Chapter Seventeen: Sending a Dream Into an Amusement
Park
As it turned out, the buildings weren't all that far away. It just seemed like a long walk since they were so small on the horizon. They appeared so small, because they weren't technically "buildings", but more like "boxes". Yes, an entire box community had been formed in the great grassy plains. Everything from refrigerator boxes, to old spray cheese boxes could be found. There were people walking amongst the boxes, returning home for the evening, doing their usual business, as if they didn't live in boxes at all. The group questioned the man at the first box on the block to try and discover why such a box town existed.
"Well, y'see," began the gentleman, "back in the old days, this used to be the construction and launch site for the ol' Gengai No. 27. It was going to be the first ship to fly into outer space. When the ship was launched, the entire town was blown down. Those of us who remain here now were too lazy to move to another town, or to rebuild our houses, so we took to living in boxes. Thus, we've made Box Town! If you want to learn more, you should talk to the Cap'n."
"Where can we find him?" Florence asked.
"Well, I'd guess in his box over there. His is the big one down the block. That's a very interesting box actually. It's what stored all of the rocket parts for the the ol' Gengai No. 27. It brings back so many memories. Like this one time, when I-"
"Okay, great! Thanks a lot!" Jim exclaimed and he began marching off towards the box at the other end of the town. He then entered the box as soon as they arrived.
"Shouldn't we knock on the door first?" Kevinda inquired from the back of the group.
"There is no door," Jim responded. "Hello? Anyone home?" he called into the dimly lit box.
"What the spoony heck? What's with all of these spoony marmosets always walking into my spoony box! I tell ya, the spoony kids these days should get what they spoony well deserve! Marmoset chewing spud-wads... Well hello there! Welcome to my humble abode!" the voice began deep inside of the box, and then revealed itself to the group. The voice was gruff, and worn, and it belonged to a short man with greying hair. He wore an old orange and blue pilot's outfit, and had a pair of googly eyed glasses that rested on his forehead.
"Hi! I'm Harry. This is Jim, Florence, Sarah, Kevinda and Jessica. We're a band of curious do-gooders out to save the world and discover the secrets of Box Town," Harry said, pointing to each person in turn during his introduction.
"Hey, why am I last to be introduced?" Jessica questioned, grumpily.
"Well, it's smootin' good to meet ya! Welcome to my spoony house, ya bunch o' marmosets! My name's Chazar Bluntson but you can all call me Chazzy! Can I interest you in some tea? Mera! Get the spoony tea! We have some guests! Get your smootin' marmoset to it!" was the pilot's response.
"Tea would be great!" Jim exclaimed with glee.
"Don't you find this guy a little strange, Jim?" Jessica whispered softly.
"Not at all, why do you ask?"
Jessica let out a sigh, "I suppose you're the wrong person to ask..."
"Can I interest anyone in a smoke?" Chazzy produced a pack of cigarettes and held it out to his guests.
"Uh, those are just a bunch of twigs," commented Florence.
"So they are." Chazzy proceeded to stick one of the twigs into his mouth and light it, nevertheless. "Mera! Get your smootin' marmoset in here already! That spoony marmoset never gets here on time."
"Uh, excuse me, is she actually a marmoset, or do you just like to say that a lot?" asked Jessica.
"What are you, some kind of marmoset? What the spoony heck do you think she is? Spoony kids these days, and their smootin' marmosets."
A young woman, Mera, entered the box. She had her brown hair done up in a bun, large, circular glasses resting carefully on her nose, and a long, white lab coat. "I'm sorry, I was out back working on the Pygmy Whale." She then proceeded to walk over to the sink to get a kettle of water to put on the boil for their tea.
Jessica watched Mera for a long moment. She couldn't help but comment, "Um... Let me get this straight... So you guys were too lazy to rebuild your houses, right? Yet, you don't seem to be lazy enough to put indoor plumbing into your boxes."
"Well of course, you spoony marmoset! Let's see you smootin' try to live without spoony indoor plumbing, and we'll see how you spoony well do!" countered Chazzy, the googly eyes on his glasses bouncing about furiously. "Spoony kids these days. I'm going out back to work on the Pygmy Whale. You better bring me my smootin' tea!" At that, Chazzy walked out of the box, and grumbled as he went out back.
"So what's his problem, anyway?" Florence inquired. "He seems a little... Weird..."
"That's just his way. He's been like that ever since the launch of Gengai No. 27..." Mera responded.
"What happened?" Jim asked after a moment of silence.
"Well..."
"We're all set!" a pudgy man in a space suit exclaimed. "Send our dreams into space, Cap'n!"
