CHAPTER ONE: THE MAN AND THE POD

One cool, dark night in November, an experiment pod rolled down the leaf of a tall palm tree. The pod read 11, but that can't be right. On Jumba's experiment 11, the pod reads 011. And it's a different color, too. So what's going on? I have no idea… yet.

The pod rolled onto a beach on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. A tall, mysterious man in a black cloak walked over and picked it up.

You may be asking, "Who is this mysterious man?" But I don't know yet. I don't even know what he looked like. His collar was so high that it reached his nose, and his hat so low that it reached his nose as well. His cloak was so large on him that no other part was showing, except his shiny brown shoes.

I told you he was mysterious.

"Experiment 11… Hmm," he said to himself, "Dargo. I haven't seen her in years."

The man pocketed Dargo's pod and smiled to himself. "My, my, my, the others are sure to be surprised. Imagine, I say, 'Dargo's come back, guys!' The commotion they'll make." He chuckled. "My, my, my."

The palm tree rustled, and then disappeared. For a second, a strange creature was visible, but it soon disappeared into the night whispering, "Dargo's been found! Dargo's back! I must tell the others!"

The mysterious man chuckled. "Pepri. Come out of there."

He did.

"I still don't understand why you call me that," muttered Pepri. "I don't like it. It reminds me of pepper. I'm not pepper."

"I've told you a thousand times," said the man. "Pepri means 'patch' in Kweltikwan."

"So? Why didn't you call me Patch then, huh?" Pepri demanded. "I don't like Pepri."

"I liked Pepri better than Patch," said the man. "And besides, don't you feel great to have a namesake that's a famous genius?"

"He's an evil genius," muttered Pepri.

"So am I," the man pointed out. "You're really very lucky, you know. I wish I had a famous evil genius as a namesake."

"Just because the pepper name's in his language, you call that a namesake?" Pepri snapped. "The others all call me Patch. Why can't you?"

The man laughed. "Because I made you."

"So?" Pepri wasn't really mad; he just loved to tease people and argue.

"So I can do anything I want with you. If I say your name is Pepri," said the man, "your name is Pepri. And there's nothing you can do about it."

"Righty-ho!" said Pepri cheerfully. "And that's why I love you, Dad!" He laughed.

Instead of laughing, however, the man frowned. "Don't call me that," he snapped.

"You know my name very well."

"As do you," said Pepri. "My name's Patch."

"Fine," said the man bitterly, "Patch, then."

"Then I'll call you Shamus Larp," Pepri replied. "No more dad-talk, Dad."

"That's great, Pepri," said Shamus, and they walked off together.