Chapter 3: The Concert
(The following day, everything went great for Calvin at school. Miss Wormwood didn't ask him to go to the board, even altough Wolfie did and surprised everyone by solving 10 exercises in 30 seconds, Moe didn't beat up Calvin, Susie didn't go mad when Calvin started to describe his gross lunch, since she was hipnotized staring at Wolfie, and the bell rang ten minutes earlier, so they left early too. Everything was fine, until Calvin got home.)
Calvin: I'm ho…
(It is then that Hobbes jumps out from the house and knocks down Calvin.)
Calvin: Will you stop that!
Hobbes: Sorry. It's my natural instinct. Oh, that's right! Wolfie's mother is here, talking to your mother. We're going to the concert in order to hackle it, right?
Calvin: Yeah, you bet!
Hobbes: But so are your mom and dad. How are you going to do it?
Calvin: I don't care if Mom and Dad beat me up. We've gotta defeat that kid!
Hobbes: You can sure keep an idea.
(In the living room…)
Mrs. Dunkel: Oh, Wolfie was already playing the Facile Sonata before he turned four! You know, the concerto you're going to heart tonight is the 25th piano concerto by Mozart. It is wonderful! Very powerful and sublime, just like the Jupiter Symphony of the same C Major key.
Calvin's Mom: It sounds wonderful. He is truly a child genius. I only wish Calvin could be like that…
Mrs. Dunkel: Oh, there are very few children who can be as genial as my Wolfie! He is truly the new Mozart! And the Professor Garçon Orchestra is excellent! They played Mozart's 39th Symphony, I believe, in the Chicago Music Festival. We were there because Wolfie was playing three sonatas as a concert in the closing concert of the festival.
Calvin's Mom: So you move a lot.
Mrs. Dunkel: Yes, but now we are going to stay. This is where we will remain!
Calvin's Mom: We're all very happy for you.
(Calvin comes into the living room.)
Calvin: Oh, hello, Mrs. Dunkel! How's Wolfie?
Mrs. Dunkel: He is studying for the concert. You know, it's not my idea at all, but he likes to lock himself in his room the entire day just playing, playing and playing…It's amazing how hard working he is!
Calvin: He's almost unique in that way…
(However, in that very same moment, Wolfie had already finished studying, and was doing other secret things…
Wolfie picks up the phone in his room and dials a complicated number. He soon starts to talk to someone.)
Wolfie: Yes. It will be in about a month…Yes, at the City Park. You know: great stages and lights, sound amplifiers, etc. Now for the real thing: what I'm thinking of is a bomb in each amplifier. I want an A-Plus model some five feet below the stage, covered, beneath the vocalist. Time it for 9:53, at least for now…Yes, of course. Don't worry: Don Pére will pay you with my secret account in Switzerland…You better don't ask much about him. Let's just say he can order a pair of trousers made out of gold and have some spare changes for a diamond palace. Don't worry about the money. I just want to see them destroyed…Alright. Thank you. Cheerio.
(Wolfie hangs out the phone and heads for the piano to study a little more. He starts by playing the first theme of the beautiful Andante. Soon, he enters a kind of musical limbo. He whispers as he plays.)
Wolfie: Within a month…your forty-year-old evil legacy will be…gone…
(While Wolfiewas playing, Calvin was next door in his room, trying to do his homework.)
Calvin: Mmm… 18 plus 15? That could be…Huh…Feighteen! Oh, wait, that doesn't exist.
Hobbes: I know the answer!
(Hobbes said, as he ate a tuna sandwich.)
Calvin: Tell me! Tell me!
Hobbes: Only if you let me read your comics…!
Calvin: Damn it.
Hobbes: And if you give ten tuna sandwiches!
Calvin: Shut up! I'm trying to think!
Hobbes: Oh, well…
(Soon, Calvin gets involved into the fantasy world of Spiff, the Astronaut.)
Narrative: The brave astronaut Spiff has been captured by the evil tuna sandwich eater creature General Tiger! Now he is facing a monstrous puzzle: he must give the secret answer of the Ancient Enigma to General Tiger: an answer only he knows and that will lead to the destruction of the entire Galaxy if he reveals it!
General Tiger: So, Spiff, are you willing to tell us the answer?
Spiff: You know I will never reveal to you the answer to the Ancient Enigma! You can find it out yourself, only you've never tried!
General Tiger: What do you mean! All of my most intelligent wise men have failed! Only you know the answer, Spiff! Tell us, or die!
Spiff: My life isn't worth the lives of the billions who live in our Galaxy! You will not get the answer from me!
General Tiger: Yes I will!
Spiff: No you'll not!
(The fantasy cuts back to reality.)
Calvin's Dad: Yes you will!
Calvin: No I'll not!
Calvin's Dad: Look: it's very simple. 18 plus 15! When I was your age, I was already learning much harder subjects!
Calvin: I don't care. I don't need Math.
