bad people so fast, part 5: headquarters

by bofa xesjum

based on an original story by roger "pegleg" wlson

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to begin at the beginning, click here

tamerlane looked over the river. here comes somebody, he told genghis khan. it’s my break time, genghis said. think you can handle it yourself? tamerlane held his binoculars up to his eyes. there were only three people in the little boat. yes, i can handle it. but you owe me one. fair enough. genghis headed for the break room. tamerlane followed him out of the room and waked down the short corridor to the elevator. he was waiting for the boat when it pulled up to the little dock. pete maneuvered it up beside a stanchion and tied it up. johnny stepped put of the boat. he saw tamerlane but waited for him to say something first. cleo jumped out after johnny. we are here! she shouted to tamerlane,. yes, young lady, i see that you are here, tamerlane replied. what can i do for you? before cleo could answer, pete joined them. the game is up!. he told tamerlane. we know who you are and what you are doing! and we are here to save the human race! cleo added. well in that case, tamerlane said, we are happy to see you. you do not say so, johnny spoke for the first time. who is “we” and who are you? my name is whitey, tamerlane replied. and me and my pal blackie are the caretakers of this outpost of the empire. but we have grown weary of out roles, and hoped and prayed that someone would come along to rescue us. and now you are here. blackie and whitey, said pete. those are cool names,, easy to remember. and where is this blackie? johnny asked. he is on his break now, but will rejoin us shortly. meanwhile, would you like a tour of the premises? yes, cleo said. i have always wanted a tour of the planet’s headquarters. it is simple enough, tamerlane replied. just follow me. johnny, cleo, and pete followed tamerlane into the building and entered the elevator. they ascended to the fourteenth floor. they got out and tamerlane escorted them down a short corridor.. they entered a small, dimly lit room. on a table in the center of the room were three flat screens. one was red, one was green, one was gray. tamerlane pointed to the red screen. it had a somewhat wavy, but basically straight black line across it. this is the power monitor, tamerlane said. it tracks the power of the empire on the planet. as youc an see, it is holding pretty steady. and this is the freedom monitor, he said, pointing to the green screen. it, too, had a black line across it, somewhat more wavy than the one on the red screen, but also basically steady. this, tamerlane explained, tracks the acceptance of the earth’s inhabitants of the empire’s rule. right now it looks pretty stable. and this, he pointed to the gray monitor, is the truth monitor. but there is nothing on it, said pete. it is blank. exactly, tamerlane agreed. the end

bad people so fast, part 4: the rowboat

by bofa xesjum

based on an original story by roger "pegleg" wlson

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

all right, johnny thought, i may as well go through with this. humoring this joker might be my best chance. aloud he said to pete, what would you suggest? should we check these people out, challenge them on their own turf, as they used to say back in the good old days? we might as well, pete replied. i think the time has finally come. can i ask you one thing? johnny asked pete. sure. how exactly did you come to the conclusion that the people we want are over here, right there in that spot? it is simple, pete told him. it looks like there is nothing there, right? right. but there must be something there, right? right. but if there is something there, why can’t we see it? you tell me. there can only be one reason - because they don’t want you to know! of course, johnny agreed. it’s obvious once you think about it. then let’s go. johnny turned and looked across the water. all right, how do we get over there? pete pointed off to the left into the darkness. there is a rowboat over there. does it belong to you? no, it just sits there. it has been sitting there for as long as i have coming here. i figure it belongs to them, for someone to bring them a message in an emergency, if there is a revolution or a meteor hits the earth., and all the power in the world goes out. johnny nodded. oh. that makes sense. so i figure it is all right for us to take it. wait! they heard a voice in the shadows. they both turmed, it was cleo. i heard everything, johnny . i put you up to this. take me with you! i want to be in on it. sure, johnny told her. if you insist. pete did not seem surprised or put out by cleo’s appearane. let’s go, he said. the boat is right over there. the little boat was unpainted and weatherbeaten, and was big enough for three people, maybe four. are, you sure it won’t sink? johnny asked. it has been sitting there in the water for years, pete said, and it hasn’t sunk, so it should be all right. they got in the boat, with pete taking the oars. johnny sat up front, with cleo between them. here we go, pete said, off to save the human race. and about time, cleo said. part 5: headquarters

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

aware, part 4: pete, the movie

based on an original story by roger "pegleg" wilson

screenplay by cathy aragon

illustrated by penmarq studios

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