Chapter Three

"Max, can you please excuse us for a minute? I need to talk to these two alone," Larry heard Bianca say, her voice unusually meek and unsteady.

"That's fine. I need to make a quick phone call. I can step outside," Max nodded before exiting the house.

"Bianca, are you feeling alright? No offense, but you look like something the cat threw up," Balki told her, sitting next to her on the sofa.

"Balki!" Larry balked, eyes wide as he sat down on the other side of her. "Bianca, what happened? Did this guy hurt you? Did he threaten you?"

Bianca glared at him. "No, Larry; Max is great! I just can't figure out why you two are here! Maybe R.O.B. sent for you before he had to power down for the night."

"No, R.O.B. said he didn't send the time machine to pick us up; you did!" Larry argued.

"But that's impossible! I haven't even used the machine in a week. I just had it sent to a different room in the house when Max came to pick me up and wanted to look around. I was afraid he would find it, so I hid it. It just transported to a different room; not all the way to your apartment. So if I didn't send it, and R.O.B. didn't send it, then who did?"

"I'm so sorry," Max's voice said suddenly, causing Larry, Bianca and Balki to jump. Larry looked up to find that he was not only back in the living room, but holding a grey and white cat in his arms. "I really should be going."

"Uh, that's okay. I'll, uh, call you. Where did you, uh, get the cat?" Bianca stammered, slowly rising from the couch.

"Oh, the cat? He's mine. Actually, now that I think about it, so are you," Max told her nonchalantly.

"What do you mean 'so are you'? I don't know who you think you are, buster, but the lady is not just some prize," Larry found himself saying. As soon as he realized what he had said, he clamped his mouth shut. Last time he stood up for a woman, he wound up thrown over a bar table with Balki landing on top of him.

"You'd better watch your mouth. I brought you and your little foreign friend here and I can make sure you both are never heard from again!"

Bianca gulped so loudly that Larry heard her. "Max? What on Earth are you talking about?"

"I know about the machine, babe. I know all about your little adventure almost nine months ago, too! Did you really think there wouldn't be any repercussions from your invention? Well, you were wrong!" Max cried, his voice nothing like the Max that Larry had met five minutes ago. This voice sounded ice cold and completely insane!

"Cousin, what do we do?" Balki asked.

"We run!" Larry yelled before grabbing Balki and bolting towards the kitchen.

"Men, grab them!" Max's voice cried and instantly, two men wearing all black appeared out of nowhere and grabbed both Larry and Balki effortlessly.

"Bianca, run!" Larry cried, panicked as he struggled with the man. "No…no!"

The last thing Larry heard before the world went dark was the sound of Bianca's muffled screams as Max headed her off and grabbed her before she could get more than a couple of feet.

When Balki awoke, he wasn't completely sure if his eyes were open or still shut. Deciding it would be a good time to try the "is it too dark to see the hand in front of my face" trick, he attempted to raise his arm, but it wouldn't move from its position behind his back. "Cousin? Bianca? Are you in the perfect dark, too?" he asked.

"Yes, Balki," Larry replied, his voice barely above a whisper. "Those goons tied our hands and feet together. I think I can feel Bianca, but she's not saying anything."

"Mma meemus mmr meem r mim mi mapf," a muffled voice responded.

"Oh my Lord; Max covered your mouth with tape?" Larry gasped.

"No; she says 'that's because your feet are in my face'," Balki translated, his vision finally adapting to the darkness.

Larry grunted and wiggled his feet until they were no longer touching her. "Sorry."

"Max tied us up and then threw us in the back of a van. I don't know where we're going, either. I can't believe Max knew about my machine this whole time. That's why he was so eager to see my house; he wanted to find it. But how exactly did he manage to operate it and allow both of you to come back?"

Balki was trying to follow, but all this talk about the past and future and time travel was making his head spin. "Cousin?"

"What is it, Balki? Have you figured out a way to get us out of here?" Larry asked.

"Not exactly" he muttered, squirming.

"Balki, what's wrong?' Bianca asked.

"My nose itches and my appendixes won't reach that high."

"Well, Balki, what do you want me to do about it?" Larry asked, annoyed.

"I need you to scratch my nose."

"Balki, I am not in the best position to scratch anything!"

"Cousin, I need you to try–"

"Balki, I am not–"

"Cousin, please scratch my nose!" Balki wailed like a child.

"Oh, alright, alright!" Larry cried, wiggling towards Balki as best he could, grunting the entire way until his fingers were close to Balki's face.

Balki positioned his face underneath Larry's hand's and carefully, Larry's fingers grazed his nose. "Up a little…to the left…ahhhh," he finally exhaled when Larry found the right spot. "Thank you, Cousin."

Suddenly, the van stopped moving and the three of them heard the driver and passenger side doors open and slam shut.

"Oh, this can't be good," Larry muttered just before the back of the van opened, revealing Max and his two minions.

"How was the ride?" Max asked with a smirk.

"Smooth as a baby's bottle," Balki replied, not catching the sarcasm.

"Let us go, you jerk!" Bianca spat, struggling with her ropes.

"Not quite. Guys, get 'em out of there!" Max told the two buffoons.

Balki quickly tried to raise his head up enough to see out of the back of the van, but was quickly met by a black burlap sack that was pulled down over his head. Not again, he thought to himself as darkness surrounded him once more and he was roughly grabbed and carried out of the van. He could hear Larry and Bianca hollering and moving around and he wished he could help.

"What do you want us to do with 'em, boss?" one of the men asked a minute later as Balki heard what sounded like a large metal door become unhinged and opened.

"Tie the foreign one to the chair in the corner there," Max ordered. "And Urpos, you take Curly and follow me and the babe."

"Cousin!" Balki cried out, disliking the thought of being separated from Larry and Bianca.

"No; Balki! Balki!" Larry yelled, his voice becoming farther away until there was another sound of a metallic door. Balki swallowed hard when he realized Larry's voice could no longer be heard at all.

Suddenly, the man who grabbed him earlier forced him into a metal folding chair, tied his waist around it and yanked the sack from his head. Balki looked around to see that they were in some sort of abandoned warehouse. Everything looked so vacant, cold and metallic.

"Comfy?" the man sneered down at him.

"Actually, no. You wouldn't happen to have a chair with a nice cushion lying around, would you?"

The man snickered. "You're funny. Just sit there and shut up while I go to the van for a second. Don't even try to escape; resistance is futile. See? I can be funny, too."

Balki watched as the man left to go outside before he glanced at the door where he assumed Larry and Bianca were. He hoped they were getting better treatment than he was. Surely this was all a big misunderstanding. Bianca liked Max; how could she date someone who would try to hurt her?

"Meow."

Balki looked down at his feet to see a small grey and white cat rubbing his fur against Balki's bound ankles. "Well, I'll be snookered! How did you get in here? You belong to Bianca's date Max, don't you?"

The cat purred in reply and Balki smiled thinly. He hoped that the misunderstanding between Max and Bianca would be over soon so they could go back to Bianca's and he could finish his bang bong binki ninki baklava.