Chapter Ten
Balki jumped as he heard the front door to the cottage burst open and Max storm inside furiously.
"Where is he? He's had plenty of time to find Bianca by now or at least check in with me," Max growled.
"Did you lose something? Or perhaps someone?" Balki smiled, his eyes twinkling.
"What are you smirking about, you little pipsqueak? It's not like you know anything."
"Oh, but I do," Balki replied, the smile never leaving his face.
"You're bluffing," Max scowled.
"You think so, hoh? Well, just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, then," Balki replied.
Max leaned up against the living room wall, since the cottage was void of furniture. He crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "Okay, then. Tell me what you know; or better yet; what you think you know."
"I think I know more than you think I know, I know that," Balki said. "At least I think I know more than you think I know, but maybe I know more than I think and–"
Max lunged at Balki, landing just a few inches from the Mypiot's face. "Just tell me!"
"Okay, don't have a Little Caesars," Balki told him. "The truth is that Urpos can't come back here with Bianca and Cousin Larry. And do you want to know why?"
"Yes, Balki; tell me why," Max growled.
"Because the machine has been oblivion-ated. Bianca chopped it down just like Grover Washington did to the cherry tree."
Max raised an eyebrow. "You mean George Washington and do you really think I'm stupid enough to believe your story?"
"Well," Balki scoffed. "I'm not here to judge."
"There's one major flaw in your fabrication," Max pointed out.
"If you're going to make fun of my outfit, you're baaing up the wrong tree because your yellow tie doesn't do well for your complexion at all," Balki told him.
"I don't mean your outfit, you idiot! I mean your story! If Bianca destroyed her machine, then how does she plan to rescue you? Or maybe, Bianca and Cousin Larry decided to get rid of you once and for all!"
Balki opened his mouth to reply, but Lylo walked in the room, holding an alarm clock.
"You see this clock?" Max said, shoving it in front of Balki's face. "It's set to go off in three hours! If Urpos doesn't come back with Bianca and Larry, dead or alive, by the time this goes off, then I'm afraid you lose!"
"I don't even get to take home a parting gift?" Balki asked meekly.
"You won't need a parting gift, because you'll be dead! I'll teach Bianca to mess with the fabric of time!"
"What is it with you and fabric?" Balki asked, trying not to stare at the clock.
"She thought she was so smart to build that time machine and help save Mypos! My dad worked hard to make Atropo a mega-billion dollar deal and his dreams were destroyed! All because of you and that damned time machine! I can't wait until Urpos comes back with Bianca and finds you gone forever. Then I'll get rid of your pathetic cousin and Bianca will be my slave!" Max cackled.
"Wait; what you talking about? Liki Bopado is your papa?" Balki asked, suddenly feeling nervous.
"Yes, and he's also Lylo and Urpos' uncle, too. You see, we had a future until Bianca saved your wretched lives! Things were supposed to work out for us! You were never supposed to get in the way, but because of her, my papa lost everything! So now, Bianca is going to know what it feels like to lose everything. In three hours, you die. As soon as Bianca comes back–and she will–I'll kill your wretched cousin and keep her for myself! She'll rue the day she played God!"
Balki gulped as Max and Lylo laughed like two crazed lunatics. He wasn't sure how his cousin was able to talk to him earlier, but he wished he was able to return the favor. As Lylo set the clock on the floor, he quickly glanced at the time. Two hours and fifty-eight minutes.
Oh, Cousin; please hurry. Time is of the Herbal Essence! his mind cried out as he closed his eyes and hoped for a miracle.
Larry was shaking from head to toe as they returned to the hotel. He had tried reasoning with Bianca all the way back from the art gallery, but she rejected every excuse of why it was dangerous. Truthfully, he knew it was the only way they could rescue Balki, but that didn't mean he had to like going back to the hotel.
As soon as they walked into the lobby, a maid was screaming at the desk clerk. "I'm not going anywhere near room one-seventeen and that's final! I was attacked!" she whined.
The desk clerk scoffed. "Please; you weren't attacked! Scratched at best."
Larry leaned over to Bianca. "Isn't one-seventeen our room?" he whispered in her ear.
Bianca nodded. "Um, excuse me. No one has to clean the room. I specifically placed a Do Not Disturb sign on the door. Now can someone please tell me why the maid was scratched or whatever?" she asked the clerk.
The maid pointed down the hall to their room. "See for yourself!"
Larry and Bianca peered around the maid to see something small perched right in front of the door. "The cat!" they both cried suddenly, looking at each other in shock.
"Cupydon must've jumped inside the machine when we took off from the apartment," Larry realized as they slowly made their way towards the door.
"Nice kitty," Bianca whispered nervously. "Nice Cupydon."
Larry jumped as the cat made a sudden leap, but surprisingly, landed in Bianca's arms, purring softly. "Well, that was slightly terrifying."
"No kidding," Bianca exhaled as they re-entered the room, but Cupydon jumped from her arms and slithered back out into the hallway where he had been before. "What is that crazy cat doing?"
Larry raised an eyebrow. "I think he's standing guard outside our room."
"Yeah, that's not weird at all," Bianca muttered before taking her position on the floor in front of her mess.
"Is there anything I can do to help? Maybe we should place all of the outer pieces in a pile and then make a separate pile of the interior design. Then we could group them together by color, size and even alphabetically," Larry offered.
"We're trying to build this machine faster, not turn it into a television series on DIY Network," Bianca reminded him sharply.
Larry opened his mouth to reply, but a loud noise could be heard from the lobby and instantly, Bianca stood up as if she'd been shot.
"Stay here," Larry whispered, gingerly walking to the door and staring through the peephole in the door.
"I'm coming, Bianca!" Urpos' voice sang out as he came down the hallway. "Oh, what's this? Max's cat, huh? Well, he'll be happy to see–"
Suddenly, Larry watched as Cupydon leapt into the air with a loud hiss and landed on Urpos' face, scratching and clawing at it. Urpos screamed and tried to swat at the cat, but it was no use. Cupydon was relentless until Urpos backed away, his hands covering his now scarred face.
Larry opened the door as far as the latch would allow. "That's right, Urpos! Leave Bianca alone!"
"Is he gone?" Bianca asked, a smile tugging at her lips.
"Yeah, he ran out of here pretty quickly," Larry returned her smile.
"Meow," Cupydon sounded, seeming quite pleased with himself before he walked down the hallway to the lobby. Halfway, he glanced back and looked at Bianca and Larry, as if letting them know he wanted them to follow.
"What do you think he wants?" Larry asked, realizing how strange it was to be following a cat.
When they got to the lobby, Cupydon jumped onto the counter and rubbed his fur up against the fax machine, purring wildly.
"Will you please get this cat away from my desk?" the hotel desk clerk asked, a disgusted look on his tanned face.
Suddenly, Bianca squealed with delight and scooped Cupydon in her arms. "This cat is a genius!"
"How is that?" Larry and the clerk asked in unison.
"I need your fax number. I'm going to be expecting a fax in a few minutes," she replied to the clerk, grabbing a notepad and pencil before turning to Larry. "Here is my phone number," she scribbled before tearing off the sheet. "Call R.O.B. and ask if he can fax over the diagram of the thing I'm working on."
The desk clerk handed her a business card with the hotel's facsimile number. "Give this number to R.O.B. and he'll know what to do," she continued. "Got it?"
Larry nodded before heading back to their room. "Got it."
Hang in there, Balki buddy; we're coming to get you soon, he thought to himself as he re-entered the room and began dialing Bianca's phone number.