Rayman: Hands and Feet Scramble– Chapter 3
Characters created by Michel Ancel
Written by Andrew Kaiko
I am of no relation to the production or post-production team, and so, I do not own the characters and all related subjects. Rayman is © 2002 Ubi Soft Entertainment. The character of Rayman and all other characters and subjects are all trademarks of Ubi Soft Entertainment. All rights reserved.
Chapter 3
Fuming inside, Rayman kept on storming and storming through the growth, too upset to even notice that the sun was starting to set. For the first time, someone rejected his help in getting out of a predicament in which he was obviously aware of needing assistance in!
After a time, he still didn't even know where he was, and just when he was assuming he was going around in circles, he noticed a reassuring sight! Globox and Murfy were in front of him, still fighting like there was no tomorrow, but he found them nonetheless! He ran up to them and asked, "Guys! Guys! What was all that about earlier?!"
Murfy stopped strangling Globox. "This pinhead thought he was the better sidekick than me!"
"And I AM too!"
"NO! I AM!"
Rayman raised his hands in the air. "CEASE AND DESIST! It doesn't matter who the better sidekick is! I mean, I've never seen you guys even think of yourselves as sidekicks! What brought this up?!"
Bruised and beaten, they caught their breath and Murfy straightened his wings. "Well, I was GONNA' tell you when it was GOOD news, but here it goes. I found out I'm nominated for Best Comic Sidekick/Guide For Adventurous Heroes Award at the Annual Video Game Character Awards show. But then he—"
Globox cut in. "...I pointed out to him that I was nominated for the same category as well!"
Rayman flew his hands up in the air again and yelped, "So just share the award and stop bickering!"
Murfy retorted, "You guys don't understand! This award is my life-long DREAM! I've worked my heart and soul to be the ideal guide to you, Rayman, and I've been nominated countless times before, but I always lost it to someone else! This year, none of the other three nominees have a chance! I can't give this up!"
Globox said, "I was there with Rayman the entire time! I even got more screen time than you!"
"But did you ever take your entire lifetime to achieve that kind of status?! I don't think so!"
THAT was true. Globox became Rayman's friend just before they both got captured by Razorbeard's pirates- he was all grown up. He never even heard of Rayman when he was a tadpole.
Rayman approached them dutifully. "Okay. I understand how it feels to build up to something your whole life and never getting it, Murfy. But Globox or no Globox, that award is STILL going to be yours if you win! You just need to learn to share."
Murfy's eyes kept squinting, until Rayman finished his speech. "Well, just so that enlightening speech doesn't make this story some after-school special, I think we should let this issue off for now, what do you say, Globox?"
"Sure! Fine with me. Really!"
Rayman brightened. "Great! All settled! Now, do you know who to get home from here?"
-----
They wandered until the sun was no longer in the sky. The purple hue of the moon lit their way, at least in the open clearings. But none of them could see any better in the dark than during the day, and they all felt like they were worse off than before.
Globox held his stomach. "Uglette must be worried about me now, I just know it! I'm missin' Tuesday Double-Entrée!"
"Keep complainin', Hardy, and I'll give you a double-entrée of somethin' else!"
"Shhh! Wait! I see yellow lights that way! They look like fire!"
They all fell silent and then noticed there were drums beating in the same direction as the lights. Figures were dancing around the fire Rayman spoke of, which was unusually huge! The drums were getting louder as they approached the only source of light in the area. They identified the music as native tribal music!
Rayman's eyes reflected the light like water. "My God! Could it be we've gone this far?!"
"Which far?"
"This must be the native tribal clan of Kubla Kimbakawee! They live all the way at the other end of this huge forest of Neotopia! I can't believe we've traveled this far! We've been going in the wrong direction the whole time!"
"Aww, great! That's the last time I let Globox lead."
"Um... Murfy, we were following you."
Murfy paused and said, "Yeah, but... I was... testing to see if YOU could see as clearly as me! Yeah!"
"Wait! Oh, Great Trousers of Polokos! That's BOBLE!"
Indeed, Boble was tied to a set of vertical poles right above the huge bonfire the natives were dancing around! And it didn't take a rocket scientist to decipher what they were going to do, once they noticed that big pot of boiling water in the center of the fire! Boble himself was awake and well, but so terrified that sweat was pouring from ALL his arms!
The drums were still thumping.
Rayman zipped around to Globox and Murfy and said, "Guys! Now... is the time to show me that you two are EQUALLY good sidekicks!"
Globox and Murfy grinned devilishly, cracking their knuckled and getting into a running start.
Rayman continued, "...run away, get Ly, and ask her for help!"
The drums were still thumping.
They both sunk into depressed positions, as if to say, Oh, THAT'S what he wants us to do!
"NOW, GUYS! BOBLE'S LIFE IS AT STAKE! ...AND BURNING ON IT!"
Murfy, who didn't take a break from being obnoxious since this story started, said, "Fine, His Limblessness!"
They both ran in the opposite direction, having a lame argument of who was going to find Ly first, when they should've been trying to find their way!
The drums were still thumping.