"Leave it to me!" Chazzy replied, excitedly. He was standing in front of three men, all dressed in silver space suits. Chazzy, on the other hand, was wearing the same orange and blue pilot's outfit. They were in a cramped, metal room, filled with various control mechanisms. He left the room through a sliding door that lead to the cockpit.
"Prepare for lift-off!" he called over the intercom as he strapped himself into his chair and began to fiddle with the buttons. "One minute and counting."
"Cap'n! Something's wrong!" one of the crewman shouted at Chazar via the intercom. "It's Mera! She's down in the engine section!"
"Sweet gooblin spoonies! What the spoony heck is that smooting marmoset doing down there? Mera! Mera! You have to get out of there! The heat's going to melt you faster than cheese in a microwave!"
"Don't worry, Cap'n. I'm just running a few last checks. Don't worry about stopping the launch," came Mera's calm voice in response.
"What? 'Don't worry'?! You bet your spoony marmoset I'm worried! You're not gonna die. I won't let you die! You've gotta get out of there you spoony fool! Of all the smootin', stupid, spoony things, Mera! Abort the spoony launch!" He began to pound on the controls, but it was too late. The countdown had completed during his shouting and the Gengai No. 27 was being launched into the heavens. "No! Mera!"
Chazzy smashed his face into the control panel and suddenly the engines cut out. The large, green, rocket began to twirl out of control as it returned to earth. It crashed violently, right into the middle of Bronze Bowl.
"As it turns out, the button he pressed was the emergency fuel cut-off. I managed to get out of the rocket while he was yelling at me. It was all for nothing. Gengai decided not to build another rocket, or to help pay for the repairs on Bronze Bowl. As a result, the space program and that amusement park were lost, and all of out dreams with it. It was my fault that Chazzy never got to go into outer space, so I've helped him ever since.
"Now, all he ever does is yell random, inane gibberish about 'spoony' this and 'marmoset' that," Mera sighed. "He used to be so cheerful, and full of laughter. Actually, it was hard just to get him to stop laughing. Now, the only thing that brings him joy is the Pygmy Whale.
"All of that might change, though. Some people from Gengai are coming today to talk about reinitiating the space program and rebuilding the town. We might get a Gengai No. 28 after all, and Chazzy's dreams will be sent into space, and not an amusement park."
"What is this Pygmy Whale, anyway?" Kevinda inquired.
"It's an airplane," Mera explained.
"Hey! We can use it to get out of here before Gengai can catch us!" exclaimed Florence.
"Then it's settled, we're going to kick some Gengai butt!" Jim shouted.
"Jim, I think you've missed the point," Jessica said with a sigh.
"So, what's the status on Olaf?" inquired Doofus, after taking a deep breath from his inhaler.
"Our reports have been confirmed. He's heading for the forested temple," replied Murry.
President Doofus looked confused. "The forested temple? You mean the so called 'Temple of the Ancients'? It's not even a temple. Why would he be going all this way to get to a little hut in the middle of a forest?"
"We don't know."
"Well then, once we get the Pygmy Whale in Box Town, I want you and the rest of the Clerks to go to the Temple of the Ancients. We'll have Olaf once and for all."
"That's another thing I wanted to discuss. According to our most recent reports, Jim and company have recently arrived in Box Town."
Doofus grinned as he adjusted his glasses. "Perfect. We shall crush two birds with one stone." He began to laugh wickedly, gripping his inhaler tightly as he did so. The inhaler broke, and he continued to cackle menacingly. He then entered a coughing fit. "My inhaler!" he screeched as he looked at the broken inhaler. "Murry! Get me another inhaler!" He gasped and coughed at the same time. He flung his arms about wildly, and leaned back in his chair in a fit. The chair proceeded to tip backwards and crash to the floor, the President of the Gengai corporation collapsing with it. He groaned in pain as he looked up at the Clerk. "Damn... chair..."
As the group was finishing up their tea, they suddenly heard Chazzy's shouting from outside: "You want me to give up the Pygmy Whale? Spoony heck no! First, you spoony marmosets trash the space programs and my smootin' dreams, now you want to take away my plane? Well, you marmosets aren't laying one smootin' hand on it!"
"Sounds like Gengai has finally arrived," Harry commented.
"Then it's time for some serious butt-kicking!" Jim cried.
"Either that, or we'll just run away before we get arrested, and thrown into that horrible prison again," Florence said, as she looked around nervously. "I like that idea much better."
"We should help out Chazzy, in case those Gengai goons try to get violent," Harry said.
