bad people so fast, part 3: give it a try

by bofa xesjum

based on an original story by roger "pegleg" wlson

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

everybody thought johnny was as tough as the last railroad spike in the last railrosd track that survived the last raid of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. but he was really as soft as a bowl of cornflakes left out in the rain by miss muffet after cinderella’s birthday party. some called him johnny dark. < some called him johnny midnight. some called him johnny no name. some called him johnny forever. some called him johnny till the cows come home. whoever he was, or whatever you called him, he was a soft touch and a stand up guy, always ready to help a pal. if he told a pal he would do something he would do it, at least as far as he could, within reason. so when cleo asked hm to track down the evil clowns who had been ruling the world for centuries, he said, all right, i’ll give it a try.. who was cleo? just a dizzy dame that hung around, and that mostly was humored by people who knew her, even though she was crazier than a bat who escaped from hell and was locked up in a madhouse with a hundred firehouse rats. so - after telling cleo he would do what he could, johnny decided to check out things down by the docks. if that did not work out, he would try out on the outskirts of town. down by the docks johnny looked out across the dark river and saw the brightly lit tall buildings, as he dad seen them so many times before. was there somebody in those buildings, he wondered, in one of those brightly lit rooms who actually ruled the world? what did it mean, anyway, to “rule the world”? what did the rulers make people do differently, from what they would do if they were not being “ruled” by the “rulers”? he had asked cleo, but she had no answer, did not seem to think she needed one. the rulers were evil. they had to be taken down. time enough after they were taken down to worry about what they actually did. all right, johnny thought, where do i began. he decided to begin the way he began everything, by playing a hunch. he stared across the river at the lights. the seventh building from the left. four stories down from the top. the fourth window from the right. he would start there. no, brother, not there, a voice behind him said. johnny turned around. he saw a figure in the shadows. that was how he met pete. all right, if not there, where? johnny asked pete. try the fifth building from the right. six floors down, the first two windows on the left. johnny looked at the spot pete indicated. they are not even lit up, he said. you got it, pete answered. part 4: the rowboat