Rayman then turned back to the fire. Just facing it, pondering the best tactic to take. The drums thumping repeatedly for what seemed like an eternity. What prompted him to finally take action, though, was what he saw on the top of the pole. Boble, after that heated argument he had when he was first met him, was staring at him right now. His expression was still disconcerting, but Rayman knew he was indirectly asking for help.
The drums were still thumping. The natives were still dancing and chanting around the fire. But they stopped once they noticed Rayman was punching them one by one! They took action, but Rayman was too quick! They were falling down like flies! This is a piece of cake, he thought!
Boble's expression didn't change.
The drums were still thumping
Until the drummer himself was the last one to be conked out.
His next challenge was to put out the fire. There must be water somewhere in this place! He scurried around, looking under the native bodies, lifting the furnishings inside the bamboo huts... but no water. He stared at the pole Boble was tied to, and realized another way out! He disconnected his hands once again, and they both tried to bend the pole slightly outside the way of the fire, just enough that he could reach Boble at a 45 degree angle!
Slowly, carefully, the hands untied the complicated knots, and Boble was able to jump the rest of the way onto the ground in front of Rayman, whose hands floated back to their positions.
Boble was actually really astonished! He was about to go into a deep emotional 'change-of-heart' moment, until Rayman said, "Save it. These guys can wake up any second! Let's get out of here!"
As they raced away from the light and into the dark maze of tree trunks, Boble cleared his voice, and said, over the loud cracks and crunches underneath them, "Hey, Rayman! How did you do that?!"
Rayman responded, just as loudly, "Oh, knock out those natives that quickly?! Experience, kid! Experience and patience!"
They both kept dashing deeper into the woods.
"Rayman! I'm sorry I called you a bulb-nosed freak!"
Rayman managed a sigh from between his gasps as he was running. "Apology accepted! Come on! What do you say we find some information somewhere about whether or not your planet exists?! We should do everything we can to save your race!"
Boble was running silently for a while, when he said, "We might as well!"
They ran for a while more, when Rayman told him they were so far away from the tribe that there was no chance they would find them. By now, they were exhausted, so they both found separate places to sleep for the night.
-----
The next morning started out bright and clear. Rayman was certain there wasn't a current of wind in sight, which was all the better for creatures to go out and play. And in the past few days, he also surmised that they must've been in the middle of a series of dry days- no storm had hit their region in a month! Enjoy this while you can, he thought. Go find Ly and have another race—
But he stopped, and the events from yesterday all came back to him. Boble, argument. "sidekick" dilemma, natives, rescue, lost, lost, lost. Oh right.
He sunk to a relaxed pose, and turned his head. Interesting, how a person with such a temper could look so delicate and cute when they are asleep. Such was the case with Boble, who was hunched in a little ball, his four legs crossed over one another to form a circular pattern within the ball, his mouth and thumb paused in the process of sucking it. The feeling of vulnerability rose in Rayman again, the same feeling he had formed for him when he first saw him crying in the clearing. He didn't care if the Lapitaur hated him. He was only a boy, and he needed all the help he could get. He did have an IOTA of a plan of how to save his race, but he was going to do the best he could.
Curious also, how whenever meeting other victims in distress in the past, Rayman never felt this kind of vulnerability before. Maybe it was because he could relate with having a special trait of extra, or lack of, limbs, and the advantages and disadvantages that came with it. Maybe.
But, anyway, they had a serious job to do, and time was essential, so he softly nudged the blue, round head, and it stirred. Boble muttered something about ponies, but went back to sleep.
Rayman then paused. Timed his next move perfectly...
...and sent one of his "Energizer Bonkies" into Boble's head!
"OW! What did you do THAT for?! You little—"
He raced after a giggling Rayman, who darted to and fro, from tree to tree! Boble, who was at first enraged, noticed after a ways into the chase that he was doing it for fun, but he was still pretty irritated. With clenched teeth, he wanted to trap the little booger into a tight corner and do the same to him!
Ha ha, thought Rayman (actually, he said 'ha ha' out loud, but he was also thinking it at the same time- you would too, right?), I can tell he's enjoying it as well as being annoyed!
He sent another punch, intentionally missing by a hair, and Boble responded by speeding up to him and punching him lightly in the chest- bulls-eye, into the center of the white 'O'! The air blown out of him, Rayman toppled backward down into a ravine, and Boble feel down after him.
They lay there for a few moments, catching their breath, just like he did with Ly earlier. Boble was the first to break the silence, "You—you're crazy!"
"I didn't hit you too hard, did I?" Rayman asked with a smile.
"Did I hit YOU hard?"
"No."
"Then I guess you didn't either."
"Good enough for me."
Another silent moment of catching more breath.
"Well, you do have a strange way of relating to people," said Boble. "Must go along with that goofy nose of yours!"
Rayman just lay there chuckling to himself.
"The other Lapitaurs in my planet would never let me play with them like this... You're all grown up, right?" Boble asked him.
"I...I believe so."
"Then, why do you relate to people this way?! Why don't you just invite them for a cup of tea and socialize, like they do on my—or... used to do, anyway..."
