Chapter Twenty-Two: Zee VEAPONS ov zee Planet
"Huh? Ah! The light! Where did all this light come from?" Jessica moaned as she slowly awoke atop a cold, steel table. There was a bright light directly above her. She slowly sat up. "Wh-where am I?" She looked around for a familiar face. The only other person there was Harry.
"We're in Junon," he said. "You've been asleep for quite a while."
"What happened at the crater? I blacked out... Is everyone else all right? Have you heard anything from the planet?"
Harry's lips curled upward, slightly. "When did you start believing I could talk to the planet?" He chuckled and then looked downward sadly. "No, I haven't talked to it for some time. I haven't seen the others in a long time, either. I'm not sure what happened, but I know things aren't good."
He stepped over to a keypad and tapped a button. A large piece of the wall began to move, revealing a window. It was evening, and darkness was fading into the sky, mixed with brilliant reds and golds. However, the sight was by no means beautiful.
"Is that-?" she gasped, pointing out the window.
"Yeah, it's Jimbles all right. I don't know what the Black Pebble did, but it shot that fish out into orbit and made her the size of Wigfarm. Apparently, Olaf is holding up in the northern crater and no one can get to him. They think that he's controlling Jimbles from there..."
Jessica looked out at the giant fish in the sky with horror in her eyes.
"That isn't the worst of it. There have been these weird things terrorizing the planet since Olaf used the pebble. Mojo called them 'zee VEAPONS ov zee planet'. They're supposed to be guardians of the planet, defenders against evil, but they haven't done anything about Olaf. Things are getting worse all the time."
The door to the room suddenly opened and Doofus stepped in. He adjusted his glasses and smiled. "Come along with me," he commanded. A few guard entered, handcuffed Jessica and Harry, then began to push them out.
"Where are you taking us?" Jessica questioned.
"I'm afraid with the state of affairs the way they are, the people are getting restless. So, in order to satisfy them, we're going to execute you," Doofus responded.
"What? That doesn't make any sense!" Harry exclaimed.
"I know, but executions are always so much fun."
The two were taken through a room that was filled with reporters, Gengai personnel, and various others who came to see the executions. They stood before them all, and to their right was a black door that had one rather large lock on it.
"The girl shall be the first to die. Throw her in!" Doofus cackled. He began choking and a number of men rushed to his aid with half a dozen inhalers.
Jessica, meanwhile, was dragged off by the guards through the black door and into a tiny, poorly lit room. Pinky was waiting inside for her.
"Kya ha ha! Executions always make me laugh. Kya ha ha!" she chortled.
Jessica tried to struggle as she was locked down into a cold metal chair. "You won't get away with this!"
"Kya ha ha! Of course we will. Kya ha ha!" Pinky and the guards then left, locking the door behind them, leaving Jessica alone.
"Harry!" she screamed. "Jim! Someone! Anyone! Help!" She struggled to slide out of the shackles but met with failure. Then, she saw something on the ground: the key!
"You're gonna get yours, Doofus!" Harry exclaimed. "Just you wait an-"
A loud siren quickly cut him off, and an urgent voice cried out across Junon. "VEAPON attack! VEAPON attack! All hands to battle stations! VEAPON attack!"
Out across on the sea was a great wave approaching Polka City. It was getting closer and closer at an amazing speed. Soon, the VEAPON would be at the city, tearing it to shreds.
In the room, there was complete panic. Doofus was breathing heavily from his inhaler as soldiers moved in an orderly manner to their stations. Pinky ran out, along with the reporters. Harry saw this as his chance to escape amidst the chaos, but he still had to try saving Jessica. Soon it was only Harry, a reporter, and the President left in the room.
"Mr. President, Kevinson Devereux of the Daily... Newsthing... Yeah. Can I ask you a few questions?" a man in a grey suit asked Doofus.
"No! No questions! Wait a minute... Aren't you-" The reporter swiftly kicked Doofus in the stomach.
He turned to Harry and slipped a piece of shimmering cloth over his mouth. In the familiar feminine squeak, he said urgently: "Harry! It's me, Kevinda! Come on, we have to get Jessica!" She quickly began to release him from his handcuffs.
"And here behind us, you will see the great waves that the VEAPON is creating. In a way, it's almost like a great spoon digging into a bowl of cereal," a female reporter said into a camera. They were on the pier, looking out at the sea. "You will see that Gengai's finest are running into action to defend the city." Directly behind the reporter, there were innumerable troops rushing off to fight. Her leg extended backwards and one of the soldiers tripped. "Oh dear! How clumsy of me! Here, camera man, can you help me get this man up?"