The others nodded (though Florence was a little reluctant) and were quickly leaving the box. They stepped outside and saw Doofus, Jirdiegger, and Pinky talking with Chazzy. The old pilot seemed to be quite furious at the three.
"Kya ha ha! You don't have much choice in the matter," Pinky informed.
"Gya ha ha!" was the only thing that came out of Jirdiegger's mouth. He then roughly pushed Chazar out of the way.
"They're going to take the Pygmy Whale! We can't let them do that!" Mera exclaimed, as she ran up to join the group.
"Don't worry! We'll stop them!" cried Jim, heroically. The crew quickly ran to the back of the box where they found a blue plane with the words 'Pygmy Whale' written on it in yellow and white letters.
"He's coming!" Florence exclaimed, as she looked back at Jirdiegger. He was now running towards them, trying to stop them.
"Get in!" Harry cried, and leapt into the plane. The the others scrambled aboard. "How does this thing work?" He began pressing with random buttons and pulling the odd lever. Suddenly the plane burst into life. The Pygmy Whale began to fly towards Chazzy, Doofus, and Pinky.
"Sweet gooblin spoonies!" shouted Chazar. "My plane!" He ran towards the blue plane and leapt into the air. He grabbed one of its wheels, and was now flying up with the others.
"Stop them! Stop them!" screamed Doofus. His face was turning red with anger, and he broke into an asthma attack. He choked and fell to his knees, pointing at the plane as it flew off.
Chazzy pulled himself up onto one of the wings and held on for dear life. "What do you marmosets think you're doing?"
"We're saving your plane," was Jim's response.
"You idiots, it's not finished yet!"
"What?" Jessica exclaimed.
Smoke started to billow out of the engine, and the plane began to dip down. "Hold on!" Chazar shouted and plane crashed violently into the sea.
"I sense that we'll soon be surrounded by water," Kevinda predicted, then opened her eyes. "Hah! I told you so!"
"Oh, just be quiet," Jessica sighed as she hid her face in his hands.
Chazzy spoke up, "Well, we're gonna be in a smoot load of trouble with Gengai now. Y'know what... We've gotta work together and finish off that spoony Gengai scum! This thing might not be able to fly, but I'm sure it can get us through the shallow water of the ocean. Let's go kick some spoony marmoset butt!"
As it turned out, the buildings weren't all that far away. It just seemed like a long walk since they were so small on the horizon. They appeared so small, because they weren't technically "buildings", but more like "boxes". Yes, an entire box community had been formed in the great grassy plains. Everything from refrigerator boxes, to old spray cheese boxes could be found. There were people walking amongst the boxes, returning home for the evening, doing their usual business, as if they didn't live in boxes at all. The group questioned the man at the first box on the block to try and discover why such a box town existed.
"Well, y'see," began the gentleman, "back in the old days, this used to be the construction and launch site for the ol' Gengai No. 27. It was going to be the first ship to fly into outer space. When the ship was launched, the entire town was blown down. Those of us who remain here now were too lazy to move to another town, or to rebuild our houses, so we took to living in boxes. Thus, we've made Box Town! If you want to learn more, you should talk to the Cap'n."
"Where can we find him?" Florence asked.
"Well, I'd guess in his box over there. His is the big one down the block. That's a very interesting box actually. It's what stored all of the rocket parts for the the ol' Gengai No. 27. It brings back so many memories. Like this one time, when I-"
"Okay, great! Thanks a lot!" Jim exclaimed and he began marching off towards the box at the other end of the town. He then entered the box as soon as they arrived.
"Shouldn't we knock on the door first?" Kevinda inquired from the back of the group.
"There is no door," Jim responded. "Hello? Anyone home?" he called into the dimly lit box.
"What the spoony heck? What's with all of these spoony marmosets always walking into my spoony box! I tell ya, the spoony kids these days should get what they spoony well deserve! Marmoset chewing spud-wads... Well hello there! Welcome to my humble abode!" the voice began deep inside of the box, and then revealed itself to the group. The voice was gruff, and worn, and it belonged to a short man with greying hair. He wore an old orange and blue pilot's outfit, and had a pair of googly eyed glasses that rested on his forehead.
"Hi! I'm Harry. This is Jim, Florence, Sarah, Kevinda and Jessica. We're a band of curious do-gooders out to save the world and discover the secrets of Box Town," Harry said, pointing to each person in turn during his introduction.
"Hey, why am I last to be introduced?" Jessica questioned, grumpily.