Calvin's Dad: Yes you do! Every profession in existence requires Math! Math is everywhere! Math is all around you!
Calvin: I don't care either!
Calvin's Dad: Look at your neighbour, Wolfie! If you study hard, you can bee just as good!
Calvin: So now you're jealous of the Dunkels, right? Well you shouldn't!
Calvin's Dad: That's not it, Calvin… I just wanted you to try a little harder! Can't you do that?
Calvin: No!
Calvin's Dad; Well…Fine! You're not having dinner tonight!
Calvin: Good. I hate broccoli.
Calvin's Dad: And without food, you'll won't be able to enjoy the concert tonight.
Calvin: So what! I don't care!
Calvin's Dad: Honestly, Calvin, I don't know what to do with you. You are absolutely impossible! Get it! Impossible!
(Calvin's Dad soon starts to climb down the stairs. However he still yells to Calvin.)
Calvin's Dad: And by the way, the answer is 33!
Calvin: Thanks!
(That very same moment, in Switzerland, where it was late at night, the mysterious Don Pére, Wolfie's affiliate, was paying a group of terrorists. They were meeting in the basement of a house. Don Pére's face isn't seen: he is covered by a shadow, and only his legs can be seen.
Don Pére: Here you go, gentlemen: fifty thousand American dollars. You will have the other fifty thousand if the plan goes well.
(The First Terrorist, a thin man with long, greasy brown hair, raises his voice.)
First Terrorist: But why does your affiliate want to destroy them? What have they done to him?
Don Pére: Well, I don't really care much, but I think it's because he just hates them. He hates what they do. He thinks they're poisoning the world. He wants them destroyed: that's the only thing that matters to him.
(The Second Terrorist, a short, fat man with a black beard, also says something.)
Second Terrorist: I kinda like them. I remember when I was a kid and I would listen to them.
Don Pére: If you want the money, you've got to destroy them! That's it!
Both Terrorists: Yes sir!
(At nine o'clock, Calvin and his parents, along with Hobbes, since Calvin insisted that he went, were at the entrance of the Professor Garçon Music School. They spot the Dunkels, and go to greet them.
Mr. Dunkel: Hello there! Nice to see you chaps so early! The concert is only scheduled for quarter past nine, you know?
Calvin's Mother: Well, we wanted to be here early. Where is Wolfie?
Mrs. Dunkel: Oh, he's been in the rehearsal room for half an hour, rehearsing with the orchestra. Did you know that he's got a portrait of Mozart in his wall? He prays to it every night before he goes to bed! Oh, he's so sweet…
Calvin: What time does he go to bed?
Mrs. Dunkel: Around half past ten, a quarter to eleven…
Calvin: What! What's with you, Mom, of putting me in bed at half past eight! See! See!
Calvin's Mom: Calvin, at least Wolfie deserves it.
(The adults all laugh.)
Mr. Dunkel: We can go wait inside, if you want to.
Calvin's Dad: Good idea! Let's go!
Calvin (Whispering): Ah…They'll see…
(Calvin puts a hand in his pocket, checking if he's got his water gun. His plan was going to be perfect…Without anyone expecting it, or so at least he thought. At twenty past nine, Wolfie and the conductor entered the stage. Susie had front row seats and waved at Wolfie. The music then began. The first movement of the concert was in a glorious and pompous C Major. The orchestral introduction lasted for a few minutes, and then the piano came in. Wolfie's wonderful playing filled up the entire room. Susie was almost brought to tears. Without anyone noticing it, Calvin got out of his seat and started to crawl under people's feet. The chairs were so tall no one had their feet on the floor, so Calvin was able to crawl under everybody without anybody noticing it. Without making any noise, and not distracting anybody, since everyone was focused on the stage, Calvin entered the air duct and was able to stand up, since he was so short and the duct's ceiling was high, in a way even Hobbes was able to stand up.
Calvin: I saw the other end of the duct is right above the back of Wolfie's head. We can shoot from there!
Hobbes: But will plain water really affect him?
Calvin: Oh, it's not water…It's one of my special Action Man power arrows! These things are gonna knock him down when they hit him! Wait and see!
(Calvin and Hobbes climbed up and walked inside the duct for quite a while, until the middle of the first movement. They finally got to the other end. The duct's tamp was only a grid with many big holes. Calvin could shoot from one of them.
Calvin: Alright: look at this, Hobbes! Wolfie is going down!
Hobbes: This I've got to see…
(Calvin prepares his gun and sticks its end from one of the holes. He aims it at the piano, where Wolfie is playing, and calculates the precise height. Then, he pulls the trigger…
What happened then? Was Calvin able to successfully shoot Wolfie? Did the plan go wrong? Or did anything else stop him before he could do it? What happened when Calvin pulled the trigger?
Was Don Pére able to convince the terrorists to perform the attack? And who is, or are, the victims?
Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter of Calvin and Hobbes in: The Wolfie Boy!