"Wif pleasure," the camera man replied. He chuckled, walked over to the Gengai officer, and proceeded to kick him with one of his lovely cowboy boots. He then threw the camera at another soldier, knocking him off the edge of the pier. The two high fived each other, then ran.
Jessica reached out with her foot, trying to slide the key closer to it. "I've almost got it." She suddenly heard a noise. "What's that?" From above her head, a circular panel opened up and proceeded to send out a stream of melted cheese onto Jessica. "Oh gross!" She exclaimed. She then got her foot onto the key and started to slide it closer. She managed to get it between her feet, and in an amazing stunt, tossed it into the air and caught it in between her teeth. She leaned down, the cheese pouring all over her back, and started to unlock the shackles. In a few more moments, she was free of the chair. Now, all she had to do was find a way out of the room.
"It's here!" came a shout from a soldier.
"Oh my god!" came another shout as the VEAPON came out of the water. There was then a long moment of silence, then, softly at first, there was laughter. It grew to a great boisterous cackling as the mighty VEAPON turned out to be a green teddy bear, no more than two feel tall. The laughing did not last long, however. The VEAPON glared out at Junon and then let out a mighty roar as from its paws a great surging of white light sprung forth and crashed into the city.
Shouts of shock and surprise sprung out, followed by the call to fire all weapons at the beast. Waves of bullets and cannon fire flew out at the bear, but most of it missed, due to the creature's small size. Any shots that did hit the VEAPON seemed to bounce off and fall into the water below. It then began to charge for another mighty blast at the port city.
"Don't worry Jessica! We'll get you out of there!" Harry exclaimed as he pounded on the door to the execution room. "How do you open this thing?"
The entire section was suddenly shaken. Harry and Kevinda were thrown to the ground, and a great hole opened in the outer wall of the execution room.
Jessica, too, was thrown about. She shook herself out of a deep blackness a moment or two later. She saw that a large portion of the wall had been destroyed. Covered in a heavy layer of cheese, she slowly moved over to it and looked out. She saw the green teddy VEAPON, as energy surged around it. It was preparing for one big blast. It wasn't the only thing preparing though. The teddy was sitting directly in front of a giant polka-dotted cannon: the Polka Rey. The cannon was shifting and in a moment a thunderous explosion flew out and collided with the VEAPON, sending it flying off in a thousand pieces.
At that moment, she heard a familiar cackle. Pinky was back... She had to make her escape now, so she swiftly climbed out the large hole and began scaling the sides of Polka City.
"Kya ha ha! That VEAPON is no match for the Polka Rey! I'll watch them blow it out of the sky!" Pinky cackled as she re-entered the room she had left a short time ago. Kevinda and Harry had quickly hidden behind chairs upon hearing her approach.
She looked out the large window, watching the VEAPON explode. Pinky cackled and applauded, then glanced at the door to the execution room. "She must be dead by now. Perhaps I'll go and take a peek. Kya ha ha!" She was quite surprised, seeing that there was no Jessica, and the gaping hole in the wall when she opened the door to the execution room. "She's gone!" she exclaimed and growled. "I'll get her."
Jessica moved along carefully, and glanced back to see the scarlet-clad Pinky speedily approaching her. "Oh no!" she exclaimed, and began to move as fast as she could. She reached the Polka Rey and began running out on the giant gun. The metal was hot under her feet as she went.
"Kya ha ha! You can't outrun me!" Pinky laughed behind her, and was quickly catching up.
She was left with no choice, as she came up to the end of the cannon: she had to fight. Jessica turned around and Pinky ran up to her. The woman in red had the first shot as she slapped Jessica across the face. She retaliated with a slap of her own. This continued for some time, until Pinky sent a powerful slap across Jessica's cheek that sent her staggering back and off the edge of the Polka Rey.
Jessica called out for help, and it was on its way. From beneath her rose up a great, grey ship. It was an airship! She fell onto the deck where Jim, Harry, Ziggy, Kevinda, Muffie and Florence were waiting.
"Thank goodness we caught you," Florence said, more that a little amazed.
"Come on, let's get out of here before they decide to recharge that gun!" Harry exclaimed.
"Yeehaw! Less git outta hyar!" Ziggy exclaimed as he quickly entered the ship to give the message to the pilot. In a moment, they were flying off across the skies.