Rayman knew Boble was about to sink into depressive karma again, so he quickly jumped up and said, "Hey. Why don't we just continue trying to find evidence of your planet?"
Rayman grinned.
Boble was then reminded of a question Rayman had earlier. When they were all rested and were continuing on their way, he grunted several times, but then relaxed and said grimly, "I sent myself here in a pod because I thought I could help my father find a solution to our problem by being the first Lapitaur to gain contact with other planets—"
Alerted to FINALLY hear what he wanted to hear, Rayman said, "Woah woah woah woah! You mean to say, Lapitaurs until now have NEVER known other planets existed? That other life forms existed?"
"No, we KNEW! None of us ever even thought of contacting anyone. We Lapitaurs are a peaceful race, never arguing with anyone, and always sharing. But we are also extremely conservative, logical and silent. So, because we have no enemies, we aren't prepared for any attack! My father says that we will never even BE attacked in the future, and I believe him! THIS CANNOT HAPPEN!"
They were crossing a pretty thick river by stepping-stones. "This should never have happened! Our entire belief system is a lie! What did WE do to anyone else?!"
"You... don't know who or what destroyed your planet?!"
"No! We were all too busy screaming and running around, praying over mine fields, reading the scriptures one last time, consulting the blessed pink monkey monks... to even notice! Well... m-my father... never even trusted me enough to let me do the things I wanted to do, so I thought this would be the opportune time to prove that I was fit to be a real squire! I ever so secretly stowed away on one of those highly restricted, governmental-use- only Authority Pods—"
"Ooo, bad, bad, Boble..."
"...and somewhere in the middle of the trip, I lost control of the pod, and crashed landed here! Now I am hopelessly lost with no food, no way of saving my planet, and no one here will even understand how difficult it is to restore my race!"
By now, Rayman had subconsciously gone from defending himself to resting on a rock in front of Boble, who had alternatively gone from struggling to get away to standing straight as a professional storyteller. But since Rayman met him, the wet vertical lines covering his cheeks had not dried. Rayman stared at them, and he softened down.
"You're right," said Rayman calmly. "I don't understand how difficult it is for you. Now, I will mention this again, and promise me you won't run off, okay?"
Boble nodded.
"Okay. How can you have so much trouble if you have five arms and four legs?"
Boble knew this was coming. He stood there and was now acting like his age for once. He took a deep breath, restrained his reflexes from carrying him away, and said quietly, looking down at his feet, "I-I don't know how to use all of them."
"What?"
"Look at them! Look at the two on my head, and the one at the end of my tail. Can you guess how are they different from my regular ones?"
Rayman realized he didn't take a good look at them before, and this was his first real examination. Upon zooming in on the two on his head and the one on his tail, there were indeed some differences from his front hands and feet. They appeared to be smaller, and the surface texture that appeared on the rest of his body was missing from these two. They were thinner and had more translucencies to them. The fingers at the ends were cuffed, and Rayman realized he NEVER saw these two open before! The ear-hands flopped numbly to and fro in a secondary action to his head, as if Boble's body had not developed the motor skills to control them yet. The tail flopped in the exact same manner as his ears. In one sentence, Rayman summarized, in one gasping answer...
"...the hands at the ends of your ears, and the hand at the end of your tail... are underdeveloped!"
"You're so close. They are fully developed- I've just never been able to operate them! Imagine if you were born with a part of your body that was not connected to your brain. It would feel as if they weren't there at all! That is pretty much the case with these guys."
Huh, Rayman thought. MY hands and feet aren't connected to my brain, but they feel right as rain to me!
Boble went on. "Since I was a calf, I watched as my other friends all learned how to move their own ear-hands and tail-hand- I somehow never been able to move them."
"Is it some neural disease? Or at they indeed underdeveloped?"
"Our planet's doctors couldn't figure it out. They only said that all my ear-hands and tail-hand needed were more and more exercise! But I went through all the steps since childhood, trying to shape them and build the muscles, but they stayed the way they were when I was a baby!"
Boble never lifted his head from staring at his feet since they started on their journey that morning. He continued, "My parents knew this would close me off from the regular Lapitaurian activities..."
Rayman had this amusing brain-fart of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, but he wisely kept it to himself.
"...but they made the best of it. It was pretty depressing for me, because these two hands on our head and the big one on our tails characterize our entire Lapitaurian race! While my parents saw it as a basic handicap, I personally saw it as a disgrace to my own race. That is one of the reasons why I became so... humorless." He exhaled on the last word, as if to show his reluctance to bringing back the subject of humor.
Rayman straightened his posture and tried to gain back his dominance. "Well, I think part of the problem is that you're too hard on yourself."
They both fell silent for a long time- they never determined how long. It wasn't an awkward silence, but a meditative one. Boble still felt he should distance himself from this strange-looking alien, but since yesterday, traveling with him, he surprised him. He never knew a shrimp like him could save them from an entire native tribe! Plus, being too hard on him was something that his parents kept telling him time and time again, almost verbatim. Rayman was silent because he was trying to think of alternative ways Boble could get those extra ligaments working!
But a rustling in a field of grass near them interrupted their silence. Then a dull thumping noise repeated itself as it got louder and louder!
