Last Week As You Recall, Dr. Zachary Smith had had a run-in with death on The Black Planet, so named for it's propensity to be covered in tar. Luckily he was rescued by the Famed Ronald DaVeu, Explorer extraordinaire, thought dead these many years, who had based himself in the top floor of a tall building, the only area in these parts not flooded with the vile tar.
But Dr. Smith, not happy with such squalid accommodations, had conceived a plan for their escape.
"We're doin' what?" Said Ronald DaVeu, Ron to his friends.
"Drawing them here." Dr. Smith said, referring to The Monoids, a species of men in top hats and suits, who think as one and patrol The Black Planet for stragglers.
And then shoot them. Not friendly, these Monoids.
"Why're we drawin' 'em here?"
"For their MMM, Marvelous Monoid Mover."
"I Don' think it's too marvelous."
"It's going to transport us out of this gooey black prison, I call that pretty marvelous. You with me?"
Ron met this with a growl, albeit a consenting one.
-=-
Dr. Smith Pushed the final glob of tar off the edge.
They had cleared off the entire roof, mostly.
Dr. Smith picked a pistol from his tar-stained coat,
and fired once.
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| -=fig. 347: dr. smith's gun=- |
"What now?" asked Ron.
"We wait."
They did not have to wait long as the Monoids had spies everywhere. Not human spies, of course. but tiny, robotic spies shaped like spiders who crawled over the landscape recording sound and video and then relaying it to their terrible masters.
The MMM flew over the landscape, it's propulsion system charring any remaining life to a crisp. For such a terrible machine it wasn't very big, no bigger than a mid-size car.
"I see it." Said Ron.
"Good, prepare yourself." Ron slunk off into the shadows.
The Monoids came in quick, guns blazing, there was the hum of a laser canon, warming up, and then the roof a foot from Dr. Smith exploded in flames.
He didn't flinch.
The monoids paused while their weapons recharged. The brief wait was long enough for Dr. Smith to dive to the left, Ron charged in, fired two shots {The extent of his antiquated weapons} and picked up another two guns, which were ready and waiting.
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| -=fig, 348: ron saves the day=- |
These last two should have been enough, but the Monoids are an en-earthy fast bunch.
Now their weapons were recharged, and Ron was out of guns.
He clicked the triggers a few more times, uselessly, and then was pushed out of the way by Dr. Smith who was brandishing a brand-new weapon.
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| -=fig. 349: the sonic particle disruptor ray=- |
"DON'T ANYBODY MOVE!" Dr. Smith yelled, The Monoids took notice.
"Who are you?" They asked in a monotone, all at once.
"Doctor Zachary Smith and this–" –He indicated his weapon– "–Is a Sonic Particle Disruptor Ray. It emits a twenty-foot-square field of sonic static that will vibrate apart your very atoms in seconds. Hand over your machine."
"You are…Bluffing." There was a note of uncertainty in their voice, as if they weren't sure.
"Your kind has met me before. I don't bluff. Check your memory banks."
There was a pause as they did just that,
"What is it that you want?"
"Your machine, and then for you to willingly jump into the tar below."
"We do not want to–"
"Think of it this way, Death by tar, or death by disintegration?"
The Monoids landed their machine on the roof, and, one by one, jumped into the tar.
As the last one hit the goo below, the Sonic Particle Disrupter Ray's light-bulb burnt out. It made a noise like this: "bzt." "Cheap lamp." Dr. Smith grumbled.
Ron was impressed,
"bravo, kid. Even I was starting to believe that it was real. Can't believe they fell for that. You know how to drive one of these things?" Dr. Smith hopped into the cockpit, "How hard could it be?" He pulled the only lever, and the dashboard lit up in a smörgåsbord of lights. "Wow! A touch screen interface! Haven't seen one of these in years. Good, I see how it works, anything you want to bring, Mr. DaVeu?"
"Old Bessie."
"Old–?"
"This gun here."
"Oh. Hey, bring that string of lamps, if we're going, I want to be able to see where that is."
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| -=fig. 350: a commandeered vehicle=- |
Dr. Smith pressed buttons like a madman, but with a certain order.
And they continued along.
A green, beeping circle appeared, and a line counted out its circumference.
"Ooh! That's new. Radar, But what is it tracking?"
This question would have been answered if he could read Monoidian, a cryptic language which is mainly comprised of a sphere with various geometric chucks cut out of it. But getting back to the point, the message next to the radar read: "HOME BASE"
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| -=fig. 351: a menacing home base=- |
Join us next week for our next exciting episode:
Next Tuesday! Uploaded at 4:10 G.M.T.
Available any time past then!
-=Best Regards=-
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