"Huh? Ah! The light! Where did all this light come from?" Jessica moaned as she slowly awoke atop a cold, steel table. There was a bright light directly above her. She slowly sat up. "Wh-where am I?" She looked around for a familiar face. The only other person there was Harry.
"We're in Junon," he said. "You've been asleep for quite a while."
"What happened at the crater? I blacked out... Is everyone else all right? Have you heard anything from the planet?"
Harry's lips curled upward, slightly. "When did you start believing I could talk to the planet?" He chuckled and then looked downward sadly. "No, I haven't talked to it for some time. I haven't seen the others in a long time, either. I'm not sure what happened, but I know things aren't good."
He stepped over to a keypad and tapped a button. A large piece of the wall began to move, revealing a window. It was evening, and darkness was fading into the sky, mixed with brilliant reds and golds. However, the sight was by no means beautiful.
"Is that-?" she gasped, pointing out the window.
"Yeah, it's Jimbles all right. I don't know what the Black Pebble did, but it shot that fish out into orbit and made her the size of Wigfarm. Apparently, Olaf is holding up in the northern crater and no one can get to him. They think that he's controlling Jimbles from there..."
Jessica looked out at the giant fish in the sky with horror in her eyes.
"That isn't the worst of it. There have been these weird things terrorizing the planet since Olaf used the pebble. Mojo called them 'zee VEAPONS ov zee planet'. They're supposed to be guardians of the planet, defenders against evil, but they haven't done anything about Olaf. Things are getting worse all the time."
The door to the room suddenly opened and Doofus stepped in. He adjusted his glasses and smiled. "Come along with me," he commanded. A few guard entered, handcuffed Jessica and Harry, then began to push them out.
"Where are you taking us?" Jessica questioned.
"I'm afraid with the state of affairs the way they are, the people are getting restless. So, in order to satisfy them, we're going to execute you," Doofus responded.
"What? That doesn't make any sense!" Harry exclaimed.
"I know, but executions are always so much fun."
The two were taken through a room that was filled with reporters, Gengai personnel, and various others who came to see the executions. They stood before them all, and to their right was a black door that had one rather large lock on it.
"The girl shall be the first to die. Throw her in!" Doofus cackled. He began choking and a number of men rushed to his aid with half a dozen inhalers.
Jessica, meanwhile, was dragged off by the guards through the black door and into a tiny, poorly lit room. Pinky was waiting inside for her.
"Kya ha ha! Executions always make me laugh. Kya ha ha!" she chortled.
Jessica tried to struggle as she was locked down into a cold metal chair. "You won't get away with this!"
"Kya ha ha! Of course we will. Kya ha ha!" Pinky and the guards then left, locking the door behind them, leaving Jessica alone.
"Harry!" she screamed. "Jim! Someone! Anyone! Help!" She struggled to slide out of the shackles but met with failure. Then, she saw something on the ground: the key!
"You're gonna get yours, Doofus!" Harry exclaimed. "Just you wait an-"
A loud siren quickly cut him off, and an urgent voice cried out across Junon. "VEAPON attack! VEAPON attack! All hands to battle stations! VEAPON attack!"
Out across on the sea was a great wave approaching Polka City. It was getting closer and closer at an amazing speed. Soon, the VEAPON would be at the city, tearing it to shreds.
In the room, there was complete panic. Doofus was breathing heavily from his inhaler as soldiers moved in an orderly manner to their stations. Pinky ran out, along with the reporters. Harry saw this as his chance to escape amidst the chaos, but he still had to try saving Jessica. Soon it was only Harry, a reporter, and the President left in the room.
"Mr. President, Kevinson Devereux of the Daily... Newsthing... Yeah. Can I ask you a few questions?" a man in a grey suit asked Doofus.
"No! No questions! Wait a minute... Aren't you-" The reporter swiftly kicked Doofus in the stomach.
He turned to Harry and slipped a piece of shimmering cloth over his mouth. In the familiar feminine squeak, he said urgently: "Harry! It's me, Kevinda! Come on, we have to get Jessica!" She quickly began to release him from his handcuffs.
"And here behind us, you will see the great waves that the VEAPON is creating. In a way, it's almost like a great spoon digging into a bowl of cereal," a female reporter said into a camera. They were on the pier, looking out at the sea. "You will see that Gengai's finest are running into action to defend the city." Directly behind the reporter, there were innumerable troops rushing off to fight. Her leg extended backwards and one of the soldiers tripped. "Oh dear! How clumsy of me! Here, camera man, can you help me get this man up?"