Rayman immediately jumped up in an alert pose and demanded, "Boble! Run as far away from the gr—OWW!"
Before he could react, Achat and Vente conked him upside the head with a bronze club. And within a second, Rayman was down on the ground.
Achat laughed gleefully. "Vee did eet! Vee have zee Rayman een our grasp! Ha ha! I TOIELD yew vee should vait for him to bee in a vulnerable state!"
Vente stopped laughing and said, "Oh ho! Vasn't it me who said that?"
"Oh, how cute! You are trying to hide your obvious admiration for me!"
They stopped and slowly turned their heads toward the Lapitaur, who was a ways from them on the opposite side of the clearing. The two huge, lumbering lugs smiled at each other. "And look, Vente! A bonus prize!"
Boble knew what he had to do. With all his might, he stampeded toward the two head first like a charging bull! He positioned his ear-hands up right, although still in a cuff, and tried with all his might to open them.
Come on, he thought. Come on! COOOME OOOOOOOOOOON!!!
BONK!
Boble was on the ground, but wasn't unconscious. He lifted his head with the spare amount of energy he could muster, and gave them a nasty look. NOW, he wasn't happy!
"HA HA HA! Lewk at ziss little guy! His ears are so veak, he might as vell be a baby!"
"YEAH! Ha ha ha! Try eet again, Lapitaur, and vee can start making a ring- toss booth at an amusement park! HA HA HA!!!"
He couldn't get up. They started to kick him in the sides every time he tried again and again to hit them back with his head! It escalated to the point where they would punch him whenever he even lifted a foot! Boble had never previously been poked fun at before, not to these extremes! Was Rayman right about this?! Did he really need exercise? Could he REALLY lead him to the hope and prosperity of saving his race?!
Or... was... Rayman... just being... passively aggressive!!!!
A hatred rose within Boble's core center that had never rose before! He saved them both from natives! And he betrayed him! Oh, what a fool I am to have hoped to find help on another planet! I should've never even attempted to abandon my people!
His hatred melted into sadness. All is lost. All is utterly lost!
He finally stopped moving and lay there on the ground. Achat and Vente stopped torturing him once they noticed. Vente sighed. "Okay, I think he's had enough. Let's go back to zee sheep and get zees two onboard."
-----
While all this was happening, there was indeed a witness who happened to be hiding beyond the clearing.
Ly.
"Oh. Is that Rayman?! How did he get unconscious?! OH! OH MY! MY GOOOOOOOD!!! OHMYGOD! I have to stop them!"
She tried to follow their rapid pace through the dense forest! For lugs covered in bronze trinkets, and carrying a heavy Lapitaur, they could sure run fast! Her heart racing like the Dickens, her breath grew hoarse. At the same moment, they all drew nearer to Achat and Vente's 'Sheep', the one they both took to arrive at this planet. In fact, the aircraft was even LABELED "Sheep"!
But she was just too late. Before she knew it, Rayman had been dragged by his hair into a 'Sheep' to God knows where, and she stopped.
Closing her eyes, and crossing her legs as she sat down, she teleported herself to locate where Rayman was. Her image appeared in the interior of the spacecraft, floating over Rayman, who was still unconscious. "Rayman! Rayman! It's Ly! What happened?! Where are they taking you?! Wake up!" But Rayman didn't respond in the slightest!
She wasn't prepared for this kind of situation, so she didn't have any energy to give to him. How could she even have any chance of rescuing him now?!
Collapsing on all fours, Ly tried to collect her thoughts. What had just happened? Rayman was taken off of his home, and she had no idea at all where they were going! Her inner panic cracked through her thick exterior, and she grunted again and again, darting here and there! She had to get help! Somehow, she had to get—
"Hey, Fairy! What's eatin' ya'?"
"MURFY! GLOBOX! WE NEED TO RESCUE RAYMAN!"
"Eh?"
"NOW! WE GOTTA GET HELP!"
"Oh, yeah. This is one of those 'Rayman's-in-trouble-and-we-have-no-choice- but-to-heroically-come-to-his-rescue-even-though-we-KNOW-he's-powerful- enough-to-take-care-of-himself' kind of deals!"
Globox caught up with Murfy. "Guess this means we'll miss the Annual Video Game Character Awards."
Murfy turned to him in a whiplash. "WHAT?!"
"You heard me. It's in three days! Everyone knows there's no way to get to another planet and back in three days unless we spend ONE day on that planet, at the most! And, using my high-ly intel-lect-u-al brain, I SURMISTHE that we won't be able to find Rayman all in one day!"
Murfy zipped back to Ly and said, "Nu-uh! No way are we gonna' miss that! Rayman can rescue himself!"
Ly was completely out of patience. "Murfy! You'd rather receive an award for yourself than rescue the friend and savior that he's been to us all these years?!"
Murfy, who was normally quick with a retort, fell silent. "Okay, okay! We'll find help! But I reeeeeeeeeeeeeally can't miss it this year! We have to rescue Rayman before the Awards Night!"
Ly brightened. "Whatever. Now hurry! I know just the place to go!"