"Well, it's smootin' good to meet ya! Welcome to my spoony house, ya bunch o' marmosets! My name's Chazar Bluntson but you can all call me Chazzy! Can I interest you in some tea? Mera! Get the spoony tea! We have some guests! Get your smootin' marmoset to it!" was the pilot's response.
"Tea would be great!" Jim exclaimed with glee.
"Don't you find this guy a little strange, Jim?" Jessica whispered softly.
"Not at all, why do you ask?"
Jessica let out a sigh, "I suppose you're the wrong person to ask..."
"Can I interest anyone in a smoke?" Chazzy produced a pack of cigarettes and held it out to his guests.
"Uh, those are just a bunch of twigs," commented Florence.
"So they are." Chazzy proceeded to stick one of the twigs into his mouth and light it, nevertheless. "Mera! Get your smootin' marmoset in here already! That spoony marmoset never gets here on time."
"Uh, excuse me, is she actually a marmoset, or do you just like to say that a lot?" asked Jessica.
"What are you, some kind of marmoset? What the spoony heck do you think she is? Spoony kids these days, and their smootin' marmosets."
A young woman, Mera, entered the box. She had her brown hair done up in a bun, large, circular glasses resting carefully on her nose, and a long, white lab coat. "I'm sorry, I was out back working on the Pygmy Whale." She then proceeded to walk over to the sink to get a kettle of water to put on the boil for their tea.
Jessica watched Mera for a long moment. She couldn't help but comment, "Um... Let me get this straight... So you guys were too lazy to rebuild your houses, right? Yet, you don't seem to be lazy enough to put indoor plumbing into your boxes."
"Well of course, you spoony marmoset! Let's see you smootin' try to live without spoony indoor plumbing, and we'll see how you spoony well do!" countered Chazzy, the googly eyes on his glasses bouncing about furiously. "Spoony kids these days. I'm going out back to work on the Pygmy Whale. You better bring me my smootin' tea!" At that, Chazzy walked out of the box, and grumbled as he went out back.
"So what's his problem, anyway?" Florence inquired. "He seems a little... Weird..."
"That's just his way. He's been like that ever since the launch of Gengai No. 27..." Mera responded.
"What happened?" Jim asked after a moment of silence.
"Well..."
"We're all set!" a pudgy man in a space suit exclaimed. "Send our dreams into space, Cap'n!"
"Leave it to me!" Chazzy replied, excitedly. He was standing in front of three men, all dressed in silver space suits. Chazzy, on the other hand, was wearing the same orange and blue pilot's outfit. They were in a cramped, metal room, filled with various control mechanisms. He left the room through a sliding door that lead to the cockpit.
"Prepare for lift-off!" he called over the intercom as he strapped himself into his chair and began to fiddle with the buttons. "One minute and counting."
"Cap'n! Something's wrong!" one of the crewman shouted at Chazar via the intercom. "It's Mera! She's down in the engine section!"
"Sweet gooblin spoonies! What the spoony heck is that smooting marmoset doing down there? Mera! Mera! You have to get out of there! The heat's going to melt you faster than cheese in a microwave!"
"Don't worry, Cap'n. I'm just running a few last checks. Don't worry about stopping the launch," came Mera's calm voice in response.
"What? 'Don't worry'?! You bet your spoony marmoset I'm worried! You're not gonna die. I won't let you die! You've gotta get out of there you spoony fool! Of all the smootin', stupid, spoony things, Mera! Abort the spoony launch!" He began to pound on the controls, but it was too late. The countdown had completed during his shouting and the Gengai No. 27 was being launched into the heavens. "No! Mera!"
Chazzy smashed his face into the control panel and suddenly the engines cut out. The large, green, rocket began to twirl out of control as it returned to earth. It crashed violently, right into the middle of Bronze Bowl.
"As it turns out, the button he pressed was the emergency fuel cut-off. I managed to get out of the rocket while he was yelling at me. It was all for nothing. Gengai decided not to build another rocket, or to help pay for the repairs on Bronze Bowl. As a result, the space program and that amusement park were lost, and all of out dreams with it. It was my fault that Chazzy never got to go into outer space, so I've helped him ever since.
"Now, all he ever does is yell random, inane gibberish about 'spoony' this and 'marmoset' that," Mera sighed. "He used to be so cheerful, and full of laughter. Actually, it was hard just to get him to stop laughing. Now, the only thing that brings him joy is the Pygmy Whale.
"All of that might change, though. Some people from Gengai are coming today to talk about reinitiating the space program and rebuilding the town. We might get a Gengai No. 28 after all, and Chazzy's dreams will be sent into space, and not an amusement park."