"Wif pleasure," the camera man replied. He chuckled, walked over to the Gengai officer, and proceeded to kick him with one of his lovely cowboy boots. He then threw the camera at another soldier, knocking him off the edge of the pier. The two high fived each other, then ran.
Jessica reached out with her foot, trying to slide the key closer to it. "I've almost got it." She suddenly heard a noise. "What's that?" From above her head, a circular panel opened up and proceeded to send out a stream of melted cheese onto Jessica. "Oh gross!" She exclaimed. She then got her foot onto the key and started to slide it closer. She managed to get it between her feet, and in an amazing stunt, tossed it into the air and caught it in between her teeth. She leaned down, the cheese pouring all over her back, and started to unlock the shackles. In a few more moments, she was free of the chair. Now, all she had to do was find a way out of the room.
"It's here!" came a shout from a soldier.
"Oh my god!" came another shout as the VEAPON came out of the water. There was then a long moment of silence, then, softly at first, there was laughter. It grew to a great boisterous cackling as the mighty VEAPON turned out to be a green teddy bear, no more than two feel tall. The laughing did not last long, however. The VEAPON glared out at Junon and then let out a mighty roar as from its paws a great surging of white light sprung forth and crashed into the city.
Shouts of shock and surprise sprung out, followed by the call to fire all weapons at the beast. Waves of bullets and cannon fire flew out at the bear, but most of it missed, due to the creature's small size. Any shots that did hit the VEAPON seemed to bounce off and fall into the water below. It then began to charge for another mighty blast at the port city.
"Don't worry Jessica! We'll get you out of there!" Harry exclaimed as he pounded on the door to the execution room. "How do you open this thing?"
The entire section was suddenly shaken. Harry and Kevinda were thrown to the ground, and a great hole opened in the outer wall of the execution room.
Jessica, too, was thrown about. She shook herself out of a deep blackness a moment or two later. She saw that a large portion of the wall had been destroyed. Covered in a heavy layer of cheese, she slowly moved over to it and looked out. She saw the green teddy VEAPON, as energy surged around it. It was preparing for one big blast. It wasn't the only thing preparing though. The teddy was sitting directly in front of a giant polka-dotted cannon: the Polka Rey. The cannon was shifting and in a moment a thunderous explosion flew out and collided with the VEAPON, sending it flying off in a thousand pieces.
At that moment, she heard a familiar cackle. Pinky was back... She had to make her escape now, so she swiftly climbed out the large hole and began scaling the sides of Polka City.
"Kya ha ha! That VEAPON is no match for the Polka Rey! I'll watch them blow it out of the sky!" Pinky cackled as she re-entered the room she had left a short time ago. Kevinda and Harry had quickly hidden behind chairs upon hearing her approach.
She looked out the large window, watching the VEAPON explode. Pinky cackled and applauded, then glanced at the door to the execution room. "She must be dead by now. Perhaps I'll go and take a peek. Kya ha ha!" She was quite surprised, seeing that there was no Jessica, and the gaping hole in the wall when she opened the door to the execution room. "She's gone!" she exclaimed and growled. "I'll get her."
Jessica moved along carefully, and glanced back to see the scarlet-clad Pinky speedily approaching her. "Oh no!" she exclaimed, and began to move as fast as she could. She reached the Polka Rey and began running out on the giant gun. The metal was hot under her feet as she went.
"Kya ha ha! You can't outrun me!" Pinky laughed behind her, and was quickly catching up.
She was left with no choice, as she came up to the end of the cannon: she had to fight. Jessica turned around and Pinky ran up to her. The woman in red had the first shot as she slapped Jessica across the face. She retaliated with a slap of her own. This continued for some time, until Pinky sent a powerful slap across Jessica's cheek that sent her staggering back and off the edge of the Polka Rey.
Jessica called out for help, and it was on its way. From beneath her rose up a great, grey ship. It was an airship! She fell onto the deck where Jim, Harry, Ziggy, Kevinda, Muffie and Florence were waiting.
"Thank goodness we caught you," Florence said, more that a little amazed.
"Come on, let's get out of here before they decide to recharge that gun!" Harry exclaimed.
"Yeehaw! Less git outta hyar!" Ziggy exclaimed as he quickly entered the ship to give the message to the pilot. In a moment, they were flying off across the skies.