(to be continued)
Characters created by Michel Ancel
Written by Andrew Kaiko
I am of no relation to the production or post-production team, and so, I do not own the characters and all related subjects. Rayman is © 2002 Ubi Soft Entertainment. The character of Rayman and all other characters and subjects are all trademarks of Ubi Soft Entertainment. All rights reserved.
Chapter 3
Fuming inside, Rayman kept on storming and storming through the growth, too upset to even notice that the sun was starting to set. For the first time, someone rejected his help in getting out of a predicament in which he was obviously aware of needing assistance in!
After a time, he still didn't even know where he was, and just when he was assuming he was going around in circles, he noticed a reassuring sight! Globox and Murfy were in front of him, still fighting like there was no tomorrow, but he found them nonetheless! He ran up to them and asked, "Guys! Guys! What was all that about earlier?!"
Murfy stopped strangling Globox. "This pinhead thought he was the better sidekick than me!"
"And I AM too!"
"NO! I AM!"
Rayman raised his hands in the air. "CEASE AND DESIST! It doesn't matter who the better sidekick is! I mean, I've never seen you guys even think of yourselves as sidekicks! What brought this up?!"
Bruised and beaten, they caught their breath and Murfy straightened his wings. "Well, I was GONNA' tell you when it was GOOD news, but here it goes. I found out I'm nominated for Best Comic Sidekick/Guide For Adventurous Heroes Award at the Annual Video Game Character Awards show. But then he—"
Globox cut in. "...I pointed out to him that I was nominated for the same category as well!"
Rayman flew his hands up in the air again and yelped, "So just share the award and stop bickering!"
Murfy retorted, "You guys don't understand! This award is my life-long DREAM! I've worked my heart and soul to be the ideal guide to you, Rayman, and I've been nominated countless times before, but I always lost it to someone else! This year, none of the other three nominees have a chance! I can't give this up!"
Globox said, "I was there with Rayman the entire time! I even got more screen time than you!"
"But did you ever take your entire lifetime to achieve that kind of status?! I don't think so!"
THAT was true. Globox became Rayman's friend just before they both got captured by Razorbeard's pirates- he was all grown up. He never even heard of Rayman when he was a tadpole.
Rayman approached them dutifully. "Okay. I understand how it feels to build up to something your whole life and never getting it, Murfy. But Globox or no Globox, that award is STILL going to be yours if you win! You just need to learn to share."
Murfy's eyes kept squinting, until Rayman finished his speech. "Well, just so that enlightening speech doesn't make this story some after-school special, I think we should let this issue off for now, what do you say, Globox?"
"Sure! Fine with me. Really!"
Rayman brightened. "Great! All settled! Now, do you know who to get home from here?"
-----
They wandered until the sun was no longer in the sky. The purple hue of the moon lit their way, at least in the open clearings. But none of them could see any better in the dark than during the day, and they all felt like they were worse off than before.
Globox held his stomach. "Uglette must be worried about me now, I just know it! I'm missin' Tuesday Double-Entrée!"
"Keep complainin', Hardy, and I'll give you a double-entrée of somethin' else!"
"Shhh! Wait! I see yellow lights that way! They look like fire!"
They all fell silent and then noticed there were drums beating in the same direction as the lights. Figures were dancing around the fire Rayman spoke of, which was unusually huge! The drums were getting louder as they approached the only source of light in the area. They identified the music as native tribal music!
Rayman's eyes reflected the light like water. "My God! Could it be we've gone this far?!"
"Which far?"
"This must be the native tribal clan of Kubla Kimbakawee! They live all the way at the other end of this huge forest of Neotopia! I can't believe we've traveled this far! We've been going in the wrong direction the whole time!"
"Aww, great! That's the last time I let Globox lead."
"Um... Murfy, we were following you."
Murfy paused and said, "Yeah, but... I was... testing to see if YOU could see as clearly as me! Yeah!"
"Wait! Oh, Great Trousers of Polokos! That's BOBLE!"
Indeed, Boble was tied to a set of vertical poles right above the huge bonfire the natives were dancing around! And it didn't take a rocket scientist to decipher what they were going to do, once they noticed that big pot of boiling water in the center of the fire! Boble himself was awake and well, but so terrified that sweat was pouring from ALL his arms!
The drums were still thumping.
Rayman zipped around to Globox and Murfy and said, "Guys! Now... is the time to show me that you two are EQUALLY good sidekicks!"
Globox and Murfy grinned devilishly, cracking their knuckled and getting into a running start.
Rayman continued, "...run away, get Ly, and ask her for help!"
The drums were still thumping.
They both sunk into depressed positions, as if to say, Oh, THAT'S what he wants us to do!
"NOW, GUYS! BOBLE'S LIFE IS AT STAKE! ...AND BURNING ON IT!"
Murfy, who didn't take a break from being obnoxious since this story started, said, "Fine, His Limblessness!"
They both ran in the opposite direction, having a lame argument of who was going to find Ly first, when they should've been trying to find their way!
The drums were still thumping.
