient was teardrops -- or at
least the chemical breakdown of teardrops. I'm sure the reference
to "love" is pure theatrics. That's one thing about Frank that will
never change.
Janet gave Frank a look of confusion, before
asking him, "Teardrops was the final ingredient?"
Frank laughed, "Wasn't it obvious?" He pointed
to the casket which was covered in gold fabric -- the same casket that
Janet had cried on minutes before. From where they stood, they could
see a bright glow from underneath the cloth.
Janet smiled, "I thought that was your casket, Rocky.
I mean, gold cloth, and all. Your shorts were gold."
Frank walked over to that particular casket, and
removed the sheet -- to reveal a glass casket, with Columbia inside.
She was dressed in her floor show outfit, her make-up smeared. Slowly
she opened her eyes, allowing time to adjust to the new light.
Frank reached under the casket and pressed a button.
The casket top slid open, freeing Columbia.
"Where am I?" she asked, "What happened?"
"There's a lot to explain," Rocky said to her, helping
her out of the casket, "But there's little time now. There's a bomb
set to go off in this castle, and we need to get out of here."
Frank and Columbia looked surprised. Frank
said, "Well, then by all means, let's get out of here. I don't want
to die twice!"
The five of them headed up the ramp to the hole
in the wall. None of them heard the elevator shaft making a humming
sound: someone was taking the elevator up to the lab.
Columbia, Rocky, Janet and Frank exited the hole
in the wall, with Brad following behind them.
"Wait!" a voice called out from in the lab.
Brad emerged into the lab once again to see who
was calling after them. It was Queen Andoria.
IN CHAPTER 17: The Queen takes a couple minutes out of her busy time to threaten Brad. But don't worry. Brad has an ace up his sleeve.