"Late fines?" said Perky.
Abner looked uncomfortable. "Yes, well, although I have a lot of space and books now, when I was merely a young mad scientist, I could afford nothing like that. I borrowed a lot of books from the local library, back when there were such things as libraries, before all the strange things. I'd get so involved in my experiments that I'd forget to return them. And then I couldn't distinguish between books I owned and books I'd borrowed." He looked a little shifty."Okay, so I coveted the books. Anyway, they were not really aggressive about collecting fines. After the battles weakened everything and then that strange light in the eastern sky, they seem to, ah, have hired some new people in their collections department. Problem is, these people---and I use the term loosely---don't care what they destroy as long as they collect the fine."
"That sounds dumb," said Shok. He frowned. "Dumb and scary."
The furry crab tugged on Abner's leg again. "Yes? Oh, yes, mustn't forget." He walked rapidly out of the room. "Follow me!"
"Follow me, follow me...what is he, a cult leader?" grumped Shok.
"In another life, yes," said Billy Bob. "In another valley, they still acknowledge him as the Great Birdy Master."
Perky bounded along in the line of people following Abner. "Where are we going?"
Abner tossed back over his shoulder,"To my garage. Well, it has all my vehicles anyway. Vehicles for travelling on land, underwater, air, and gelatin."
"Gelatin?" asked Perky.
"You'd be surprised how many times you have a need for travelling through seas of gelatin," replied Abner.
"Yeah, surprise isn't the word I'd use," said Shok. "More like disbelief."
"You," piped up Billy Bob,"know very little about the outside world, young pup."
They came to the garage and were met with the sight of many different kinds of vehicles, all apparently home-made and in various states of readiness. The room was big and yet cramped. Abner made his way to a large, ragged flying vehicle.
"You sure that thing will take off, and not crash land somewhere?" asked Shok.
"Oh, it will fly," said Abner. "It might crash land, too. You never know. That's what makes it more fun!"
"I remember flying in that thing before," said Billy Bob. "Took me weeks to heal up."
Perky's eyes were wide. "It looks so cool! I once saw a cartoon that had things like this. I always dreamed of flying in something like this."
"Well, everybody pile in. It's all supplied with everything we need. We really must be going!" said Abner.
Once everybody was cramped into the dangerous-looking flying machine and the furry crab had opened the garage doors, it took off with an ominous screeching sound and a puff of green smoke. Airborne, it went up fast and soon they could see the entire valley floor. Coming at Abner's place from the opposite direction was a strange black and green orb, with tendrils of electricity swirling around it madly. It moved rapidly and with a low sound you couldn't hear, but only feel deep inside your mind. It created a sense of anxiety and doom.
"I feel hopeless and dead," said Perky, tears welling up.
"Library cops," said Abner. "I've only encountered them once before, but back then they weren't working for the library, they were working for the Ice Demons."
"Who are the Ice Demons?" asked Shok. "Murderous aliens from another planet?"
"Nah," said Billy Bob. "I heard a them. They're some hockey team that really likes to win." He chuckled. "Of course, I also heard that they're murderous aliens from another planet. Them teams keep searching stranger and stranger places for talent."
The orb got closer. Everybody looked panicked except for Billy Bob, who'd been through this kind of bullshit before, and Abner, who rubbed his hands together and then pointed to a large red button. "I hope this works! It's Super Warp Turbo. I've never used it before."
Perky's eyes grew as wide as they ever had, but then her mouth looked grim and she spoke with confidence. "I know it will work, Mr. Oakbucket! You won't let those demon meanies in their dorky orb get us." She lunged forward and pressed the big red button.
Everyone shouted at once and Abner looked shocked. Before anyone could do anything, they were all flattened by the enormous forces required for Super Warp Turbo. The skies outside the craft twisted and looped, the very light itself doing unimaginable things that were beyond all technical description. Their atoms complained as atoms do sometimes, and they were off with a loud pop.
The back and green orb operated by the library cops/demons from somewhere far away was hit by the aftershock. Since it operated by clearly alien technology, the only thing that happened was that all of the bird shit that was falling from flying birds at that precise moment all over the world was attracted as if by a magnet to that point in space, and it was covered in tons of white splat. After a micro-moment, it dropped ever so slowly to the ground and sank halfway in.
In what seemed like an eternity, and was an eternity in some undefined way, Abner's airship emerged from its journey with another loud pop, but with a little zap sound at the end. What they saw was not where they had been, obviously, but it looked unlike anything they had ever seen before.
"Where the hell are we?" said Shok, peeling himself off the seat.
Spread out before them was a vast mesa covered in thick vegetation. All sorts of trees, bushes, vines, grass and other things erupted in an orgy of life. Animals large and small bounded, crawled, flew and wriggled everywhere. Colours of every description assaulted the eye. Everything was so confusing and yet so beautiful.
"I say," said Abner. "Look! There's a clearing that's just the right size for this ship. Good fortune, eh?"
He landed the ship in the clearing, and they all stumbled out, feeling a little warp-sick. He turned to the rest."Remember, don't touch or eat any---" He frowned at Shok, who had taken a large bite out of what looked like a purple fruit. "Or eat anything else. You never know what will kill you. This place is still on our planet, I think, but lately things have been changing, so you never know what anything will do."
Perky was pointing at something. "What's that?"
"That" was what looked like a large green rabbit. It was at the edge of the clearing, staring at them not with fear, but with an undefined look that was part curiosity, part something else. Its nose twitched. Perky walked slowly up to it, reached out her hand and stroked its big floppy ears.
"It's so soft!" she said.
"You'd better stop," it said."You're turning me on and I have no idea if we're compatible."
They all jumped with surprise, except Billy Bob, who farted, and Abner, who took out a notebook and was furiously scribbling things down.
"My name is Ori," said the large green rabbit. "I'd say welcome to the jungle, but you've probably heard that joke before. I have no idea what that thing is you came here in is, but it looks like it's not exactly in ship-shape. Haha. OK, so I know it's some weird flying ship. You sure made a racket. I hope you're not here to kill, set up some vacation resort, or collect library fines. Or all three. So who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing here?"
Billy Bob spoke first."Funny that you mention library fines..."
"No, that's not funny at all. These days, it's downright murderous!" said Ori, nose twitching madly.
Before anyone could respond, a wet pop sound was heard and they all slowly looked at the sky behind them.
Shok laughed. "Haha! Bet you thought it was that orb thingy! I just made that sound with my mouth."
Ori opened its mouth and bared scary-looking fangs. Abner scribbled.
"Well," said Ori, "I suppose I'd better invite you to my house or something. Don't worry, my teeth are for show. I don't have much, but as long as you don't act like jerks, you can come in. It's a little messy, sorry. My shoulder is acting up and I can barely lift my arm. My life isn't very uplifting. Haha!"
It turned around and after a pause, they all followed the large green rabbit into the deep, colourful jungle.
At the far side of the clearing, a small skinny creature on four legs and red stripes along its black body peered from behind a large leaf and grinned to itself.
...to be continued.