Rayman then turned back to the fire. Just facing it, pondering the best tactic to take. The drums thumping repeatedly for what seemed like an eternity. What prompted him to finally take action, though, was what he saw on the top of the pole. Boble, after that heated argument he had when he was first met him, was staring at him right now. His expression was still disconcerting, but Rayman knew he was indirectly asking for help.
The drums were still thumping. The natives were still dancing and chanting around the fire. But they stopped once they noticed Rayman was punching them one by one! They took action, but Rayman was too quick! They were falling down like flies! This is a piece of cake, he thought!
Boble's expression didn't change.
The drums were still thumping
Until the drummer himself was the last one to be conked out.
His next challenge was to put out the fire. There must be water somewhere in this place! He scurried around, looking under the native bodies, lifting the furnishings inside the bamboo huts... but no water. He stared at the pole Boble was tied to, and realized another way out! He disconnected his hands once again, and they both tried to bend the pole slightly outside the way of the fire, just enough that he could reach Boble at a 45 degree angle!
Slowly, carefully, the hands untied the complicated knots, and Boble was able to jump the rest of the way onto the ground in front of Rayman, whose hands floated back to their positions.
Boble was actually really astonished! He was about to go into a deep emotional 'change-of-heart' moment, until Rayman said, "Save it. These guys can wake up any second! Let's get out of here!"
As they raced away from the light and into the dark maze of tree trunks, Boble cleared his voice, and said, over the loud cracks and crunches underneath them, "Hey, Rayman! How did you do that?!"
Rayman responded, just as loudly, "Oh, knock out those natives that quickly?! Experience, kid! Experience and patience!"
They both kept dashing deeper into the woods.
"Rayman! I'm sorry I called you a bulb-nosed freak!"
Rayman managed a sigh from between his gasps as he was running. "Apology accepted! Come on! What do you say we find some information somewhere about whether or not your planet exists?! We should do everything we can to save your race!"
Boble was running silently for a while, when he said, "We might as well!"
They ran for a while more, when Rayman told him they were so far away from the tribe that there was no chance they would find them. By now, they were exhausted, so they both found separate places to sleep for the night.
-----
The next morning started out bright and clear. Rayman was certain there wasn't a current of wind in sight, which was all the better for creatures to go out and play. And in the past few days, he also surmised that they must've been in the middle of a series of dry days- no storm had hit their region in a month! Enjoy this while you can, he thought. Go find Ly and have another race—
But he stopped, and the events from yesterday all came back to him. Boble, argument. "sidekick" dilemma, natives, rescue, lost, lost, lost. Oh right.
He sunk to a relaxed pose, and turned his head. Interesting, how a person with such a temper could look so delicate and cute when they are asleep. Such was the case with Boble, who was hunched in a little ball, his four legs crossed over one another to form a circular pattern within the ball, his mouth and thumb paused in the process of sucking it. The feeling of vulnerability rose in Rayman again, the same feeling he had formed for him when he first saw him crying in the clearing. He didn't care if the Lapitaur hated him. He was only a boy, and he needed all the help he could get. He did have an IOTA of a plan of how to save his race, but he was going to do the best he could.
Curious also, how whenever meeting other victims in distress in the past, Rayman never felt this kind of vulnerability before. Maybe it was because he could relate with having a special trait of extra, or lack of, limbs, and the advantages and disadvantages that came with it. Maybe.
But, anyway, they had a serious job to do, and time was essential, so he softly nudged the blue, round head, and it stirred. Boble muttered something about ponies, but went back to sleep.
Rayman then paused. Timed his next move perfectly...
...and sent one of his "Energizer Bonkies" into Boble's head!
"OW! What did you do THAT for?! You little—"
He raced after a giggling Rayman, who darted to and fro, from tree to tree! Boble, who was at first enraged, noticed after a ways into the chase that he was doing it for fun, but he was still pretty irritated. With clenched teeth, he wanted to trap the little booger into a tight corner and do the same to him!
Ha ha, thought Rayman (actually, he said 'ha ha' out loud, but he was also thinking it at the same time- you would too, right?), I can tell he's enjoying it as well as being annoyed!
He sent another punch, intentionally missing by a hair, and Boble responded by speeding up to him and punching him lightly in the chest- bulls-eye, into the center of the white 'O'! The air blown out of him, Rayman toppled backward down into a ravine, and Boble feel down after him.
They lay there for a few moments, catching their breath, just like he did with Ly earlier. Boble was the first to break the silence, "You—you're crazy!"
"I didn't hit you too hard, did I?" Rayman asked with a smile.
"Did I hit YOU hard?"
"No."
"Then I guess you didn't either."
"Good enough for me."
Another silent moment of catching more breath.
"Well, you do have a strange way of relating to people," said Boble. "Must go along with that goofy nose of yours!"
Rayman just lay there chuckling to himself.
"The other Lapitaurs in my planet would never let me play with them like this... You're all grown up, right?" Boble asked him.
"I...I believe so."
"Then, why do you relate to people this way?! Why don't you just invite them for a cup of tea and socialize, like they do on my—or... used to do, anyway..."
