Chapter Thirteen

"Hey, Balki! How many minutes left?"

"Mmph memmut," he mumbled, unable to speak with the gag that had been placed in his mouth.

Suddenly, his eyes shot open and he tensed up as he looked at the clock once more. "Mmph memmut!"

Max walked into the room smugly. "One minute, huh? Well, well, well," he sneered, looking at the clock. "Looks like Cousin Larry and Bianca are too preoccupied to come back for you. They probably don't even remember that you're still here."

Balki shook his head fervently but beads of sweat were forming on his brow. Where were Bianca and Cousin Larry? Did Urpos get to them and hurt them–or worse? Maybe they were at the police station and had a team searching for his whereabouts or putting up missing posters on every corner. Not that it would matter much, seeing as the clock read forty-five seconds and counting. "Mm murph mey mm; moam mee memimumus!"

Max reached over and yanked the rag out of Balki's mouth. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I said of course they do; don't be ridiculous. Perhaps they are just in a different time zone. We should set the clock back a couple hours, just to be sure."

"Not a chance, Bartokomous. Your family has been a thorn in our family's side for years. Time to do away with the biggest one of all," Max cackled, pulling a small gun from his jacket pocket. "Lylo, come watch the fun, why don't you?"

Lylo walked into the living room, another candy bar in his hand. "Sure. I like being entertained."

Balki stared at the gun, unable to move as the clock flashed ten seconds. I love you, Cousin. Take care of Bianca, Jennifer, Mary Anne and Dimitri, he thought, a tear rolling down his cheek.

"This won't hurt too bad," Max grunted as he clicked the revolver, standing only inches away from Balki.

"Five, four, three," Lylo counted down as Balki closed his eyes, preparing for the inevitable.

"Back away from the Mypiot if you know what's good for you," a voice demanded from what sounded like far away.

Suddenly, Balki heard the clock beep as the countdown ended, but heard or felt nothing. Maybe he was already dead…maybe if he opened his eyes, he'd see–

"Cousin! Bianca!" he cried out, happier than he'd ever felt in his life.

"Drop the gun and kick it over here, Max," Bianca told him, her voice cold.

Max turned around, ready to call on Lylo to attack, but froze when he saw what Larry had in his arms. "Cupydon!"

"Let Balki go or the cat gets a new haircut," Larry said, clearing his throat.

Max looked over at Bianca, who held an electric grooming razor in her hands. "You wouldn't dare."

Balki watched attentively as Bianca turned the razor on and moved the blade extremely close to Cupydon's fur.

"I think she means it, Max," Lylo observed before shoving the last of the chocolate in his mouth.

"Now, will you let Balki go and surrender, or does Cupydon get a Mohawk?" Bianca asked.

"Lylo, untie Bartokomous!" Max barked. "You give me my baby!" he cried to Larry, talking a step towards him.

Larry stepped back nervously. "Not until Balki's here with us."

As soon as Balki was free, he ran behind Larry, both excited and terrified.

"Okay, you have your Mypiot; now give me Cupydon!"

Larry looked at the cat inquisitively. "What do you think, Cupydon? Do you want to go back to Max?"

Suddenly, Cupydon jumped out of Larry's arms and began to change into a human! "Not a chance in Mercury!" the human retorted, brushing himself off.

Max clutched his heart and stumbled back at the strange man dressed in blue while Lylo dropped the candy wrapper on the floor. "What on Earth?" Max gasped.

"Actually, that's Marmazon four-point-oh."

Balki couldn't believe his eyes. "Meego!" he shouted.

"What have you done with Cupydon?" Max choked.

"I have no idea, but apparently, he couldn't get away from you fast enough," Meego replied.

"Get them, Lylo!" Max growled.

"Aah, aah, aah," Meego sang out, wagging his finger at the charging Lylo, expertly freezing him in his place. "Not a good idea."

Max's eyes grew wide with terror as he stared at his now frozen cousin. "Where–where's Urpos?" he stammered.

"Where did we last see Urpos? Oh, that's right; Beverly Hills in the year two-thousand-thirteen," Larry recalled.

"Yeah. He was–detained–while trying to steal an art gallery's very important piece," Bianca finished, imitating Serge's wild accent.

"Well, you just think you've won, but I'll have the last laugh!" Max screamed, jumping into the time machine and frantically pushing buttons on the keyboard.

Bianca walked toward the time machine. Balki watched as Larry grabbed her arm, but she turned and smiled knowingly. Larry reluctantly released her before placing his arm around Balki proudly.

"Max, the time machine only works for me. I'm afraid you're stuck here until the police arrive," she told him.

Max snorted. "What can they arrest me for, huh?"

"Well, there's about kidnapping, for starters," Larry said pointedly.

"Not to mention breaking and entering into my home and stealing my iPad!" Bianca added.

"And complimented murder," Balki finished.

"Balki, that's attempted murder," Larry corrected.

"You can't prove any of it!" Max scoffed.

"You forget, Max; I'm not just your average victim! I'm highly advanced in technology and far beyond your intelligence! The police already have proof. I e-mailed them video of you kidnapping Balki, as well as breaking into my home and holding a gun to Balki! It's amazing what you can do with computers nowadays, isn't it?"

"You got that right!" Balki chimed in. "You and Lylo are in deep babasticki!"

Meego smiled. "I should go, but I had a purrr-fect time with all of you."

Balki ran over and hugged Meego. "Thank you!"

"And to think we never did figure out who you look like," Bianca said.

"Would you believe some people think I look like some actor named Bronson Pinchot?"

"Oh, po-po; you don't look like him at all!" Balki replied.

"Really? I didn't know you knew Bronson Pinchot, Balki," Bianca said.

"I have no idea who he is," Balki responded, causing Larry, Bianca and Meego to laugh.

"Oh, I guess I should un-freeze Lylo now," Meego sighed, instantly wagging his fingers. Lylo stumbled and fell to the floor like a rag doll and the four of them laughed.

"You people are not normal!" Max screeched.

Larry grinned and placed an arm around Balki and Bianca. "Normal's under-rated these days, don't you think?"

Max fell to his knees and let out a cry, but his sound was drowned out by the noise of approaching police sirens.

"Let's get out of here," Bianca said, grabbing Balki's hand.

Balki smiled and squeezed her hand before looking back at Larry. "Cousin, are you coming?"

Larry looked at them, but said nothing.

"Cousin?"