"What is this Pygmy Whale, anyway?" Kevinda inquired.
"It's an airplane," Mera explained.
"Hey! We can use it to get out of here before Gengai can catch us!" exclaimed Florence.
"Then it's settled, we're going to kick some Gengai butt!" Jim shouted.
"Jim, I think you've missed the point," Jessica said with a sigh.
"So, what's the status on Olaf?" inquired Doofus, after taking a deep breath from his inhaler.
"Our reports have been confirmed. He's heading for the forested temple," replied Murry.
President Doofus looked confused. "The forested temple? You mean the so called 'Temple of the Ancients'? It's not even a temple. Why would he be going all this way to get to a little hut in the middle of a forest?"
"We don't know."
"Well then, once we get the Pygmy Whale in Box Town, I want you and the rest of the Clerks to go to the Temple of the Ancients. We'll have Olaf once and for all."
"That's another thing I wanted to discuss. According to our most recent reports, Jim and company have recently arrived in Box Town."
Doofus grinned as he adjusted his glasses. "Perfect. We shall crush two birds with one stone." He began to laugh wickedly, gripping his inhaler tightly as he did so. The inhaler broke, and he continued to cackle menacingly. He then entered a coughing fit. "My inhaler!" he screeched as he looked at the broken inhaler. "Murry! Get me another inhaler!" He gasped and coughed at the same time. He flung his arms about wildly, and leaned back in his chair in a fit. The chair proceeded to tip backwards and crash to the floor, the President of the Gengai corporation collapsing with it. He groaned in pain as he looked up at the Clerk. "Damn... chair..."
As the group was finishing up their tea, they suddenly heard Chazzy's shouting from outside: "You want me to give up the Pygmy Whale? Spoony heck no! First, you spoony marmosets trash the space programs and my smootin' dreams, now you want to take away my plane? Well, you marmosets aren't laying one smootin' hand on it!"
"Sounds like Gengai has finally arrived," Harry commented.
"Then it's time for some serious butt-kicking!" Jim cried.
"Either that, or we'll just run away before we get arrested, and thrown into that horrible prison again," Florence said, as she looked around nervously. "I like that idea much better."
"We should help out Chazzy, in case those Gengai goons try to get violent," Harry said.
The others nodded (though Florence was a little reluctant) and were quickly leaving the box. They stepped outside and saw Doofus, Jirdiegger, and Pinky talking with Chazzy. The old pilot seemed to be quite furious at the three.
"Kya ha ha! You don't have much choice in the matter," Pinky informed.
"Gya ha ha!" was the only thing that came out of Jirdiegger's mouth. He then roughly pushed Chazar out of the way.
"They're going to take the Pygmy Whale! We can't let them do that!" Mera exclaimed, as she ran up to join the group.
"Don't worry! We'll stop them!" cried Jim, heroically. The crew quickly ran to the back of the box where they found a blue plane with the words 'Pygmy Whale' written on it in yellow and white letters.
"He's coming!" Florence exclaimed, as she looked back at Jirdiegger. He was now running towards them, trying to stop them.
"Get in!" Harry cried, and leapt into the plane. The the others scrambled aboard. "How does this thing work?" He began pressing with random buttons and pulling the odd lever. Suddenly the plane burst into life. The Pygmy Whale began to fly towards Chazzy, Doofus, and Pinky.
"Sweet gooblin spoonies!" shouted Chazar. "My plane!" He ran towards the blue plane and leapt into the air. He grabbed one of its wheels, and was now flying up with the others.
"Stop them! Stop them!" screamed Doofus. His face was turning red with anger, and he broke into an asthma attack. He choked and fell to his knees, pointing at the plane as it flew off.
Chazzy pulled himself up onto one of the wings and held on for dear life. "What do you marmosets think you're doing?"
"We're saving your plane," was Jim's response.
"You idiots, it's not finished yet!"
"What?" Jessica exclaimed.
Smoke started to billow out of the engine, and the plane began to dip down. "Hold on!" Chazar shouted and plane crashed violently into the sea.
"I sense that we'll soon be surrounded by water," Kevinda predicted, then opened her eyes. "Hah! I told you so!"
"Oh, just be quiet," Jessica sighed as she hid her face in his hands.
Chazzy spoke up, "Well, we're gonna be in a smoot load of trouble with Gengai now. Y'know what... We've gotta work together and finish off that spoony Gengai scum! This thing might not be able to fly, but I'm sure it can get us through the shallow water of the ocean. Let's go kick some spoony marmoset butt!"