Rayman knew Boble was about to sink into depressive karma again, so he quickly jumped up and said, "Hey. Why don't we just continue trying to find evidence of your planet?"
Rayman grinned.
Boble was then reminded of a question Rayman had earlier. When they were all rested and were continuing on their way, he grunted several times, but then relaxed and said grimly, "I sent myself here in a pod because I thought I could help my father find a solution to our problem by being the first Lapitaur to gain contact with other planets—"
Alerted to FINALLY hear what he wanted to hear, Rayman said, "Woah woah woah woah! You mean to say, Lapitaurs until now have NEVER known other planets existed? That other life forms existed?"
"No, we KNEW! None of us ever even thought of contacting anyone. We Lapitaurs are a peaceful race, never arguing with anyone, and always sharing. But we are also extremely conservative, logical and silent. So, because we have no enemies, we aren't prepared for any attack! My father says that we will never even BE attacked in the future, and I believe him! THIS CANNOT HAPPEN!"
They were crossing a pretty thick river by stepping-stones. "This should never have happened! Our entire belief system is a lie! What did WE do to anyone else?!"
"You... don't know who or what destroyed your planet?!"
"No! We were all too busy screaming and running around, praying over mine fields, reading the scriptures one last time, consulting the blessed pink monkey monks... to even notice! Well... m-my father... never even trusted me enough to let me do the things I wanted to do, so I thought this would be the opportune time to prove that I was fit to be a real squire! I ever so secretly stowed away on one of those highly restricted, governmental-use- only Authority Pods—"
"Ooo, bad, bad, Boble..."
"...and somewhere in the middle of the trip, I lost control of the pod, and crashed landed here! Now I am hopelessly lost with no food, no way of saving my planet, and no one here will even understand how difficult it is to restore my race!"
By now, Rayman had subconsciously gone from defending himself to resting on a rock in front of Boble, who had alternatively gone from struggling to get away to standing straight as a professional storyteller. But since Rayman met him, the wet vertical lines covering his cheeks had not dried. Rayman stared at them, and he softened down.
"You're right," said Rayman calmly. "I don't understand how difficult it is for you. Now, I will mention this again, and promise me you won't run off, okay?"
Boble nodded.
"Okay. How can you have so much trouble if you have five arms and four legs?"
Boble knew this was coming. He stood there and was now acting like his age for once. He took a deep breath, restrained his reflexes from carrying him away, and said quietly, looking down at his feet, "I-I don't know how to use all of them."
"What?"
"Look at them! Look at the two on my head, and the one at the end of my tail. Can you guess how are they different from my regular ones?"
Rayman realized he didn't take a good look at them before, and this was his first real examination. Upon zooming in on the two on his head and the one on his tail, there were indeed some differences from his front hands and feet. They appeared to be smaller, and the surface texture that appeared on the rest of his body was missing from these two. They were thinner and had more translucencies to them. The fingers at the ends were cuffed, and Rayman realized he NEVER saw these two open before! The ear-hands flopped numbly to and fro in a secondary action to his head, as if Boble's body had not developed the motor skills to control them yet. The tail flopped in the exact same manner as his ears. In one sentence, Rayman summarized, in one gasping answer...
"...the hands at the ends of your ears, and the hand at the end of your tail... are underdeveloped!"
"You're so close. They are fully developed- I've just never been able to operate them! Imagine if you were born with a part of your body that was not connected to your brain. It would feel as if they weren't there at all! That is pretty much the case with these guys."
Huh, Rayman thought. MY hands and feet aren't connected to my brain, but they feel right as rain to me!
Boble went on. "Since I was a calf, I watched as my other friends all learned how to move their own ear-hands and tail-hand- I somehow never been able to move them."
"Is it some neural disease? Or at they indeed underdeveloped?"
"Our planet's doctors couldn't figure it out. They only said that all my ear-hands and tail-hand needed were more and more exercise! But I went through all the steps since childhood, trying to shape them and build the muscles, but they stayed the way they were when I was a baby!"
Boble never lifted his head from staring at his feet since they started on their journey that morning. He continued, "My parents knew this would close me off from the regular Lapitaurian activities..."
Rayman had this amusing brain-fart of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, but he wisely kept it to himself.
"...but they made the best of it. It was pretty depressing for me, because these two hands on our head and the big one on our tails characterize our entire Lapitaurian race! While my parents saw it as a basic handicap, I personally saw it as a disgrace to my own race. That is one of the reasons why I became so... humorless." He exhaled on the last word, as if to show his reluctance to bringing back the subject of humor.
Rayman straightened his posture and tried to gain back his dominance. "Well, I think part of the problem is that you're too hard on yourself."
They both fell silent for a long time- they never determined how long. It wasn't an awkward silence, but a meditative one. Boble still felt he should distance himself from this strange-looking alien, but since yesterday, traveling with him, he surprised him. He never knew a shrimp like him could save them from an entire native tribe! Plus, being too hard on him was something that his parents kept telling him time and time again, almost verbatim. Rayman was silent because he was trying to think of alternative ways Boble could get those extra ligaments working!
But a rustling in a field of grass near them interrupted their silence. Then a dull thumping noise repeated itself as it got louder and louder!
Rayman immediately jumped up in an alert pose and demanded, "Boble! Run as far away from the gr—OWW!"
Before he could react, Achat and Vente conked him upside the head with a bronze club. And within a second, Rayman was down on the ground.
Achat laughed gleefully. "Vee did eet! Vee have zee Rayman een our grasp! Ha ha! I TOIELD yew vee should vait for him to bee in a vulnerable state!"
Vente stopped laughing and said, "Oh ho! Vasn't it me who said that?"
"Oh, how cute! You are trying to hide your obvious admiration for me!"
They stopped and slowly turned their heads toward the Lapitaur, who was a ways from them on the opposite side of the clearing. The two huge, lumbering lugs smiled at each other. "And look, Vente! A bonus prize!"
Boble knew what he had to do. With all his might, he stampeded toward the two head first like a charging bull! He positioned his ear-hands up right, although still in a cuff, and tried with all his might to open them.
Come on, he thought. Come on! COOOME OOOOOOOOOOON!!!
BONK!
Boble was on the ground, but wasn't unconscious. He lifted his head with the spare amount of energy he could muster, and gave them a nasty look. NOW, he wasn't happy!
"HA HA HA! Lewk at ziss little guy! His ears are so veak, he might as vell be a baby!"
"YEAH! Ha ha ha! Try eet again, Lapitaur, and vee can start making a ring- toss booth at an amusement park! HA HA HA!!!"
He couldn't get up. They started to kick him in the sides every time he tried again and again to hit them back with his head! It escalated to the point where they would punch him whenever he even lifted a foot! Boble had never previously been poked fun at before, not to these extremes! Was Rayman right about this?! Did he really need exercise? Could he REALLY lead him to the hope and prosperity of saving his race?!
Or... was... Rayman... just being... passively aggressive!!!!
A hatred rose within Boble's core center that had never rose before! He saved them both from natives! And he betrayed him! Oh, what a fool I am to have hoped to find help on another planet! I should've never even attempted to abandon my people!
His hatred melted into sadness. All is lost. All is utterly lost!
He finally stopped moving and lay there on the ground. Achat and Vente stopped torturing him once they noticed. Vente sighed. "Okay, I think he's had enough. Let's go back to zee sheep and get zees two onboard."
-----
While all this was happening, there was indeed a witness who happened to be hiding beyond the clearing.
Ly.
"Oh. Is that Rayman?! How did he get unconscious?! OH! OH MY! MY GOOOOOOOD!!! OHMYGOD! I have to stop them!"
She tried to follow their rapid pace through the dense forest! For lugs covered in bronze trinkets, and carrying a heavy Lapitaur, they could sure run fast! Her heart racing like the Dickens, her breath grew hoarse. At the same moment, they all drew nearer to Achat and Vente's 'Sheep', the one they both took to arrive at this planet. In fact, the aircraft was even LABELED "Sheep"!
But she was just too late. Before she knew it, Rayman had been dragged by his hair into a 'Sheep' to God knows where, and she stopped.
Closing her eyes, and crossing her legs as she sat down, she teleported herself to locate where Rayman was. Her image appeared in the interior of the spacecraft, floating over Rayman, who was still unconscious. "Rayman! Rayman! It's Ly! What happened?! Where are they taking you?! Wake up!" But Rayman didn't respond in the slightest!
She wasn't prepared for this kind of situation, so she didn't have any energy to give to him. How could she even have any chance of rescuing him now?!
Collapsing on all fours, Ly tried to collect her thoughts. What had just happened? Rayman was taken off of his home, and she had no idea at all where they were going! Her inner panic cracked through her thick exterior, and she grunted again and again, darting here and there! She had to get help! Somehow, she had to get—
"Hey, Fairy! What's eatin' ya'?"
"MURFY! GLOBOX! WE NEED TO RESCUE RAYMAN!"
"Eh?"
"NOW! WE GOTTA GET HELP!"
"Oh, yeah. This is one of those 'Rayman's-in-trouble-and-we-have-no-choice- but-to-heroically-come-to-his-rescue-even-though-we-KNOW-he's-powerful- enough-to-take-care-of-himself' kind of deals!"
Globox caught up with Murfy. "Guess this means we'll miss the Annual Video Game Character Awards."
Murfy turned to him in a whiplash. "WHAT?!"
"You heard me. It's in three days! Everyone knows there's no way to get to another planet and back in three days unless we spend ONE day on that planet, at the most! And, using my high-ly intel-lect-u-al brain, I SURMISTHE that we won't be able to find Rayman all in one day!"
Murfy zipped back to Ly and said, "Nu-uh! No way are we gonna' miss that! Rayman can rescue himself!"
Ly was completely out of patience. "Murfy! You'd rather receive an award for yourself than rescue the friend and savior that he's been to us all these years?!"
Murfy, who was normally quick with a retort, fell silent. "Okay, okay! We'll find help! But I reeeeeeeeeeeeeally can't miss it this year! We have to rescue Rayman before the Awards Night!"
Ly brightened. "Whatever. Now hurry! I know just the place to go!"
(to be continued)